If you ask me what to see in Moscow in 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 days, my honest short answer is this: with 1 day you’ll leave with the photo and not much more, with 3 you’ll see the essentials, and with 5 you really get to enjoy the city. In this guide you’ll find hour-by-hour itineraries built for foreign travellers visiting for the first time, with everything that has changed in Moscow since the 2022 sanctions (Western platforms don’t work, Visa and Mastercard don’t work either, and the old CityPass Moscow card is gone for good). It’s based on my own trips, walking and re-walking each route until it actually flowed.
How many days do you actually need for Moscow?
The first thing to understand is that Moscow is huge. It’s a city of twelve million people with eight-lane avenues, parks measured in hundreds of hectares and a historic core that’s measured in kilometres, not blocks. That’s why the hardest part of planning the trip is deciding what to leave out. My honest recommendation:
- 1 day: only the historic core (Red Square, the Kremlin from outside, St. Basil’s Cathedral, GUM, Zaryadye and a stroll along the river). You’ll get the postcard, but no proper Kremlin visit and no museums.
- 2 days: add a deep Kremlin visit (Armoury + Cathedral Square) and one major museum (Tretyakov or Pushkin).
- 3 days: add a day for Christ the Saviour, Arbat Street, a tour of the metro stations and a Moskva river cruise.
- 4 days: bring in Novodevichy, the Seven Sisters, Sparrow Hills, Moscow City and the Izmailovo market.
- 5 days: now you can enjoy the city without rushing, with a full day for Kolomenskoye and a night at the Bolshoi.
If you’re combining Moscow with St. Petersburg in a single trip, the sensible split is 4 days in each city plus one on the train. For a wider sense of what the city is like, take a look at the complete Moscow guide; here I’m focusing only on the itineraries.
If you only have 1 day in Moscow: the essential walking route
If you’ve got just 24 hours, don’t try to cram everything in. This is the route I recommend to any foreign visitor with one day in Moscow: 100% on foot (you don’t even need the metro), it covers the most iconic spots, and it doesn’t require booking anything months ahead, except St. Basil’s in peak season.
- 9:30. Start at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (free entry, opens at 9:00 Thursday to Sunday and at 13:00 on Mondays and Tuesdays). Cross the Patriarshy Bridge: one of the best views of the Kremlin with the river in the foreground.
- 11:00. Walk up Volkhonka Street to the Alexander Gardens, the Eternal Flame to the Unknown Soldier and, if your timing’s right, the changing of the guard.
- 11:30. Red Square: walk from the Resurrection Gate to St. Basil’s to get your bearings. If it’s Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday before 13:00, there’s time for a free visit to the Lenin Mausoleum (10-minute visit, you have to leave your phone and bag in the cloakroom).
- 13:00. St. Basil’s Cathedral from the inside. Far better than just looking at it from outside: it’s eleven churches connected by narrow corridors covered in frescoes. The foreigner ticket is 2,000 rubles (~$22) and you can pay at the box office in cash.
- 14:30. Lunch at the food court on the third floor of GUM or at the gastro-centre in Zaryadye Park (set prices around 400-600 rubles per dish). GUM is a sight in itself: the most photogenic shopping arcade in Moscow, with the legendary creamy ice-cream stall on the ground floor that’s been serving the same recipe since the 1950s.
- 16:30. Zaryadye Park, the best new urban park in Europe. Don’t miss the cantilevered “Floating Bridge” over the river: one of the best views of Moscow, and free.
- 18:00. Back to the outside of the Kremlin, a stroll down lit-up Nikolskaya Street (the most photographed street in Moscow at sunset) and dinner at any Georgian or Russian restaurant in Kitay-Gorod or Tverskaya.
That’s the no-museums version. If your one day happens to fall on a Kremlin opening day (any day except Thursday), you can buy an early ticket (10:00) for the Kremlin Cathedral Square and squeeze the rest in: you’ll cover the must-sees, but you’ll be wiped out. For more ways to organise the first day, there’s a walking-route map in the Red Square article.
