Moscow’s bridges: the 10 most beautiful and how to see them on foot or by boat

Moscow is a city of bridges: the Moskva River alone, as it flows through the city, is crossed by around 40 of them, and there’s something for every taste: historic ones, Stalinist ones, futuristic ones, one with a metro station inside and even one that pushes out into the river and stops halfway. In this article I’ll show you the 10 most beautiful and famous bridges in Moscow, with their story, how to get to each one and where to take the best photos. One important heads-up, though: the Bagration Bridge, one of the classics, has been closed for works since March 2025.

Moscow, city of bridges: what’s worth knowing

Giving an exact figure for how many bridges Moscow has is tricky, because it depends on what you count. If we’re talking only about the Moskva River within the city, around 40 bridges cross it. If you add the Yauza River, the Vodootvodny Canal and the flyovers, the number shoots up into the several hundreds.

There’s one detail that jumps out when you go through the dates: three of the bridges on this list (Krymsky, Bolshoy Kamenny and Bolshoy Ustinsky) were finished in the same year, 1938. That’s no coincidence. The Moscow Canal, opened in 1937, raised the river’s level, and the 1935 General Plan for the reconstruction of Moscow took the chance to replace almost all of the central bridges with taller, wider ones. Many bridges from pre-revolutionary Russia disappeared at that point.

Unlike St. Petersburg, Moscow has no drawbridges: here the bridges are fixed. In exchange, almost all the central ones are lit up, so if you can come back to any of them at night, do it: they change completely.

The best way to see them? Walking along the embankments (at the end of the article I suggest a route on foot) or from the water: all of the ones on this list, except the Zhivopisny, can be seen up close on a cruise on the Moskva River. Since 2023 Moscow also has electric public-transport boats that run all year round; one of their routes links Kievsky station with Moscow City, passing right under the Bagration Bridge.

The 10 bridges at a glance

And on this map you have the location of the 10 bridges I’m going to tell you about, in order following the course of the river from west to east:

1. The Zhivopisny or Picturesque cable-stayed bridge (2007)

I’ll start with the most spectacular one. The Zhivopisny (“picturesque” in Russian) was Moscow’s first cable-stayed bridge and, when it opened on 27 December 2007, the tallest of its kind in Europe. It’s 1.5 kilometres long and its great red arch tops 100 metres in height, with 72 stays holding up the deck some 30 metres above the water. But what makes it unique is something else: instead of crossing the river at a right angle, like almost every bridge in the world, much of its length runs parallel to the bank, drawing an S over the Moskva.

At the top of the arch hangs a glazed, ellipse-shaped capsule that looks like a UFO. The engineers designed it to house a 100-seat panoramic restaurant, but the idea was dropped (among other things, it was impossible to install proper plumbing up there). Later there were plans to open a civil registry office in it for weddings with a view, with the opening announced first for 2014 and then for 2018. To this day the capsule remains closed to the public, and Muscovites keep telling legends about it: from that it imitates the cap of former mayor Luzhkov to that it’s used to contact extraterrestrials.

The bridge is the work of Nikolai Shumakov, the architect of more than 30 Moscow metro stations, who in 2017 received the prestigious international Auguste Perret prize for it. You can cross it on foot along its pavements, although it’s far from the centre: count on around 1 hour combining metro and bus (the most convenient option today is Narodnoye Opolcheniye station, on the big circle line opened in 2021, and from there a bus along Marshala Zhukova Avenue). If you’re into architecture or engineering, the trip is worth it.

2. Bagration, the pedestrian bridge with a shopping centre (1997), closed for works

The Bagration is a futuristic-style pedestrian bridge with two levels: the lower one, fully glazed, is an arcade with shops, cafés and moving walkways; the upper one, glazed only in part, works as a viewing deck. It’s 214 metres long, 16 wide and rises 14 metres above the river.

It opened in September 1997, coinciding with Moscow’s 850th anniversary, and was the very first structure in the whole Moscow City skyscraper district: when it opened, it literally connected to a piece of waste ground. Its author was Boris Tkhor, the architect who came up with the Moscow City concept, and it owes its name to General Pyotr Bagration, a hero of the war against Napoleon in 1812.

Now the bad news: the bridge has been closed since 24 March 2025 for its first major overhaul in nearly 30 years. Reopening was initially announced for the summer of 2026, but the works have ended up tied to the construction of a new skyscraper next door, and the latest official word now points to the end of 2030. In the meantime you can only see it from the outside: from the river, from the bank or from the observation decks of the Moscow City towers.

3. Borodinsky Bridge, the bridge-monument to the victory over Napoleon (1912)

The Borodinsky was built between 1911 and 1912 to mark the centenary of the Battle of Borodino, the great clash of the war against Napoleon. It’s no ordinary bridge: it was conceived as a monument. The design was signed by the architect Roman Klein (the same one behind the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts) and the engineer Nikolai Oskolkov, in a neoclassical style.

