I visited Vilnius in January 2018 to catch up with an old friend who’d moved there from America about a year earlier. Although it was my first time in the Baltics, and I had no idea what to expect, I quickly fell in love with the small, winding cobblestone streets, the old architecture and charm […]

On February 17, squares, avenues and parks in every corner of Russia celebrated Maslenitsa, a traditional Russian holiday that marks the imminent end of winter with mountains of hot, delicious blini and revelry. Originally a pagan holiday celebrated as early as the 2nd century A.D., Maslenitsa has been somewhat folded into Orthodox Christian traditions and […]

Krutitskoe Podvorye Religious History in Moscow Free area of town to stroll in Directions: Take the metro to Proletarskaya station. After leaving the metro, head straight down Krutitskiy Per., toward the Moscow River. Continue past the four-way intersection with Novospasskiy Pr-d. On your left, you will see Krutitskaya Ul. Head down the road, and at […]

Vegas City Hall Shopping Mall in Moscow Sunday-Thursday: 10 am to 11 pm, Friday-Saturday: 10 am to 12 am Entrance to the mall is free! Bring money for shopping / food. Directions: Take the metro to Myakinino Station and follow the street directly upon the exit of the station. Have you ever wanted to live […]

Tour of Muzeon Included in the SRAS Cultural Program Summer, 2017 Free Admission Website Directions: Take the metro to Park Kultury and cross the Krymskiy Bridge over the Moscow River. On your right, you will see Gorky Park, and on your left is the New Tretyakov Gallery and Muzeon. Budget: Muzeon is free to the […]

Чистая Линия (Chistaya Liniya) Ice Cream Factory Tour Included as part of the SRAS Cultural Program Summer, 2017 Website The SRAS group in Moscow was invited on an excursion to Чистая Линия (Chistaya Liniya), an ice cream factory known for quality ingredients and of course, delicious ice cream! We started off the tour by meeting […]

Moscow Day Celebrations June 12th – multiple locations throughout Moscow Guided excursion included as part of SRAS’ Summer, 2017 cultural program ~1000 rubles for food, drink, and souvenirs С Днëм России! This holiday is a very exciting time not only for native Russians, but for visitors as well! This year, celebrations were particularly extensive in […]

Vernisazh Souvenir Market at Izmailovo Izmailovo Park (Metro Partizanskaya) Wednesday-Sunday from 10am to 8pm Closed Monday and Tuesday Budget: 40 rubles – infinity   Calling all tourist trap victims who are simultaneously balling on a budget: Put down that overpriced Matryoshka doll that you found in Red Square and back away slowly. If you’re as […]

Holidays in Russia with descriptions, histories and official days off for 2017 A list of those holidays of cultural importance in Russia. Dates, days off, and histories of the holidays are all listed. New Year / Новый Год December 31, 2016 – January 1, 2017 (days off: Jan 1, 2017 – Jan 8, 2017) Russians will have […]

Muzeon Where: Krimsky Val, вл. 2, Moscow Open 8:00-23:00 Free Entrence (~$3 for coffee or a snack) Muzeon is a park and open air sculpture museum located next to Gorky Park and within the Garden ring of Moscow. Opened in 1992, the park consists of huge green areas, old soviet monuments, sculptures that could not […]

The Bolshoi Theater A Night Out with SRAS Tickets typically run $50 and more Included with SRAS summer 2016 program Are you interested in theater? I wasn’t. I went with SRAS to the ballet anyway though, thinking I’d at least get my money’s worth out of the study abroad package. Knowing what I know now, […]

Izmailovsky Market: A Morning Well-Spent Izmaylovskoye Shosse 73, Moscow (Partizanskaya metro Station) Open from sun up to sun down Bring ~$10 for souvenirs/snacks I’m keeping this review short and sweet. Go to Izmailovsky market. Seriously, just go. It’s one of the oldest and largest flea markets in Moscow. While technically open every day of the […]

Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve: Walking Seminar and Picnic Dolskaya ul., 1, Moscow, 115569 Offered as part of the SRAS cultural program – Summer, 2016 Free, but bring ~$10 if you want a snack Tsaritsyno is a park and museum complex in southern Moscow. Currently one of the largest reserves in Moscow, the land started as an aristocratic […]

Grand Kremlin Palace Tour By Appointment Only $75 for the tour When SRAS gave me the opportunity to take an exclusive tour of the Grand Kremlin Palace, which is an exclusive tour that is normally off-limits to the general public, I had to take it. This particular tour is different from those that cover the […]

Guide to VDNKh Prospect Mira, 119 – Metro VDNKh Free to enter Bring cash for food, additional activities (500-2000 rubles) VDNKH, whose Russian name translates to Exhibition of Achivements of National Economy, is one of Moscow’s grandest parks, a massive space in the northeast portion of the city that is almost a living monument to […]

4th of July Cold War Fest Taganskaya Bunker, American Breakfast, and Politics Seminar SRAS Event held summer, 2016 As part of my Russian as a Second Language program at Moscow State University, I attended a special SRAS cultural activity to mark the celebration of July 4th as well as learn about Russian politics, from the […]

