I'm taking the lazy way out and posting this here. Flying into SVO and need to get downtown and noticed that the cab fare is allegedly $100 according to the Marriott Website.

I need to get from SVO to the Marriott Tverskaya Hotel on 34 1st Tverskaya -Yamskaya. The hotel lists these stops:

Subway Station - Belorusskaya
Train Station - Belorusskiy Railway Station

Can anyone suggest the best and cheapest way to get to one of these locations? Or direct me to an English website with maps, etc?

Lazy doesn't start to describe it. It's all right here


The best or the cheapest?

The simplest way would be to get a taxi at the counter in the arrivals hall at R1300 (or is it now R1500?) to where you want to go. (FYI, R1300 is slightly more than $50, at R25 to the USD).

The airport is just off the road to StPetersburg which in downtown Moscow is called Tverskaya. That's where you're going. But this is Moscow so the roads - and this one in particular, all the way from the airport to the Kremlin - are in a perpetual gridlock. It could very well take you 3 hours to get to the hotel vs 40-50 minutes in the dead of the night when the roads are finally empty.

So it would be way quicker to get the bus and train combo (as described in this thread). At Saviolovskaya take the metro for one stop southbound - even though the departure boards are in Russian, you can easily tell them apart as southbound ones will show lots of transfers and the northbound ones have none. OK, so you're one stop down the grey metro line, at Novoslobodskaya. Walk up the stair off the middle of the platform to transfer to the circle line and look at the boards again. You need the side of the platfrom that shows transfer to the green line one stop away from where you are. Take that train, get off on the very first stop and presto! you're at Bielorousskaya! Total cost - under R100 ($4).

Let me know if you're feeling adventurous enough to try that and I'll explain how to find your way from the metro to the hotel.

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Cheapest way was just described by the previous poster. If your arriving at night then I'd say the best way is to pre-arrange a car. I believe that the official taxi desk is now charging upwards of 1700 rubles into downtown Moscow (and I know that it was 2100 rubles to DME the last time I did that this year).

If your arriving in the morning then you can expect it to be a two hour ride to the hotel depending on how good your driver knows Moscow.

If your flying overnight and know no Russian then get the pre-arranged car and accept the traffic jams.

The cheapest way would be to take a minivan to the nearest metro but then one is using the same road as the taxi and is stuck in traffic regardless.

The OP is arriving on DL and both DL flights come in around 10 a.m.

Money is money, but in four years of working with travelers to Russia and the former Soviet Union, everyone who took public transportation after the long flight has regretted the decision (not due to safety but because of comfort and convenience). This is even more true for people with no real knowledge of the Russian language.

As other posters have said, either pre-arrange the taxi with the hotel (which is expensive) or book the taxi at the terminal when you arrive (usually this is reliable, although I have heard a few problems with this as well, mostly due to miscommunication rather than ethics). There are also agents in the US who can do this for clients, usually mid-priced but very reliable.

There are 4-6 Marriotts in Moscow (depending if you count the Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance as Marriotts) so make certain you give the driver the address of the Marriott Tverskaya (the Marriott Grand is also on Tverskaya, closer to Red Square).

Marc David Miller

I am feeling adventurous. I'll only have a backpack since I'm in town for less than two days.

Belorusskaya Metro and train station are at the same place, near where Tverskaya turns into Leningradsky Prospekt.

It's a 30 minute walk all the way down to Red Square, but If I'm not mistaken the Marriot is quite close.

Getting there will be a challenge, I understand things have gotten more difficult over the last few years. Going to the Novotel in front of the SVO I terminal might help, I was once allowed on the shuttle downtown many years ago mind you, but taxis might be a little easier from there.

Do you know anyone there who can hire a driver to meet you?

It's going to be a cluster --- I speak one word of Russian. I'm pretty adept at figuring out how and where to go if I have some basic instructions. I've looked at a map and Google images long enough to have a general "lay of the land" so that should help.

Me and a buddy are doing a mileage run and mixing in a night of clubs. I feel a disaster looming!

If you can afford it, have the hotel send a car for you. More expensive (maybe) but no hassles.

Be careful my friend, Moscow's a fascinating place and I loved living there, but don't party too hard on a one night stay. Things can get very unpleasant if you lose control of your situation.

Nightclubbing is best once you know the lay of the land, local customs, police tolerances, etc.

This is hard to believe but I don't drink. Will have to keep an eye on my buddy though.

Ok, I made a little map showing the hotel, the metro station and the rail terminus as the largest landmark in the neighbourhood. If it's on your left as you exit the metro - you've taken the right exit. The blue line is what I think is the shortest way to the hotel, taking in the account all the crossings you'll have to do.

When you open the map, zoom in for maximum detail and don't forget to switch it to Satellite or Hybrid mode.

Hope it helps

An additional word of warning -- do NOT go crossing the street, particularly one like Tverskaya, except by using the underground crossings!

...or if there's a regular zebra crossing.

(That said, I crossed Tverskaya on the surface yesterday. But that was at 3 am with minimal traffic.)

This is awesome!!!!!! thanks!

Very nice tool! Thanks. Is the Sheraton Palace right there in that area too? Never been there but will be next week.