Moscow: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Everything began on this hill above the Moskva River: a wooden fort in the 12th century, the red-brick walls of the Kremlin by 1495, and the square of markets outside them. This walk starts inside the walls, crosses Red Square and ends in Kitay-gorod, the old merchant quarter behind it. Allow about four hours with the Kremlin visit; the Kremlin closes on Thursdays, and bags are checked at every entrance.
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A short history of Moscow
Moscow is first mentioned in 1147, when Prince Yuri Dolgoruky invited an ally there for a feast. In the 14th century the Principality of Moscow rose above the other Russian principalities, and in the 1480s and 1490s the red Kremlin walls that stand today were built. In 1712 Peter the Great moved the capital to St Petersburg, and in 1812, when Napoleon entered the city, it burned almost entirely. In 1918 the Bolsheviks moved the capital back. In 1935 its metro opened, with stations built like palaces, and in the Second World War the German army was halted on its outskirts.
The ten best sights in Moscow
1Moscow KremlinBuy the cathedrals ticket online; the Armoury needs its own timed ticket
2St Basil's CathedralInside it is a maze of small painted chapels, not one big hall — worth the ticket
3State Historical MuseumThe red-brick building closing Red Square; Russian history from the Stone Age to the tsars
4Tretyakov GalleryThe place to see Russian painting, from icons to Repin; closed on Mondays
5Pushkin Museum of Fine ArtsEuropean art and Impressionists; tickets for the main building and the modern wing are separate
6Bolshoi TheatreTickets sell out weeks ahead; buy only on the theatre's own site
7Cathedral of Christ the SaviourWalk out onto the footbridge behind it for the classic view of the Kremlin
8Novodevichy ConventNext door is the cemetery where Chekhov, Gogol and Yeltsin lie
9Moscow Choral SynagogueThe city's main synagogue, a short walk from Red Square; bring a passport for security
10Jewish Museum and Tolerance CenterRussian Jewish history told with films and interactive screens; give it at least two hours
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Moscow →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Moscow:
Free walking tours in Moscow
The heart of Moscow
Everything began on this hill above the Moskva River: a wooden fort in the 12th century, the red-brick walls of the Kremlin by 1495, and the square of markets outside them. This walk starts inside the walls, crosses Red Square and ends in Kitay-gorod, the old merchant quarter behind it. Allow about four hours with the Kremlin visit; the Kremlin closes on Thursdays, and bags are checked at every entrance.
- Tsar Bell · Cast in 1735, it is the largest bell in the world at about 200 tonnes, and it has never rung. During a fire in 1737 cold water was thrown onto the hot metal, and an 11-tonne piece cracked off; it sits beside the bell to this day.
- Red Square · The name has nothing to do with communism or the red walls: in old Russian krasnaya meant beautiful. Lenin's embalmed body still lies in the low granite mausoleum against the Kremlin wall.
- St Basil's Cathedral · Ivan the Terrible built it in 1555–1561 to mark his capture of Kazan in 1552 — the next big stop on this railway journey. The story that he blinded the architects so they could never build anything as beautiful is a legend with no evidence behind it.
- GUM · It opened in 1893 as the Upper Trading Rows, with a glass and steel roof designed by the engineer Vladimir Shukhov. Under Stalin part of the building was turned into offices; today it is a shopping arcade again.
- Zaryadye Park · The park opened in 2017 on the site of the Rossiya Hotel, once one of the largest hotels in the world, which was demolished in 2006. Its V-shaped bridge juts about 70 metres out over the river with no support underneath.
- Moscow Choral Synagogue · The building was finished in 1891, the year Jews were expelled from Moscow, and the authorities did not let it open as a synagogue until 1906. In 1948 Golda Meir, Israel's first envoy to the Soviet Union, came here for the High Holidays, and tens of thousands of Jews filled the street outside to see her.
Stations and Soviet palaces
The Trans-Siberian begins at a square in north-east Moscow where three railway stations face each other, and under them runs one of the most lavish metro stations ever built. This route goes from the stations into the metro and out to VDNKh, the exhibition park where the Soviet Union showed off its achievements. Use the metro between stops; a single ride costs well under the price of a coffee, and a Troika card saves queuing. Give it half a day.
- Yaroslavsky Station · This is the western end of the Trans-Siberian Railway, about 9,300 km from Vladivostok. Fyodor Schechtel designed the building in 1902–1904 in a fairy-tale Russian style, as a gateway to the north and to Siberia.
- Kazansky Station · Alexey Shchusev, who later designed Lenin's mausoleum, modelled its tower on the Söyembikä Tower in the Kazan Kremlin. So the first thing you see of Kazan is here in Moscow.
- Komsomolskaya Metro Station · Opened in 1952, the ring-line hall has a yellow baroque ceiling with mosaics by Pavel Korin of Russian military heroes from Alexander Nevsky to the Second World War. It was built under the three stations to carry the crowds of arriving travellers.
- Mayakovskaya Metro Station · Look up into the small domes: the mosaics, designed by Alexander Deyneka, show a day of Soviet sky full of planes and parachutists. On 6 November 1941, with the German army close to Moscow, Stalin gave a speech on this platform.
