If your mental picture of a metro is the grubby affairs of the London and New York subway systems or the soulless affairs of the Far East underground, it might be difficult for you to comprehend why the Metro would be listed as a top attraction in a metropolitan city of Moscow’s stature. However, the Moscow metro is like no other and deserves a sightseeing tour in itself. Huge vaulted ceilings, ornate chandeliers, marble columns, intricate sculptures, vivid murals and elaborate mosaics are all present within the underground maze. Within Moscow’s metro you can sample some of the best socialist realist art, all designed and decorated by famous Russian architects and sculptors.

Moscow’s underground is elegant, impressive and one of the oldest in the world, opening its first line in 1935. The ring line stations of the Moscow metro are all architectural masterpieces with Novoslobodskaya, Komsomolskaya and Belorusskaya considered to be the best examples of the subway system’s uniqueness. Expect a full-on dose of representations portraying soldiers, workers, tractor-drivers, artists and sportsmen as the art was meant to expound the benefits of a healthy communist life. A curious detail is the bronze statue of a dog found at the Ploshad Revoluci station. This is only one of various bronze statues there but it has a special connotation for Moscovite students who touch its nose for good luck prior to an exam.

Apart from being a genuine attraction, the Moscow metro plays a vital role in the city’s proper functioning. It is the most popular means of transport in the Russian capital. Being very efficient, and sometimes the only way to get somewhere on time due to the Moscow’s infamous heavy traffic, it is also a very affordable way of transportation. Today, the Moscow metro is one of world's busiest underground systems serving more than nine million passengers every day! It is also the deepest subway system in the world with the escalators in Park Pobedy station the longest in Europe.

The very reasonably priced Metro tickets are available for a fixed number of journeys, irrespective of the distance travelled and the number of transfers. For example, 60 roubles will buy you a ticket valid for five trips city-wide. A word of caution – see the diagram on the back of your metro ticket to be sure to pass it correctly through the entry barrier and collect it before trying to pass through (good Soviet era engineering operate slightly distressing jaw-snapping barriers). Also, forget about the feeble and slow-closing doors of the London Underground. Moscow's subway train doors operate with both efficiency and speed, so you would be ill-advised to mess around.

Of course navigating Moscow's metro can be tricky, especially if you're not so familiar with the language. However, head straight to the official Moscow Metro Map for a handy guide with anglicized letters, a description of each metro station and a great tool that calculates the exact time it takes to travel from any one station to the other!