The Museums of Moscow: Which to Visit, Prices and Tickets

Moscow has nearly 400 museums, so the question isn’t whether you’ll find something that interests you, but how not to get lost amid so much choice. In this article I tell you which are the must-see museums in Moscow, how much tickets cost today and how to buy them as a foreigner (because there’s a catch: Visa and Mastercard cards issued outside Russia no longer work in the country). I’ve organised them by theme so you can choose based on what you like most: history, art, science and technology, or houses of famous figures.

One thing up front: you’ve probably heard of the Moscow CityPass, the tourist card that gives access to dozens of museums. But let me warn you straight away: today it’s no longer a realistic option (its website has stopped working), so further down I explain what to do instead.

Before you go: what you need to know to visit museums in Moscow

Before you plan your visits, there are several practical things worth being clear about, and they have changed quite a bit in recent years.

How much tickets cost (and the foreigner rate)

Prices range from around 300 ₽ in the smaller museums up to 1,000 ₽ or more in the big ones (the Kremlin Armoury or the State Historical Museum). To give you an idea, 1 € is worth about 100 ₽, so we’re talking tickets of roughly 3 to 12 €. And watch out for one important detail: many state museums have one rate for Russian citizens and another, higher one, for foreigners. As a tourist you’ll pay the general rate. For example, the State Historical Museum costs about 1,000 ₽ for foreigners versus 600 ₽ for Russian residents.

How to buy tickets as a foreigner

This is the part that raises the most questions. Since 2022, Visa and Mastercard cards issued outside Russia don’t work in the country, so you usually won’t be able to buy tickets online on the museum’s website (they require a Russian card). You have three options that do work:

• Pay in cash (rubles) at the museum box office. It’s the simplest and always works; bring small notes. I explain where and how to change money in my guide on where to exchange rubles.
• Pay with a Russian MIR card, which you can get as a foreigner inside Russia (for example, from T-Bank). I walk you through it step by step in my guide to the MIR card for foreigners.
• Book a guided tour with an agency that accepts foreign cards. As a bonus, you skip the queues at places like the Kremlin Armoury. Here you’ll find my guided tours in Moscow.

Opening hours and closing days

Museums usually open from 10am to 6pm (in summer they extend their hours; the State Historical Museum, for instance, opens until 9pm between May and September). Most close on Mondays, but the Kremlin museums close on Thursdays. And many close one day a month (the so-called «sanitary day», usually the last week). Before you go, always check the official website: hours change frequently.

Photos, language and accessibility

Some museums charge a small supplement for taking photos, and flash and tripods are almost always forbidden. Many signs are only in Russian, although the big museums increasingly offer explanations in English (Google Translate with your phone’s camera will save you in more than one room). Most of the big museums are wheelchair accessible.

The must-see museums of Moscow

If it’s your first time in Moscow and you’re short on time, these are the ones I wouldn’t miss.

1. The Kremlin Armoury and the Diamond Fund

Probably the most impressive museum in Russia. Despite its name, it doesn’t only hold weapons: it houses one of the world’s largest collections of Fabergé eggs, imperial carriages, crowns, thrones and the tsars’ coronation robes. Within the Kremlin grounds you can also visit the Diamond Fund, a collection comparable to the British Crown Jewels.

• Price: around 1,000 ₽ for the Armoury; the Diamond Fund is paid separately. It runs on timed slots that sell out, so go early or book in advance.
• More info: I cover it in detail in my guides on how to visit the Kremlin and on the Diamond Fund.

2. The State Historical Museum

It’s the striking red neo-Russian building that presides over Red Square, right opposite St. Basil’s Cathedral. Inside you’ll travel through Russian history from prehistory to the Romanovs, with millions of items. It’s one of the most visited museums in the city and, if you like history, you’ll easily spend a couple of hours there.

• Price: about 1,000 ₽ (foreigner rate), 600 ₽ for Russian residents.
• Official website: en.shm.ru

It’s right on Red Square, so it’s very easy to combine with the rest of the city centre’s must-sees.

3. The Tretyakov Gallery

It’s the most important museum of Russian art in the world. Here you’ll find the Virgin of Vladimir, Andrei Rublev’s Trinity, Kandinsky’s Composition VII and Malevich’s Black Square. If you can only see one art museum in Moscow, make it this one.

