Seeing The Best Of Moscow In 72 Hours

State Historical Museum, Moscow

Moscow is the second largest city in Europe, steeped in history with an abundance of amazing architecture. The city itself is based on the Moskva River and is home to 12.4m people. The public transport in Moscow serves the city superbly with the largest metro system outside Asia. You’ll have no problems getting around to see the best of what Moscow has to offer. Here’s how you can see Moscow in 72 hours.

Day 1 in Moscow

What better place to start your first day in Moscow than Red Square? Red Square is seen to be situated in the centre of Moscow, a short walk from the Okhotny Ryad metro station on the red line, line 1. The square has historical importance with many armed military parades taking place here during the Soviet Era along with Lenin’s Mausoleum. The area surrounding the square is extremely photogenic so get your camera ready!

Fun Fact: In May 1987, a German pilot left from Hamburg and landed his light aircraft next to the Red Square prompting multiple sackings of high ranking defence officials and the closure of Moscow airspace to small aircraft this date. No helicopter tours in Moscow!

Within the Red Square you can see the Kremlin, the State Historical Museum, the GUM store and the colourful St. Basil’s Cathedral. You can enter famous and instantly recognisable St. Basil’s Cathedral for free but the outside is where you’ll get all of your pictures. The inside is made up of multiple rooms but if there’s a queue then it’s perhaps not worth going in.

St Basils Cathedral, Moscow

The Kremlin is home to the President of Russia and is made up of five palaces, four cathedrals, along with the walls and towers. At the Kremlin you can also visit Lenin’s Mausoleum free of charge. The Mausoleum is home to the body of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and has been since 1924. The Armoury is also worth visiting. The museum features a collection of around 4,000 Russian historical artefacts from across six centuries of Russian civilisation. The artefacts are lavish with a looooot of gold on show!

A short walk from the Red Square is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a war memorial dedicated to the Russian soldiers killed in World War 2. The memorial consists of a tomb with a laurel branch and a soldier’s helmet laid upon a banner. Two guards are situated at either side of the memorial and you can watch as they perform a changing of the guard every hour.

Day 2

The Museum of Cosmonautics is next up on your Moscow in 72 hours list. It’s a short walking distance from the VDNKh metro stop on the orange line, line 6. The museum is easily spotted due to the massive monument on top showing a rocket flying into space. It costs a total of 250 rubles (£3 / $4) to enter with the museum open every day from 10am, closing at 7pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday whilst closing at 9pm on the other days.

Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics

There are around 85,000 artefacts from the soviet era right through to the current date is on show through the large museum. It is very impressive with a number of original space suits, stories on the first dogs in space and the story of Yuri Gagarin. Yuri was the first human to journey into space and became a national hero upon his return. It’s also interesting to see the propaganda posters during the space race with the US.

Something to know: Most, but not all, of the items are in Russian so you can either use a translation app or pay for a guided tour in English.

The Central Armed Forces Museum should be your second stop on your second day. The museum is around a 5-10 minute walk from the Dostoevskaya metro station on the lime green line, line 10. The history of the Russian army is featured here right through the ages up to modern day. These items are displayed through the 25 main halls within the building.

Something to know: Everything is in Russian! Again, prepare yourself with a translation app or pay for a guided tour in English. You’ll struggle to understand the story behind the items without one of those. Be prepared for this on your Moscow in 72 hours trip.

The most interesting part, for me anyway, was the exhibition on World War 2 and the war on the eastern front. The original Victory Banner is on display here. The Victory Banner was the banner raised over the Reichstag in Berlin on the day following Hitler’s suicide. There’s also multiple items from Nazi Germany on display after being captured by the Russians in 1945.

Top Tip: Don’t miss the outside area! It’s easy to miss so go downstairs and look at the military items outside too. There are lots of planes, helicopters, tanks and much more!

Moscow State University

Finish your second day with a show at the Bolshoi Theatre. This is the most famous theatre in Russia and is easily accessed from the Teatralnaya metro station on the green line, line 2. The theatre opened in 1856 and has regular ballet and opera performances with tickets not as difficult to get as you’d have thought. Ticket prices can vary greatly depending on the performance but the cost can be between 100 (£1 / $2) and 15,000 (£181 / $240) rubles.

