Moscow 2 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)
Two days is Red Square, the Kremlin, and one more museum, not “all of Moscow.” Every price here is RUB, not euros or dollars, and your foreign Visa or Mastercard will not work anywhere, so arrive with cash exchanged. If three days sounds more honest for your pace, our 3-day plan adds Kitay-Gorod and the Tretyakov without pretending you’ll see either properly in an afternoon squeezed onto day two.
Book these before you go:
- Kremlin Cathedral Square and Armoury tickets : both close Thursdays, book up to 17 days out
- St Basil’s Cathedral : a separate ticket from the Kremlin, MIR cards only online, cash at the box office otherwise
- Your hotel on Ostrovok.ru : accepts foreign Mastercard online, not Visa
- Apartments on Sutochno.ru : the short-stay alternative, same foreign-card caveat applies
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Cathedral Square, St Basil’s, GUM, Red Square after dark |
| 2 | Armoury Chamber, Kitay-Gorod, metro palace stations |
Day 1: Red Square and the Kremlin core
Start early. Book Cathedral Square, the walled cluster of 15th-century cathedrals and Kremlin grounds, for a morning slot (1,100 RUB standard, 600 RUB discounted), and arrive 45 minutes ahead for the airport-style security screening. From there it’s a short walk to St Basil’s Cathedral, a separate ticket run by the State Historical Museum (around 2,000 RUB for foreign visitors, book at tickets.shm.ru ), then the State Historical Museum itself at the square’s north end.
Have lunch inside GUM, the 1893 arcade on the square’s east side. It’s a private mall today, not a Soviet department store, though the Soviet-era ice cream kiosk in the main hall has been running since the Khrushchev years. Come back to Red Square itself after dark: the floodlighting on St Basil’s domes and the Kremlin wall is designed for exactly that, and the tour groups have thinned out by then.
Is Red Square open at night? Yes, it’s free and open 24 hours, closed only for state events and for roughly two weeks of rehearsals before the 9 May Victory Day parade in most years. Check the closure calendar if your trip lands in late April.
Day 2: The Armoury and Kitay-Gorod
If Fabergé eggs and coronation regalia are worth it to you, book one of the Armoury Chamber’s four fixed daily entry times (10:00, 12:00, 14:30, 16:30; 1,400 RUB standard, 800 RUB discounted, closed Thursdays same as Cathedral Square). If not, skip it entirely and spend the morning in Kitay-Gorod instead, the district immediately east of the square with pre-revolutionary streets most short-stay visitors never see.
Either way, work in a loop through Komsomolskaya and Mayakovskaya metro stations before you leave; a single 75 RUB Troika fare buys marble and mosaics that outclass some paid museums. Aeroexpress back to the airport runs 700 RUB one-way, cash or a MIR card only.
Before you go
Read the current US State Department and UK FCDO advisories in full, not just the headline level, since the specific risks listed, not general caution, are the actual planning factor. Confirm Lenin’s Mausoleum’s status separately if you want to add it; it’s free but open only Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 10:00-13:00, and restoration work has affected access in 2026.