Moscow Trip

Main attractions in Moscow: Bolshoi Theater is a must. The tickets are not very expensive even when you buy them from scalpers (remember to bargain).

Other musts, of course, are the Kremlin and Red Square. There you can find St. Basil Cathedral and Mausoleum (which contains Lenin's body). You can also see the changing of the guard behind Red Square at the WWII memorial.

At the Kremlin, visit one of the five cathedrals inside. Oruzheinaya Palata is the armory inside the Kremlin and is also highly recomended. To get inside you need to get off at the "Biblioteka im Lenina" subway stop and purchase a ticket.

The restaurant scene in Moscow has improved over recent years, and you can find many very good and inexpensive restaurants in the city. My favorite restaurant with Russian flavor is Elki Palki (see my review). They have several of them in downtown. The new Russian fast-food chain is Russki Express--it has all different kinds of pirogi (dough stuffed with meat, potato, cabbage, etc).

Visit a nightclub. Bunker on Tverskaya Street has food, live music, and a disco. It has a very nice atmosphere. If you take the subway, get of anywhere in downtown near Tverskaya or Teatralnaya and walk. Bunker is close to all major attractions.

Quick Tips:

The cheap way to get around is to stop any car and offer about -4 to any destination within the city. The driver will be happy to make some extra cash. Always ask for the price before getting into a cab, and remember to bargain. Look up some taxi company numbers on the Internet or in the newspaper and call them to book a cab.

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around is the subway. It is fast, very reliable and cheap. The taxis are cheap, too.

This is a huge hotel with a nice, big lobby and very friendly receptionists. They have a strict security policy--you have to show your key to get on the elevator.

Kosmos has several restaurants with good food. A buffet breakfast is included and is wonderfull. They have a wide variety of food, from meats to cold cuts, salads, and cakes. The hotel is located by the subway station, a mere three stops from downtown. The rooms are nice and clean, and the bathroom has a second phone. We were on the fourteenth floor and had a great view of VDNH.

This is a Mongolian restaurant. You pick the ingredients: different kinds of meat (they even have horse meat), fish, vegetables, spices, and sauces.

After that, give it to one of the cooks to grill it up for you. My advice is not to mix too many different kinds of meat: it does not taste very good. My frend had only seafood and it was tasty.

This is a great place to spend a night, no matter if you like to dance or just want to have dinner/drinks. The club has a small cover fee of about $2.

They have a room that looks like a restaurant where you can sit down and have food. The food was simple but good, about $10 - 15 per person with drinks. There is a live band playing. There is also another room for dancing. It has a big screen showing some clips. Very nice and unpretensious atmosphere. The wait staff is very friendly.

We went with a bunch of frends and had a great time.

If you visit Moscow, Bolshoi Theater is a must. The tickets are not very expensive, even from scalpers (remember to bargain). We were lucky our friend bought us tickets for about $15. We had front seats in the balcony with a good view.

The theater is beuatiful with paintings on the walls and a huge chandelier. We saw a ballet called Don Quixote. My husband and I are not big ballet fans, but we both loved it. They had a great show and costumes. They even had Don Quixote riding a real white horse. This is by far the best ballet I've seen, even at the Met.