We figured out how to get from Moscow to Kostroma faster, cheaper and more conveniently.
The article indicates intercity and suburban trains with their prices and departure and arrival times, a list of direct buses, features of the M-8 highway and the P-600 highway connecting the two cities.
For your convenience, we have summarized the data in a table:
| Kind of transport | Price | Travel time | Peculiarities |
| Train | From 1320 rub. per person | 6.5 hours | They depart from the Yaroslavl station and arrive in the center of Kostroma. You can buy your ticket online in advance. |
| Bus | From 1050 rub. per person | From 7 hours | They depart from the VDNKh bus station, Sheremetyevo, Domodevo, Vnukovo airports and arrive in the city center. It's not comfortable to sit, like on a train. Might get stuck in a traffic jam. You can buy your ticket online in advance. |
| Hitch a ride | From 600 rub. per person | 5.5 hours | The pick-up and drop-off location may be inconvenient; the car may drive past Kostroma and not enter the city. The trip may be canceled at the last minute by the driver. You can book a place in advance, but trips appear in the system a week or two in advance |
| Car | Gasoline price for 340 km | 5.5 hours |
What to see in Kostroma first?
Skyscanner technology
In general, you can get to Kostroma by plane, train or bus, and also, of course, by private car. For now, planes fly exclusively between Kostroma and St. Petersburg, but Muscovites will have to choose other types of transport. There are trains from other large cities of the Central and Northwestern districts to Kostroma, and intercity buses from the nearest settlements, regardless of their size. In short, if you just want to visit this charming ancient city, there will be more than enough opportunities to get there!
Buy a ticket for the Moscow - Kostroma train
Train tickets can be purchased at railway ticket offices, on the Russian Railways website, and also through the Tutu.ru service.
You can purchase a ticket at the ticket office for cash by contacting an employee and informing him of the route and departure date. The specialist will inform you about the availability of tickets for your date, offering different options. To purchase, take with you a passport or other identification document, as well as a birth certificate if you are traveling with a child. The purchased ticket must be presented upon boarding along with your passport.
On the official website of Russian Railways you can buy a ticket at any time of the day by paying with a bank card. Specify the point of departure and arrival, departure date, select a train, place, and then enter the passengers' full name, date of birth, series, and identification document number in the form to fill out the data. After payment, travel documents will be sent to your email inbox. They must be printed and presented when boarding the train.
If you don’t have the time or desire to register, then the easiest option is to use the services of the ticket sales service Tutu.ru. The search form is shown below. You can get your boarding pass at the station ticket office, but trains on the Moscow-Kostroma route have electronic registration, so you don’t need to print anything.
According to passenger reviews, purchasing tickets on the Tutu.ru website has a number of advantages:
- The site is easy to use, simple and accessible, the purchase form is easy to understand the first time;
- The process of purchasing a ticket takes only a few minutes and there is no need to go to the departure station and stand in line for a ticket;
- Possibility of choosing a carriage and seat;
- You can pay for your train ticket in cash or by credit card online;
- Cashback and promotional codes allow you to save on purchasing a ticket;
- Reliability: you receive confirmation of the purchase of an electronic train ticket by email or SMS, with an enclosed boarding coupon and many information links (for example, to your personal account), as well as technical support phone numbers. A few hours before departure, SMS reminders with detailed information about the trip (departure station, time, train number, carriage and seat) are sent to your specified phone number;
- After purchasing a ticket, the Tutu.ru service offers free coupons for discounts in various online stores.
By train
Rail travel is the most popular way to arrive in Kostroma. Every day at 15:00 (the schedule changes slightly) the high-speed Lastochka departs from the Yaroslavl station of the capital. The journey will take a little over 4 hours; the train arrives in Kostroma around 15:10. The second option is long-distance trains with a stop in Kostroma: Moscow - Kostroma or Moscow - Vladivostok and the journey is already 6 hours. Ticket prices start from 800 RUB. Prices on the page are for February 2022.
You can also get to Kostroma by rail with a transfer in Yaroslavl. The Moscow - Yaroslavl express departs three times a day, the Yaroslavl - Kostroma express - twice. The connection may not always be convenient, but the waiting time is an excellent chance to see the sights of Yaroslavl.
From St. Petersburg to Kostroma there is a daily direct train departing at 21:42 (check the schedule) from Ladozhsky station. The journey takes 16.5 hours, arrival in Kostroma is around 14:00. Prepare to pay at least 1,700 RUB for a ticket. Kostroma is connected to Vologda by the same railway line, and you can also get to the city by train from Kirov.
Happy owners of not luxury, but means of transportation can easily get from Moscow to Kostroma along the Yaroslavl highway.
