Moscow

Where Moscow is and how to get there

Moscow spreads across both banks of the Moskva river, in the heart of the Russian plain. It is the largest city in Russia and in Europe, and the convergence point of the entire national rail and air network: whichever city you end up studying in, you will pass through Moscow.

Three international airports serve the capital. From Tunis the journey involves one stopover, usually in Istanbul or at a Gulf hub. Allow a full day door to door, and leave a comfortable margin between the two flights: it is on the connection that delays bite.

The climate, and what it actually changes

Moscow has a markedly continental climate: long, decisive winters, a late spring, hot summers and a short autumn. Snow lies on the ground for months, and December days are very short.

This is not an insurmountable difficulty, it is a question of equipment. Buildings, transport and universities are heated far beyond what a Tunisian would expect: the thermal shock is lived outdoors, not indoors. A proper coat, bought locally, solves eighty per cent of the problem.

What living in Moscow really costs

Moscow is the most expensive of the eight cities in the network, and the gap is not marginal. The table above gives the exact figures; here is how to read them.

In university halls, accommodation and living costs combined put Moscow well above the regional cities, where the same monthly budget falls to less than half. A shared apartment, meanwhile, triples the housing line: that is the choice that derails family budgets, and it should be made knowingly, not by default.

• University halls remain by far the most reasonable option in the first year
• Transport is inexpensive with the student card, despite the distances
• Cooking for yourself in halls radically changes the monthly budget: it is the first lever of saving
• Exchange bureaux in stations and airports consistently offer unfavourable rates

Student life day to day

The Moscow metro is one of the most efficient in the world, and some of its stations are genuine monuments. Lines are identified by a number and a colour, so you can find your way from the first days without reading Cyrillic.

The flip side of the city size is distance. An hour between halls and campus is not unusual. Check that distance before celebrating a central address: in winter, three quarters of an hour of transport morning and evening weighs heavily across a week.

Moscow for a Maghrebi student

The capital welcomes students from all over the world, and Maghrebi communities have been established there for decades. It is the city where you will most easily find compatriots, national student associations, and people who went through the same formalities before you.

Halal food is widely available, in specialist grocers as well as many supermarkets, and the city has accessible mosques and prayer spaces. Your university international student office can point you to the addresses nearest your campus.