Before you start: 5 things to sort out
Five quick recommendations so the trip doesn’t derail on logistics, especially relevant in post-2022 Russia:
- Buy tickets online in advance. For the Kremlin (Armoury) in summer, sessions sell out; book them about two weeks ahead at tickets.kreml.ru. If that feels complicated, you can take a guided tour that already includes the ticket: I cover the options in the guided tours in Moscow article.
- Closing days. The Kremlin closes on Thursdays. Almost every other museum closes on Mondays. St. Basil’s Cathedral closes the first Wednesday of each month. The Tretyakov closes on Mondays. The Lenin Mausoleum is only open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10:00 to 13:00. Build your itinerary around these rules.
- Transport. Moscow is perfect for combining the metro with walking. Buy and top up the Troika card the moment you arrive (it works on all public transport). For taxis, download Yandex.Go, the Russian equivalent of Uber: fast, cheap and reliable. Important: Kiwitaxi and other Western services no longer operate in Russia, so don’t rely on foreign platforms.
- Restaurants. Forget TheFork or OpenTable, they don’t work. The good restaurants are booked through Yandex Maps (where the «забронировать» button appears) or via Telegram by messaging the restaurant directly. I walk you through it step by step in how to book a restaurant in Moscow.
- Money. Visa and Mastercard cards issued outside Russia do not work inside the country since 2022 (no ATMs, no card terminals, not even to order a Yandex.Go). You’ll need cash that you exchange for rubles on arrival (currency exchange offices are on every corner downtown), and/or get a Russian MIR card from T-Bank. The smart play is to combine both. And a heads-up: the old CityPass Moscow tourist card is gone, so if you see it mentioned in any guidebook, ignore it.
With that out of the way, let’s get into the day-by-day itinerary.
DAY 1: Red Square, the Kremlin and the historic core
Best day: any day except Thursday (Kremlin closed). If you also want to enter the Lenin Mausoleum, pick Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday. Everything is walkable if your hotel is inside the Boulevard Ring.
9:00. A first walk across Red Square
The first walk across Red Square early in the morning is one of the most beautiful moments of the whole trip: the light is good, there’s barely anyone around, and you can take it all in at once. It’s 23,000 square metres holding four of the city’s most important sights: the Kremlin to the left, St. Basil’s at the far end, the Mausoleum in the centre, and GUM and the Historical Museum on either side. Reserve 20-30 minutes to find your bearings and take photos before heading into the Kremlin.
If you’ve booked the 10:00 Armoury ticket online (highly recommended), use this time to walk over to the Alexander Gardens, where the ticket booths (numbers 6, 7 and 8) are, to redeem your voucher.
10:00. Kremlin (I): the Armoury
The Kremlin Armoury is the most impressive museum in Russia: this is where the tsars’ jewels live, along with the imperial Fabergé eggs, Catherine the Great’s carriages and coronation gowns. The standard ticket is 1,200 rubles (~$13) and it’s sold by timed sessions at 10:00, 12:00, 14:30 and 16:30. The 10:00 session is the least crowded.
- Length: a solid 2 hours.
- Price: 1,200 rubles (~$13) standard, 1,300 rubles with audio guide. Under-16s pay 800 rubles; under-7s, free.
- Diamond Fund: optional, separate ticket for 800 rubles (gokhran.ru). If you’re into next-level jewellery, it’s worth it; but you’ll have to handle it separately because it’s run by Goskhran, not the Kremlin. Note: photography is not allowed inside the Armoury.
Tip: there are no restaurants inside the Kremlin. That’s why I recommend splitting the Armoury (morning) and Cathedral Square (afternoon): you eat outside and come back. If you decide to do them back to back, bring a snack — it’s 4-5 long hours nonstop.
12:30. Lenin Mausoleum (if it’s the right day)
If your day 1 lands on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday and it’s before 13:00, take the chance to see the Bolshevik leader. The Lenin Mausoleum visit is free and lasts about 10 minutes. You’ll have to leave phones, cameras and big bags at the Historical Museum cloakroom (300 rubles). The queue is the long part; the visit itself is over in a flash.
