Moscow 5 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)
Five days is our 4-day plan , Red Square, the Kremlin, the Tretyakov, and Novodevichy, plus a fifth day riding the metro on purpose. Everything’s priced in RUB, and your foreign Visa or Mastercard will not work here, so this assumes cash in hand. Our 6-day plan adds a Sergiev Posad day trip on top of this route.
Book these before you go:
- Kremlin Cathedral Square and Armoury tickets : separate tickets, both closed Thursdays
- St Basil’s Cathedral : MIR cards only online, cash at the box office otherwise
- Tretyakov Gallery : 700 RUB, closed Mondays
- Your hotel on Ostrovok.ru : foreign Mastercard works online, Visa does not
- 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 |
| 3 | Tretyakov Gallery, Gorky Park |
| 4 | Novodevichy Convent, Sparrow Hills |
| 5 | Metro architecture loop, VDNKh |
Day 1: Red Square and the Kremlin core
Book Cathedral Square for a morning slot (1,100 RUB standard, 600 RUB discounted, arrive 45 minutes early for security), St Basil’s Cathedral on its own ticket, and the State Historical Museum. Lunch inside GUM, then Red Square again after dark once the crowds thin.
Day 2: The Armoury and Kitay-Gorod
Book one of the Armoury Chamber’s four fixed daily entry times if the Fabergé eggs interest you (1,400 RUB standard, 800 RUB discounted, closed Thursdays). Otherwise walk Kitay-Gorod, then ride out to Komsomolskaya and Mayakovskaya for a preview of day five’s loop.
Day 3: The Tretyakov Gallery and Gorky Park
The Tretyakov (700 RUB, closed Mondays) holds the Rublev Trinity icon; allow half a day. Gorky Park, free, is the easy afternoon follow-on.
Day 4: Novodevichy Convent and Sparrow Hills
Novodevichy Convent runs about 1,000 RUB; its separate cemetery, with Chekhov and Bulgakov among the graves, is free. Continue to Sparrow Hills for the classic Moscow State University skyline shot.
Day 5: The metro as a museum, then VDNKh
Ride the circle (Koltsevaya) line specifically for Komsomolskaya’s Baroque marble and mosaics and Mayakovskaya’s Art Deco steel and marble, a 1939 New York World’s Fair Grand Prix winner. It costs one 75 RUB Troika fare, and it rivals several paid museums on this list for photogenic value. From there, VDNKh, the vast former Soviet exhibition park, is free to wander; individual pavilions charge separately, the Cosmonautics pavilion around 700 RUB, the Moskvarium aquarium 1,400-1,800 RUB.
Is a half day on the metro really worth it over another museum? Yes, at this price. A single fare buys you two of the most photographed interiors in the city, and pairing the loop with VDNKh’s free outer grounds turns a transit day into a genuine sightseeing one.
Before you go
Read the current US State Department and UK FCDO advisories in full before booking anything, not just the headline advisory level. If Lenin’s Mausoleum interests you, confirm its status separately; it’s free but open only Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 10:00-13:00, with restoration work affecting access in 2026.