SAINT PETERSBURG
How to get to Kostroma by plane from St. Petersburg. You can fly to Kostroma by plane from Domodedovo Airport. Help desk phone numbers: (495) 933-66-66
From St. Petersburg Direct plane KB-18 Departure time – 19.10 (Friday, Sunday) Arrival time – 21.10 (Friday, Sunday) Departure time – 13.00 (Wednesday) Arrival time – 15.00 (Wednesday)
From Kostroma Direct plane KB-17 Departure time - 16.20 (Friday, Sunday) Arrival time - 18.20 (Friday, Sunday) Departure time - 10.00 (Wednesday) Arrival time - 12.00 (Wednesday) Ticket price: adult - 3800 rubles, children - 1900 rubles, up to 2 years - free.
How to get to Kostroma from St. Petersburg by train. You can get to Kostroma by train from Moskovsky Station. Help desk phone numbers: (812) 457-44-28, 457-46-63 (24 hours a day)
From St. Petersburg Direct train No. 045A Departure – 17.11, arrival – 09.04
From Kostroma Direct train No. 695Ya Departure -18.20, arrival – 11.16 Ticket price: compartment 4814 rubles, reserved seat – 2340 rubles.
By personal car
Happy owners of not luxury, but means of transportation can easily get from Moscow to Kostroma along the Yaroslavl highway. The distance between the two cities is 330 km, the approximate travel time is just over 4 hours. The path will pass through Korolev, near Moscow, and then through the Yaroslavl region: through Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov and Tunoshna. Before reaching Yaroslavl, you need to turn right following the sign - and straight to Kostroma. The road to Rostov is one lane, then there is an excellent highway to Yaroslavl, and then again one lane to Kostroma. In the last section the road is being widened, be careful.
A trip by private car from St. Petersburg will take about 11 hours (distance - 895 km). From St. Petersburg you need to travel east to Priladozhskoe, then to Kiselny and Issad, and then to the southeast, to Cherepovets and Poshekhonye. The section of the route along the Rybinsk Reservoir is very picturesque. You can get to Kostroma both through Rybinsk and Yaroslavl, and through Danilov and Sereda.
Ticket price
The direct train from the capital to Kostroma covers a distance of almost 400 kilometers, so it provides seats, as well as more comfortable options: reserved seat and coupe. A seat in a seated carriage will cost a passenger approximately 630 rubles , in a reserved seat carriage - 1,000 - 1,300 rubles , in a compartment carriage - 1,100 - 2,100 rubles one way.
Trains with the direction Moscow - Kostroma (compartment cars, SV) participate in a dynamic pricing system, so it is necessary to take into account that the cost of tickets may differ depending on the date and time of departure, the date of purchase of the travel document, the day of the week and the number of remaining seats. It is most profitable to buy a ticket as early as possible: 60–90 days before the train departs. Prices can increase significantly: from 20 to 50%.
- Dynamic Pricing Details
The cheapest option for the Moscow - Kostroma route is a seated carriage. Ticket prices depend on the train category. The branded one will be more expensive due to modern cars, quantity and quality of services provided.
Route
The path, as you might guess, begins in Kostroma. Then motorists drive about 8 kilometers through the region, after which the city road intersects with the M-8 highway. While driving along Kholmogory, the path goes through four regions - it starts in Kostroma, crosses Yaroslavl and Vladimir, and ends in Moskovskaya. During this route, the road will not pass through large populated areas, but if desired, it will be possible to turn towards Yaroslavl and visit this city.
Road condition
The biggest problem of this road is constant congestion at the entrance and exit from Moscow. There is nothing you can do about it, you can try to look for a bypass road, but in doing so you will lose as much time as in traffic jams. Motorists usually drive along the M-8 quite quickly, so you need to be careful while driving. There are often cameras near populated areas, so it’s better to slow down just in case. There are especially many of them installed in the Moscow region.
The worst section of the route is from Kostroma to Yaroslavl. The road on this section is often repaired or reconstructed, so there is a high probability of driving for quite a long time. But every year the situation is getting better and better, so soon the M-8 motorway will be good on all sections of the route.
Hotels in Kostroma
There are quite a lot of hotels in Kostroma, about 20. However, they are all scattered in different parts of the city. You can read a detailed review of how to choose a hotel in Kostroma here. We chose a hotel located in the center so that we could walk to all the attractions. Many booking sites have a map of all hotels. If you look at the map, the attractions are located in the center, where the streets are arranged like a fan. Our choice fell on the Volga Hotel. I’ll tell you about it separately. Taxi drivers said that the Azimut Hotel and the new Troy Hotel were also in demand. Prices for hotels are great: an economy room for two will cost from 2500 rubles per day, a comfort room from 3300 rubles. And prices for a double room in business hotels jump to 6,000 rubles.
By bus
More than 60 buses travel on the Moscow – Kostroma route per day. They depart from the VDNKh bus station, from Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo airports.
Travel time: 7 hours
Ticket price: from 1050 rub.
How to buy a ticket: at the bus station before departure or through the Yandex.Tickets service.