13:00. St. Basil’s Cathedral
My advice: don’t settle for seeing it from outside. St. Basil’s Cathedral is completely different inside from what you’d expect: it’s not one big nave, but eleven small churches connected by narrow corridors absolutely covered in frescoes.
- Length: 60-90 minutes.
- Price: 2,000 rubles (~$22) for foreigners. The ticket is paid at the box office in rubles in cash. If you want to pay with a foreign card, take a guided tour that includes the ticket.
- Hours: from 10 May to 31 August, open daily 10:00-19:00 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 21:00). Closed the first Wednesday of the month for maintenance.
14:30. Lunch at GUM
You walk out of St. Basil’s and right across the square, there’s GUM. It’s the most photogenic shopping arcade in the world (late-19th-century glass roofs, chandeliers, marble walkways), and it also has an excellent food court on the third floor called «Гастроном №1» with reasonable prices (400-700 rubles for a main). On the ground floor, GUM’s old-school creamy ice cream is a stop in itself: they’ve been serving it the same way since the 1950s.
Alternative: the Okhotny Ryad underground mall, beneath Alexander Gardens, also has a food court with more variety and is usually less packed with tourists.
16:00. Kremlin (II): Cathedral Square
The second visit to the Kremlin is to enter the Cathedral Square compound, where the four churches in which the tsars were crowned (Dormition, Annunciation, Archangel) stand and where Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great lie buried. Entry is separate from the Armoury.
- Length: 2 hours.
- Price: 900 rubles (~$10) without audio guide, 1,300 rubles with audio guide (English available). To climb the Ivan the Great Bell Tower you have to buy a separate 350-ruble ticket at the box office (not sold online).
- Hours: from 15 May to 30 September, 9:30-18:00. In winter, 10:00-17:00.
Heads-up: entry to the Kremlin is always through the Kutafya Tower (in Alexander Gardens), never from Red Square. Security is airport-style, so arrive 30 minutes before your session.
18:30. Bolshoi Theatre and Tverskaya Street
Heading north out of the Kremlin, in five minutes on foot you reach the Bolshoi Theatre from outside. Even if you’re not attending a performance, seeing the building lit up at sunset is worth the walk. Right next door, the TsUM department store (neo-Gothic style, fashion focus).
From the Bolshoi continue along Tverskaya, Moscow’s main shopping street: a great spot for picking up vodka, caviar or Russian chocolate as gifts.
Dinner: in the area, my two extremes are: if you want something cheap and quick, the Russian chain Mu-Mu (canteen-style cafeteria with mains at 200-400 rubles); if you feel like splashing out on top-tier Russian cuisine in late-19th-century interiors, the legendary Café Pushkin. More options across all price ranges in where to eat in Moscow.
DAY 2: Tretyakov, Christ the Saviour, Arbat and the metro
Best day: any day except Monday (Tretyakov closed). Today you combine a major museum, a cathedral, a pedestrian street and a tour of the best metro stations.
10:00. State Tretyakov Gallery
The Tretyakov Gallery holds the best collection of Russian art in the world: this is where Andrei Rublev’s “Trinity” lives, along with the Repins, the Vasnetsovs, the Vrubels and the mother lode of Russian icons. If you love painting, plan for 3 hours; if you’re tight on time, 2 are enough for the greatest hits.
- Price: ~700-1,000 rubles (~$8-11) standard ticket for the main building (Lavrushinsky pereulok 10). Under-18s, free. Tickets are bought online at tretyakovgallery.ru with a Russian card or at the box office.
- Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday 10:00-18:00. Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10:00-21:00. Closed Mondays.
- Metro: Tretyakovskaya or Novokuznetskaya.
Alternative: if you’d rather see European art (French Impressionists, Rembrandt, classical antiquity), the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is 15 minutes away on foot, right next to Christ the Saviour.
