![Red Square Moscow](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/red-square-moscow-guide.jpg?imwidth=680)
World-class culture and historical sights: the best things to do in Moscow
![Red Square Moscow](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/red-square-moscow-guide.jpg?imwidth=680)
Moscow has put its post-Soviet badlands image way behind it. With the economy steadily settling throughout the Noughties and lots of subsequent infrastructural investment, it is now a modern, dynamic city with a slew of world-class culture and exciting historical sights to explore. Despite its sprawling dimensions, many of the primary landmarks are clustered together in the centre, especially around Red Square, which offers the mighty Kremlin fortress, the remarkable St Basil’s cathedral and Lenin’s Mausoleum. Other sights, like the Pushkin Museum and Gorky Park, are easily accessible via an efficient public transport service.
Admire the beating heart of the city
Moscow’s Red Square has seen it all, having been used for public executions, by market traders, and as a focal point for both military parades and political protests. Today the somewhat daunting rectangular space is surrounded by a string of landmarks from the Kremlin and St Basil’s Cathedral to Lenin’s mausoleum, which is paradoxically situated opposite one of the city’s biggest consumer malls (GUM).
Insider's tip: The square is constantly busy during the daytime, and queues for sights can be long. Go at night when it’s quieter and arguably more atmospheric thanks to illuminations.
Opening times: 24 hours
Nearest metro: Ploshchad Revolyutsii
Price: Free
![Moscow’s Red Square](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/st-basil-cathedral-moscow-night-guide.jpg?imwidth=350)
Discover the highest seat of political power
Looming above the Moskva River in the city centre, the Kremlin is renowned as the primary site of Russian state and political power. Less well known is that it’s the largest active fortress in Europe, dating back to 1156, although most of its current structure can be traced back to the late 15th century when Italian architects expanded and updated it. Inside its long walls can be found several squares and an ensemble of museums, cathedrals, official buildings—and the world’s largest bell and cannon.
Insider's tip: The Grand Kremlin Palace, with the tsars’s private rooms, was the location of the signing of many landmark treaties, and is the current residence of the Russian President. Visits are only available via group or private tours. See pradiz.com.
Contact: 00 7 495 697 0349, kreml.ru
Nearest metro: Biblioteka Imena Lenina
Price: Free-£
![The Kremlin](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/the-kremlin-november-2018-moscow-city-guide.jpg?imwidth=350)
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Get lost in holy labyrinthine interiors
The onion-shaped domes of the colourful St Basil’s Cathedral are one of the city’s—nay the country’s—major landmarks. Designed to look like flames on a bonfire, it was commissioned in the 16th century by none other than Ivan the Terrible to commemorate his victory over the Tartar Mongols. The maze-like interior, which has nine small chapels, is as impressive as the exterior, with intricately painted walls, tiny oratories and icons from different periods of the church’s history.
Insider's tip: You don’t need to worry about organising a tour guide to see the church. There is a free guided tour available in the shape of small signs that lead you through the maze, and which also serve to help you find the exit again.
Contact: 00 7 495 698 33 04; shm.ru
Neartest metro: Okhotny Ryad
Price: £
![St Basil's Cathedral](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/saint-basil%27s-cathedral-moscow-city-guide-2018.jpg?imwidth=350)
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Stroll around the capital's premier green space
Gorky Park, named in honour of a Communist-era writer, is a vast but scenic park on the bank of the Moscow River. Officially titled the Maxim Gorky's Central Park of Rest and Culture, it was laid out in 1928 by avant-garde architect Konstantin Melnikov but enjoyed a post-Soviet relaunch in 2012. These days it’s peppered with cafés and restaurants, a summer-only open-air cinema, a museum of contemporary art (Garage) and a ton of leisure options from volleyball and funfair rides to a lake with beaches and boat-hire options.
Insider's tip: Across the road from the park’s main entrance, in front of the House of Artists, is the Graveyard of Fallen Monuments, a collection of official Soviet statues.
Contact: 00 7 495 933 3201; park-gorkogo.com
Nearest metro: Park Kultury or Oktiabrskaya Metro Stations.
Price: Free
![Gorky Park](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/gorky-park-moscow-guide.jpg?imwidth=350)
Get up close and personal with a Marxist maverick
There’s no doubt that Vladimir Ilych Lenin’s embalmed corpse exerts a magical (or grim, depending on your view) fascination. Originally opened to the public in 1924, his mausoleum on Red Square draws over two million visitors a year—despite the long queues, intensive body search and constant surveillance a visit requires. The body, pumped constantly with chemicals and laid out in a glass case, looks eerily mannequin-like.
