Moscow Travel Guide | Tips and Things to Do Itinerary

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Moscow Red Square

 

Things to know about Moscow 💡

  • You have been pronouncing 

  • Russia is the largest country in the world and Moscow is the capital of Russia.

  • Moscow is the largest city in Europe

  • Russia has 9 different time zones 🤯

  • History of Moscow City

    • Tsar rule

    • Soviet Communism

  • We have all been pronouncing the city’s name wrongly all our lives. Apparently, it is pronounced as “Musk-va” in Russian and “Mas-ko,Mass-Cow” in BrE and AmE.

Where to stay? 🏨

  • Moscow is one of the most expensive cities so a tip to save huge amount of money is to not get a hotel in the city center. 

  • Find a hotel on the outskirts of the city with a metro station in a walking distance. Metros are fast and very cheap. 

Public Transport 🚌🚇🚖

  • Taxis are very expensive

  • Uber are cheaper than taxis

  • Best way to travel within the city is by the metro 🚇- it is fast, it is cheap and it looks like a museum. 

  • Ticket costs: 99 Rubles (84 cents)

  • It’s better to have your routes planned to get a one multiple route ticket which is cheaper. 

Best time to visit Moscow

  • Winters get very cold, so the best time to visit Moscow will be in Spring

  • Also, due to the northern location of the city, it gets dark at around 11 pm during the summer months, giving you plenty of daylight at your disposal. 

Google Maps Journeys to follow

I have created a Google Maps walking path and Metro bus rides guide using Google Maps that you can follow to easily cover all the main attraction of Moscow efficiently and conveniently.

 

  • Total Walking Distance: About 6 Kms

  • Total Walking Time: About 1 hour 

  • Total Travel time using Metro/Bus: 2-3 Hours (excluding wait times)

 

  1. Red Square and Kremlin - Walk using this Google Map route - (32 mins, 2.5 km)

  2. Kremlin to Arbat Street - via Metro (19 to 25 Minutes)

  3. Walk from Arbat Street to Cathedral of Christ the Savior & Gorky Park - Walk using this Google Map route - (44 mins, 3.5 km)

  4. Gorky to Kremlin Izmailovo - via Metro (1 hr)

  5. Kremlin Izmailovo to Museum of Cosmonauts - via Metro - (45 min to 1 hr)

What to Eat in Moscow?

  • Find a stolovaya - choose-and-point cafeterias that are remnants of the Soviet times. Very inexpensive and freshly prepared soup, potato, cutlet, fish and juice.

  • Try Blini - paper-thin pancakes stuffed with either meat, sour cream or Chocolate.

 

1. Red Square

Red Square of Moscow

  • Called “Beautiful Square” in Russian. 

  • Moscow’s very heart ♥

  • This is the central square of Moscow, and here you will find most of Moscow’s tourist attractions, namely

    • St. Basil’s Cathedral

    • The Moscow Kremlin


 

2. St. Basil’s Cathedral

St. Basil’s Cathedral Moscow

  • A building so magnificent, that according to legend, Ivan the Terrible had the architect's eyes removed so he could never again build anything so beautiful. (Why these architectural legends end with blood?). Well, the legend is very likely not true because the same architect built another structure a few years later. 

  • Ticket Price: 215 Rubles (5 Eur)

3. GUM

GUM departmental store - moscow

  • Russia’s main departmental store. 

  • Has stunning interior with high end boutiques. 

  • Even if you don’t want to shop, GUM is worth the visit. 

 

4. The Kremlin

The Kremlin in Moscow

  • Kremlin meaning “fortress” is located on the west side of the Red Square - the oldest part of the russian capital. 

  • Inside it has temples, churches, museums and a palace. 

  • One of the icons of Moscow - has been a home to the city’s ruling elite for a thousand years. 

  • Entry hours: 9 am to 10 pm

  • You will need a ticket to enter the Kremlin territory, which is basically just along the Red Square.

  • Ticket price: 315 Rubles (7 Eur)

  • Places to see in The Kremlin

    • Cathedral of the Archangel

    • Cathedral of the Annunciation

    • Ivan the Great’s Bell Tower

    • Alexander Garden

      • Just in front of the Kremlin’s entrance is Alexander Garden - a nice place for a stroll.

      • Named after Alexander I of Russia who ordered its construction after the Napoleonic war. 

      • The park pays tribute to Moscow’s unbreakable spirit. 

      • Home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

5. Arbat Street

Arbat Street Moscow

  • Moscow’s most touristy spot. 

  • Lots of cafes and restaurants, live music performers, souvenir shops and tattoo salons

  • Google Maps Location - From Kremlin to Arbat via Metro (19 to 25 Minutes)

6. Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

  • Located south west of the Kremlin with a walking bridge crossing the Moskva River. It is the tallest Orthodox church in the world and the main church in Russia.