13:00. Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
Cross the river over the Patriarshy Bridge and you reach the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. It’s the tallest Orthodox church in the world and the seat of the Patriarch of Moscow; the current version is a 1990s reconstruction (Stalin dynamited the original in 1931 to build a Palace of the Soviets that was never finished and that became, for half a century, an outdoor public swimming pool).
- Length: 30-45 minutes.
- Price: entry to the church is free. To go up to the dome viewing platform (spectacular views of the Kremlin from 40 metres up) it’s 400 rubles.
- Important: men in long trousers, women with their head covered (carry a scarf in your bag just in case).
14:30. Arbat Street
15 minutes on foot from Christ the Saviour and you’re at the start of Arbat Street, Moscow’s most famous pedestrian street: 1.2 km of souvenir shops, street musicians, portrait artists, literary monuments (Pushkin lived here as a newlywed) and restaurants of every cuisine, especially Caucasian. My recommendation for lunch is one of the Georgian places: the Adjarian khachapuri, a kind of bread boat filled with melted cheese and a raw egg, will genuinely change your life.
Heads-up: don’t confuse Old Arbat (pedestrian, the real one) with New Arbat, a four-lane traffic avenue running parallel. Old Arbat is the one you want.
16:30. A self-tour of the most beautiful metro stations
The Moscow metro is a tourist attraction in its own right: 260 stations, 14 lines and, at the central ones, genuine underground cathedrals with marble, mosaics, bronze chandeliers and sculpture. The best way to get to know them is a 90-minute mini-tour starting at Arbatskaya. My favourite route:
- Arbatskaya (line 3, dark blue). Spectacular colonnade.
- Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Revolution Square). The 76 bronze sculptures. Touch the border-guard dog’s nose: they say it brings luck.
- Mayakovskaya (line 2, green). Soviet sky mosaics in the ceiling cupolas, gorgeous.
- Komsomolskaya (line 5, ring line). My favourite: golden vaulted ceiling with mosaics of Russian military victories.
- Novoslobodskaya (line 5). Backlit stained-glass panels that look like iconostases.
- Kievskaya (line 5). Spectacular mosaics depicting Russia-Ukraine friendship (ironic today).
You go down with your Troika, walk each platform for about 10 minutes taking photos (no-flash photos are allowed) and head back up to the next stop. Plan 1.5-2 hours total for this route. Avoid rush hour (8:00-10:00 and 17:00-19:00): the platforms are packed.
19:30. Gorky Park or a Moskva river cruise
To wrap up the day, two complementary options. The first, get off at Park Kultury metro and walk to Gorky Park: the “Russian Central Park”, with sprawling riverside gardens, restaurants, bike rentals and outdoor events. Free entry.
The second option, much better: from the Gorky Park pier, a cruise on the Moskva river sets sail. The Radisson flotilla runs modern boats with glass-floor upper decks. An hour and a half on the water, passing Christ the Saviour, the Kremlin, Zaryadye, the Moscow City towers and the most photogenic bridges. Price: 1,200-2,500 rubles per person depending on the boat type. Departures every 30 minutes in summer.
DAY 3: Novodevichy, Sparrow Hills and Moscow City
Best day: any day, ideally a clear and rain-free one so the views from Sparrow Hills make up for the climb.
10:00. Novodevichy Convent and Cemetery
Novodevichy Convent is the most beautiful religious complex in Moscow and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s a 16th-century walled convent on the riverbank where royal “complicated” women were sent to retire (Regent Sofia, Peter the Great’s sister, ended her days here). You can do it in an hour.
But the real gem is the cemetery right next door: this is where Chekhov, Gogol, Stanislavski, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Eisenstein, Boris Yeltsin, Raisa Gorbacheva and many more rest — a who’s who of Russian culture and politics. Every grave is a sculpture. Entry to the cemetery is free, and you’ll spend another hour there.
- Price: 500 rubles for the convent. Cemetery free.
- Metro: Sportivnaya, line 1.
- Where to eat nearby: the neighbourhood has several solid Georgian restaurants (Khinkalnaya, Givisatsivi).
