First 24 hours: airport, SIM, cash
You will land at SVO (Sheremetyevo), DME (Domodedovo) or VKO (Vnukovo). All three connect to the center via Aeroexpress (~45 min, 500 RUB, cash works) or taxi via Yandex Go app (1,500–2,500 RUB).
At arrivals: change €100–€200 at a bank counter (not at the kiosk in the terminal — worse rate). Buy a tourist SIM at MTS, Megafon or Tele2 — passport required, 600 RUB for 30 GB. Or activate an eSIM bought online before flying.
Where to stay: 5 neighborhoods, ranked
- Tverskaya / Patriarshie Prudy — central, walkable to Red Square, best cafés. Mid-range.
- Kitay-Gorod / Chistye Prudy — historic, packed with bars, 10 min walk to Kremlin. My pick.
- Khamovniki / Park Kultury — quiet, near Gorky Park, great for joggers.
- Arbat — touristy but pretty, walkable.
- Moscow City — skyscraper hotels with rooftop views; soulless but Instagrammable.
Metro: how it actually works
The Moscow metro is the world's most beautiful underground — go ride it for the architecture alone (Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Novoslobodskaya, Ploshchad Revolyutsii). Buy a Troika card at any station (50 RUB deposit), top it up, tap to enter. One ride: ~50 RUB. App: "Yandex Metro" (offline-friendly).
Frequency: every 1.5 minutes peak. Announcements: bilingual Russian + English. The Moscow Central Circle (MCC) and Diameters (MCD) extend it deep into suburbs.
7-day itinerary, no tourist traps
- Day 1: Red Square, GUM, walk to Zaryadye Park, sunset over Moskvoretsky Bridge.
- Day 2: Kremlin tour (book online), Tretyakov Gallery, dinner in Lavka Lavka.
- Day 3: Gorky Park → Krymskaya Embankment → Garage Museum → Strelka rooftop bar.
- Day 4: Metro architecture hunt + VDNKh + Cosmonautics Museum.
- Day 5: Patriarshie Prudy + Bulgakov walk + Bolshoi or Mossovet theater evening.
- Day 6: Day trip to Sergiev Posad (1.5h by Sapsan-replacement train) or Suzdal.
- Day 7: Sanduny banya in the morning, Danilovsky food market, Moscow City rooftop.
Food: what to eat and where
Try: borscht, pelmeni, syrniki, blini with caviar, herring under fur coat, Olivier salad, kvass, medovukha. Modern Russian cuisine is genuinely world-class — Moscow has 9 Michelin stars (parallel rating). Reservations required.
Spots that are worth the hype: Beluga (caviar), White Rabbit (modern Russian, top-50 world), Selfie, Sakhalin, Twins Garden (vegetarian focus). Casual local: Lepim i Varim (pelmeni), Khachapuri (Georgian), Voronezh (steaks).
Read first: Moscow without filters.
Paying for things without a Visa card
Three working strategies in 2026:
- Cash only. Bring €50–€80 per day, exchange in tranches. Restaurants, taxis (Yandex Go has a "cash" option), shops all accept rubles.
- UnionPay card from a Kazakh, Belarusian or Emirati bank. Works in most Moscow ATMs and POS.
- Crypto + local helper. Send USDT to a trusted local who sends rubles to your Mir card or pays directly. Common among repeat visitors.
Safety, scams, basic rules
- Carry your passport (or color photocopy) — random checks happen.
- Avoid taxis hailed on the street. Always use Yandex Go.
- Don't film inside government buildings or near military sites.
- Don't post political opinions on Russian social media. Anywhere else: fine.
- Tap water: technically safe, locals still use a filter or buy bottled.
Survival Russian for travelers
Twenty phrases will carry you through the whole trip. Start here: "How to say X in Russian" phrasebook. Learn the alphabet on the plane — Cyrillic in 30 minutes.
Day trips outside Moscow
- Sergiev Posad — golden onion domes of the Trinity Lavra, 1.5h by train.
- Suzdal — entire wooden-architecture village, 3h drive, overnight recommended.
- Vladimir — combine with Suzdal, white-stone churches.
- Kolomna — kremlin + pastila museum, easy half-day.
- St. Petersburg — 4h on Sapsan-replacement train, easily a long weekend.
