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Taxi or Aeroexpress from Domodedovo Airport to center of Moscow?

Taxi or Aeroexpress from Domodedovo Airport to center of Moscow?

Old May 13th, 2015, 12:30 PM
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Taxi or Aeroexpress from Domodedovo Airport to center of Moscow?

Will be arriving at Domodedovo Airport on Saturday, September 12th. Can't decide whether to take the Aeroexpress or taxi . Our hotel (Hotel Savoy near the Kremiln) said it would only take about 1 hour by taxi. But Moscow's traffic is notorious and doubt it would be that short a trip. On the other hand, If we took the Aeroexpress it would leave us at a Metro stop at which we would have to take the Metro a few stops to our hotel. Lugging our luggage might not be so much fun.

We have been to Moscow before and rode the Metro ourselves. I remember the doors of the trains closing really quickly and suddenly.

Any opinions? If taxi, do you know of a reputable company to reserve one?
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Old May 13th, 2015, 01:15 PM
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You could always take the Aeroexpress to the station and then take a taxi!

I went via Aeroexpress (quite nice) my last time in Moscow and then Metro, schlepping my suitcase. I did have to get some directions along the way, but I found so many lovely helpful people on that trip. In retrospect, what with jetlag and all, I probably would have done better to do the Aeroexpress and taxi combo, as my apartment was not too easy to find.
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Old May 13th, 2015, 01:52 PM
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Do you know for a fact that there are taxis outside the metro station? Are they metere orr do you have to haggke? Haggling in Russian would be tough to say the keast!
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Old May 13th, 2015, 02:19 PM
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I'm going on the assumption that there are taxi stands outside the major railway stations, but I didn't use Paveletsky station, so I can't guarantee that. (To be honest, TripAdvisor's Moscow forum is probably the best spot to find that out for sure.) Looks like there is an Aeroexpress train-to-taxi hookup available: https://aeroexpress.ru/en/forPassengers/taxi.html

Since I was only in Moscow revisiting for a few days and my apartment was a 10 minute walk from Red Square, I didn't use taxis this time around, but they were omnipresent, for sure! However, I think metered ones are most likely from taxi stands, pre-arranged, or arranged by your hotel.

I would also guess that there's a taxi app for Moscow, but not sure of that. I was pretty much the only person in all of Moscow without a smartphone, I think. (Just FYI, Internet cafes there have gone the way of the dodo, so...take your phone.)
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Old May 13th, 2015, 02:26 PM
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Just for some light reading, here's my trip report for Moscow (2013) http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-to-moscow.cfm and a throwback to the first trip (1984) : http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm
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Old May 13th, 2015, 05:33 PM
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Thanks Amy. I will read your trip reports in the morning.
I would have to call the Russia phone number to get an Aeroexpress plus taxi combo. Wonder how it works as how would we know when we would be arriving at the metro to pick up the taxi waiting for us. BUT, I do think it's something to look into further. So thanks again.
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Old Jun 7th, 2015, 09:59 AM
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We used LingoTaxi to pre-reserve airport transfers in Russia and it worked out well. You get an English-speaking driver for a pre-arranged price and it gives peace of mind knowing you won't have to juggle luggage in the metro or have to haggle with a Russia over taxi prices when they know you have no other option to get to your hotel.
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Old Jun 7th, 2015, 11:49 AM
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Blazer - Thanks. I will check them out.
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Old Jun 10th, 2015, 07:37 AM
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My concern after landing at Sheremetyevo Airport this past April was similar to yours. I took the Aeroexpress to Belorussky train station. Aeroexpress was easy to navigate.
Upon exiting the station at Belorussky I was surprised to see all traffic stopped and no usual taxi stand. The weather was cold and snowing.
A taxi driver approached me and I asked him the fair to my hotel one Metro station away. It was 1300 rubles. Being tired and confused I agreed. BTW it took nearly 30 minutes to drive to the hotel.
He told me that taking Aeroexpress was quicker than any taxi to the airport.
On departing I used the Metro easily the one stop to Belorussky station.
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Old Jun 10th, 2015, 03:34 PM
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mendota98 - Do you remember what time of day you landed and also got to Belorussky?

We would be coming from Domododedovo which is further from Moscow than Sheremetyevo. We could take the aeroexpress to a different metro station and then take a taxi, hopefully if there is one at that station! Did you buy your tickets in advance?

A little concerned about our luggage - getting out of the train. I remember how fast those doors closed!
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Old Jun 12th, 2015, 01:38 PM
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My time of arrival was 5:00 PM.

