A cheat note for foreign guests: the first steps in Ekaterinburg

Every year thousands of tourists from all over the world are coming to Ekaterinburg. We understand that it might be difficult to get around in an unknown city. That is why E1.RU has prepared a series of materials for guests. From our «Cheat note» you will find out how to easily get downtown from the airport for a reasonable price, where to find souvenirs, which cafe has Chinese food, and which places in Ekaterinburg are absolute must-sees. The «Cheat note» will be interesting for locals as well. For some it will help them to look at the city from a new angle, for others to know best how to entertain their guests.

За перевод мы благодарим партнера проекта — лингвистический центр «Талисман».

Ekaterinburg Koltsovo Airport, like most airports, is located on the outskirts of the city. The center of the Ural capital can be reached from here in several ways — directly or indirectly, for a modest or big amount of money, but with comfort. It is possible to avoid traffic jams even at rush hour. Let's talk about everything in more detail.

Bus number 1

Because of its relative remoteness, there are no trams or trolleybuses that go to Koltsovo, but there is a direct bus route all the way to the railway station. It goes through the center of the city. The No.1 bus stop is right in front of the terminal. Koltsovo is connected with the center of Ekaterinburg by a direct route, however this bus goes in a roundabout way. That's why the route takes almost an hour without traffic jams. But it is inexpensive — a trip by number «1» costs 28 rubles, this is the standard tariff for public transport of the Ural capital.

The first bus departs from Koltsovo at 6:04 am, the last one leaves for the city at 11:16 pm. In the morning and in the afternoon the interval between buses is from 11 to 18 minutes, from 07:00 pm to 10:00 pm the duration between buses can be up to 24 minutes and after ten o'clock in the evening — up to 28 minutes. You can get off at the railway station or earlier — the stops «Central Hotel», «Architectural Academy», «Youth Theatre» are all in the center of Ekaterinburg.

Bus number 01 «Express»

It will be quicker to get to the center by boarding the «Express». Its route runs along the Koltsovsky tract, so a trip without traffic jams will take 30 minutes. The bus departs from Koltsovo every half hour; the first is at 5:30 am, and the last one at 11:30 pm. The ticket costs 100 RUB; you will have to pay 20 RUB for the luggage. Unlike most bus routes in Ekaterinburg, this one has no conductors, the money should be given directly to the driver. Only cash is accepted.

Train «Express Koltsovo»

The train, which can quickly deliver visitors to the center of Ekaterinburg, has its station in five minutes’ walk from the airport. In the morning the train leaves at 6:28 and arrives at the central railway station at 7:08 am, and in the evening it leaves at 06:47 and arrives at 07:27 pm. The fare is Rub 59. For the time of the World Cup, ordinary electric trains will be replaced by more comfortable «Lastochki». In addition, from June 14 to June 28, extra trains will be available. The journey will be free for those who have ticket on football match. Here you can see the schedule:

Taxi

In Ekaterinburg, there is more than a dozen of taxi services. You can call any, for example, Uber — if you have an application on your phone, it will work here. Phone numbers and other taxi websites can be found here. The site also has filters, with which you can choose a car with a child seat, the opportunity to pay by card, or an English-speaking driver or dispatcher.

Koltsovo has its «preferred» companies, which it cooperates with, — a taxi De Luxe and «AvtoGrad». You can call for the business class car at 330–30–30 or place an order on the website. A trip to the center will cost Rub 900, to VIZ, where the Central Stadium is located, it will be Rub 1000. Credit cards are accepted. Call 272–72–72 or place an order through the Internet if you need a taxi of the comfort class. The trip to the city center will cost Rub 700, to VIZ — Rub 800.

Carsharing

In Ekaterinburg, as in many European cities, you can rent a car. If you need to get to the center you can use a car from company «Delimobile», which entered the Ural capital only in early 2018. To use the service, you need to install the application on your phone, find a car in the nearest parking lot (in Ekaterinburg it will be Hyundai Solaris) and go. You can leave the car anywhere. Deactivate your trip, pay for the minutes of driving and go about your business.

In Ekaterinburg, at the time of writing, there are 50 rental car services, and their number will soon grow to a hundred. The company promises to make sure that several cars are always near Koltsovo Airport. Since January, «Delimobile» has equalized prices throughout Russia. The company's CEO Leonid Sysoev informed that the «Basic» tariff is 7 rubles per minute (in case of the car damage a fine is up to 25,000 rubles). There is also the «Fairy Tale» tariff — it’s 8 rubles per minute (but no penalties at all).

Attantion! Only person who has registration in Russia can use «Delimobile». If you visit Yekaterinburg for a few days, see the other carsharing services. We'll tell about it next.

For those who plan to drive around the city a lot for a few days other options are available. Directly from Koltsovo, you can rent cars from two companies — Rentmotors or Avis. By setting the parameters — the pick-up and return dates, the desired brand and features of the car — you get the opportunity to choose a horse to your liking. Book a car, prepare documents (passport, driving license and personal bank card) and collect the keys. The prices vary from Rub 5500 to Rub 30000 and more for three days on the go.

To rent a car please visit websites of companies Rentmotors or Avis or the RentCars service, where a selection of cars is compiled from two sources simultaneously. You can book a car by calling 271–43–43 (Rentmotors) or 264–79–25, +7 922 031–31–31 (Avis). In addition, one can find the car sharing desk in the area of domestic flights arrivals on the 1^st floor of the airport.