  • History and the story:

    • Built in the 19th Century and construction lasted about 40 years. 

    • After the war of 1812 with Napoleon,  a great monument was planned to be built to commemorate the victory. 

    • The cathedral remained in its place for about 40 years, but in the 1930s (soviet times), Stalin destroyed this church as well as they wanted communism to be the new religion. 

    • Stalin wanted to build a 300m Colossal Palace of the Soviets - a soviet palace with the statue of Lenin at its peak. 

    • World War II happened, so soviets stopped the construction of the Palace of Soviets.

    • After the second world war, Nikita Khrushchev was not as ambitious as Stalin was, and they decided to use the base to construct an open-air swimming pool. They actually built it and it was there for many many years.

    • In 1994, it was decided to reconstruct the Cathedral according to the original blueprint. So this is a brand new cathedral.

  • Opening Hours: 10AM-5PM, 1-5PM on Mondays.

  • Google Maps Location

  • Walk from Arbat Street to Cathedral - Google Maps (1.6 km, 20 mins)

7. Gorky Central Park

Gorky Central Park Moscow

 

8. Kremlin Izmailovo

  • A place filled with wooden houses modelled like fairy tales. 

  • It has Kremlins and a Market with a bunch of Souvenir shops. Cheaper market if you want to buy souvenirs - don’t but from central Moscow.

  • Opening hours: 9AM to 8PM, Market closes at 3PM.

  • Gorky to Kremlin Izmailovo - via Metro (1 hr)

9. Memorial Museum of Cosmonauts

Memorial Museum of Cosmonauts

  • As the cold war between the US and Russia intensified, a different battle began - the race for supremacy of the heavens.

  • Learn more about the space race and the epic contest between the world’s superpowers.

  • Immerse yourself in one of Moscow’s proudest stories that of Yuri Gagarin who shocked the world and became a national hero when he became the first man in space.

  • Opening Hours: 

    • 10AM-7PM

    • open until 9PM on Thu and Sat

    • closed on Mondays.

  • Ticket Price: 200 Rubles (4.5 Eur)

  • Official Website

  • To reach this place, get down at VDNH station at Metro line 3.

  • Google Maps Location

  • Kremlin Izmailovo to Museum of Cosmonauts - via Metro - (45 min to 1 hr)

Other places to Check out in Moscow

10. Moscow City - Downtown 

11. Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve

 

 

 

 

Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve entrance

  • One of the largest museums in Moscow. The only Pseudo-Gothic building in Russia.

  • This tourist attraction of Moscow offers 3 things to tourists

    • A Palace complex

    • A Museum

    • A Park.

  • Former summer residence of empress Catherine The Great.

  • Quick timeline of Tsaritsyno Construction and its history.

    • Commissioned in 1776 by the empress

    • Empress visited in 1785 when the palace was nearly complete. She didn’t like it. She said rooms are too narrow and dark and place is “unlivable”.

    • Ordered the palace to be torn down. (Remnants of original palace are there in the park).

    • Architect (Kazakov) again presented a new architectural plan. Empress Catherine liked it. Kazakov managed the construction of the palace from 1786 to 1796, when construction got interrupted by the death of Empress Catherine.

    • Her successor Emperor Paul I of Russia has no interest in it and the massive structure was abandoned for about 200 years.

    • Completed and majorly reworked in 2007, today Tsaritsyno is a palace museum and a park reserve.

  • Renovated since 1980s to look even brighter than the original with great decorated buildings, forests and meadows - this is a great green getaway in Moscow. 

  • Area: About 247 acres

  • Opening Hours: 11-6PM, closed on Mondays.

  • Ticket Price: 

    • Grand Palace and Bread House - 400 ₽ (7 Eur)

    • Combined ticket (Grand Palace and Bread House, Orangery complex (three orangeries), Middle Palace (Opera House), Third Cavalry Building, Small Palace) - 890 ₽ (13 Eur)

  • Official Website Link

  • Google Maps Location

12. Boat Trip

  • Takes you through the most iconic buildings of Moscow. 

  • Boat ride lasts about 2 hours. 

  • Ticket Price: 600 Rubles (13 Eur)

  • Nearest station: Kievskaya

13. Seven Sisters Building

  • Construction of these skyscrapers of Soviet Baroque architecture with gothic elements began in 1947 and was completed in 1953 during the Stalinist period. 

  • Stalin, in his efforts to modernise Moscow, in order to look more like western cities - used American technology to build these aesthetically controversial building. 

  • Today the Sisters hosts two hotels, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moscow University, Law firms and apartments.

14. Zaryadye Park

  • Moscow’s newest park near the Red Square with most of Moscow’s buildings in your picture background.

  • There used to be the world’s largest hotel over here but it was deconstructed because it went out of business.

 

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