Moscow

Moscow is the capital of Russia with a population of 15 million people and also the most expensive Russian city which impresses everybody with its size and liveliness.

It is a city with more than 870 years of history where 15th century architecture meets Soviet monumental buildings.

Moscow’s style is very chaotic, it is a mix of époques which don’t suit each other. It is not acity you will love at first sight. First you need to understand it and then you will love it. The city gives many possibilities for its guests to get to know it better: museums, parks, modern galleries, theatres are open to the public. The best period to explore it is June-September when the business activity decreases and hotels offer adequate prices.

How can you get there?

Moscow has air connection with the whole world. There are several airports around the city: Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo. Each of them has an Aeroexpress connection with the city. You can easily come from the airport to the central railway terminals which are connected with metro lines and reach any place you need in the city.

Aeroexpress connects Sheremetyevo with Belorussky railway terminal, Domodedovo with Paveletsky railway terminal, and Vnukovo with Kievsky railway terminal.

Moscow is a good starting point for travelling to other cities, primarily to St.Petersburg.

Time zone

GMT + 03:00, Russia doesn’t have daylight saving time.

Time difference with Europe, where clocks are adjusted forward on the 26 of March and backward on the 29 of October, is 2 hours in winter and 1 hour in summer.

Moscow time is the point of reference for all other time zones of Russia. The use of Moscow time in transport and communications was established by a government decree of January 8, 1992

Excursions and activities in Moscow

The Kremlin and the Armory

The Kremlin is the heart of Moscow, the origin of Russian statehood and the most visited tourist attraction in Moscow. The Russian President Residence and the largest acting castle (by territory) in Europe has absorbed the mix of medieval history, unique architecture, Orthodox religion, Tsars and Soviet heritage, Imperial treasures and many others.

During the guided tour you will have an opportunity to enjoy the historical monuments, such as the Great Kremlin Palace and the Arsenal building, see the trophy weapons of the war of 1812 and admire the cathedrals on the territory of the Kremlin. You will be offered a detailed acquaintance with the beautiful Arkhangelsky, Uspensky and Annunciation cathedrals. You’ll see the Tsar Bell and Tsar Cannon.

You can make your Kremlin visit more informative and beautiful by visiting the Armory. The Armory is one of the oldest museums in Russia (est. in 1851). The Armory Chamber named after one of the oldest Kremlin’s treasure houses was designed and built as a part of the Grand Kremlin Palace. The museum’s unique collection of decorations and appliances consists of valuable items that have been preserved for centuries in the tsars’ treasury and the patriarch’s vestry. Some of the exhibits were made in the Kremlin’s workshops, others were accepted as ambassadorial gifts.

The Tretyakov gallery and walk to Red October

The Tretyakov Gallery is the largest museum of Russian art in the world. The museum represents the whole history of Russian art from the ancient period until now. Its superb collection consists of numerous icons, paintings, sculptures and graphics. The museum is housed in Tretyakov’s former house, the main facade of which, designed by the famous Russian artist V.M. Vasnetsov, was constructed in 1902-1904. The Tretiakov Gallery boasts 62 halls packed with artistic items. The most unique collections of the museum are the Collection of Russian Art of the 9th-10th centuries and the Collection of Soviet Art of 1930-1980.

After the guided tour around the halls of the gallery we suggest that you should take a walk in the so-called “Zamoskvorechye” area, where you can feel the atmosphere of old Moscow, then cross the bridge and get to one of the modern and fashionable places in Moscow — “Red October”. This is a unique art cluster on the territory of an ex-chocolate factory. Galleries of contemporary art, exhibition centers, clubs, and restaurants are gathered there. There you will have a chance to buy sweets of the famous Moscow brand “Red October”, as the factory successfully produces them, but at a new place.

Kolomenskoye museum-estate

Kolomenskoye is a picturesque park on the bank of the Moskva river and a place for folklore festivals. It is also a State Historical, Architectural and Natural Landscape Museum-Estate. The complex consists of 17 monuments, 12 of them are remains of the architectural ensemble of the royal estates of the XVI-XIX centuries, 4 monuments are wooden buildings brought from various regions of Russia

Kolomenskoye was the favorite residence of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. He built a huge palace with 270 rooms. Alexey Mikhailovich’s palace in Kolomenskoye was called the eighth wonder of the world. But this miracle existed for only 100 years. According to the drawings made in 1767, it was demolished. However, the palace has been rebuilt, and now it is available to everyone.

The house of Tsar Peter the First was brought from Arkhangelsk. Nowadays the interiors are reconstructed and the museum is open to the public.

In the estate of the bee-keeper you can get acquainted with the life and activities of Russian bee-keepers of the late XIX — early XX centuries. There is a wooden house there with living rooms and utility rooms, a private garden with the apiary itself.

Gorky park

Gorky park is the one of the best recreational places in the city. Nowadays Gorky Park is the central park of Moscow, and it is attended by more than 20 thousand people on weekdays and more than 100 thousand on weekends and holidays. Since 2011 Gorky Park became the first world-class amusement park in Russia with space for rest, sports, dancing and playing games outside. The entrance is free, there is also wi-fi coverage, newly designed recreational zones. All of this made Gorky Park a true center of city life, the point of attraction for youth and families.

Museum of contemporary art called Garage.

Founded in 2008 by Dasha Zhukova and Roman Abramovich, Garage is the first philanthropic institution in Russia to create a comprehensive public mandate for contemporary art.

The Museum’s extensive program of exhibitions, events, education, research, and publishing reflects current developments in Russian and international culture. Central to these activities is the Museum’s collection, which is the only public archive in the country related to the development of Russian contemporary art from the 1950s through to the present.

