Feature · Moscow
Moscow, the classic and the new
A city of red walls and gold domes, and of glass towers on the river. By the ULTIMATE Moscow Editorial Team.
Updated October 2026
The Kremlin and Red Square
The Kremlin and Red Square are a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the cathedrals and the Armoury inside the walls, and St Basil’s, the State Historical Museum and GUM on the square.
Ballet, music and theatre
Moscow is one of the world’s great cities for ballet and music: the Bolshoi’s Historic Stage, the Great Hall of the Conservatory, the Stanislavsky music theatre and the Moscow Art Theatre, where Chekhov’s plays first came to life.
From icons to the avant-garde
The Tretyakov holds Russian art from Rublev’s Trinity to the late 19th century; the New Tretyakov carries on with Kandinsky and Malevich; and the Pushkin Museum gathers European art from antiquity to the Impressionists. Garage and GES-2 show contemporary art.
At the table
Borscht and pelmeni, blini with sour cream, and medovik for afters: the Russian classics are on every menu, from Café Pushkin to the Grand Café Dr. Zhivago.
Russian Cuisine The best restaurants in Moscow
Parks and towers
Zaryadye Park and its floating bridge opened beside the Kremlin in 2017, GES-2 opened on the river in 2021, and the towers of Moscow City rise over the Presnenskaya embankment.
The city on screen
Moscow has starred in its own classics, from Walking the Streets of Moscow to The Irony of Fate, the film many families watch every New Year. See our page Moscow on film.
Questions and answers
When is the best time to visit Moscow?
Late spring and summer for the parks and the river, and December and January for the New Year lights and the rinks.
Sources: the venues’ own websites and, where those cannot be reached, English Wikipedia (checked 31 October 2026).