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1. Buy tickets online. For some tourist attractions, such as the Kremlin, it is imperative
to buy advance tickets online, at least during the summer, because otherwise you
will waste a lot of time doing lines. In the itinerary I will explain what these attractions
are and I’ll put a link to other articles that explain in detail how to buy tickets
online. In Moscow, there is also the Moscow CityPass tourist card, which gives
access to many museums and tourist attractions.
2. Museums, cathedrals, parks and shows. Mornings are convenient to reserve
them for museums and cathedral visits since they are subject to schedules and
they usually close in the afternoons. In Moscow, most museums close on Mondays,
except for the Kremlin which closes on Thursdays. Also keep in mind that museums
close one day a month for “sanitary day”. Afternoons must be reserved for visits to
public parks, shopping streets or attending events (such as the Bolshoi Theater).
3. Restaurants. If you are looking for good restaurants to eat in some of them, it is
advisable to book in advance. I will tell you which ones are convenient to book. Some
have their website in English and you can make reservations online, others can also
be booked online through the reservation website http://resto.ru/.
4. Use public transportation. The best way to tour the city is in Metro, but also
combining it with public surface transport (bus, trolleybus or tram). The Moscow
Metro is fast, cheap, safe and comfortable (except during peak hours from 7 to 10 in
the morning and from 4 to 7 in the afternoon). It works from 6 in the morning to 1 in
the morning. It has the disadvantage that, except in the centre, the network of
stations is not very dense and they are often far away from your destination, reason
why it is necessary to walk for a while or do a transfer to the public transport. That
is why I recommend buying and recharging the Troika card, since it is a card that
integrates all the city’s transportation systems, including bicycle, at a very economic
price. On other consideration, taxi is not a recommended means of transport to move
through the city’s center, due to traffic jams.
The itinerary I have prepared is for 5 days, if you have fewer days, simply eliminate the
ones you are least interested in or the parts that seem less interesting. The schedules
are approximate and will depend on the circumstances of each one.
A walk of around 15-30 minutes around Red Square and its surroundings (Revolution
Square, Alexander’s Gardens and Tomb to the Unknown Soldier), will allow you to
situate yourself and admire the beauty of the city centre.
As I assume that you have purchased the ticket online to visit the Kremlin, at about 9:30
or earlier it is advisable to go and redeem the voucher for the final tickets.
10:00 a.m. The Moscow Kremlin (I): the Armoury and
the Diamond Fund
The first visit I recommend to do is to the Kremlin Armoury, a building that houses the
main Russian museum. To visit the Armoury it is highly recommended to buy the ticket
online. You can buy tickets for one of the 4 passes: for 10:00, 12:00, 14:30 or 16:30
(visits are free, not guided). In this itinerary I assume that you have bought for the 10:00
am session. Inside the Armoury you can buy the ticket to visit the famous Diamond
Fund.
Alternative. Another alternative is to visit the Armoury and Cathedral Square in a row,
but keep in mind that it takes around 4 hours and it can get a little heavy, especially
since there are no restaurants inside. In this case, you can take with you some hidden
snack to eat on the way and finish both visits at 14:00 hours to go outside the Kremlin to
eat.
Leaving Alexander’s Gardens and crossing the Red Square, you can go to St. Basil’s
Cathedral, the symbol of the city, despite not being the main cathedral of Moscow, since
this place corresponds to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
Duration of the visit: 1-2 hours to eat and see the GUM Galleries.
Price: the entrance to the mall is free.
Hours: GUM Galleries open every day from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
More information: Shopping in Moscow: from GUM to Izmailovo market
Alternative. Another place to eat near Red Square and in which there is a lot of variety
of restaurants is the Okhotny Ryad Shopping Center, a multi-level underground
shopping mall located under Alexander’s Gardens and next to the Kremlin.
4:00 p.m. The Moscow Kremlin (II): Cathedrals
Square
After lunch, the visit can continue in the Kremlin, specifically in Cathedrals Square.
At this point, you can return to your hotel, rest a bit and continue the visits in the
afternoon. Or, if you prefer, continue with your visit in the direction of the Bolshoi
Theater.
Alternative. Another museum worth visiting is the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts,
Russia’s second most important museum dedicated to European art, only surpassed by
the St. Petersburg Hermitage.
Important: don’t confuse this street with the New Arbat street with several circulation
lanes and near the pedestrian street of Arbat (also called Old Arbat to differentiate it
from the New Arbat).
4:30 p.m. The Moscow Metro
In the afternoon, after strolling down Arbat Street, it is a good time to climb the Moscow
Metro and see some of the most beautiful stations. The Moscow Metro is the best
system to get around the city and it’s also a tourist attraction for the beauty of many of
its stations. The Metro is safe but you have to keep your wallet well secured, especially
when you get on very crowded trains.
I recommend taking the Metro at Arbatskaya station (at the beginning of Arbat Street,
east) to visit this spectacular Metro station first. From Arbatskaya station, take line 3
(the darker blue one) to the center of the city and stop at the station of the Revolution
Square (Ploshchad Revolyutsii), one of the most famous of the Moscow Metro (in one of
the bronze sculptures there’s a dog that accompanies a border guard, it is said that if
you rub the dog’s nose it brings you good luck).
Take line 3 again and stop at the next station, then you can go see Kurskaya station
(and its World War II Hall of Fame). From Kurskaya station (which is already on line 5 of
the metro), you can make a circular tour around Moscow in the reverse direction of the
clock, stopping at the stations of:
Komsomolskaya, with its impressive mosaic murals of glorious Russian victories.
Prospekt Mira
Novoslobodskaya
Kyevskaya
And finish the trip in Park Cultury, to go outside and go to Gorky Park in Moscow
(next stop of the tour).
