Moscow Metro: The Underground Museums

Moscow's busiest airport bombed

Oh my God! That news really shocked me… thinking that I was there 7 months ago. It was 7 months ago alright, but still, it gave me shivers. The terrorists could have launched the attacked earlier or who knows he was there that time to survey the airport, disguising himself as a traveler.

How he passed by the security I had no idea because from my experience, Domodedovo Airport had a very strict security.

From the airport to the city, you can take the aeroexpress which will take you to the city in 40 minutes, and cost you 300 rubles.

But my sister was worried about us getting lost on our first day in Moscow, so she left early from the office and waited for us in the airport. Having a ‘local’ guide, she showed us a cheaper option to get to the city.

The shuttle bus #308 serves the route between the airport and Domodedovskaya metro station and it only cost 80 rubles. Yay!

The taxis are expensive and there are traffic jams everywhere, so the metro is a cheap and good means of transport.

metro station

Now, navigating through the city using the Metro is very challenging for a first timer. Just look at the lines!

With 12 lines altogether, it was reported that their daily ridership is around 9 million passengers! O_o

It was totally overcrowded but service frequencies are excellent, the train departs every 2 minutes.

Anyway, walking around the station is like a maze for a person who has no knowledge of the Russian language. The stations are big and there are a lot of signage, but all of them are in Russian.

Trying to figure out where to go when you have no idea what was written up there was hard. My sister and I kept on looking at our map and the signboards, comparing the letters one by one, searching for the correct line and destination. Luckily the metro maps and the station guides have color codes and numbers for the appropriate metro line, if not, we'd for sure lost.

But after we mastered the Cyrillic alphabets, we moved like a pro. hehehe... 

The metro is mostly underground, and very deep. 

the escalators are incredibly long and steep

The stations may look old, but they are beautiful. From my observation, Moscow underground is not just a metropolitan travel system, but a wonderful architecture creation. Some of the stations are like art work, in marble and ornaments.

 

By traveling from station to station in the center of Moscow, and getting off at each one to look at the decorative artwork which adorns each, you can see one of the things which really sets Moscow apart from just about any other place in the world. If you want to see Soviet-era symbolism, this is perhaps the best way to do it.

 

A lot of it may not amount to fine art, since its primary purpose was to glorify the Soviet Union, but it may be one of the few remaining places in which a visitor can get a bit of the flavor of that era.

ticket prices

My picture is outdated because the fares for a single trip has been increased to 28 rubles beginning 1st of January 2011, but at least you get the idea to calculate your budget. If you will be riding frequently, it's cheaper if you purchase a ticket for several trips at once. Tips for you, if you travel with a friend, you don't have to buy 2 separate cards. Let say you buy a card for 10 trips, both of you can travel on the metro for 5 trips.

entertainment on the train

This metro system is a sightseeing attraction of its own, and also a fascinating insight into the past. Certainly you can't miss if you visit Moscow.