Morning buses from Moscow to Kostroma. Yandex.Schedules data
What to see in Kostroma
In addition to the standard attributes of all cities of the Golden Ring, I mean churches and monasteries. Kostroma has preserved the unique stone and wooden buildings of the center, which date back to the 17-18 centuries. In winter, you get an indescribable feeling that you are in another century. Walking along the streets, we looked into ancient snow-covered courtyards and gateways. Literally every house was worth photographing.
Independent trip to Kostroma photo 3
On a ride
The easiest way to find a driver who is traveling to Kostroma and is willing to take passengers with him is to use the BlaBlaCar travel companion service.
Travel time: on average 5.5 hours, depends on the traffic situation
Price: on average 600-650 rubles per person
How to book a seat in a car: on the BlaBlaCar website.
This method is not suitable for purchasing tickets in advance - drivers create trips a week or two before departure.
Examples of driver offers on the BlaBlaCar service on the route Moscow - Kostroma
Each driver has his own route, his own starting point (it may be more convenient for you than the station, or maybe at the other end of the city or even on the highway), his own finishing point (some pass through Kostroma and drop you off near the city).
View available trips for your date and book your place:
Top 10 sights of Kostroma
A huge number of architectural monuments have been preserved in Kostroma. Almost every house has a sign “architectural monument” or a memorial plaque. You even wonder how they managed to preserve the historical center in a single style.
1. Ipatievsky Monastery 2. Epiphany Cathedral of the Epiphany-Anastasyevsky Monastery 3. Church of the Resurrection on Debra 4. Shopping arcades 5. Fire Tower 6. Alekseevskaya Church 7. Kostroma Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve (includes four museums: Fire Tower , Romanov Museum, Guardhouse, Building of the Noble Assembly) 8. Kostroma Architectural, Ethnographic and Landscape Museum-Reserve “Kostromskaya Sloboda” 9. Museum-Estate of Flax and Birch Bark 10. Tower of the Snow Maiden (you can read about this attraction here)
A detailed description of the attractions can be read in a separate article All the museums of Kostroma.
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Motels
M-8 Kholmogory is a federal highway, so there are no problems with infrastructure along the way. Along the way, motorists will encounter a fairly impressive number of different hotels, motels and cafes, but motorists who often use this route especially note the following:
- The best guest house in Pereslavl-Zalessky is Nikolin Park. The average rating given to users is an impressive 9.4 points. By paying from 1,500 rubles per night, guests will receive all the necessary amenities - wi-fi, air conditioning, shower and TV in the room.
- A little further is the KaroZa hotel with a slightly worse rating - 9.2. Guests note the friendly staff, as well as the hotel’s convenient location in the city. The prices are also quite reasonable.
- Hotel-restaurant "Selivanov" with a rating of 9.0. Located on the shore of the lake, inside, in addition to comfortable rooms, there is also a large restaurant and its own sauna. The price per night varies from 1200 to 4200 rubles per day, depending on the comfort of the room.
- In the Moscow region, the Riama Hotel is considered the best with a rating of 8.4. For a fairly low price - from 700 rubles per day, guests get wi-fi, TV, air conditioning, and a shower for their own use. You can also note the location - from this hotel to the center of Moscow can be reached within half an hour, so a number of guests choose this particular hotel when traveling to the capital of Russia.
Stops and attractions
There are quite a lot of beautiful places and buildings representing old Russian architecture along the way. Ideally, plan a couple of days for the route so that you can see everything you encounter on the road without fuss. The following attractions will be found in the following localities:
- Pereslavl-Zalessky. In this locality, motorists will be greeted by the local Kremlin with a fairly high-quality cafe on its territory, several old cathedrals and temples, as well as a large number of wooden houses built at least in the 19th century. On the way out of the city you can see a monument to the popular and world famous T-34 tank. On the way to Yaroslavl you can also come across several different temples.
- In the Yaroslavl region, if you are driving on the M-8 highway, you will only be able to consider the local oil refinery. Further on you will also come across several old temples.
Train No. 148Ya Moscow - Kostroma
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Photo: © lelikeks
The train runs daily from Moscow (Yaroslavsky station) to Kostroma-Novaya station. Departs from the capital at 23:20, arrives at 05:02. Makes 7 stops along the way: in Rostov-Yaroslavsky, Yaroslavl, Lyutovo, Burmakino, Nerekhta, Kosmynino, Karimovo. The journey takes 5 hours 42 minutes, the total stop time is about 20 minutes.
The train has seated carriages, reserved seats and compartments. The branded compartment and reserved seat carriages have air conditioning and dry toilets, and pets are also allowed. There are no such services in the seated carriage.
Ticket prices range from 630 to 2,100 rubles . The most inexpensive is a seated one, it will cost 630 - 700 rubles . A seat in a reserved seat costs 1,200 - 1,300 rubles , in a compartment - 1,300 - 2,100 rubles (the lower seat is more expensive).
Reviews about the train: on Otzovik.com and Rail-club.ru
