Transport Samara, what to move

Samara has a wide and developed public transport system, consisting of buses, trolleybuses, trams and Metro, and allowing tourists to get to any place in the city. Without using personal transport, you can visit, among other things, the main attractions in the Samara region. However, despite the presence of a large number of routes, it takes quite a long time to move, since the roads in Samara are mostly narrow and transport moves very slowly. Sometimes, to get from one area of the city to another during rush hour or during the holidays, it can take several hours. You can move faster by tram or Metro, but there is no metro in the historical part of the city and it is useless for tourists.

As for moving by personal or rented car, you can drive more or less comfortably and quickly only along the main city streets-Moskovskoe Shosse and Novo-Sadovaya, but not during rush hour.

There is no specialized transport for tourists, like Hop-on-Hop-off tourist buses in Samara.

Further read about all the ways to move around Samara and the region, as well as the types, routes and cost of public transport in more detail:

On foot

Samara is a big city, so tourists can move on foot from one attraction to another only in the historical part of the city. There is a good pedestrian zone on Leningradskaya Street, which is the center of tourist life. Also, the pedestrian zone runs along the embankment along the Volga. Otherwise, Samara is not a pedestrian-friendly city: there are few sidewalks in the non-historical part of the city, in winter the footpaths are poorly cleaned, and to cross the main road, sometimes you have to go around almost a kilometer to the nearest traffic light. Alternatively, you can walk from one part of the city to another along the embankment.

By bike

Bicycle rental, as a tourist transport, is not common in Samara, it is difficult to find it in the city center. Several rentals with hourly pay work on the embankment, the cost of 150 rubles per hour. There is also a rental in Strukovsky Park. In general, the city is not adapted for cycling outside the embankment, there are no bike paths.

By public transport

The public transport network is developed and complex, there are a lot of routes. But studying them for a short trip is not necessary. It is much more convenient to download and install one of the applications for IOS or Android for free in order to pick up the transport you need right on the way. You should search for the application by the phrase "transport of Samara". The 2Gis and Yandex.Maps apps are good at building routes on public transport. The local application "arrival-63" shows the approximate time of arrival of transport at the desired stop. Also in our description of the sights of Samara for each attraction we indicated the route numbers on which you can get there.

Payment for travel can be made in cash in transport to the conductor, contactless bank cards at the terminals at the conductor or at the entrance to the transport, using a special city transport card. For tourists, the use of a transport card is not very convenient and not even profitable, since the transport card is taken "for rent" for 100 rubles.

• Fare as of 2021:

  • Payment in cash to the conductor/at the entrance of the Metro (purchase of a token): 32 rubles
  • Payment in cash and bank card: 32 rubles

  For some long routes outside the city limits, an increased cost is established.

• Working hours:

  • Buses, trolleybuses, trams: from 06:00 to 22:00
  • Metro: from 06:00 to 00:00

Attention! Individual tram routes run only on weekends, or only at certain hours of the day. See information on the official website samaratrans.info

The bus network of Samara consists of city buses and minibuses (taxis or "minibuses"). There are a lot of routes, and you can get to any corner of the city, sometimes with a transfer. There are even city bus routes to Kurumoch airport and suburbs.

Samara Metro consists of one branch and 10 stations. It covers only the commercial center of the city and part of the industrial zone, where tourists have nothing to do, so the Metro for tourists is completely useless transport.

By taxi

There are a lot of taxis in the city, including yandexgo (Yandexgo), Uber, Gett, Citymobil. Local companies also offer taxi booking via the internet or apps. The trip costs from 60 rubles for short distances, for example, within the historical district.

It is noteworthy that traveling by taxi in Samara is sometimes even cheaper than by public transport, especially if you are traveling with a company or a family of 3-4 people. However, it should be borne in mind that during peak hours, night time and bad weather, the cost of a trip even from aggregators can increase significantly.

By car

We would not recommend tourists to move around Samara for sightseeing in a personal or rented car. It is inconvenient, unprofitable, and long. Due to frequent and long traffic jams, short distances can be reached much faster on foot, and long distances are cheaper by public transport, while there is no great benefit in time. From our point of view, it is much more convenient to come here by car, put it in the parking lot, and then get acquainted with the city on foot and by public transport.

If you still decide to come and inspect the city on your car, then keep in mind that there are many cameras for fixing violations in the city, and not only speeding is recorded, but also driving on red (yellow), leaving the stop line, lane violations, not skipping pedestrians. There are no big problems with parking. Almost everywhere you can find free parking (although they do not always have free places), and for a long time you can leave the car in paid parking. Locals leave cars overnight in the yards, but it is better to do this only if you have insurance.

As for the condition of the roads, most of them are in satisfactory condition. Good roads are predominantly in the center (but not the historical area, it's a different area). The main highway is the Moscow Highway. This is a large multi-lane road with reverse traffic, and it is best to move from one end of the city to the other.