The Moscow Space Museum Prospect Mira, 111 Free with student ID (500 rubles otherwise) The Moscow Space Museum rivals any other cosmonautic museum in the world for the sheer size of collection of memorabilia relating to the early days of space travel and modern advancements, as well as models of space craft that countries from […]

A Tour of the Kremlin in Moscow with a stop at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior Free tour offered summer of 2016 with SRAS’s regular Moscow programs As part of SRAS’s Russian as a Second Language (RSL) program at Moscow State University, I had the opportunity to attend a guided walking tour of the […]

 Gorky Park and Garage Museum of Modern Art in Moscow Poster Child of Russia’s Urban Revitalization Open 24/7 Free Entrance, Bring Cash for Food, Bike Rentals, etc. For several years now, Russia’s federal government and the city government of Moscow have worked together in an attempt to revitalize the capital city, with a particular focus […]

Moscow’s Velobike Rental System 500 Locations Across Moscow 160 Rubles + At first glance, Moscow does not seem like it would be the most cycling-friendly city. Considering the current reconstruction projects dominating much of the city’s center in a bid to improve pedestrian infrastructure, and the notoriously bad traffic that plagues the city most hours […]

Kolomenskoye Park Andropova Ave, 39 Daily 08:00-21:00 (May 1st to September 31st 07:00-24:00) Free (~$5 for drinks and ice cream) Kolomenskoye Park is definitely one of Moscow’s must-see attractions. Open year round, this former royal estate contains historic local buildings, gardens, a haunted ravine with pagan shrines, and several artifacts and parts of wooden buildings […]

The Moscow Book Festival Red Square, Moscow Friday to Monday, Annually during the first weekend in June 10:00am – 11:00pm Free Entrance Budget maybe ~$5 for food and ~$5-25 for books The Moscow Book Festival (книжный фестиваль) is a new annual event that takes place in Red Square. The festival usually begins in the first […]

A Night Out: Noodle Mama and the Red October Factory Metro: Kropotkinskaya After a long day of studying and finishing up homework at the Higher School of Economics, I’m usually back in my dorm room before nighttime. However, one day, I managed to stay out a little later and explored the city with some of […]

A Roman Festival in Moscow – “Times and Epochs” Kolomenskoye Park Metro Stop: Kolomenskaya (Dark green line, south) Free Entrance Attending a Roman festival is one of the last things I thought I would be doing during my study abroad in Moscow. This festival was held in Kolomskoye Park from June 6-7, 2015. As with […]

Лефортовский Pынок / Lefortovskii Rinok Ул. Авиамоторная, 39, Москва, 111024 Hours: 8:00-20:00 Although newer students might feel inclined to head to a familiar supermarket style store for groceries, I urge you to give the local рынок a visit. A рынок is a bazaar-style market that often has clothes, meats, tea, vegetables, fruits, cookies and candy. Sometimes […]

Rolling Stone Club Болотная набережная., 3 строение 1 Hours of Operation: 21:00-7:00 Cost: Free entrance, 200+ rubles per drink There are many nighttime destinations that foreigners have on their list of places to visit in Moscow, and the Rolling Stone nightclub and bar is one of them. Rolling Stone was opened in 2009, and was the […]

House on the Embankment Museum / Mузей дом на набережной ул. Серафимовича д.2 Hours of Operation: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 10:00-18:30, Thursday from 11:00-21:00, Saturday and Sunday from 11:00-18:00; closed every last Friday of the month for cleaning As part of my Russian language course at Moscow State University, my professor took us to the […]

Kremlin Ballet State Kremlin Palace ул. Воздвиженка, д. 1 (Box Office) Box Office Hours: Every day from 12:00 to 20:00 Performance Times: 14:00 and 19:00 depending on the day Cost: 500-800 rubles per ticket, minimum In late September, as one of the SRAS Cultural Excursions, our group went to see the ballet “Snow Maiden” (“Снегурочка”) […]

Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius / Свято-Троицкая Сергиева Лавра In Sergiev Posad – Day Trip from Moscow Hours of Operation: 5:00-21:00; tours run daily from 9:00-18:00 during the summer, and from 9:00-17:00 during the winter (November 11-April 30) Cost: Free except for Vestry (Разница); one can purchase various guided tours On October 5, after visiting […]

Abramtsevo Artists’ Museum-Reserve Day Trip from Moscow с. Абрамцево, ул. Музейная, д. 1 Hours of Operation: 10:00-17:30 (Summer Schedule), 10:00-15:30 (Winter Schedule), Wednesday-Sunday except the last Thursday of every month Cost: Full Price (adults, all exhibits) 1,295 rubles; Special Price (students and pensioners, all exhibits) 800 rubles; Free for other designated groups; Photos and videos in […]

The Village used the new Instagram mobile app, Hyperlapse, to capture the pedestrian zones of Moscow. The following was originally published in Russian. It was translated by SRAS Translation Abroad Scholar Sophia Rehm. At the end of August, new pedestrian zones opened in Moscow on Maroseyka, Petrovka and Pyatnitskaya Streets, and in September city hall […]