15:00. Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory) and Moscow State University
Sparrow Hills is a hill 85 metres high right opposite the Luzhniki Olympic stadium, with the most classic panorama of Moscow: the river in the foreground and the city skyline behind. Looming behind the viewing terrace is the main building of Moscow State University (MSU): the largest of Stalin’s Seven Sisters, 240 metres tall, 36 floors, neo-Gothic Stalinist architecture in pure form.
To get there from Novodevichy, you have three options. The most comfortable is the metro: Sportivnaya → line 1 to Vorobyovy Gory (5 minutes) and then a 20-minute walk through the park up to the viewing platform. If you like walking, the whole route is 60 minutes past Luzhniki Stadium.
17:30. Moscow City
From Sparrow Hills, trolleybus number 7 (you pay with the Troika) takes you in 40 minutes to the financial district of Moscow City: the “Russian Manhattan”, with a dozen 300+ metre glass skyscrapers — architecture totally different from anything you’ve seen in the previous days.
The thing to do is go up to the Federation Tower observation deck (PANORAMA360, 89th floor, 360 metres up, the highest in Europe) or to the Imperia Tower one. You buy tickets on site with a Russian card or cash (1,500-2,500 rubles depending on tower and time). Right next door is a huge mall (Afimall City) with dozens of restaurants for dinner with a view. The ideal time is at sunset, with the city lighting up around you.
DAY 4: VDNH, cosmonautics and Izmailovo
Best day: ideally Saturday or Friday, when the Izmailovo market is at its liveliest. The Cosmonautics Museum is closed on Mondays.
11:00. Cosmonautics Museum
The Cosmonautics Museum sits at the foot of a 107-metre titanium obelisk that commemorates the launch of Sputnik. Inside: full-scale Soyuz rockets, Yuri Gagarin’s capsule, Tereshkova’s spacesuits, space food and a recreation of the Mir station. One of the most original museums in the world if you like space history.
- Length: 1.5-2 hours.
- Price: 350 rubles (~$4).
- Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10:00-19:00 (Thursday until 21:00). Closed Mondays.
- Metro: VDNKh, line 6.
13:30. VDNH Park
Right across from the museum is the main entrance to VDNH Park, my favourite park in the city. It’s 500 hectares with 49 monumental pavilions that originally represented the Soviet republics and economic sectors: a kind of Communist Disneyland with golden fountains (the legendary “Friendship of Peoples”), a monorail, themed museums (Cosmos, Robostation, Polytech) and a giant aquarium. Park access is free; the museum-pavilions charge separately (100-700 rubles each).
Plan at least 3 hours to do it half decently. In summer there are food trucks, fountains you can roller-skate through, open-air concerts, and the massive 140-metre Solntse Moskvy Ferris wheel (one of the tallest in Europe, 600 rubles).
17:00. Izmailovo Market
By metro and tram, in 50 minutes you reach the Izmailovo Kremlin, a reconstructed medieval citadel that’s part theme park, part the city’s best souvenir market. Hand-painted matryoshka dolls, Palekh lacquer boxes, Baltic amber, authentic Soviet caps and medals (not knock-offs), paintings, Gzhel ceramics and anything you can imagine in Russian imagery, at much better prices than in the centre.
- Best days: Friday-Sunday (much livelier).
- Hours: 10:00-20:00. Free entry.
- Metro: Partizanskaya, line 3.
- Tip: haggling is accepted and almost expected. Bring rubles in cash.
Alternatives for day 4
If you’re not into souvenir shopping and want a different plan, two alternatives I really recommend:
- Bunker-42. A Cold War bunker 65 metres below ground, today a museum. 1.5-hour guided tour (in English or Russian) for 2,000-2,500 rubles. You have to walk down 18 floors and back up, so it’s not for everyone. Metro: Taganskaya.
- Russian banya. The banya is the traditional Russian steam bath and one of the most authentic experiences you can have. The Sanduny Baths (1808) are the most famous and luxurious — a marble-and-bronze palace. Book a 2-hour session, bring flip-flops and enjoy. Prices from 4,000 rubles for general sessions.