Fun Fact: The Bolshoi is known as the big theatre with the Maly Theatre (small theatre) next to it. During the Soviet era, the Bolshoi were given the privilege of being able to perform abroad and each time a number of performers defected and stayed in the west. A Moscow joke at the time was that the Maly Theatre was bigger than the Bolshoi when they came back from a tour.

Day 3

On your final day in the Russian capital, it’s worth spending those last remaining Rubles at the GUM department store. The shopping centre which reopened in 1953 is a stones throw from Red Square. The very impressive building with a stunning glass roof is home to over 100 top brands such as Prada, Louis Vuitton and Hugo Boss, to name just a few.

If shopping isn’t your thing and you haven’t got your fill of the fantastic architecture Moscow has to offer then take a journey on the Metro system. To where I hear you ask. Well, just to look at the Metro stations! The underground system was originally built as a Soviet propaganda project with vast amounts of money spent on making the stations look as good as they could.

Kiyevskaya Metro Station, Moscow

Arbatskaya is probably up there as the nicest Metro station with some amazing detailing. Kiyevskaya is another station worth seeing, it was opened to celebrate 300 years of Russia and Ukrainian unity with many mosaics showcasing the friendship. Alongside the older designed stations there are also modern designed Metro stations such as the Dostoyevskaya station which you would’ve already seen if you went to the Central Armed Forces museum.

Wonderful architecture can be found all around Moscow with the Moscow State University Building, Donskoi Monastery and the Cathedral of the Assumption all within walking distance of the sprawling underground system.

Have you visited Moscow? What would you recommend in a short break in the city? Is this the best way to enjoy Moscow in 72 hours?

You can read more of what I got up to in 2018 by reading my 2018 Year Review.

PS – I got this trip to Moscow during the 2018 World Cup ridiculously cheap using Avios so I’d definitely recommend boosting your Avios balance!

Seeing The Best Of Moscow In 72 Hours

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13 Comments

  1. July 20, 2018 / 4:40 am

    Wow amazing description. Russia is always one of my desired places to visit. I will refer your guide Thanks.

  2. Tif
    July 21, 2018 / 12:57 pm

    This is amazing!! Moscow is in the top of my list & 3 Days is possibly all I would have there so this is so helpful! Saving this to reference too later!

  3. July 22, 2018 / 8:51 pm

    What a fab itinerary. The architecture seems so interesting and varied. I had never wanted to visit Russia before but since travelling through Central Asia, I am certainly inspired. I hope to do the Trans-Siberian in winter and start in Moscow. I will be referring back to this post for then 🙂 Thanks for giving me some ideas to kick start a trip in Russia.

  4. July 25, 2018 / 2:39 am

    Thanks for sharing your itinerary. I’d love to go to Russia one day.

  5. July 26, 2018 / 2:14 pm

    oh my gosh, I have wanted to go to Moscow for so long and this is just a perfect length for a quick visit!

  6. July 27, 2018 / 10:30 am

    Reading this and looking at the photos did bring back a lot of memories. I love Moscow, one of my favourite cities in European and the locals are a great bunch of people. Forget the politics, the country, city, nature, people and the vodka are fantastic. Did I forget to say Ice Hockey there also? 😀

  7. July 30, 2018 / 10:57 pm

    Have always wanted to go to Moscow! It looks like it has some stunning architecture. The Kremlin looks and sounds incredibly complex and intricate

  8. October 10, 2018 / 9:53 am

    If only we had gotten our visas before leaving the USA… We will definitely go here one day. The architecture looks beautiful!

  9. October 10, 2018 / 3:42 pm

    Thanks for the heads up of the attractions being in Russian and the need for a translation app or English guide. Can you recommend an app? I’d love to visit Russia!

    • David
      Author
      October 10, 2018 / 7:05 pm

      I’d definitely recommend the Google Translate app for any language including Russian. Make sure to download the dictionary for the language before you venture outside your Wi-Fi / phone signal range though or it may not work

  10. October 11, 2018 / 2:13 am

    The metro stations are very pretty. Did you need the translation app for street signs and other things to get around?

  11. October 11, 2018 / 6:44 pm

    I’m normally a bit sceptical when I read about visiting a city in 24, 48 or 72 hours, especially a big cities like Moscow but you seem to compiled an awesome itinerary here. A lot of great tips for first timers or visitors that have a long layover. Thanks for sharing