A Week in Moscow: How to Get the Most out of It
A week is enough to get a well-rounded picture of Moscow, its art, architecture, and everyday life.
Moscow is the largest city in Europe, and so it is impossible to see all the sights in seven days, but this guide will help you plan your trip so that you can explore all the most striking facets of the capital: its expressive architecture, rich museum collections, modern art, luxurious mansions, shade-covered parks, family entertainment, and world-class shopping.
Day 1: Discover the Heart of the Capital
It is better to start your visit to the capital with something more formal like taking a photo in Red Square or strolling through the fancy Alexander Garden near the Kremlin Walls, where tickets for a sightseeing tour of the Kremlin are sold. Visit its majestic cathedrals and take a look around the Armoury Chamber, the former treasury of the Russian tsars. You can also visit the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Palace of Facets, but you have to plan this tour in advance.
Sunset is a great time to take a leisurely walk through Zaryadye Park while enjoying a cup of coffee or tea and admiring the city's nighttime reflections in the Moscow River from the Floating Bridge.
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Day 2: Stroll and Take in the Culture
The New Tretyakov Gallery boasts the most complete collection of 20th- and 21st-century Russian paintings in the country, from socialist realism and avant-garde to the severe style and nonconformist art. The Muzeon Park of Arts sprawls out around it, and more than 650 sculptures are arranged along its paths. Also, from the Krymskaya Embankment, you will see a colossal monument to Peter the Great towering over the Moscow River.
Take the passage under Krymsky Val Street to reach the main, historic part of Gorky Park. Fountains and exquisite landscaping, a boat station, children's attractions, and recreation areas — there’s something for everyone. It is worth having lunch or dinner right there in the park, as it has many good cafes and restaurants.
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Day 3: Appreciate Art
Immerse yourself in the dynamic everyday life of contemporary creative expression. The Moscow Contemporary Art Center Winzavod, which hosts conceptual exhibitions, grants you the opportunity to watch artists work in their workshops and open studios. Artplay is a large workshop of architects and designers with many showrooms and concept stores, and a street art museum is located in the courtyard. Hlebozavod is another dynamic cultural space where performances, lectures, exhibitions, and concerts are held.
In the evening, take a look at Arbat, Moscow's main pedestrian street. Listen to street musicians, become a model for a portrait, buy traditional souvenirs, and have a delicious dinner.
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Day 4: Witness True Luxury at a Russian
The quaint estate of Russian nobles is the quintessence of a luxurious summer home: a place for enjoying culturally enriching recreation, doing joyous activities, and connecting with nature. Spend a day in Kuskovo, the quaint estate of the Sheremetevs. You’ll appreciate the interiors and unique collection of portraits in the main palace, and then take a ride in a phaeton along the allées of the French park. Visit the building of the Big Stone Orangery (greenhouse) — where artistic Soviet ceramics are on display — or visit one of the temporary exhibitions in the estate’s pavilions.
You can just have a snack in a cafe, or you can book a gazebo or barbecue area and have a luxurious picnic. In Kuskovo, people also play pétanque and ride boats in the Great Pond, which offers a wonderful view of the park, particularly spectacular at the golden hour of sunset.
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Day 5: A Script for a Rainy Day
The Pushkin Museum's collection spans numerous eras from Ancient Egypt to the early 21st century. It also includes the Gallery of 19th and 20th Century European and American Art, where paintings by French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists are exhibited, as well as the Department of Private Collections. All of this splendour is on one tiny patch of land near the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
After that, it is worth visiting the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA) on Petrovka Street. Its extensive collection is exhibited as part of ever-changing thematic exhibitions, so you can safely go again in a year. Nearby, take a look at the historic building of Petrovsky Passage — both boutiques of famous brands and small shops of local Russian designers await buyers. Nearby, there is another equally famous (and equally expensive) Moscow department store, the four-storey TsUM.
It is worth ending a damp or cold day in a bathhouse. Sandunovskie Baths, or Sanduny, founded in 1808, is a hotspot for banya lovers.
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Day 6: Moskino Cinema Park and Circuses
Moskino Cinema Park in New Moscow is a kind of time machine. Among the many decorations for filming outside and in the pavilions, you will find an unusual background for your photo or video: a Wild West town or an ancient Russian fortress, the streets of Berlin or Moscow from the 1940s. Moskino also has an ultra-modern cinema hall, and it hosts festivals, scavenger hunts, and historical reenactments.
Circus performances are perfect for families. The most famous circus in Russia is on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. At its main staircase, there’s a statue to Yuri Nikulin, the former head of the troupe; make sure to rub his clown nose for good luck. People go to the Moscow State Circus on Vernadsky Prospekt for the tigers and lions. Sealsand an elephant also saunter across the stage, and the country’s best aerial gymnasts soar under the dome.
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Day 7: Some History to Decompress
Poklonnaya Hill was first mentioned in chronicles in the 14th century, and it is now better known as Victory Park. You can simply stroll around it or you can see monuments dedicated to the First World War or the Great Patriotic War and visit the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, one of the largest military history museums in the world. One of the exhibitions is outdoors and includes more than 400 rare items of military equipment. In the summer, the fountains in the park are dramatically illuminated in red in the evenings.
After taking a photo at the Triumphal Arch (a monument to the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812) on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, go to the high-rise buildings of Moscow-City, the business centre of the capital. The highest observation decks are PANORAMA 360 on the 89th floor of the Federation Tower and Only Love is Higher on the roof of the OKO Tower. There are also many restaurants, signature bars, shopping places, entertainment centres for children and adults, and even spa complexes inside Moscow-City.
Once you board a boat at the City-Expocentre pier, you can once again admire the main sights of the city, but from the water this time. In the central water area of the Moscow River, navigation does not stop even in winter.
Another option for a long and educational walk is VDNH with its lushly decorated pavilions from the Soviet era and fountains adorned with statues and mosaics.
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