Hello - Is the US embassy in Moscow still located on Novinskiy Blvd, or did it move? I am finding 2 different addresses for it online. Thanks!

Consular website: http://moscow.usembassy.gov/embassy/embass...cord_id=contact

Anyone know if that is still by Novinskiy in the western neighborhood near Arabat? Just curious about apartments for rent in the area. Thanks.

Chuckles, don't worry, the US Embassy is still there (Novinskiy, 31 (if i'm not confusing the numbers)).
Well, at least this is where it was this tuesday when I had my interview there

Yull, welcome to the forum. Congrats on your interview!!! Hope to see you here often. Also, what was asked at your interview? Details please!

Slim, thanks for your welcome and congratulations!

Questions they asked me at the interview - were nothing unusual/extraodinary:
- how my husband and I met;
- when was it;
- what doed he do in the States;
- what is his major in University (apparently because he's a studend as it was clearily stated in my D-230 and his tax returns...)
- how do we comunicate since he's abroad at the moment?
- whether I've met his family or not
- asked me if I had any pictures of us together.

That was it. All in all about 5 minutes (!). After that I was granted a broad smile and promised to get my visa in the mail some time that week.

If there's anything else that interests you - let me know . I wish I could be of any assistance to VJ members who've helped me so much!

Thanks Yull.

Where is hubby now? (studying abroad? Lucky SOB!) Are you in the States, or still in RF?

Good luck on your new Journey!

I have spent a lot of time on Arabat and a lot of time in front of the Embassy as well as walking all around the area and the Embassy and I don't think the two are that close. I never tried walking from one to the other. I would say it is better to take the metro from Arabat.

I will be spending 10 days in Moscow starting next week. I am not going to the Embassy this time but I will try to see how far apart they really are.

I wouldn't worry too much about hotel locations. You shouldn't need to spend more than $10-15 for a cab from anyplace remotely close. You are only paying for this once. If you are comfortable with the metro and know the city, by all means, do that (with Moscow traffic it is probably faster).

Personally, I spend a lot of time in New York/Boston/London/other big cities. Cabs in Moscow are not any more expensive than other big cities, where I primarily take cabs as well. Any decent hotel will arrange a car and driver (or cab) with an up-front price (higher than you can get on your own, but generally fair).

If you only need to be in Moscow for less than 3 days, best advice is to stay with friends. (This is what my wife did for her interview. Added benefit of a physical wakeup call and moral support.). And buying dinner/drinks is your only expense.

Next best option is a western hotel. Expensive, but we are only talking about a few days here. (I spend a lot of time in hotels). In Moscow, I think the Metropol or Radisson SAS are good choices. Marriott will probably have the best discount if you are good at cutting deals. About $200/night is about the best deal you will get. I know that a lot of us are cost-sensitive here, but if it doesn't break the bank, this is not a bad choice. In general, hotels that cater to business customers are a million times better than ones that cater to tourists. They tend to have better locations as well.

Worst choice in my opinion is a hired apartment. You will pay as much as a mid-level hotel, need to check in or out at a specific time, location will be harder to find. There won't be room service, security, etc. If you are an American, you will have more complications with visa registration.

This is all based on my direct experience, and is only my opinion. For a 3-day stay in Moscow, expect a decent apartment downtown to be about 400USD, a hotel like the Metropol should be about 600 USD (after negotiating). Dinner and drinks for friends for 3 nights 200-600 USD (depending on your taste, but Moscow isn't exactly cheap. I'd end up spending more in London or NYC).

My wife stayed with friends and spent about $500 taking them out.

Walking from Arbat (new or old) to the embassy is in theory, do-able.

For those of us who've been in the States too long, and drive our cars to our next door neighbors houses, it would be a hike. For those of us who grew up taking public trans everywhere (like all of our nice young ladies), it wouldn't be an extremely long journey.

That said.... Moscow is really cold right now, and walking anywhere outside, whether across the street or across town is not something I'm really interested in doing. The Metro will get you from one place to the other in less than ten minutes. There are only a couple of stops between them, so if you decide to stay somewhere near there (Arbatskaya?) you can get to the embassy fairly quickly at any given time of day.

Guys, I can't stress this enough.... USE THE METRO!!! It is awesome! Sure taking a cab on interview day, and to and from the airport is probably well worth the money, but every other time, the metro should be used to the fullest. Get to know the map and the color lines and where they run. Most Muscovites can't tell you what neighborhood something is in, but if you tell them the nearest metro stop, they'll be able to help you out very quickly. Funny that even when I got in cabs, they wanted to know the nearest metro stop of my destination. Coincidence?

Hi Slim,

U R welcome,

My 'hubby' (I don't know why but it does sound too diminutive to me tough...) is indeed abroad - working there (so he's far from being lucky SOB )! I'm still in RF waiting to rejoin with him soon.

Well, taking Metro might be even more complicated for there're several metro stops called "Arbat" and you need to know which line exactly you're interested in! I would say the closest metro stop is "Smolenskaya" (from there it's just a straight walk...)

There're even 2 streets called Arbat there - "Old Arbat" - the pedestrian-only street and "NEw Arbat" (the latter is actually what is close to the US. Embassy)

I would say the Embassy is within walking distance from both streets (much closer to Novy Arbat though)... But I'm used to living in a big city and consider myself to be a habitual walker...

Exactly. A short walk for you...

I may have to stop several times for a smoke break!

When my wife had her interview in December, we used the Arbat Metro stop and walked maybe 10 or 15 minutes (we're both fast walkers) before reaching the Embassy. Novinskii is a six-lane highway with no crosswalks, so you either cross at Novy Arbat (tunnel) go four blocks past the Embassy to cross at the skybridge, where there is a cafe,

After leaving her (the hardest part of the whole process, believe me), I walked to the Skybridge, crossed back over Novinskii, walked past the cafe, back down Novinskii, and halfway down Novy Arbat to find an ATM machine, walked back to the Embassy, took some photos of it, had breakfast at the cafe across the street, drank a lot of coffee, and finally walked back to the Embassy wondering what they were doing to her.

She was standing on the corner waiting for me, because she hadn't been sure where the Cafe was. She said the Consul was a 'serious woman, and recognized that I was a serious woman too, and so, no problem!'

The cafe is hard to see from the Embassy because it's six blocks down the street and on the opposite side. I posted six photos in the "Overseas" Gallery that will help you to find the Embassy and find the cafe. The cafe is a great place to wait on a cold day -- good food, good service, and about half the staff speak English, and reasonably priced by Moscow standards.

Mike, we were there for my girl's interview March 17th and the sky bridge is now gone. I saw it last year when we were at the zoo and checking out the embassy. Just a half block past the old sky bridge is a tunnel under Novinskiy. I too had breakfast at the same cafe as it was the only place open at 8:00 am. I took the same pictures as you, but that cafe is not really six blocks down the street.

By the way, did you notice that our embassy does NOT fly the American flag anywhere on the compound?

I stayed at the Gozilla Hostel in Moscow. Clean room, tiled bath (shared), internet connection on their computer for 30 rubles 1/2 hour or 100 for a week. Good location and the people runnig it were great. All for 60 US dollars

Welcome to the forum edsperfect.

That is a great deal!