Air
Makhachkala airport operates daily flights to/from Moscow (Vnukovo or Domodedovo airports), twice a week to/from Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, and once a week to/from Kazan, Krasnodar, etc.
Train
Makhachkala railway station serves regular trains to/from Moscow (Paveletsky station) with stops at Kizlyar, Astrakhan, Saratov, and Tambov. Trains run between Derbent and Rostov-on-Don. There are also transit trains with a short stop in Makhachkala following from Baku to Astrakhan, Kharkov, Moscow, and Kiev. Car
The road from Moscow to Makhachkala (via Astrakhan, and further on to Baku) is safe and not really busy. There are numerous buses and minivans running from Makhachkala to Derbent and other cities and towns of the Republic, except for mountainous regions.