Moscow: Things To Do

Dear lilioftheworld.com reader, here is Lili, your co-editor. Today we travel to the capital of one of the biggest countries in the world and the largest city on the European continent. Yes, it is Moscow. In the lines below we will give you our suggestion on how to spend a weekend in this wonderful place. The time isn’t enough for this huge city, but we give you the essential things to do. We went there in the beginning of September 2019. Moscow hasn’t been on the top of our bucket list, but we always wanted to see the Red Square and Kremlin. We were lucky to visit Moscow during the 872 celebration of Moscow City Day (the 7th and 8th of September).

I’ve heard many things about Moscow before going there. It is a big city with heavy traffic, it is very crowded, extremely expensive, but also beautiful. Some of these things turned out to be true, but others I cannot agree with. Below I will explain why.

Lili’s 5 good-to-know things when traveling to Moscow:

• Airport

Moscow has three international airports- Sheremetyevo (SVO), Domodedovo (DME) and Vnukovo (VKO). Check carefully which one you are landing at and how do you get to the city from there. As I had not prepared anything for this trip (this time I left the whole organization to Dimo), I was surprised when he told me that the airport we landed at, Domodedovo, is 50 km away from the city. As we were arriving late on a Friday evening, there was no public transport. I was quite worried about what would be the taxi price for a city which everyone says is very expensive! The taxi charged us only €25 for these 50 km, during the night. I say “only €25”, because the taxi from Hamburg airport (which is in the city) to where I live is usually €30 (around 12 km).

On our way back to the airport, we took a taxi which took us there for €12 (it was during the day). In the next point I will tell you which taxi company we used.

• Transportation

The Moscow city is really big. There are around 15 mln people who live there. It is normal that the traffic is a bit busy. However, you have a good subway network which can get you to many parts of the city. We used it several times as many roads were closed because of the Moscow Day celebrations. You can buy single tickets, but there is also an option to buy a re-chargable card (Тройка card). The ride price is deducted directly from your card’s credit. There is a deposit for the card- ₽50 which you can take back once you finish your Moscow visit. For a single ride, we paid around €0.5. Remember that I shared that many friends were telling us how expensive Moscow is. Com’on, the ticket in Sofia costs €0.8 and there cannot be any comparison between the two cities. Here is a link to the Moscow Subway Website where you can find information about timetables and fares. 

Another reason to try the subway are the stations. They are like art galleries. More about this below in the part “Moscow things to do”.

Otherwise we used the local equivalent of Uber- Yandex. You can download the app before you go to Moscow. Keep in mind that some European credit cards have restrictions, but you can still pay cash for all rides (what we had to do). We used Yandex for many of our rides within the city (including those from and to the airport). Internet connection isn’t an issue as big part of the city center is covered by free wi-fi.

• Currency 

The Russian currency is Ruble and its symbol is ₽. By the time we visited Moscow, the exchange rate was ₽70 for €1. You could either withdraw money from the airport or if possible, bring some with you from your home country.

• Language

The local language is Russian. It is a Slavic language and almost everything is written in Cyrlic. For us (Bulgaria is from the same language family) this was an advantage and even made us feel like at home. However, this can be a challenge for people who don’t have knowledge of a Slavic language. Many Moscow citizens speak English, but still it would be better if you have a dictionary for some basic expressions. Simple example- at one of the subway stations there was a booth with a sign that they speak English. Guess whether this was the case 🙂

• Wi-fi

There are many places in central Moscow where you can connect to wi-fi. One specific thing is that you need to provide your mobile number to log-in. They send you an sms or give you a call with a code you need to enter. This was valid for every single network we connected to. So do not panic, it is not a scum :-). 

Before proceeding with the list of Moscow things to do, I just wanted to say a few words for the hotel. As we had only two nights, the key criteria was the location- it should have been on a walking distance to the city center. Here is another proof that Moscow isn’t that expensive (if you visit it for a couple of days). We booked a decent hotel (Hotel Loft 11) for €70 for the two nights (including breakfast). There are many cities in Europe where you cannot get a single night for this amount. So, enough with the myth about how expensive Moscow is.

Moscow things to do:

As hinted in the beginning two days are not enough to see everything. That is why we just focused on the city center and tried to feel the spirit of the Russian culture.

