I was born in Moscow, and  the first 22 years of my life very happily flew by in this beautiful city.  Now, every time I back, I feel like a tourist. The city change in the past 20 years so much, I can't even begin to describe. I wanted to take my daughter to see where her mum was from for many years, and finally there was a chance to do so. This time I tried to combine my childhood knowledge of the city and popular tourist attractions on offer.

This is my TOP THINGS TO DO IN MOSCOW with a kid:

Red Square and Kremlin

Probably the first sight of Moscow that all visitors get to know is Red Square and Kremlin. You can easily spend a day there, maybe even more. There are so much to explore:

- St. Basil's Cathedral is the symbol of the city, despite the fact that St. Basil not the main cathedral of Moscow, since this place corresponds to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The Cathedral was built in 1555-1561 at the order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. It is a very beautiful inside and out, but this time we didn't get to go inside. Red Square looks even more attractive at night than during the day, you should have a walk after dark if you will have a chance.

-Lenin's Mausoleum, also known as Lenin's Tomb is free of charge to visit. The Mausoleum is open  on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 10am–1pm. Visitors still queue to see Lenin's body, although queues moving fast.

-GUM, the department store with many designer shops and very great cafes and restaurants for every wallet size inside. This is a Harrods of Moscow with stores like Cartier, Chanel and many more, most of us can't afford to shop there, but the building is very beautiful inside and out. Walk in, browse inside and admire the architecture, have a coffee and cake or have a lunch in Stolovaya N57. The local lunch in this canteen style restaurant - a gastronomic journey to the Soviet Union. In the GUM's Canteen # 57 everything is prepared as it was in the Soviet Union: food cooked fresh on the premises with a love and knowledge of the old traditional recipes. The canteen has one drawback - a long queue. Think of it as part of the Soviet tradition too, but it goes very quickly.

-Alexander Garden was laid out by Russian architect Osip Bove in the early 19th century and is named in honour of Emperor Alexander I. The Alexander Garden is included in the list of cultural sites of Russia and is under the protection of UNESCO. You will walk past Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where newlyweds bring flowers and have their pictures taken. The inscription reads: ‘Your name is unknown, your deeds immortal.’  The guards perform a perfectly synchronised ceremony to change the guards on duty every hour.

There’s an eternal flame, and other inscriptions listing the Soviet 'hero cities' of WWII – those that withstood the heaviest fighting between 1941 and 1945. For me, this is a sacred place since my childhood, we used to visit it all most every year to pay the respect to all, who died in the Second World War.

-The Diamond Fund of the Armory (Almaznyy Fond) inside the Kremlin is highly recommended, this is the third richest collection in the world! It is a pity that taking pictures of jewelry are strictly prohibited. A ticket cost £8 and  can be purchased on the day, t) he ticket office is open daily, except Thursday and holidays from 9am to 4.30pm and has a lunch break from 12 noon to 1pm. An audio guide service is provided in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Japanese.

-Cathedral Square is the main square of the Kremlin and located in its centre on the highest part of the Kremlin hill and contains architectural monuments of the 14th to 20th centuries. This is a whole city within a city that has been created over many centuries. These stones remember Ivan Kalita, Dmitry Donskoy and Ivan the Terrible. They are like a chronicle by which you can study the history of Russia. Here they crowned and buried the tsars and the great princes, held wedding ceremonies and councils with foreign ambassadors. And even when the Peter moved the capital to the St. Petersburg, the Romanovs was crowned here, in the Assumption Cathedral. If you want to visit just one place in the Kremlin or Red Square, this is the place you should pay your attention too. The ticket is £7 or £10 with an audio guide, please note that you need to leave a  deposit for 1 audio guide - the amount is not less than 3000 rubles (£30), or a significant document (driver's or pensioner's license, ID (for foreign citizens) and for several audio guides - a significant document (driver's or pensioner's license, ID (for foreign citizens).

Please note that there are no cafes or any other food places inside the Kremlin, so visit it in the morning or have a lunch before you visit if you plan it for an afternoon.

Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre is the most famous and important theatre in whole Russia that holds ballet and opera performances. It is the pride of all Russia and by far the biggest and the oldest ballet company in the world. Seeing the Swan Lake at the Bolshoi definitely could be a highlight of a trip to Moscow. If you are not into the ballet or opera, but would like to see why is this theatre so special,  you can join the group excursion to visit the just the theatre, you have to prebook tickets for the excursion 7 days before the date of the tour www.bolshoi.ru/visit/buyingnew/



Ice Skating

The circus is a Russian specialty, especially in the Moscow, and this is one show that you  shouldn't miss. Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoi Boulevard is one of the oldest circuses in Russia and the building on Tsvetnoy Boulevard was built for the Solomonsky Circus, and the first circus show took place on 20th of October 1880. Jaw dropping, thrilling, no dull moments from beginning to end! Great and amazing, a must do on your visit to Moscow, especially if you traveling with kids. For my daughter this was a highlight of all trip to Russia. This circus one of the most popular, so I recommend to buy a ticket well in an advance, prices start at £15 and go up to £40, to book go to www.circusnikulin.ru/tickets

Eliseyevskiy food store

This is not just any ordinary supermarket. Bulky chandeliers and gilding are at least an unusual interior of a grocery store. Even more surprising is the fact that from the very beginning these decorations were intended for the grocery store of the merchant Eliseev. He hoped to surprise the Moscow public: even the entrance to the store was designed so wide that a carriage could drive into it. The premises in this form survived both the revolution and the Soviet time without changing its purpose. You can admire the chic interior and buy something in a fancy packaging as a souvenir or a present. Walking along Tverskaya Street, do not miss the chance to visit the Eliseevsky store

Take a walking tour of Moscow

As usual, I would recommend to take a free walking tour, you can book on www.freetour.com/moscow, but if you decide to explore the city at your own past, this is some interesting building to see:

-Residential house of Pertsova is probably one of the most fabulous houses in Moscow. The broken roofs and the unusual shape of the windows resemble a tower, and the bright majolica reproduces the plots and images of Slavic mythology on the facade. This design was not chosen by chance. This house has a great location: from the windows of the building you can see the Kremlin, the Moscow River, and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The owners were able to buy the plot only after they promised to build a house in the Russian style on it. As a result, the sketch was developed by Sergey Malyutin, the artist who painted the first Russian nesting doll. You can easily find it — The fairy-tale house is located on the bank of the Moscow River, not far from the bridge near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, address Soymonovskiy Proyezd, 1/35

-Trunk- house, the neighboring to the Pertsova's house was also built in the pseudo-Russian style. The compact, two-storey building made of red brick is richly decorated was built in 1901. The owner was the banker Ivan Evmenievich Tsvetkov (1845-1917), who collects Russian paintings. He created a gallery of 450 paintings, 1300 drawings, 36 plastic works. Now this is the residence of the Brazilian Ambassador.
-Ostankino Tower, is a television and radio tower has long been a real symbol of the capital. Now there is a great opportunity to visit not only its open (at an altitude of 340 m) and closed (at an altitude of 337 m) observation decks, but also visit a museum, and then dine in a restaurant right under the clouds.  In a good clear weather you can see as far as 60 km. The TV tower itself 540 m high, at the time it was finished, 5th of November 1967, it was the tallest freestanding tower in the world, and today it is the tallest tower in Europe. Open daily from 10 am to 10 pm. Address:  Academika Koroleva, 15/2, metro VDNKh or Alekseevskaya.

-House On The Embankment Museum is the only museum of its kind in the country and one of the few of its kind in the world. The atmosphere of the 30s has been recreated here. The decision to build a house was made in 1927 due to the fact that Moscow did not have enough housing for the high rank party workers. In 1931, the first tenants were party leaders, scientists and old Bolsheviks. The museum is small and occupies just one apartment. Open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday - from 10 am to 6.30 pm, Thursday - from 11 am to 9 pm, on weekends - from 11am to 18pm, entrance £1.50. Address:

Serafimovich, 2

-Savvinskoe courtyard even few locals know about its existence, because it is hidden from the eyes of passers-by, while being in the very center. Walking along Tverskaya, be sure to look into the arch of house no. 6. You will see a beautiful architectural monument, which was built in 1907 by the architect Kuznetsov in a fabulous Russian style with decorative elements of the Baroque and Art Nouveau. Up to 1937 it was located directly on Tverskaya, but in 1938-40 houses on the even side of the street were to be moved to the north. Many buildings were mercilessly demolished, but Savvinsky courtyard was lucky - with the help of a special technology developed by engineer Handel, it was moved into the depths of the block to a new foundation. It is hard to imagine, but the building weighing 23 thousand tons was moved on the night 4th of November 1939-and, what is really quite surprising - with all  its residents inside!

