Transport in Russia - Lonely Planet Travel Information

Getting there & away

Contents

Land
Air

Land

Bus

From Baltiiskaya metro station in St Petersburg, Eurolines (449 8370; ul Shkapina 10; Baltiiskaya) runs buses to Tallinn (R550, five per day) and Rīga (R500, daily). From Moscow – considering distances – it’s far better to take the train to neighbouring countries.

Car & motorcycle

We do not recommend driving in Russia. Public transport is very good, and Russian driving is aggressive and road rules complex in both Moscow and St Petersburg. However, if you do drive in Russia, you must have a valid International Driving Permit, your passport and insurance documentation for your vehicle.

Train

Moscow is connected very regularly with Helsinki, Tallinn, Rīga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Minsk, Kyiv, Chişinău and Budapest. It is the centre of the Russian rail network, and trains also serve the Caucasus, Central Asia, Mongolia and China from here. The overnight trains between St Petersburg and Moscow run daily and tickets start at around R500.

From St Petersburg, trains serve Helsinki, Rīga, Vilnius, Kaliningrad, Kyiv, Berlin, Warsaw, Prague and Budapest. There is currently no train service to Tallinn. For up-to-date schedules, see Your Train – CIS Railway Table (www.poezda.net).

^ Back to top

Air

Moscow’s three international airports are modern Domodedovo airport (code DME; 495-933 6666; www.domodedovo.ru), crappy Soviet-era relic Sheremetyevo airport (code SVO; 495-232 6565; www.sheremetyevo-airport.ru) and recently done up Vnukovo airport (code VKO; 495-436 2813; www.vnukovo.ru). Between them Moscow is connected to nearly all European capitals, New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Delhi.

St Petersburg’s recently renovated Pulkovo-2 airport (code LED; 812-704 3444; www.pulkovo.ru) is the city’s international gateway. It’s not nearly as well connected as Moscow, but still has regular connections throughout Europe, including regular flights to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Rome, Prague and Vienna.