Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world. It is the capital of the Russian Federation.

One thing is certain about Moscow – it’s not like the rest of Russia at all. Don’t expect to find “pure Russian spirit” here. Moscow is more of a European city.

Moscow has a round structure: it was built around Kremlin first, then it expanded further in all directions. That is why ten years ago its borders coincided with the Moscow Circle Highway, its shape more or less resembling that of a circle.

Inside Moscow there is also a smaller circular road, which is called the Garden Circle. Most of the business offices are located inside this circle, most of the railway terminals are located close to this road.

If you come here just for a few days you will probably want to visit all the famous “tourist” spots. Moscow is a huge city, so it’s not possible to see everything if you have little time. In such case your itinerary should include Kremlin, Red Square, Arbat, Bolshoi Theatre, Tretyakovskaya Gallery, Gorky Park, and some other points of interest.

Moscow Kremlin.

Russian Government is located inside Kremlin, it is also the President’s residence, and a museum at the same time. Kremlin is the oldest historical part of Moscow, its core. It was rebuilt several times during its existence, the red walls that made it known to most people in the world were built by the end of XV century. In Kremlin there are several museums worth visiting: the Armoury Chamber, the Assumption Cathedral, the Annunciation Cathedral, Ivan-the-Great Bell-Tower, and others.

Just outside Kremlin there are the famous Red Square and Lenin’s mausoleum, probably the single sight in Moscow which none of the tourists ever fail to visit. Here you will also find TsUM, a shopping centre, and Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed as well as Museum of History.

For those who are in the mood for a little walk there is Alexandrovsky Park situated on other side of Kremlin. You can also walk around Manezhnaya Square, there is an underground shopping centre under it, beautiful fountains on its top, and overall it is just a lovely place for a walk.

Pushkin Museum of fine arts. It is the second most significant Russian museum and art gallery in Russia after St. Petersburg’s Hermitage. Museum’s funds hold about 660 thousand objects of art from ancient times to our day. The museum owns one of the most remarkable impressionist collections.

Christ the Saviour Cathedral. It is the largest Orthodox church in the world. Cathedral was built in 1881 to commemorate the deliverance from Napoleon’s invasion in 1812. People from all over the country gave money for its construction. In 1931 the cathedral was taken down, and for a long time there was a huge open swimming pool on the sight of the blown cathedral, but in 2000 the cathedral was rebuilt.

Kolomenskoye. Kolomenskoe used to be tzar’s residence since XIV century. Here you will find Church of the Ascension, the oldest stone church in Russia. It is also a nice place to spend your day: beautiful landscapes, historical sights, museums, huge apple-tree garden, river.

Arbat. Arbat is a street where all the tourists go to buy souvenirs. It is a historic street: it used to be a shopping center, and it still remains a place where you would choose to go if you were facing a prospect of a long day with nothing to do: there lots of restaurants and shops here. Most of the houses in Arbat are very old, which gives it a pre-Revolutionary feel. Cars are not allowed here so its perfect for a walk.

Bolshoi Theatre. Probably, one of the most famous theatres in the world. Usually people who come to Moscow consider it a must to go to this theatre. It is very difficult to get tickets and at the same time they are pretty expensive.

Tretyakovskaya Gallery is one of the largest art galleries in Moscow, it also one of the places tourists traditionally visit along with Bolshoi Theatre and Red Square.

Gorky Park. It is an amusement park, sited on a bank of Moscow River. Many concerts take place here. In winter it’s a perfect place for skating, and in summer – for rollerblading. Right across the street from Gorky park there is Central House of Artists, and by it there is a statue park.

ARRIVING

One can fly over to Moscow using one of three international airports: Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, or Vnukovo.

There are nine railway terminals in Moscow: Belorussky, Kazansky, Kievsky, Kursky, Leningradsky, Paveletsky, Rizhsky, Savyolovsky and Yaroslavsky. From Belorussky railway terminal trains go to Berlin, Warsaw, Madrid, Minsk. From Rizhsky railway terminal trains go to Riga, Rzhev, Sebezh.

Weather

When you come to Moscow you need to look up the weather forecast first so you don’t have to dive into deep snow having only a swimming costume on.

In spite of Moscow being a northern city, in summer it can get surprisingly hot and difficult to live through. The temperature sometimes rises up to 30°C, but usually it stays around 20-25°. In summer and autumn it’s raining a lot. So don’t forget to take some waterproof clothing with you.

In winter it’s snowing all the time, the temperature usually stays around 0 – -15 °C, but there are a couple of weeks (days, if you are lucky enough) every winter when it’s –25 °C, which is really cold even for Moscow and Muscovites what with all the humidity which gets up to 98% sometimes. Warm coat, boots, and hat are a must!

Note that winter starts in late October and ends sometime late in April. All the time in between there is snow and cold.

Spring is a wet and dirty season: all the winter snow combined is melting at once, which causes real floods and tons of dirt to appear in the streets of Moscow. But by the end of May it’s all gone, and you can appreciate the warming sun, the trees turning green and the birds singing. Usual temperature during this season is about 20°C.