The Walking Core: the Kremlin, Zaryadye and Zamoskvorechye
The main loop starts at Okhotny Ryad metro station. Italian masters built the Kremlin’s red-brick walls between 1485 and 1495. Nearby stand Saint Basil’s Cathedral (completed in 1561), GUM with its façade of nearly 250 metres, and the Alexander Garden.
From Vasilyevsky Spusk it is easy to walk into Zaryadye. The park opened in 2017 and covers 13 hectares. It features a V-shaped floating bridge over the embankment and an underground archaeology museum.
Zamoskvorechye, reached across the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, has a completely different mood. The Tretyakov Gallery on Lavrushinsky Lane has been preserving works of Russian art since 1856. Pyatnitskaya Street and Klimentovsky Lane still look like the quiet merchant streets they once were.
In the evening it is worth dropping by Nikolskaya Street — its garlands stay up year-round — or Kamergersky Lane. It is very small, but it has benches by the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre.
For this kind of route it is best to stay around Tverskaya or Kitay-Gorod. Among the platform’s top 10 options is V Hotel Tverskaya — from 8,140 ₽, a ten-minute walk from Red Square. You can book it on Moya Bron: V Hotel Tverskaya.
Seasons and Events: From the GUM Ice Rink to River Trams
In summer the temperature stays in the +23…+24 °C range — this is the peak season. Festivals run in Zaryadye, the open stages of Gorky Park are active, and river trams travel from Kyivsky Station to Vorobyovy Gory. City Day is marked on the first weekend of September, with fireworks launched over the embankments.
In winter the script changes: the GUM Ice Rink opens in late November, and the rink at VDNKh covers around 20,000 m². Around the same time the “Journey to Christmas” festival starts, with chalets appearing on Manezhnaya and Tverskaya Streets.
The shoulder season is quieter and more budget-friendly. By May daytime temperatures already reach +18 °C and museum queues are shorter. Late September brings the golden autumn — the perfect time to visit Kolomenskoye and Tsaritsyno. November is usually rainy and is excellent for a night at the theatre.
For dates like these it is easier to book places such as Petrovsky Putevoy Dvorets from 7,931 ₽ — rooms during this period are not snapped up a week in advance.