-Observation deck Moscow City is located on the 58th floor of the Empire Tower. From here, the Moscow State University is clearly visible. M.V. Lomonosov, Ostankino TV tower, White House, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, etc.

-Kremlin and market in Izmailovo built as a medieval Russian fortress, this is the ideal place to buy a variety of souvenirs: famous nesting dolls, crafts, leather, paintings, souvenirs from the former USSR (Soviet medals, Cossack sabers, Soviet caps, etc.). Prices are lower here than in other, more touristy areas of Moscow. There are also several museums in this market, such as the museum of vodka, bread or chocolate and others. The best days to visit this market are weekends. Address: 3Ya Parkovaya Ulitsa, 24

Museum of Cosmonautics and VDNKH ( ВДНХ )

The museum of Cosmonautics is dedicated to space exploration and was opened in 1981.  The list of exhibits presented in the museum is quite extensive and varied.  A large statue of Yuri Gagarin, the first human to journey into outer space, some of his personal belongings, which make it possible to understand this person, also his bright orange SK-1 training space suit and the models of the first artificial Earth satellite. Open 10am till 7pm, closed on Monday, Entrance £2.50. 

You can combine visit to the museum with the visit to VDNKH, which stands for Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy. Built in 1939, with pavilions, each designed in its own unique style to represent all the Soviet republics and various industries, from geology to space exploration. The highlights are two opulently decorated fountains: People's Friendship Fountain and Stone Flower Fountain, which looks amazing in the summer and of course not working in the winter. People's Friendship Fountain is surrounded by 16 gilded female figures dressed in ethnic costumes representing Soviet republics, but there were only 15 republics in the Soviet Union and the mysterious 16th figure stands for the Karelo-Finnish republic disbanded in 1956., after the fountain was created. Stone Flower Fountain themed around Ural Mountains miners' mythology and covered in semi-precious stones from the area. Park also has a lot of temporary exhibitions and popular place for different types of festivals, many food outlets, restaurants. Summer or winter, this Stalinesque theme park cover 120,000 square metres and is really worth to visit. Entrance £1-£2.50, children under 7 are free.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior and Arbat Street

Cathedral of Christ the Savior located in the city center. The current Cathedral of Christ the Savior was completed by 2000 and was built exclusively on donations. The previous one was built in 1883 in memory of the soldiers who fell in the battles of 1812 with Napoleon and  looked almost exactly like the present one. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by the Soviet authorities in 1931. The plan was that construction of the Palace of Soviets will be built there, but did not work out.

Fun fact: By order of Stalin, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was blown up on December 5, 1931. Then, according to legend, Moscow old women, saying goodbye to the church on the other side of the Moskva River, joyfully crossed themselves and predicted that "God will punish the Bolsheviks" and that nothing else but the church would stand in this place.

There were many reasons, but all of them are purely practical, not mystical (as someone believed in the people). High cost and the beginning of the Second World War. As a result, an outdoor pool called "Moscow" appeared - it seems to be the largest in Europe, and was here since 1960 till 1994.You can visit Cathedral free of charge.
You can walk from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to the beginning of Arbat Street in 15 minutes. Arbat Street is a very commercial and tourist pedestrian street with a length of about 1 kilometer, located in the historical center of Moscow and surrounded by historic buildings. In the 18th century, it was considered the most prestigious place for the residence of the Russian nobility. There are many restaurants on the Arbat, many of which offer exquisite dishes from the former Soviet republics (Georgian, Azerbaijani, Uzbek cuisine, etc.) and I recommend that you try them. Arbat Street is also a popular place to buy souvenirs such as the famous nesting dolls, but you will pay a lot more here than anywhere else in the city.

We spend a week in Moscow and it was not enough to see all the sights. Moscow  is such a vast city, it's growing and change every day. Easily combine Russia's wealth, beautiful ornate palaces, it's closed Soviet past and increasingly open modern life. If you are a city break lover or after a more unique and authentic Russia experience you will have plenty of options in Moscow.

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