- VDNKh · It opened in 1939 as the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition. The Friendship of Nations fountain has 16 gilded women in national dress, one for each Soviet republic of the time.
- Worker and Kolkhoz Woman · Vera Mukhina made the stainless-steel pair for the Soviet pavilion at the 1937 Paris World Fair, where it faced the pavilion of Nazi Germany. Russians know it from the opening logo of the Mosfilm studio.
Art along the river
South and west of the Kremlin the Moskva River bends past the city's great collections of art, a park built for the Soviet citizen and a convent older than St Petersburg. This route crosses the river twice and ends at Novodevichy, where many famous Russians are buried. The distances are long, so use the metro for the last stretch. Museums close on Mondays; take a whole day.
- Tretyakov Gallery · The merchant Pavel Tretyakov bought Russian paintings for decades and gave his whole collection to the city in 1892. The fairy-tale façade was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov.
- Muzeon Park · When the Soviet Union fell, toppled statues were brought here — among them the statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the secret police, pulled down outside the KGB headquarters in August 1991. Stalins and Lenins now stand among the trees.
- Gorky Park · It opened in 1928 as a park of culture and rest, meant to show what a socialist leisure day should look like. Today it is simply where Moscow goes to cycle, skate and sit by the river.
- Cathedral of Christ the Saviour · The first cathedral, built to thank God for the defeat of Napoleon in 1812, was blown up on Stalin's orders in 1931. For decades the site held a huge open-air swimming pool; the copy you see was consecrated in 2000.
- Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts · The museum opened in 1912 thanks to the professor Ivan Tsvetaev, the father of the poet Marina Tsvetaeva. It began as a collection of plaster casts of classical sculpture for students, and the casts are still on show.
- Novodevichy Convent · Grand Prince Vasily III founded it in 1524 to celebrate taking Smolensk. Peter the Great locked his half-sister Sophia here after she tried to keep power, and the whole ensemble is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Getting to Moscow and getting around
- Sheremetyevo Airport · The main international airport, about 30 km north; the Aeroexpress train runs to Belorussky station
- Yaroslavsky Station · Kilometre zero of the Trans-Siberian: the trains to Siberia and Vladivostok leave from here
- Kazansky Station · Across the square from Yaroslavsky; many trains to Kazan leave from here, so check which station is on the ticket
Cheap eats in Moscow
Moscow eats fast and cheaply in three ways: the stolovaya, the self-service canteen with trays; the blini stand, where thin pancakes are folded around anything from sour cream to salmon; and the Central Asian kitchens, where plov and samsa came with the workers from Uzbekistan. Pelmeni, small meat dumplings with sour cream, are the dish to try at least once. Prices are in roubles, and foreign bank cards usually do not work, so carry cash.
- Stolovaya No. 57 · Tray canteen on the top floor of GUM; a full lunch about 600-900 roubles
- Teremok · Blini chain, made to order; a filled blin about 250-450 roubles
- Varenichnaya No. 1 · Pelmeni and vareniki in Soviet-flat décor off the Arbat; a plate about 400-700 roubles
- Depo · Food hall with dozens of stalls; most dishes 400-900 roubles
- Danilovsky Market · Plov, Dagestani pies and fresh juices; a meal about 500-800 roubles
- Grabli · Self-service Russian buffet on Novy Arbat; a lunch about 500-800 roubles
Museums in Moscow
- Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center · Russian Jewish history told interactively; give it at least two hours
- Tretyakov Gallery · Icons, Repin and Vasnetsov; the core of Russian painting
- Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts · European masters and Impressionists; check which building holds what
- State Historical Museum · Russian history in one red building on Red Square
- Garage Museum of Contemporary Art · Contemporary art in a Soviet café building in Gorky Park
Nature and day trips near Moscow
- Zaryadye Park · Russian landscapes in miniature and a bridge over the river
- Gorky Park · Riverside paths and lawns; bike hire at the gates
- Sparrow Hills · Forest paths along the river below the city viewpoint
- Kolomenskoye · Apple orchards and a white church on a bluff over the river
- Tsaritsyno · Ponds, woods and a pseudo-Gothic palace; an easy half day
Things to do in Moscow with kids
- Moscow Zoo · In the city centre; the polar bears and the pedestrian bridge over the road
- Moskvarium · Big aquarium at VDNKh with a marine-mammal show
- Moscow Planetarium · Dome shows and a hands-on science hall
- Nikulin Circus · Classic Russian circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard; book ahead
- VDNKh · Space pavilion, fountains and rides; space to run
Where to eat in Moscow
- Café Pushkin · Old-Russian dining in a mansion-style house; dress up and book
- Dr. Zhivago · Russian classics facing the Kremlin, open late
- White Rabbit · Modern Russian cooking under a glass dome on the top floor
- Uzbekistan · Plov, lagman and lamb from the grill in an oriental hall
Frequently asked questions about Moscow
What is there to see in Moscow?
The top sights in Moscow are Moscow Kremlin, St Basil's Cathedral and State Historical Museum. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Moscow?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Moscow without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Moscow?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Moscow, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The heart of Moscow.
How do you get to Moscow and get around?
The main ways are Sheremetyevo Airport, Yaroslavsky Station and Kazansky Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Moscow, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Moscow that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Moscow for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.