• Price: around 700 ₽.
• More info: I tell you about the must-see works, the opening hours and how to buy tickets in my guide to the Tretyakov Gallery.

4. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

The second-largest museum of European art in Russia, just behind the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. It ranges from Egyptian mummies and Greek sculpture to a superb collection of late-19th-century French painting, Impressionists included.

• Price: between 500 and 700 ₽ depending on the exhibition.
• Official website: pushkinmuseum.art

5. The Museum of Cosmonautics

A must if you’re interested in the space race. It’s at the base of the Monument to the Conquerors of Space, in the VDNH park, and inside you’ll see spacesuits and space capsules, rocket models and a thousand objects from the Soviet era.

• Price: around 450-500 ₽.
• More info: I tell you all about it, together with the Cosmos pavilion, in my guide to the Museum of Cosmonautics. And if you’re spending the day in the area, don’t miss the VDNH park.

6. The Bunker-42 (Cold War Museum)

A 1950s nuclear bunker 65 metres underground, in the Taganka district. Today it’s a Cold War museum visited on themed tours (in English) lasting about an hour and a half.

• Price: from around 2,000 ₽, guided tour included.
• Official website: bunker42.com

More Moscow museums by theme

If you’re left wanting more, here’s a broad selection organised by theme. Prices usually range between 300 and 600 ₽; I’ve left each one’s official website so you can check the up-to-date price and hours before you go.

History museums

• Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812. Right next to the State Historical Museum, dedicated to the war against Napoleon. Ticket around 1,000 ₽.
• Romanov Boyars’ Chambers. How Russian nobles lived in the 16th and 17th centuries, very close to Red Square. About 800 ₽.
• Museum of Moscow. The city’s history, present and future, in the former Ministry of Defence warehouses.
• Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center. Opened in 2012, it reviews with multimedia resources the relationship between Jews and Russia, especially during the Second World War. (jewish-museum.ru)
• Gulag History Museum. Dedicated to the victims of the Soviet camps between 1930 and 1950. (gmig.ru)
• Glinka Museum of Musical Culture. Ancient and contemporary instruments, with violins by Stradivarius, Amati and Guarneri.
• Central Museum of the Armed Forces. Russian military history since 1917, with over 800,000 items.

Art museums

• Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA). A large collection of Russian art from the 20th and 21st centuries, with works by Chagall, Kandinsky, Picasso or Dalí.
• Multimedia Art Museum (MAMM). Photography and digital art, in the Moscow House of Photography.
• Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. In a striking building in Gorky Park, it’s the city’s benchmark for contemporary art. (garagemca.org)

Science and technology museums

• Orlov Museum of Paleontology. Dinosaurs from Mongolia, Permian therapsids and fossils from Siberia. (paleo.ru)
• Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines. About 40 Soviet arcade machines you can have a go on.
• Experimentanium. Interactive science with over 250 exhibits; ideal if you’re travelling with kids.
• Moscow Planetarium. Astronomy, meteorites and the «Lunarium» for hands-on experiments.

Houses of famous figures

• Pushkin House Museum on the Arbat. Where the poet lived after getting married, right on Arbat Street.
• Tolstoy Museum. Manuscripts, letters and photographs of the author of War and Peace.
• Vladimir Mayakovsky Museum. Dedicated to the revolutionary poet and playwright.
• Gogol House. Where he wrote the second part of Dead Souls.

Is the Moscow CityPass worth it?

You may have seen it while looking for information: the Moscow CityPass (or Russia CityPass) was a tourist card that gave access to dozens of museums and attractions. But today it’s no longer a realistic option: its website has been down for a while and, even if you see it advertised on some third-party page, for a foreign tourist it never really paid off.

My advice: buy the tickets separately and, if you want to skip the queues or have an English-speaking guide, book a guided tour. You’ll come out ahead.

Which museums to choose based on your time

To help you make a quick plan:

• 1 day: Kremlin Armoury + State Historical Museum + a stroll around Red Square.
• 2-3 days: add the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.
• 4-5 days or more: add the Museum of Cosmonautics, the Bunker-42 and a museum from whichever theme appeals to you most (contemporary art, writers’ houses…).

If you want to fit it all in with the rest of the city, I’ll leave you my Moscow itineraries day by day and the complete guide to Moscow.

Frequently asked questions