Moscow
Visa- You need a visa to go to Russia. For Americans, it cost $300 (plus expediter fee) for a visa that is valid for 3 years. After submission, it takes more than 2 weeks to get.
Taxi- A regular cab can easily rip off a tourist in Moscow. In advance, we were also told by locals to download Yandak Taxi. When trying to use Uber, we were directed to that app. I wasn’t able to input my credit card info, but it gave us a cash price that we paid to the driver. The prices were great! A half hour ride across town was under 500 Rubels – less than $8.
Money changing- Find out the approximate exchange rate before you go, so you have an idea what to expect. I didn’t use much cash, mostly credit cards, so I exchanged in my hotel. The bank a few blocks away was giving a better rate, but for the small amount of difference, and the small amount of cash I used, it wasn’t worth bothering.
Weather -I went in December. The weather stayed above freezing, although often it was overcast and dreary. I brought a warm coat (LandsEnd rated to -35F) but didn’t need any additional outer clothes except my pockets and hood. Indoors it was warm everywhere I went.
Water - I read before I went that the water may not always be safe to drink. I brushed my teeth with sink water at the hotel, but only drank bottled water while I was there.
Hotel - We stayed at the Hotel Azimut Olympic. Well priced. Clean, reasonable size room, comfortable bed, hot shower, wifi, helpful staff. It took about 20 minutes to walk to the Marina Roscha shul building. I found the walk pleasant. Moscow traffic patterns are such that driving to shul from Azimut took 5 minutes, while going back took closer to 10.
The Marina Roscha shul is an active local shul. It has several minyanim for shachris. Also has daily mincha and maariv.
The shul building has both milchig and flaishig restaurants with reasonable food. It also has a mikvah and Judaica store.
Within a block or 2 of the shul, there are 2 kosher supermarkets that carry groceries for locals along with various prepared foods. There is also at least 1 restaurant around the corner from the shul.
The Jewish Museum is a block from the Marina Roscha shul. It has a history of the Jews in Russia with emphasis on their persecution. It is very well done, and worth going into. $7 -8.50
Getting to Lubavitch: Since I was there with a group of people, we went by van with a stop in Smolensk to use the mikva and bathrooms. I was told you can take a train from Moscow to Smolensk and drive (rent a car?) from there the 2 hours to Lubavitch. I don’t know if this is at all efficient, since I’ve only ever heard of people going all the way by car. Driving back to Moscow we only stopped at a gas station for bathrooms.
Things to see (many of which I didn’t see):
-Kremlin, the grounds and museum – I hear there’s a line at the door, so maybe buy tickets on line in advance.
-Red Square and the city center. A nice walk. They over-do the lights and street decorations for the year end and New Years season, so the streets were looking their best. You can get the history of the area and a better understanding of the buildings with a walking tour guide. That’s true for most cities.
-Bunker 42 museum is a cold war bunker deep under ground. Very interesting. Check the times for a tour in English; it is not the type of place you can just wander around. Going during a Russian tour and using an English audioguide is a poor substitute.
-Arabat is the pedestrian mall shopping center. Gum is another shopping center.