Moscow

O

original guvnor

Elite
 Nottinghamshire
Ok, so I am travelling to Moscow next month for 4 days. I know you lot are a well travelled and educated lot, so I thought I'd ask for some advice on things to see and do whilst I'm there.

I've got tickets for the Bolshoi on one night but other than that I've haven't made any other plans yet. Has anyone else got any recommendations, great restaurants, must do's, things to give a miss?

Thanking you in advance :thumbsup:
 
Where are you staying?

Most places are walkable if you're near the centre (Arbatskaya/Smolenskaya) - and there's plenty of things to do.

You've got to visit Gorky Park (it's not winter so you won't be able to skate all over it, but there's usually a fair on).

You can arrange to visit the KGB/FSB 'museum', but it's only on a couple of days a week and you have to book in advance.

There's the art gallery and museum.

You can spend an afternoon walking around the Kremlin, or get on one of the city tour buses and do the whole tourist day thing.

There's are plenty of decent restaurants but I can't remember any of their names now - along the Arbat (about a mile up from the Kremlin). Take care of your credit card (i.e. keep it in sight at all times, and don't sign a CC slip if they claim the PIN didn't work). There's a good, but relatively cheap, Japanese place in Novvy Arbat (the big road parallel to the old Arbat street) called 'Stop Gap' (although I think that's the bar upstairs rather than the restaurant downstairs).

Walking is as quick as driving, and probably safer. Just ignore any of the beggars in the underpasses/subways as they're mostly part of gangs.

The Boarhouse (in Kurskaya) is also 'fun' if you like tequila shooters from half-dressed ladies - and you get to take your pick of Russian/Asian ladies to fight your way through to the bar/toilet.

Lonely Plant or Frommer's guides to Moscow will help as my info is a few years out of date.
 
mmm-five said:
Where are you staying?

Most places are walkable if you're near the centre (Arbatskaya/Smolenskaya) - and there's plenty of things to do.

You've got to visit Gorky Park (it's not winter so you won't be able to skate all over it, but there's usually a fair on).

You can arrange to visit the KGB/FSB 'museum', but it's only on a couple of days a week and you have to book in advance.

There's the art gallery and museum.

You can spend an afternoon walking around the Kremlin, or get on one of the city tour buses and do the whole tourist day thing.

There's are plenty of decent restaurants but I can't remember any of their names now - along the Arbat (about a mile up from the Kremlin). Take care of your credit card (i.e. keep it in sight at all times, and don't sign a CC slip if they claim the PIN didn't work). There's a good, but relatively cheap, Japanese place in Novvy Arbat (the big road parallel to the old Arbat street) called 'Stop Gap' (although I think that's the bar upstairs rather than the restaurant downstairs).

Walking is as quick as driving, and probably safer. Just ignore any of the beggars in the underpasses/subways as they're mostly part of gangs.

The Boarhouse (in Kurskaya) is also 'fun' if you like tequila shooters from half-dressed ladies - and you get to take your pick of Russian/Asian ladies to fight your way through to the bar/toilet.
Click to expand...

We are staying just to the North East of the city centre (Leningradskaya).Thanks for the suggestions mmm-five :thumbsup:
 
I had an apartment/flat in Arbatskaya/Smolenskaya - hence that's the area I know most about.

The apartment was great - it was just unfortunate that the rest of the block was a s**t-hole as they were rent-controlled for the locals. When one died the landlord was able to refurbish them and rent them out to foreigners for about 100 times the rates his local tenants would pay, so the tenants chose to piss in the lifts/stairs/corridors to put potential foreigners off.

They didn't count on someone from Liverpool renting one and being used to the smell :P

View from the apartment along Nuvvy Arbat...


...and looking 90º clockwise...


...if it wasn't for the 'guard' birds of prey, then I don't think these golden adornments would have lasted long...


 
mmm-five said:
I had an apartment/flat in Arbatskaya/Smolenskaya - hence that's the area I know most about.

The apartment was great - it was just unfortunate that the rest of the block was a s**t-hole as they were rent-controlled for the locals. When one died the landlord was able to refurbish them and rent them out to foreigners for about 100 times the rates his local tenants would pay, so the tenants chose to piss in the lifts/stairs/corridors to put potential foreigners off.

They didn't count on someone from Liverpool renting one and being used to the smell :P

View from the apartment along Nuvvy Arbat...


...and looking 90º clockwise...


...if it wasn't for the 'guard' birds of prey, then I don't think these golden adornments would have lasted long...


Click to expand...

Great photos! :thumbsup:
 
The plan was to stay for about 2 years, but after the first 3 months we realised the client was not going to pay and decided to cut our losses and head home.

Didn't help that everything had to be double-translated (i.e. we wrote it in English and either our appointed translator or bureau would put it into Russian, then it would be translated back to English by whichever of the translators missed out on the original translation to make sure they'd got the translation correct).

The people we were working with were great, and you'd see them one day in their civilian/office clothes and the next they'd be on TV in their 'comrades' clothes (i.e. uniforms).

Didn't have any problems with the local police force(s) either, as we just shoved our company passes in their face and they saluted and stood back to let us pass :P

Didn't manage to get into the ZIL lanes though - although did see one accident where 2 VIP cars with ZIL lane passes decided they had the right of way and neither driver wanted to chicken out first. Luckily one did at the last minute and there was only a glancing blow.

They also manage to get 5 lanes of traffic in a 3 lane road :P
 
Forget Gorky Park as it is full of 1980's fairground rides but you must do the metro to see the Socialist Realim Art. Just buy a ticket and hop off and on at th right stations. They are amazing.

There is a park built to commemorate the victory in the war to the socialist republics called Vednkh there is also soviet statues to the soviet space missions, the really famous ones. Great to see.

The guns that faced the Germans in the war, the Stalin skyscrapers the list goes on. Great place to see.
 
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