Visit Moscow – Top 10 reasons to go

In Moscow you can travel through ages just walking through the streets. Diversified architectural styles wait for you at every turn.
To see the beauty of ancient Russian architecture, visit the Kremlin or Kolomenskoe Museum. These places keep the unique Russian style, original and exceptional.
The Moscow estates are good examples of the romantic flavor of the XVIII-XIX century’s architecture.
The Home-museum of M. Gorky is situated in in a luxurious house built by F. Shechtel, well-known Russian architecture at beginning of the XX century. It is a fantastic example of Art-Nouveau style, one of the few saved places from that epoque, open to visitors.
You can find constructivism in architecture, the most striking manifestation of Russian avant-garde, not far from the Arbat Street. The Soviet Empire style can be found on most of the Moscow central avenues and Tverskaya Street. The White Square Business District is a remarkable example of contemporary city building.

-> Read our main article about Art in Moscow

-> We also have MOSCOW ART & DESIGN TOUR, available for you

Moscow has a great amount of exceptional museums and galleries. The State Tretyakov Gallery, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, The Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow Museum of Modern Art and lots of other museums have unique collections and hold remarkable exhibitions.
Lots of Moscow former industrial areas have become interesting cultural spaces, undoubtedly worth visiting. Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Center for Contemporary Art Winzavod, ARTPLAY Center of Design, Flacon Design Factory are the new city meccas of cultural life. You can find here galleries, concept stores, cafes, educational activities and lots of art events – from designer fairs to concerts, exhibitions of Russian and foreign artists.

-> Read our main article about Moscow Theatres

Theatregoers have lots of opportunities to spend a wonderful evening in one of the Moscow theatres. Recently renovated Bolshoi Theatre offers world-famous opera and ballet performances. Malyi Theatre, Lenkom, Satirikon, Moscow Art Theatre have wonderful drama plays. You can enjoy one of the modern theatres, such as Practica Theatre, Theatre.doc or Gogol-center, with their contemporary performances.

-> Read our main article about Moscow Parks

The parks have undoubtedly become the pride of Moscow. These city areas have turned into well groomed nature spots, with enormous amount of things to do for the last few years.
Have a walk, do the sports, play a board game, meet your friends in one of the cafes and restaurants, watch a movie or go to a concert – all these is available in Moscow parks. The Gorky Park, Sokolniki, Fili and also recently opened Zaryadye – are only a small part in the diversity of Moscow green areas.

790 Orthodox churches and chapels and 8 monasteries! Walking through the city center you will see a big amount of beautiful old churches. Practically all Moscow churches and monastic ensembles are functioning. These are unique monuments of Russian architecture. There are significant collections of old paintings and applied arts and the resting place of outstanding figures of Russian and world culture, military and political figures.
Monasteries, built at the borders of the city were often called ‘the guards’. Powerful constructions had defensive purposes, and, in case of danger, the residents could take refuge inside the monastery walls. Some of the Moscow ‘guards’ have survived – Vysokopetrovsky, Rogdestvensky, Sretensky, Novospasskiy, Danilov, Novodevichy monasteries and others. Now the ancient fortress cherish the historical past.

Visitors to Russia are often surprised by the variety and flavors of Russian traditional food. A great many can be described as «divine», and it will have you searching for the recipes when you return home!
Russian cuisine is famous for exotic soups, cabbage schi and solyanka, which is made of assorted meats, pancakes with different fillings, and of course, caviar. Russians are great lovers of pelmeni, small Siberian meat pies boiled in broth.
Of our folk soft drinks, kvass is the best-known. Made of brown bread or malted rye flour, it goes down best on a sultry summer day. If you add it to chopped-up meat and vegetables, you get okroshka, an exquisite cold soup.
There are a lot of restaurants, providing national food. From very budget «Elki-Palki», to numerous luxurious restaurants like «Café Pouchkine». There you can not only taste Russian delicacies, but also plunge into the atmosphere of the XIX century Russia.