DAY 5: Kolomenskoye and a night at the Bolshoi
Best day: any day except Monday. The Bolshoi season runs from September to July (it closes in August), so if you’re going in August check out the alternatives below.
10:00. Kolomenskoye Park
Kolomenskoye is the former summer residence of the tsars, today a 390-hectare park-museum on the banks of the Moskva. The most impressive thing is the Church of the Ascension (1532), a UNESCO World Heritage Site and considered one of the masterpieces of Russian architecture. Right next to it, the reconstructed Wooden Palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich: a Russian Baroque madness with 270 rooms, rebuilt in 2010.
- Length: 3-4 hours (it’s huge, wear comfortable shoes).
- Price: park free. Church of the Ascension, 200 rubles. Wooden Palace, 400 rubles.
- Metro: Kolomenskaya (north) or Kashirskaya (south). Trick: enter through one and exit through the other so you don’t repeat the route.
Alternative: if Kolomenskoye doesn’t appeal, the Tsaritsyno palace-park is another great option: Catherine the Great’s neo-Gothic whim with a reconstructed palace and beautiful gardens. Four metro stops from Kolomenskoye on line 2.
19:00. A night at the Bolshoi Theatre
The best way to say goodbye to Moscow is to attend a performance at the Bolshoi Theatre. The stage where Swan Lake premiered in 1877 is still, to a large extent, the global benchmark for classical ballet. A ballet or opera performance lasts three hours with a couple of intermissions, Russians dress smartly (no need for a suit, but no trainers either) and the experience is one of those that stays with you forever.
- Price: budget tickets are around 3,000-5,000 rubles depending on the show. For the big titles on the historic stage (Swan Lake, Eugene Onegin) it easily climbs to 8,000-15,000 rubles. Tickets fly: book at bolshoi.ru several months in advance if possible.
- Tip: if the Bolshoi website doesn’t accept your foreign card (depends on the gateway), a specialised ticket service can buy them for you, or you can buy at the box office in cash. I cover everything in the dedicated Bolshoi article.
Alternatives if you’re going in August or can’t get tickets:
- Novaya Opera. Excellent modern company, open in August.
- State Kremlin Palace. Ballet and concert programme. Tickets at kremlinpalace.org.
- Folklore show. If you’re travelling with kids or want something more accessible, the traditional Russian song and dance shows (Kostroma company and similar) make for a great evening.
After the show, a good farewell is dinner at the Bolshoi restaurant (same building, by the Novikov group, modern Russian cuisine) or a final stroll across Red Square lit up at night. Few cities look this good after dark.
If you have one extra day: day trips from Moscow
Three options, in order of preference for a first-time traveller:
Sergiyev Posad and the Golden Ring
The Golden Ring is the cluster of medieval towns northeast of Moscow with the best traditional Russian architecture: kremlins, monasteries, onion-dome churches and carved wooden houses. The most typical day-trip is Sergiyev Posad, 70 km away and reachable by fast train in 1h 20min, where the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius sits — the spiritual heart of the Russian Orthodox Church and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
If you have more time, it’s worth pushing on to Suzdal (the most fascinating, a genuine open-air museum) and Vladimir: 3 hours by train, ideal for a weekend break.
Star City (Zvyozdny Gorodok)
The cosmonaut training centre, 40 km northeast of Moscow. During the USSR it was a closed city that didn’t appear on maps. Today you can visit with 30-45 days’ advance booking: you see a full-scale Mir station simulator, the largest centrifuge in the world, and the hydrolaboratory where cosmonauts train for zero gravity underwater. A must if you’re into space. More details in Star City.
Mosfilm Studios
For film lovers: Mosfilm Studios are the Soviet Hollywood, where War and Peace, Solaris and The Irony of Fate were shot. The guided tour (in Russian or English) walks you through original sets with period cars, costumes and a complete replica of tsarist Moscow that’s still used to film TV series. It’s inside the city of Moscow itself, not an out-of-town trip.