Insider's tip: Although the queues can be long, visitors are given a few minutes inside the mauseleum and are not allowed to linger. This means the lines tend to go down quickly, so don’t be put off if it’s high on your wishlist.
Contact: lenin.ru
Nearest metro: Teatral'naya
Price: Free
![Lenin's Mausoleum](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/lenin-body--moscow-city-guide-telegraph-travel.jpg?imwidth=350)
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Get to grips with Russian art
Started as a private collection by 19th-century industrialist and philanthropist Pavel Tretyakov, the Tretyakov Gallery —built between 1900 and 1905 and designed by Viktor Vasnetsov—hosts over sixty rooms that showcase around 100,000 works of Russian art. The earliest works, dating from the 10th century are interesting but it’s national big-hitters like Ilya Repin and Mikhail Vrubel, and Kandinsky and Mlavic that tend to draw the crowds.
Insider's tip: If you want to see some Soviet-era social realism, the New Tretyakov Gallery, a couple of miles away, features avant-garde and experimental art with highlights like Yevgeny Vucetich’s Iron Felix statue.
Contact: 00 7 495 953 1051; tretyakovgallery.com
Nearest metro: Tretyakovskaya
Prices: £
![Tretyakov Gallery](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/Tretyakov-Gallery-moscow-city-guide-2018.jpg?imwidth=350)
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Take a historical journey, from prehistoric tribes to the Tsar's downfall
Set in an impressive red-brick Russian revivalist building, the State Historical Museum was opened in the late 19th century, and presents the history of Russia—from the Paleolithic period to the present day—through various archaeological and anthropological collections. The exhibits span relics of pre-historic tribes, the country’s largest coin collection, as well as sixth-century manuscripts and artworks collected by the Romanovs, among other treasures.
Insider's tip: The exhibits are somewhat lacking in terms of English labelling and explanations, but an excellent English audio guide is available at the ticket counter. The museum shop also has some interesting and reasonably priced knick-knacks like Soviet posters.
Contact: 00 7 292 4019; shm.ru
Nearest metro: Okhotny Ryad, Ploshad Revolutsii, Teatralnaya Ploshad
Price: £
![State Historical Museum](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/state-historical-museum-moscow-guide.jpg?imwidth=350)
Admire Western masterpieces
The marvellous Pushkin State Museum of Arts, Moscow’s answer to St Petersburg’s Hermitage, offers a formidable collection of Western artworks that ranges from ancient and medieval exhibits (weaponry, mummies, treasures from Troy), to Italian Renaissance and Dutch Golden Age masterpieces by the likes of Botticelli, Tiepolo, Veronese and Rembrandt. The Gallery of European and American Art next door has a similarly impressive collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings.
Insider's tip: Look out for highlights like the 15th-century statuettes of Amenhotep and Rannai, the replica of Michaelangelo’s David in the courtyard, and Henry Matisse’s Goldfish.
Contact: 00 7 697 7998, arts-museum.ru
Nearest metro: Kropotkinskaya, Borovitskaya, Lenin Library
Price: £
![The Pushkin State Museum of Arts](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/pushkin-state-museum-of-arts-moscow-city-guide.jpg?imwidth=350)
Combine communist relics and contemporary thrills
A visit to the All-Russian Exhibition Centre (VDNH) requires a slight trip out of the centre but it’s worthwhile. Built for the 1935 agricultural exhibition (like a world fair) it now serves as an open-air museum of Soviet architecture and hosts several interesting museums, shopping pavilions and restaurants, as well as a huge oceanarium, zip-line (set to open in 2020), and the largest skating rink in Europe.
Insider's tip: Unfortunately the tourist train that used to traverse the grounds is now gone. But it’s possible to rent a bicycle or take a local bus route (533) that covers much of the park, starting at VDNH’s metro and ending at Botanischsky Sad.
Contact: 00 7 495 544 34 00; vdnh.ru
Nearest metro: VDNKh
Price: free (admission)
![All-Russian Exhibition Centre](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/Destinations/Europe/Russia/Moscow/all-russian-exhibition-centre-moscow-guide.jpg?imwidth=350)
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