Here are the places with splendid views over Moscow:

• «Federation Tower» is a set of two high-rise towers, located in the Moscow City Business District. The 61st floor of the Tower West accommodates the highest restaurant in Moscow – «Sixty».
• The main building of the Moscow State University was built in the years 1949-1953 and its total height is 182 meters, with a spire – 240 meters. On the top floor there is a Museum of Geography with a panoramic view of Moscow.
• The observation deck of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior can be reached only in the excursions. There you can get a really exciting view of the Moscow center.
• The building of the Russian Academy of Science is called «golden brains» due to the original constructions of its roof. It stands on the high riverbank and opens a charming view of the whole Moscow. «Sky Lounge» restaurant is situated on the 21st floor.

-> Learn more about Walking Routes
-> Read our main article about City Tours

The main attractions and the most interesting places in the historic city center are within walking distance. Take a walk in Lavrushinsky Lane, Nikolskaya Street, Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street, Rozhdestvenka Street, Kuznetsky Bridge Street, Kamergersky Lane, Stoleshnikov Lane, Stariy Arbat, Maroseyka or Pyatnitskaya.
If you don’t want to walk by foot take the city bus or river bus tour. You can choose a red open top double-decker bus that will take you around all of the key sites in Moscow. The total length of the tour is about 12 km downtown and has 18 stops around Moscow including the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral, Bolshoi Theater, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, The Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Old Arbat walking street and much more.
To see the whole beauty of Moscow, have a boat trip at the Moskva River. At spring and summer season the variety of boat excursions are really big, you can travel through the center of the city, or go further to see picturesque nature around Moscow.

Night life in Moscow is divisive as everything else. Bars, clubs, concerts, parties – you can find here anything you want and can imagine. We heart Moscow suggests you some really nice places for you not to get lost in all this splendor.

• Simachev Bar is bar-club by the most famous Russian designer, a two-story house in Stoleshnikov Lane. The music and menu are diverse, as well as the audience. A special drink of the bar is cider «Sidor Simachev».
• Strelka Bar is a nice place with a great atmosphere, quality music, and beautiful interior, very popular among hip and intelligent Moscow public. In summer the terrace opens here and the place gives you stunning view of Moscow.
• Noor Bar is one of the famous bars in Moscow. Come here to try marvelous classic cocktails. Bar snacks are also noteworthy. The atmosphere is always positive and benevolent. On Fridays and Saturdays the bar has music DJ sets, and despite rather little area, there are many desirous to dance.
• Propaganda is one of the oldest clubs in Moscow. Opened back in 1997, it can be considered the same age as Moscow club culture. It is still nice and trendy. During the day time you can enjoy fresh homemade pappardelle, sandwiches on focaccia and steaks. In the evening – dances. On Thursdays it holds DJ Sanches dance party and gay parties on Sundays.

If Moscow is not enough for you, take a journey (of several hundred km from Moscow) and find yourself travelling through the «Golden Ring» of Russia. The Golden Ring is a name for several towns located around Moscow: Suzdal, Rostov, Vladimir are among them. If you want to know more about Russia, see old architecture, churches made of white stone, hear the bell-ring, see old fortifications, be ready to go out from Moscow.
The first town of the Golden Ring, is Vladimir, located 179 kilometers to the east from Moscow with 378 thousand people living there. It is an old Russian town, it used to be the capital of Russia in the 12th century. Suzdal is located nearby. It’s an old town, steeped in medieval history, but with little more than 10,000 residents nowadays. Dating back to 990 AD, Suzdal is one of the oldest towns in Russia and the «jewel» of Russia’s history. Today the town is filled with busy churches and monasteries and its streets are lined by colourful traditional wooden houses. Having survived the blight of Soviet town-planning, Suzdal looks much as it did centuries ago and is one of the most popular tourist sights in Russia.
Yaroslavl got its name from Yaroslav Mudry, who founded the town in the beginning of 11th century. Now it is a large industrial city, the biggest along the Golden Ring (630 inhabitants), however it has very interesting history, architecture, and city life.
If you are tired of sightseeing and want to have some rest from Moscow busy life, you can take a breath of wonderful Russian nature, not going too far, and visit one of the nature hotels and spa situated near Moscow. Places like «Fox Lodge», «Zavidovo» or «Yahonty» are a good variant for relaxing rest, with marvelous nature around you and interesting entertainments for you not to get bored.