Moscow walking tour & city guide

Red Square and the Kremlin

Red Square is lined by the Kremlin walls, the colorful onion domes of St Basil's Cathedral, the GUM department store with its glass-roofed arcades and the State Historical Museum. Inside the Kremlin are cathedrals, palaces and the Armoury with its royal treasures.

Zaryadye Park, next to Red Square, has a floating bridge that curves out over the Moskva River with views of the Kremlin.

Streets, metro and parks

The Moscow Metro is famous for its palatial stations, decorated with chandeliers, mosaics and marble. Tverskaya Street and the pedestrian Arbat are the main streets for walking. Gorky Park and the riverside embankments are popular in summer, and the Bolshoi Theatre is one of the world's great stages.

A day in Moscow

Begin in Red Square early, before the crowds, when St. Basil's colorful domes catch the morning light. Walk through Zaryadye Park next door, where a floating bridge juts out over the Moskva River, then spend a few hours inside the Kremlin walls, visiting the cathedrals and the Armory.

In the afternoon, ride the metro just to see the stations: Komsomolskaya, Mayakovskaya and Ploshchad Revolyutsii are like underground palaces. End on the Arbat, a pedestrian street with street artists, or in Gorky Park, which fills with people on summer evenings.

Good to know

Moscow is enormous, but the metro makes it easy to get around, with trains every minute or two at peak times. Signs in the center are usually in both Cyrillic and Latin letters.

Summer brings long days and outdoor cafés, while winter is snowy and very cold but beautiful, especially around New Year when the center is covered in lights. Many museums close one day a week, often Monday.