Take a look at its ends: at one there are two granite obelisks with the names of the heroes of the war of 1812, and at the other, two semicircular Doric colonnades. It was rebuilt in 1952 and again between 1999 and 2001, and today it has 8 lanes for traffic (4 in each direction), plus pavements to cross it on foot.

It sits next to Kievsky railway station (Kievskaya metro), and from it you can see two of the Seven Sisters of Stalin: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs skyscraper and the Ukraina hotel.

4. Luzhnetsky Bridge, the bridge with a metro station inside (1959)

The Luzhnetsky, known as Metromost (metro bridge), is a two-deck bridge: cars run on the upper deck, and the lower one holds the metro tracks and Vorobyovy Gory station, the only one on the Moscow metro built over a river and the one with the longest platform on the whole network.

Its history is one of the most troubled in the city. It opened on 12 January 1959 (the station was then called Leninskie Gory), but the rush of construction took its toll: the deterioration was so serious that the station had to be closed in 1983. Between 1998 and 2002 the bridge was rebuilt almost from scratch, and the station reopened on 14 December 2002, now under its current name.

The bridge connects the Luzhniki stadium with Sparrow Hills, and since 2018 you have a great alternative for crossing the river at this point: the Vorobyovy Gory cable car. My recommended plan: arrive on metro line 1, get off at Vorobyovy Gory, come out onto the bridge’s own walkway, walk up to the Sparrow Hills viewpoint and head back to Luzhniki by cable car.

5. Pushkinsky Bridge, the bridge that arrived by water (2000)

This pretty glazed pedestrian bridge links the Pushkinskaya embankment, next to Gorky Park and the Neskuchny Garden, with the Frunzenskaya embankment. It was completed in 2000, but its great arch is far older, and here comes the best story in this article.

The arch, some 1,500 tonnes of steel, belonged to the old Andreevsky railway bridge, built between 1905 and 1907 by the engineer Lavr Proskuryakov and the architect Alexander Pomerantsev. When that bridge had to be replaced in 1999, they decided not to destroy the arch: they mounted it on three barges and floated it 1.5 kilometres downriver to its current location. The tow itself lasted barely an hour and a half, although the whole operation took 11 months of preparation.

That’s why a lot of people still call it the Andreevsky bridge: at the entrance from the Neskuchny Garden there’s a plaque telling the story of the original bridge, which feeds the confusion. The glazed gallery is a blessing in winter, and at sunset the photos towards Gorky Park are very good. Metro: Frunzenskaya or Oktyabrskaya.

6. Krymsky Bridge, Moscow’s only suspension bridge (1938)

The Krymsky, or Crimean Bridge, opened on 1 May 1938 as part of the great reconstruction plan for central Moscow, and it’s the city’s only suspension bridge. When it opened, its central span of 168 metres placed it among the six largest in Europe. In all it measures 688 metres, and the Garden Ring, one of Moscow’s main arteries, runs across it.

It has a feature that makes it almost unique in the world: its pylons aren’t joined at the top, but are instead four free-standing towers on which the huge steel chains that hold up the deck simply rest. The design is by the architect Alexander Vlasov and the engineer Boris Konstantinov. And there’s nothing modern about its name: it comes from the old Crimean ford, where the Crimean Tatars used to cross the river on their raids against Moscow.

It sits right by the main entrance to Gorky Park and the Muzeon sculpture park, so you’ll almost certainly cross it. It has wide pedestrian pavements and, lit up at night, it’s one of the most photogenic in the city. Metro: Park Kultury or Oktyabrskaya.

7. Patriarshy Bridge, the postcard of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (2004)

The Patriarshy is a pedestrian bridge built between 2002 and 2004 in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the most important in Moscow. Although it’s recent, it’s designed to imitate the bridges of the 19th century, with classic lampposts and railings, and the result is so convincing that it shows up in loads of Russian films and music videos. The project is by the architect Mikhail Posokhin and the artist Zurab Tsereteli, and in 2005 it was named in honour of Patriarch Alexy II. Years later it was extended over the Vodootvodny Canal as far as Bolshaya Yakimanka street.

It’s the spot to get the best head-on photo of the cathedral, and from the middle of the bridge you also have good views of the Kremlin and the old Red October chocolate factory. Don’t be surprised to see newlyweds doing their wedding shoot or hanging padlocks on the railings: it’s one of the most romantic bridges in Moscow. Metro: Kropotkinskaya.

8. Bolshoy Kamenny, the “great stone bridge” with the best Kremlin views (1938)

This bridge’s name is misleading: Bolshoy Kamenny means “great stone bridge”, but it’s actually made of steel. It inherits the name from Moscow’s first stone bridge, raised on this spot at the end of the 17th century and regarded as a real marvel in its day. The current bridge was finished in 1938, the work of the architects Shchuko, Gelfreikh and Minkus, the same trio behind the Lenin Library.