• Enter St Basil’s Cathedral (Храм Василия Блажениго)

I start with this one as this was my priority among all Moscow things to do. Not exactly to enter inside, but to see it from the outside. St Basil’s Cathedral is located next to the Red Square and initially consisted of eight churches arranged around a ninth, central church of Intercession. A tenth church appeared in 1588 over the grave of venerated local saint Vasily (Basil).

I have seen so many photos of this non-standard, colorful  Cathedral. As with many top places of interest in the world, I thought it will be busy and packed with people around. Nothing like this. We passed it by twice- during the night and also at daytime- there weren’t many people at all. There is high chance that you can make a beautiful photo of this wonderful place.

We also entered inside the Cathedral. The ticket at this time of the year was cheaper- €10.

If I have to be honest the inner part isn’t as impressive as the outer. However, if you have more time to get all the stories from the guides, it might be worth.

• Take a photo at the Red Square

The origin of the name of the square is quite interesting. “The name Red Square originally had little to do with the pigment of the surrounding bricks (which, in fact, were whitewashed at certain periods) or with the link between the colour red and communism much later. Rather, the name came about because the Russian word красная (krasnaya), which means “red” is related to the word красивая (‘krasivaya’) meaning “beautiful”. This name referred to a small area between St. Basil’s Cathedral, the Spassky Tower of the Kremlin, and the herald’s platform called Lobnoe Mesto. Contrary to the common misconception, it actually never was a place of execution. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich officially extended the name to the entire square. The square was previously been called Pozhar, or “burnt-out place”, in reference to the fact that several buildings had to be burned down to make place for the square”.

Due to their inextricable links to Russian history,  the Kremlin and Red Square were together recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.

• Walk in Park Zaryad’ye (Парк Зарядье)

Just next to the St Basil’s Cathedral you can walk in a small park. Zaryadye Park looks very new and it is. It was opened two years ago and is the first public park in Moscow for the last 60 years.  It was built on the site of the former Rossiya Hotel.

The park has two interesting parts for me. One is a small hill from where you get a nice view to the St Basil’s Cathedral. The other is a platform going over Moskva river. Due to time limitation we could just view one of the things and we chose the hill.

• Take a tour at The Moscow Kremlin (Московский Кремль)

Here came the other surprise. As the Kremlin is one of the most important Moscow landmarks, I expected a long queue to enter inside. On the contrary – there were no queues at the ticket office, nor at the Kremlin entrance. We took the standard ticket (without the Armory chamber) and one audio guide. A couple of minutes later we were inside the Kremlin complex, ready to explore. It was early in the morning and they had just opened for visitors. This helped a lot to avoid the crowds which are most probably coming later.

The Kremlin highlights

The complex is quite big and you need around two hours to walk around. The tour starts with the four cathedrals- Cathedral of the Dormition, Annunciation Cathedral, Cathedral of the Archangel and Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

The audio guide tells you an excessively long story, but it describes in detail every part of the Cathedrals.

Important thing to know is that it is not allowed to take pictures inside them. I did so and a tour guide was a bit angry with me.

Another interesting point is the Tsar Bell. Made of bronze, the bell cracked during a fire after being completed and thus was never in operation.

The giant bell is the largest bell in the world- it weighs more than 200 kg and is around six meters high. The decorations of the bell are relief images of baroque angels, plants, oval medallions with saints and nearly life-size images of Empress Anna and Tsar Alexey.

• Visit the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Госуда́рственный музе́й изобразительных иску́сств и́мени А. С. Пу́шкина)

If you are a museum fan, this is a place you should not miss. During our visit the entrance was free of charge and there was a huge queue in front. Due to time limitation we decided to skip waiting and proceed to the next Moscow thing to do- Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

• Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Храм Христа Спасителя)

A few meters further from the Pushkin Museum you can find Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Currently this is the second tallest Christian Orthodox Church after People’s Salvation Cathedral in Bucharest. This is not the first “design” of the church. It has an interesting history.

Everything started when Napoleon Bonaparte retreated from Moscow. The Tsar at that time signed a manifesto declaring his intention to build a cathedral in honor of Christ the Savior and as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian people. Initially the church had to be at the highest point in Moscow which unfortunately was unstable. The initial design of the church was in a flamboyant Neoclassic full of Freemasonic symbolism.