The Kremlin in Izmailovo

Is it the answer to the question: Where can you buy a Matreshka?

The beautiful renovated Kremlin (“fortress”) in Izmaylovo surrounded by the flea market area, which is packed with art, handmade crafts, antiques and just about anything you might want for a souvenir. We also recommend to visit The Vodka Museum that presents the long history of Russia’s national drink. Tastings are available.

«Kremlin in Izmailovo» is an amazing architecture and friendly atmosphere of the Russian monastery!

Sergiev Posad and the Trinity Monastery of St.Sergius

Sergiev Posad is a colorful and a truly Russian town located 73 km away from Moscow. It is famous for its spectacular fortress monastery, the Trinity Monastery of Saint Sergius, which is an important center of Orthodox Christianity. Icon painters Andrey Rublev and Daniel Chorny worked there decorating the main church of the monastery, the Trinity Cathedral, with frescoes.

Just outside the monastery walls there is the small bazaar, where one can see and even buy the works of arts and crafts, such as Matryoshka dolls, lacquer boxes or wooden toys known as trinity toys. Nowadays Sergiev Posad houses the Toy Museum. It was transferred there from Moscow in 1921.

The suburbs of Sergiev Posad are very picturesque. On your way from Sergiev Posad you will see some typical Russian nature: birch forests, green hills, small villages and quiet rivers.

We suggest that you should try a Russian cuisine lunch in one of the best restaurants “Russky dvorik”

Borsh, pancakes, caviar and vodka in the interior of Russian wooden house will give you unforgettable memories.

Zaryadye park

Zaryadye is a new park built in the city center near the Kremlin and the Red Square.

It is regarded as a city landmark, a key object of modern Moscow and an outstanding park of the national scale. On the territory of the park the 16th century’s heritage objects coexist with innovative architecture and high-tech attractions. So, from the Floating Bridge — a concrete console with a length of 70 meters — there are panoramic views of the Kremlin, the embankment and the park itself. The «Glass Crust» building, capable of creating its own microclimate, hides the amphitheater and the garden of heat-loving plants from the weather. The Philharmonic is one of the most modern music venues in the world.

«Ice Cave», where a constant minus temperature is maintained, brings visitors into the atmosphere of the Far North. The Museum of Nature sounds offers a new way of feeling the world around you. The Underground museum tells about the history of the place.

We recommend you to put on comfortable walking shoes or boots without heels due to the special paths of the park.

Metro: past and present

The Moscow Metro is known by the rich decorations of many stations with samples of art of socialist realism. Moscow metro stations are also called «underground palaces of Moscow», they are famous for magnificent palace halls. The underground complexes are decorated with statues and reliefs, monumental and decorative compositions: paintings, mosaics and stained glasses, created by the leading artists of the country. Stations «Pushkinskaya», «Revolution Square» with their 76 bronze sculptures, «Kropotkinskaya», «Komsomolskaya-Koltsevaya» with their mosaics, «Novoslobodskaya» and others are among the most interesting monuments of architecture of 1930-1950’s. There are stations which are 80 years old in the center, and there are ones younger than a year in the suburbs.

We recommend to choose proper afternoon hours for visiting to avoid crowds in the rush-hour.

Ask the guide if you can still take the Moscow Monorail. It is a single line located in the North-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow and built completely above the ground. Technically it is not connected to metro lines. On metro schemes it is marked as a thin blue line and the number 13. It consists of 6 stations among them is “Telecenter” and famous “VVC”.

At the moment it hardly serves as a means of public transport and works in excursion regime from 08:00 to 20:00, trains go every half an hour. Number 13 gave it bad luck; soon it will be disassembled as an unprofitable project. The Moscow government has a new idea of an above-the-ground metro, just follow the news.

Mikhail Bulgakov’s museum and Patriarch’s ponds

The museum was opened in 2007 by the Moscow government. It is the place in Moscow, where the writer created his stories. The flat was described in “The Master and Margarita” novel. It is known as a nice and atmospheric place. It is also a pleasure to walk in the area of Patriarsh’s ponds near the museum. The Ponds are one of the main locations, where the action in Mikhail Bulgakov‘s novel “The Master and Margarita” takes place. The monument to Bulgakov has been built near the pond. The area is a fashionable part of Moscow, there are some nice restaurants there.

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is a museum complex that currently has the largest world art collections from Ancient Egypt and Greece to our days. Today the collection of the museum consists of around 700 000 art works of different epochs. The jewel of the collection is French art of the XIX – XX centuries in one of the most famous collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in the world.
The museum was founded in 1912. It is located in the historical center of Moscow, not far from the Kremlin. Each year The Pushkin Museum presents world-class exhibitions to the public.

The Sanduny Bath House

The Sanduny Bath House is an object of national pride in Moscow city. It is the oldest public bath house in Russia. Both authentic Russian Bath House traditions and the interior decorations of these bath houses are kept identical to the historical ones that are dated back to 1896 and were designed by B. Freidenberg, an architect from Vienna, Austria.
Nowadays, The Sanduny Bath House is a unique recreational center that can satisfy all the demands of any customer.

There are three bath departments for gentlemen and two for ladies, each of them has spacious lounge zones, swimming pools and classical Russian steam rooms, private rooms with 8 separated bath house areas and Jacuzzi; they are distinguished by authentic Russian style decorations including a traditional Russian stove. There is a restaurant with Russian, Uzbek and Chinese cuisine.

The great history and museum-like interiors as well as the variety and the highest level of services make The Sanduny Bath House a unique monument of purity and hospitality.

If you just want a tour around this unique place without bathing, we can provide an excursion inside the Bath House.