I bought the Aeroexpress ticket at the airport from a nice lady who spoke English.

When you say doors of the train closing quickly, do you mean the Metro? It did not appear to be any quicker or slower than Berlin, London, Paris, NYC, etc. But than it would depend on your amount of luggage.
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Old Jun 12th, 2015, 02:21 PM
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mendota - Yes, I do mean the doors on the train. Found they were much faster than here in NYC. Meaning - they happened faster - you had to really rush to get in before they started to close.

Your arriving at 5PM puts you right in the middle of rush hour so I can understand not wanting to take a taxi from the airport.

I'm guessing that the taxi you took once you exited the metro from the Aeroexpress was one of those semi-legal taxis.

From Conde Nast Travler: "Taxi drivers are the worst of the worst in Russia and should never be trusted. There are no taxi meters anywhere. All taxis negotiate (in Russian) what the fare will be before the ride is given. If you don't want to use the metro and don't want to walk, we recommend having your hotel send a car to get you or transfer you. It might cost you $60 for the ride, but it will be safe and comfortable. Never arrive in Russia without a transfer to your hotel, and never take a taxi off the street.

When I am in Russia, I rarely take a taxi and, when I do, it is always a gypsy (unofficial) taxi, and this is something no non-Russian speaker should ever do. A gypsy taxi is a private driver in his own car who stops to give you a ride. You have to negotiate the rate in Russian, and it takes living in Russia to know which cars to get into and which ones not to."
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Old Jul 17th, 2015, 04:03 AM
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Just order a taxi from the airport via apps - Yandex taxi or Uber. It will cost you around 20$. And it will take about 1 hour without traffic (it depends what time you arrive). If there is a traffic, it will take maybe 30-40 min longer than the aeroexpress + subway or aeroexpress + taxi. Its better to relaz in the car than go crazy with subways and etc.
PS: try not to take taxi drivers from the streets.
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Old Jul 17th, 2015, 04:06 AM
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daria - Thanks. Do you mean when we get to the airport in Moscow we should order a taxi at that time? Not sure yet if our phones will work well when we get to Moscow so I think I'd rather order a taxi before we go.
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Old Jul 17th, 2015, 07:04 AM
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The only part of the Conde Nast advice that is still relevant is not getting into an unofficial taxi, that is never a good idea. The rest of the info seems out of date. I've done the trip from DME many times, sometimes by Aeroexpress + metro from Paveletskaya, other times by official taxi the whole way (have also been dropped at Tulskaya metro station and continued journey to my hotel from there, can be a good idea if there is alot of traffic.)

DME website gives info on the official taxi operators at the airport, do don't need to prebook.

http://www.dme.ru/en/main/getting/taxi/1/
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Old Jul 18th, 2015, 04:37 AM
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Odin - When I look at the fees, I don't see taxi rates from the airport to central Moscow. Just airport-airport, within certain districts and names of districts .

These are all flat rate taxis, correct? Is there any tipping expected?
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Old Aug 29th, 2015, 11:59 AM
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Dianedancer,
After your landing and luggage pick-up buy local sim-card (pay ~500 RUR and you'll get 3gb + tons of local calls). All you need for that is any identification document. Here are some plans:
http://english.moscow.megafon.ru/tar...l_inclusive_s/
http://en.mts.ru/tariffs/connect/
Choose whatever and find the corresponding company's shop at DME.
As for taxi, you can either (1) use mob.internet to order UBER/YandexTaxi or (2) make local call to order taxi from particular company.
I recommend the 2nd option, because even locals have troubles finding a particular car. So you will have to contact someone (taxi driver or taxi company), and while using an App you can only contact driver - chances, he speak english are pretty weak, while, big companies like http://mostaxi.ru/en/ or or http://www.nyt.ru/en/ will most probably have english-speaking operators.
Use "meeting point" at the DME, as there is only one meeting point, driver will find you for sure.

Saturday's traffic in Moscow is not so heavy lately, so ~1 hour seems totally reasonable for September, 12.
By the way, considering Aeroexpress fares (500+ RUR per person), 1700 RUR per taxi at Mostaxi/Nexitaxi looks totally fine
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Old Sep 5th, 2015, 09:42 AM
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myinc - Thanks
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Old Sep 5th, 2015, 09:44 AM
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BTW - We purchased a phone to use overseas from Mobal two years ago. So we will be taking that.
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