It’s a bridge for cars, but cross it on foot no matter what: from its pavements you get the classic panorama of the Moscow Kremlin over the river, with the cathedrals and the Grand Palace lined up, and when you turn around, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It’s the quintessential photo of Moscow, especially at sunset and at night.

Between July 2020 and August 2021 it went through a complete 14-month overhaul, without ever closing to traffic, in which they practically took it apart and put it back together: the granite cladding, the cast-iron railings and the lighting were all restored. Metro: Borovitskaya, Biblioteka Imeni Lenina or Kropotkinskaya.

9. The Zaryadye Park floating bridge, a viewpoint over the river (2017)

The most photographed bridge in Moscow is in Zaryadye Park, a stone’s throw from Red Square, and technically it isn’t even a bridge: it doesn’t cross the river but pushes out into it in a V shape (or a boomerang) and hangs suspended in the air. Its 70-metre cantilever holds up without a single support over the water, something unique in Russia. In all it measures 244.4 metres, rises 15 metres above the river and can take between 3,000 and 4,000 people at once. Muscovites jokingly call it “the unfinished bridge”.

Since it opened along with the park in September 2017, it has become one of the city’s star viewpoints: in front of you are the Kremlin, St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kotelnicheskaya skyscraper, the first of Stalin’s Seven Sisters. Some even say it’s the only spot in Moscow from which you can see the five red stars of the Kremlin towers all at once. Access is free, within the park’s opening hours. Metro: Kitay-Gorod or Ploshchad Revolyutsii.

10. Bolshoy Ustinsky Bridge, where the Yauza meets the Moskva (1938)

I’ll close the list with a discreet but very elegant bridge: a single 134-metre steel arch that crosses the Moskva right where the Yauza, Moscow’s second river, flows in (hence its name: “ustye” means river mouth). It was built in 1938 and has a curious quirk: you can’t see its abutments, which are buried under the banks, so the arch seems to spring straight out of the embankments. The original design even included a lighthouse tower that was never built, and raising the bridge actually shifted the mouth of the Yauza itself.

It’s also one of the few central bridges that trams still run across. The Kotelnicheskaya skyscraper rises right at the confluence of the two rivers, so from this bridge you get one of the best angles to photograph it, along with good views of the Kremlin and Zaryadye. Metro: Kitay-Gorod or Novokuznetskaya.

Moscow’s newest bridges (2024-2025)

Moscow hasn’t stopped building bridges, and between 2024 and 2025 it opened three new pedestrian walkways that are already part of the riverside strolls. I’ll tell you about them in case you want to note them down.

The white bridge over the Vodootvodny Canal (2024). Opened in the summer of 2024, this small 58-metre bridge, shaped like a white metal arch and with a 36-metre continuous bench to sit and watch the water, links the tip of Balchug island (the “strelka”, next to the old Red October factory) with the Krymskaya and Yakimanskaya embankments. It cuts about 10 minutes off the walk between the Muzeon park and Red October, and you’ll cross it if you do the walking route I suggest below.

The Bauman University bridge over the Yauza (2024). A 243-metre walkway for pedestrians and bikes, with an amphitheatre-shaped viewpoint, opened in September 2024 next to the new campus of Bauman Technical University. It’s off the tourist trail, but if you’re around the Lefortovo area it’s worth a look, especially at night, when it’s lit from below.

The Nagatinsky Zaton bridge (2025). Opened in January 2025, it’s 219 metres long and the most spectacular of the three: its masts and crescent-moon profile recall a sailing ship about to set off. It’s next to Nagatinsky Zaton metro station, near the covered Ostrov Mechty amusement park and Kolomenskoye Park.

And it doesn’t end there: two new cable-stayed pedestrian bridges, with red arches, are planned for late 2027 in the Mnyovnikovskaya Poyma area, to the west of the city.

My walking route to see 6 bridges in one afternoon

If you only have one afternoon, this is the route I’d do: around 5 kilometres and between 2 and 3 hours with photo stops. Start at Park Kultury metro and cross the Krymsky Bridge. Drop down to the Krymskaya embankment and walk through the Muzeon park following the river. Cross the new white bridge to the tip of Red October island and go up onto the Patriarshy Bridge for the photo of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Carry on along the Prechistenskaya embankment to the Bolshoy Kamenny and its classic Kremlin panorama. Keep going along the Kremlin embankment to Zaryadye Park and step out into the void on its floating bridge. And finish at the Bolshoy Ustinsky, with the Kotelnicheskaya skyscraper facing you. If it’s winter, wrap up: the wind by the river hits hard.

Want to fit this route into your visit to the city? Take a look at my Moscow itineraries for 1 to 5 days.

Frequently asked questions about Moscow’s bridges