The best months are May, June, and September, when days are long, temperatures are mild (roughly 15-25C), and the parks are green. Summer (June to August) is peak season, warm and lively, with white-ish long evenings and outdoor terraces everywhere. Winter is cold and dark, often well below freezing with snow from December through March, but it is genuinely beautiful, and the New Year and Orthodox Christmas markets around Red Square and Manezhnaya Square are a spectacle. Time a visit for Victory Day (May 9) for major parades, or the city's Maslenitsa pancake festival in late winter, but expect crowds and higher prices around major holidays.

Most visitors arrive at Sheremetyevo (SVO), Domodedovo (DME), or Vnukovo (VKO). Each connects to the center via a fast Aeroexpress train (around 45-50 minutes to the respective terminal stations); the Sheremetyevo Aeroexpress runs to Belorussky station. Once in town, the Metro is the way to move: clean, cheap, and frequent, with trains every couple of minutes and a Troika stored-value card that works across metro, buses, and trams. The center is very walkable, and ride-hailing via the Yandex Go app is reliable and inexpensive. Avoid unmarked street taxis, which overcharge.