Hi raschema,

I am not familiar with the visa process first-hand, but from what I know, it is okay to book a flight and hotel (I think it’s actually preferable) before you apply for the visa. I don’t know where you live, but usually visa processing takes up to, I believe 3 weeks, so not long at all. The Russian consulates also have a 1- or 2-day processing service. As far as hotels, I strongly recommend looking for budget hotels online. If you type in ‘budget hotels Moscow’, you should get several hits. Some of these are in Russian, so if you have a Russian-speaking friend (s), it would be helpful. The prices range from $100 – $150 for budget (I know it’s high, isn’t it?). Anyway, Moscow is huge and depending on where you have to be (i.e. near what metro station), you should look for a hotel nearby. Do you have any ideas yet on which part of the city you’d like to stay in? I don’t recommend staying by the airport as it’s way out and getting to Moscow center would take you a couple of hours each way. Hope this helps..

Cheers!