Location

The IONS-8 conference will be held at N.E. Bauman Moscow State Technical University and the International Laser Center of M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, both located in Moscow, Russia.

Getting a Russian Visa

All foreign nationals are required to have entry visas to travel to the Russian Federation. To apply for a Russian entry visa, among other documents, you need a standard touristic invitation from a hosting authorized Russian travel agency or a hotel, registered with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a voucher from your hotel or travel agency in Russia. Normally, a standard touristic invitation and a voucher cost about 900 RUB. We have a special discount for IONS participants from Bulgakov Home-FromHome hostel. If staying at their hostel, you can get a standard touristic invitation and a voucher for 600 RUB only - just send an email to the hostel with a scanned copy of your passport and don't forget to mention that you are attending IONS-8. Next, click on the PayPal button below to pay 15 €, which starts the processing of your invitation and voucher. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Accommodation

We recommend staying at the Bulgakov Home-FromHome hostel. It is a very nice hostel, situated in the very city center at the most famous street in Moscow - Stary Arbat. It only takes several minutes by foot to get to the metro stations, from which you can easily get to the conference venue. It has the best prices in Moscow starting from 13.5 € per night!

Bulgakov hostel makes a special offer for IONS participants:

We have blocks of 3, 4, 5 and 6 bed dorms (13.5 € for 6 bed dorm sharing with other IONS participants).
10% discount for every night of staying in Bulgakov from June 20 till June 25.
34% discount for standard touristic invitation and a voucher: 600 RUB instead of 900 RUB.
30% discount for registration at the hostel. All foreign nationals in Russia need to register at the place where they are staying. Bulgakov hostel will make a registration for IONS participants for 500 RUB only!

To benefit from this offer, you need to book online on the web-page. They will charge 10% (without discount) during the booking. To get discount from the hostel, you will need to send an email to the hostel right after you book online with the information you entered in the booking form (name, gender, nationality, type of the booked room, dates of arrival and departure) and mention IONS! The rest 90% will be charged during check-in with 10% discount (taking into account the 10% you have paid online).

Please, register as soon as possible to profit from this offer!

Getting to Moscow by plane

There are three major airports in Moscow: Sheremetyevo 2 , Domodedovo and Vnukovo.
Local students will pick you up at the airport and bring you to the hostel, so you don't need to worry about transportation from the airport to the city (one-way ticket costs approx. 100 RUB). In case you still would like more information about how to get to the city, please click on the airport you're arriving at: Sheremetyevo 2 , Domodedovo and Vnukovo.

If you come from abroad you will arrive either at Sheremetyevo 2 international airport (all major international airlines and Aeroflot) or at Domodedovo international airport (Swiss Airlines, AirMalta, British Airways, Emirates, El Al, China Eastern, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and most of the Central Asian airlines, plus most domestic airlines, except Aeroflot).
The new and renovated Vnukovo airport serves mostly domestic flights, as well as German Wings flights to/from Germany.

Getting around Moscow

The best way to get around is to use the Moscow Metro. It is the only way to avoid constant traffic jams. The opening hours are from 5.20 a.m. to 1.00 a.m. Usually the last train leaves the last station on any line at 00.50; the passes between stations close at 1.00 am. The metro has no special zones - all the metro is one zone, and there's no time limit for using your ticket. You can buy a ticket for 25 R ($0.80) for one trip and spend as much time inside as you like. It is better to buy a 10 rides or 20 rides ticket (which cost 240 R and 460 R, respectively and are valid for 45 days, including day of purchase).

Getting to the conference venue

There will not be any problem to get from the hostel Bulgakov to the conference venue. Every morning groups of local student will accompany you on the way from Bulgakov hostel to the Universities. But we cannot guarantee transportation from other hostels.
Below is some information about getting to the conference venue:

To the International Laser Center of M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University from Bulgakov Hostel
The International Laser Center of M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University is located in the R.V.Khokhlov Nonlinear Optics Laboratory, which is situated on the University Campus at Vorob'evy Hills. It is shown in red at the map below. To get there you can walk from the metro station “Universitet” or take buses no. A-130, 103, 260, or trolly no. T-34 (all are shown on the map) from the “Universitet” metro station to the "Sq. Indira Gandi" stop. Then, walk along the dotted line route. To get to the metro station “Universitet”, you need to walk from the hostel to the metro station “Biblioteka im.Lenina” (red line), then take a train going directly to the station “Universitet” and take the exit close to the last carriage of your metro train if you travel from downtown.
Getting to the N.E. Bauman Moscow State Technical University from Bulgakov hostel