For tourists’ notice: travel ideas around Moscow and Moscow Oblast

Visit multimedia exhibitions, old estates and modern constructions, learn more about gastronomic preferences of different peoples, or take a rest in a nature reserve-Moscow and the region are rich with interesting sites and activities worth visiting. Just be sure you have several days to check them all out.

September 27 is the World Tourism Day for tourist industry workers and travel enthusiasts to celebrate. For those desiring to learn more about Moscow and the region cultural and historical heritage, the Russpass digital service offers the Moscow + Moscow Oblast. Two Beats of Ideal Journey project. It comprises 10 cross-regional customizable tours that can be combined and reorganized to create the journey of your dreams. Read mos.ru to learn about the seven most fascinating of them.

Admire architectural masterpieces

The Unique Architectural Forms tour will show you around the best examples of Moscow and Moscow Oblast architectural styles. Zaryadye Park is your starting point. There, you can discover the River Overlook Footbridge that protracts 70 meters without a single support. It offers a gorgeous panoramic view of the Kremlin and Zamoskvorechye District. Our next destination is the State Historical Museum. It was built in the late 19 th century by the order of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and was meant to store Russia’s national treasury. It houses a unique collection of decorative pieces, archaeological artifacts, weaponry, numismatics, and literary curios.

The tour’s real highlight is a breathtaking century-old Russian Art Nouveau mansion that was built for entrepreneur Stepan Ryabushinsky by architect Fyodor Schechtel. The exterior and interior design of the mansion is inspired by the water element: asymmetrical exterior walls, a grand wave-like staircase, and numerous design pieces in the form of shells, jellyfish, and seahorses.

Once finished with the urban architectural monuments, it is time to leave the city and go to Zaraysk or Kolomna and take a walk along the walls of local kremlins. At the end of the tour, guests are offered to visit the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Mozhaysk, a unique exemplar of Orthodox architecture, Russian Gothic style. There is another unusual temple on the territory of Dubrovitsy estate, Znamenskaya Church, built in the 17 th century preserving the baroque canons. It is embellished with stone sculptures of the apostles and fret ornaments.

Venture on the search for the Russian Revival style

The Russian Revival Style: from Terem Hut to Avant-Garde tour is perfect for those interested in the aforementioned architectural style. It tells us the story of how architects, painters, sculptors, and other artists have been interpreting national imagery and folklore since the late 19 th century. There are two stops at VDNKh: the Park of Crafts offers its guests an opportunity to make some pottery or create stained glass, while at the Dymov Ceramics Manufactory visitors can master hand molding and the technique of ceramic products decoration.

The State Tretyakov Gallery exhibits masterpieces of Russian painting, sculpture, graphics, and decorative arts. To relish Russian Revival architecture, you can visit Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Kolomna, famous for its unusual brickwork, or the old shopping venues in Sergiyev Posad.

Find inspiration

The Territory of Inspiration tour leads you through several creative spaces. For example, at the Khlebzavod art space on the territory of former bread making factory No. 9 one can buy designer clothes and visit a restaurant of Chinese or Brazilian cuisine, while the GES-2 Culture Centre opens its doors to exhibitions of contemporary art.

Tourists can also explore a rich cultural program offered by Dom Tvorchestva in Peredelkino and the New Jerusalem State Museum of History and Art in Istra, which houses a large collection of paintings by renowned artists.

Complete magical quests and do some stargazing

The Amazing World of Childhood is ideal for family trips. On the first day, young guests and their parents will visit the Central Children’s Store on Lubyanka, the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, the State Darwin Museum, and the Ministry of Magic Entertainment Center with its magical quests and workshops. Visits to the Moscow Planetarium, Soyuzmultpark multimedia center, the City Farm at VDNKh, and the Moscow Zoo will be the highlights of the next day.

After admiring the stars and animals and learning all about animation, it is time to go to the countryside and visit two toy museums: in Zvenigorod one can boast constructor castles, while the one in Sergiyev Posad exhibits dolls, cars, film-viewing devices, filmstrips, and other artifacts of Soviet childhood.

Try venison ragout and snail delicacies

The gastronomic tour around Moscow and Moscow Oblast will take travelers back in time and give them an opportunity to try tasty and nourishing dishes straight out of Soviet cookbooks at GUM Canteen No. 57, to recollect the childhood flavor of doughnuts at VDNKh, to learn the history of the Krasny Oktyabr confectionery factory at the Einem’s Rose Museum exhibition, and to drink a cup of hot chocolate.

In Kolomna, travelers will learn about the ancient production techniques of pastila and kalach; at the Kochevnik ethno-park in Sergiyevo-Posadsky District, they will be offered buuz, venison ragout, and other Buryat-Mongolian dishes; at the farm in Parfentievo village, they will be invited to a restaurant with a peculiar snail dish menu, from burgers to pelmeni.

Find Chekhov’s pince-nez and discover Tchaikovsky’s workplace

Find out about urban and countryside dwelling of tsars, famous merchant families, outstanding Russian composers, writers, poets, and artists along the route of the Life Rules of a Muscovite and a Suburban Cottager tour. You can study the matter in theory, for example, at the Museum of Moscow and the Bulgakov Museum, as well as in practice at the favorite meeting spots of Russian writers in Ostafyevo or the former royal residence, Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve.

In Moscow Oblasts, travelers are expected at the Tchaikovsky Museum-Reserve. The local exhibition is dedicated to the life and work of the composer in his estate near Klin, the birthplace of famous Symphonies No. 5 and No. 6, ballets The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. At the Museum-Reserve of A. P. Chekhov, Melikhovo, tourists can find the writer’s personal belongings, including his pince-nez, white cap, photographs, documents, and books.

Take a walk through wildlife reserves and modern parks

The Preserved Territories tour will show the guests around the places with cultural ecosystems. Novodevichy Convent, a UNESCO World Heritage Monument, starts the route that runs past the state nature reserve Vorobyovy Gory and the park Serebryany Bor.

Outside the city boundaries, it is worth paying a visit to bisons and aurochs in the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve in Serpukhov District. Skitskiye Prudy or Pekhorka modern suburban parks are possible stops on the route. They have playgrounds and sports grounds, as well as convenient cycling lanes and cafes.

The Moscow + Moscow Oblast. Two Beats of Ideal Journey program is a part of the Increasing the Availability of Tourist Services initiative under the national Tourism and the Hospitality Industry project created to popularize traveling formats as city breaks (short trips to other cities-note by mos.ru).