Practical things to lock in before you go
For this guide to actually help, remember the four logistical items worth having sorted before you land at Sheremetyevo or Domodedovo:
- Visa. For most foreign travellers, the eVisa (electronic visa, $52, 16-day stay) is the most practical option.
- Travel insurance. It’s mandatory to apply for the eVisa: if you don’t have a Russia-valid policy, you don’t get the visa. I cover what to take out in my Russia travel insurance guide.
- Internet connection. The fast option is to set up a Russia eSIM with unlimited data before you fly out.
- Accommodation. Since Booking, Hotels.com and Expedia no longer operate in Russia, the platforms that do let you book with a foreign card are explained in hotels and apartments in Russia.
- Airport transfers. The fastest option is the Aeroexpress (35-50 minutes depending on airport) or a Yandex.Go. For a private transfer in English with prepayment via foreign card, see book a transfer in Russia.
Frequently asked questions about what to see in Moscow
How many days are ideal for visiting Moscow?
My honest recommendation: minimum 4 days, ideally 5. With 1 day you’ll leave with the postcard of the centre and not much more; with 2 you can do the Kremlin and a major museum; with 3 you can add Christ the Saviour, Arbat and a metro tour; with 4 you bring in Novodevichy, Sparrow Hills and Moscow City; and with 5 you can really enjoy yourself, fitting in Kolomenskoye and a Bolshoi night. If you’re combining Moscow with St. Petersburg, the sensible split is 4+4 days plus one on the train between cities.
Do you need to buy tickets in Moscow in advance?
For the Kremlin Armoury in high season, yes: sessions sell out, so book about two weeks ahead at the official website (tickets.kreml.ru). For the Kremlin Cathedral Square, the Tretyakov, the Cosmonautics Museum or any other museum, you can usually buy at the box office on the day with no major queues. For the Bolshoi, yes, several months in advance if you want a decent seat. The old CityPass Moscow tourist card no longer exists, so forget about it.
Do Visa and Mastercard cards work in Moscow?
No. Since 2022, Visa and Mastercard cards issued outside Russia don’t work inside the country: not at ATMs, not at card terminals, not even to order a Yandex.Go or pay online. You’ll need either cash in rubles (currency exchange offices on every corner downtown) or a Russian MIR card from T-Bank, which a foreigner can apply for in just a few days. The smart move is to combine both so you don’t get stuck.
How do I get a taxi in Moscow?
The app used in Moscow is Yandex.Go (the Russian equivalent of Uber): fast, cheap and available in English. Important: Kiwitaxi and other Western platforms no longer operate in Russia. The app works perfectly with a Russian MIR card or cash. For a city-centre-to-airport ride, count on around 1,500-2,500 rubles depending on time and airport.
What’s the worst day to visit Moscow?
Thursday: the entire Kremlin closes (Armoury and Cathedral Square). If you only have one or two days, avoid Thursday. Monday is also tricky because the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin, the Cosmonautics Museum and most of the smaller museums close (the Kremlin and St. Basil’s are open, though). The first Wednesday of the month, St. Basil’s Cathedral closes for maintenance. Build your itinerary around these rules.
Is it safe to walk around Moscow at night?
Yes. Moscow is one of the safest major European capitals for tourists: the rate of robberies against tourists is very low, there’s visible police presence in tourist areas and the metro runs until 1:00 AM with its own security. The usual precautions (don’t flash valuables, watch your wallet on packed transport, don’t wander drunk through unknown neighbourhoods at 4 AM) are the same as in Madrid, Rome or Paris. The centre, Tverskaya, Patriarshy Prudy, Arbat and Zamoskvorechye are perfectly walkable at any hour.
Where do I book restaurants in Moscow if TheFork and OpenTable don’t work?
There are three options that do work in 2026. First, Yandex Maps: search for the restaurant, tap the «забронировать» (book) button and choose a time; you’ll get confirmation by SMS or Telegram. Second, contact the restaurant directly via Telegram (almost every good place has it). Third, call by phone or, if you’re nearby, walk in and book in person.