The schedules are variable, it is best to check their website, but during the week there is
usually a departure at 7:30pm and another at 9:00pm from the Gorky Park pier. The
boats don’t have stops and they finish their journey in Gorky Park.
Depending on whether you are in first class or in tourist class, prices can range from
700 to 2,000 rubles per person. If you want to eat or dine on the boat, this is an
additional cost. Audioguides are offered on the boat at no additional cost, both in
English and Russian.
On the outside of this convent there is a small lake, not very clean, which is the famous
Swan Lake, immortalized by Tchaikovsky. From here you can see the financial district
of Moscow City with its tall skyscrapers.
Duration: 2 hours
Price: entrance to the monastery costs 300 rubles. The entrance to the cemetery is
free.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 17:00 p.m.
More information: Novodevichy Convent (and cemetery), one of my favorite places
in Moscow
In the surroundings of the Monastery there are several restaurants with elaborate
cuisine: Givisatsivi, Khinkalnaya (Georgian food) or the Golubka restaurant (Italian and
Russian food). If you prefer, you can also eat at a Russian fast food establishment such
as Kroshka Kartoshka.
To get to this hill from the Novodevichy Monastery, you have several possibilities:
Do it on foot. If you like to walk, the journey on foot is 1 hour, in which you will have
the opportunity to see outside the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, a sports complex
served as Olympic Village for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
Use the Metro. The Metro ride takes about 45 minutes: 10 minutes to get to the
Sportifnaya station, take line 1 to Vorobyovy Gory (5 minutes) and again walk about
30 minutes crossing the Moskva river bridge and walking through Sparrow Hills park
to the highest area (around 85 meters high).
Go in bus. You can also take the bus or trolleybus to get there, though it also
involves walking for at least 30 minutes.
Duration of the visit: the visit lasts about 15 minutes, but to this time you have to
add the line to be done.
Price: free.
Opening hours: The Mausoleum is open only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
More information: The free visit to the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow
11:30 a.m. Bunker-42 or Cold War Museum
Bunker 42 was built during the Cold War as a place capable to withstand a nuclear
attack and control the missiles. Located in the Moscow neighborhood of Taganskaya, it
is located about 65 meters underground (18 floors) and built under a building so it had
to go unnoticed and with access to two metro stations, in case you had to flee. The
place was auctioned and currently in private hands, it has become the Cold War
Museum. Different theme tours are organized. In the museum you can find interactive
games, a restaurant, conference rooms, etc.
Duration of the visit: about 2 hours.
Price: from 1,800 rubles, with guided tours (in English) that last around an hour and
a half. You can buy tickets in the bunker itself or also make a phone reservation in
advance, or through the website.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
To note: you must go down and then up 18 floors by foot, it is the museum with the
most expensive entrance and guided tours are in English or Russian.
Guided tours: Bunker-42 Tour with Skip-the-Line
Taganskaya Metro Station is the closest to this museum. Inside the bunker there is a
restaurant, the Banket Bunker 42, and it’s worth checking out to see it.
3:00 p.m. Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
After lunch, it is time to take the Metro and go to the Museum of Cosmonautics,
dedicated to Soviet space exploration. It is located at the base of the Monument to the
Conquerors of Space, a 107 meters high obelisk, inaugurated on October 4, 1964,
coinciding with the seventh anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, and which represents
a long column of smoke that a space rocket leaves.
From Taganskaya Station, take line 5 of the Metro and get off at Prospekt Mira to take
line 6 of the Metro to the VDNHa station.
In this market there are also some curious museums such as vodka, the bread or the
chocolate museum, among others. The best days to visit this market, in which there
is more competition and sellers, is on weekends (from Friday to Sunday).
To get to this market from the Museum of Cosmonautics, you can take the bus number
311 or tram number 11 (it takes about 50 minutes) to the museum exit.
You can spend about 3 hours to visit this space and eat in the area. You can get to the
park by stopping at the Kolomenskaya Metro station, go all the way from north to south
visiting its main attractions and returning from the subway stop to the south,
Kashirskaya.
You can find more information about the schedules of the different buildings and
expositions at this park is in its official website: http://mgomz.com/.
7:00 p.m. A night at the opera: the Bolshoi Theater
and the Novaya Opera
I think the best way to say goodbye to Moscow is by attending a ballet or opera
performance at the Bolshoi Theater.
After the opera, a good option is to dine at the Bolshoi restaurant, of typical Russian
food, in which if you present the opera entrance of the day, you can get a 10% discount
(reservation can be made from its website). I also recommend later seeing the Red
Square illuminated at night.
Important. The Bolshoi season begins throughout the month of September and ends at
the end of July. Therefore, in August, when most people travel to Moscow, there are no
representations. In these cases you also have other very good alternatives:
Also worth mentioning is Suzdal, perhaps the most fascinating and charming city of the
ring, but further away from Moscow
Detailed information for excursions to the Golden Ring in this article: The Golden Ring
of Russia: from Sergiyev Posad to Suzdal
Star City
Another excellent alternative is to make a visit to Star City, the training center
where Russian cosmonauts were trained to be the first to get to space. It is located
about 40 kilometers northeast of the city of Moscow. This small town didn’t appear in
past decades on any map, since it was a secret and restricted place, as it was the
training base for Russian cosmonauts during the Cold War era.
It is already possible to visit it by means of a special permission. During the tour you will
see a full-scale model of the MIR space station, the largest centrifugal machine in the
world (which reproduces the G force that the cosmonauts experience during each of the
phases of space flight) or the hydro-laboratory to simulate space weightlessness.
More detailed information in this article: Star City Moscow, where the cosmonauts live –
What to see inside?