Help make sure I don't become a Snarfodoxcicle.

October 30, 2006 12:09 PM

I'm heading to Moscow soon. What is the best way to see the city properly during a few days stop-over?

I don't mind a very light serving of the typical tourist trail, but I'll get bored with that very quickly. I usually prefer to wander around by myself, meet some locals and hopefully get a chance to see what Moscow is really like.

My Russian is currently wretched, but probably enough so that I won't starve or freeze to death if I just turn up with no forward planning. That said, it'll be reasonably chilly in December so I should probably organise something before I get there.

I'm planning to stay a few days at least, grab a train to Odessa and travel onwards from there. I'm a pretty confident traveller, but helpful advice from previous visitors or residents is always appreciated.

Спасибо.

posted by snarfodox to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

I asked a similar question last year.
posted by jedrek at 12:34 PM on October 30, 2006

(Moscow native but haven't been home for a while, so don't remember much)

I recommend walking around the center of town, the Novyi and Staryi Arbat are good places to buy souvenirs if you're into that sort of thing. There are a couple local equivalents of TimeOut, so I'd suggest buying one and seeing if there are any interesting plays or events (see if there's anything at the Operetta Theater, even if you don't understand the words, the singing is good). I would also recommend checking out the Museum of Photographic Arts and the Tretyakovskaya Gallery. Then, hit up a bar on Kutuzovskyi Prospekt for a drink (if you can afford it). For dinner, find a Georgian restaurant (I don't remember where it is or if it's still open, but Hvanchkara is a really good one). Avoid Moscow sushi, it's a giant overpriced sham. If you like books, drop by the Lenin Library or one of the many large cheap bookstores.

Take the subway to get around, it's cheap, beautiful, and the heat of pressed-together Slavic bodies will get rid of your frostbite.
posted by nasreddin at 1:16 PM on October 30, 2006

Doubtless you already know all this, but there's a little Moscow-specific advice in this thread.

My recommendation, make the big Moskva Kniga shop on Tverskaya your first stop. Get the Afisha guide to Moscow - it's about a jillion times better than the Lonely Planet, covers everything, and has a great sense of humor.

It is, however, in Russian. It will be good practice for you. Seriously, it is the best way to see Moscow. It was written by Muscovites, covers the touristy stuff and much more.

There's also a very good weekly called Gde, (Where)... ask for it at kiosks and Moskva Kniga. It lists everything that's happening that week, at least culturally. A French girl introduced me to it and it became my bible. A whole new world of culture in Moscow opened up before me.

Things I specifically really enjoyed, the MGU Zoological Museum, the Polytechnical Museum, and the Museum of Packaging. But I like dead things and typefaces. I also saw several good operas.

Be *sure* to get to Gorbushka or the Savyalovskaya market and buy some pirate media (audiobooks are great) and get a cheap flash MP3 player to listen to them on the way to Odessa.

I have yet to have a good dining experience in Moscow so I recommend you just hit the street vendors, like Kroshka Kartoshka or one of the fake Italian kiosks. Wherever possible avoid these places when they are very near Metro stops as it's easy to get sick as hell and ruin your whole trip. Speaking from experience, no matter how good it smells, do not buy food at Kievsky vokzal. ;)
posted by fake at 1:36 PM on October 30, 2006

i recommend you pay an english-speaking native with a car to give you a tour. $10-15 per hour. see if you can access a moscow university students' forum on the internet and try to find a guide through that.

nightlife: try kitaiski lyotchik for young arty crowd with live music, maybe bordo for the brothel scene (excuse me if i give you wrong or even offensive advice here, i don't know your age, sex or tastes, and you have specified seeing what moscow is "really like").you can often deduce evening exhibition previews from the info on gif.ru
posted by londongeezer at 2:08 PM on October 30, 2006

Also: Proekt OGI also popular youth/music nightclub; Potapovskiy pereulok. For lunch croque monsieur in Zhan Zhak by Oriental Art Museum near Nikitskie Vorota is popular. In summer coffee and cake at Kafe Maniya on Bolshaya Nikitskaya is very popular, not sure who goes in winter when you can't sit outside.
posted by londongeezer at 2:17 PM on October 30, 2006

... and I loved it.

Moscow charmed me. I learned about people's lives. I was given wonderful food.

I took a train east. I got arrested drinking vodka with soldiers. I resisted police extortion. I hiked over the Urals. I was alone for five days in an endless ocean of snow and taiga forest. I slept in the open. I found out how cold -32°C really was. I fell off a cliff. I went dogsledding. I danced with Uzbeks in Red Square on New Years Eve.
posted by snarfodox at 9:28 AM on July 12, 2007 [2 favorites]