As the construction took some time, the Tsar was inherited by his brother. The brother had different taste and as they changed the initial place of the church, he used the chance to also change the design. The final look of the church was similar to that of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. 

After WWI, the Soviet Union needed money and as the domes of the church were golden, they took the decision to demolish it and use the gold to cover their financial needs. They restored the church again only in 1990. 

• Shop in GUM (ГУМ)

For us this was definitely travel back in time. We grew up in years when in our country one could feel the influence of the Russian culture. When we were kids, there weren’t many shops where our parents could buy us things (something which you nowadays can experience in Cuba).

GUMs were the big universal stores where you can find things from meat and sweets to confectionery and jewelry. Of course they were highly priced and not many people could afford shopping there.

GUM is nowadays a place where you can find high-end brands, grab a coffee or sit in one of its cafes with a view to the Red Square.

• Take the subway

Moscow subway was another place where we had doubts whether we are in Sofia or in Moscow. The reason is that our metro trains look exactly the same as the ones in Moscow. Most probably we had bought them second hand after they were out of usage in Russia.

But I wanted to talk about something else. The subway stations are famous as the “underground gallery” of Moscow. When researching, I found an interesting blog of a lady who named many interesting stations (she is working in the railway industry and this is her passion). So I will just “steal the list with pride” from her:

• Komsomolskaya, Krasnye vorota, Kropotkinskaya, Vorob’yevy gory: Line 1, red
• Mayakovskaya, Novokuznetskaya, Avtozavodskaya: Line 2, green
• Park Pobedy, Kievskaya, Arbatskaya, Ploschad Revolyutsii, Elektrozavodskaya: Line 3, blue
• Taganskaya, Komsomolskaya, Prospekt mira, Novoslobodskaya, Kievskaya: Line 5, brown
• Pushkinskaya, Kuznetskiy most: Line 7, purple
• Nagatinskaya: Line 9, grey

• Bolshoi Theatre

Ideally you can attend any of the performances which you can find on the link behind it. However, if you do not have time, you can just pass by and admire the monolithic building. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are among the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world.

It is by far the world’s biggest ballet company, with more than 200 dancers. The theater is the parent company of The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a world-famous leading school of ballet.

The next two points you will not find in most guides for Moscow things to do. This comes from our passion for views from above. 

• Have a drink with a view O2 Lounge

As we like rooftop bars and we wanted to see the fireworks for the Moscow city day, we checked the options. Although we did not intend it, we visited two rooftop bars for this weekend. The first one- O2 Lounge, has better view- directly to the Red Square and the Kremlin.

However, they had no free tables for the evening. We decided to have a drink during the day. This bar was expensive, but we expected this. It is at the Ritz Carlton hotel. And if I have to compare it, the drinks were cheaper than its equivalent in Vienna which does not even have a view to the Red Square or a similar landmark 🙂 The atmosphere was peaceful, there weren’t many visitors at this time (although the streets were full of people). Definitely a good place to have a drink and enjoy the view.

• Watch the fireworks from Conservatory Lounge&Bar 

The second rooftop bar we checked with the hope to have free seats for the fireworks was Conservatory Lounge&Bar. It is located in another expensive hotel- Park Hyatt. We were lucky this time and we could get a seat. Although the bar was not cheap, the service and the whole experience were great.

The view of the city is spectacular. If you have time, go there for the sunset. Unfortunately due to traffic, we missed it :-(. The concept of the bar is great- they offer very interesting organic cocktails. I could even take the recipe for the cocktail I ordered from the menu as a postcard memory – this was cute.

The fireworks were spread in different parts of the city. It was not as spectacular as we expected, but still the overal atmosphere and sight made the evening very special for us. 

You won’t be surprised if I tell you that I fell in love with Moscow. It is neither crowded, nor expensive, nor can I complain from the traffic. It is simply beautiful. I cannot wait to go to Saint Petersburg which everyone says is even more interesting than Moscow. 

I hope you enjoyed this mini trip. For more Weekend Escape ideas, just visit the respective section. And if you also want to know how to better plan and manage your weekend trips, we have some tips for you.