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oviet Moscow hasn’t disappeared — it has simply become part of today’s city. It can be found not only on grand boulevards and famous high-rises, but also in constructivist buildings, old courtyards, metro stations, cinemas, and residential neighborhoods designed for a completely different era. Here, Soviet architecture continues to coexist with coffee shops and restaurants, galleries, eateries, and everyday urban life. This itinerary is about a Moscow where the past isn’t preserved in amber, but finds itself in a new context every single day.
One of the capital’s most important squares, packed with landmarks from various eras. Here you will find the Bolshoi Theatre, where great ballets such as Swan Lake and Carmen are performed, alongside the historic Maly Theatre with its classical productions of Russian and Soviet literature. Nearby stands the rebuilt building of Detsky Mir — the main children’s department store of the USSR.
Here too is the Metropol — a magnificent monument of Art Nouveau architecture, which witnessed different epochs and events, including visits by important foreign guests of the Soviet government. The Kremlin and Red Square are just a five-minute walk away. And from here, the city’s main streets radiate outward — Malaya Dmitrovka, Petrovka, and Neglinka.
A nostalgic restaurant by Arkady Novikov, whose menu harmoniously combines the hits of Soviet cuisines, creating a kind of retro-fusion. You feel as if you are in a real Soviet restaurant: kutabs and khachapuri, varenyky and pelmeni, crab cutlets (a signature of Novikov’s establishments) and chicken schnitzel.
Tsvetnoy Blvd., 2, Moscow
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A restaurant at the Metropol, opposite the Bolshoi Theatre, featuring historic interiors, marble, columns, and a view of Teatralnaya Square.
Chef Andrey Shmakov presides over the kitchen, blending Russian gastronomy with French techniques; the menu features a mix of dishes such as *botvinya* with pike-perch, *sugudai* (marinated fish) made from muksun, pike dumplings, and a Pozharsky cutlet served with Camembert and foie gras tartare.
Hotel Metropol, Moscow
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A restaurant in Zaryadye Park, in the very heart of Moscow, where nostalgia for the Soviet past meets a futuristic vision of the future. The interior is designed in a neo-futuristic «cosmic» style: floating flowerpots, vases with red carnations, bas-reliefs of workers and collective farm women, while the ceiling evokes the legendary Kosmos restaurant at the Rossiya Hotel. The kitchen presents a panorama of the cuisines of the peoples of the USSR, united into a single universe of modern Russian cuisine. A place where imperial grandeur and socialist abundance are transformed into a nostalgic fantasy of a great country.
Varvarka St., 6, Zaryadye Park, Moscow
more details →The main department stores of the country, both prime examples of Art Nouveau style, have operated continuously since their founding. Inside, you will find world-famous brands and Soviet-era products — a must for souvenirs. Historically, GUM sells ice cream, and this is an essential part of any visit.
Hear the ringing of the country’s main clock. While waiting for the chimes, remember that the Moscow chimes were created in the 17th century, damaged during the Revolution, and restored by personal order of Vladimir Lenin.
The most famous boulevard in Moscow — and in all of Russia — laid out between Tverskaya and Bolshaya Nikitskaya streets at the end of the 18th century. Here grows a two-hundred-year-old oak that remembers Alexander Pushkin; here the Soviet nomenklatura strolled; and here, success was always concentrated.
From the Nikitsky Gate side, the boulevard is crowned by a monument to Kliment Timiryazev — the renowned Soviet plant physiologist. Also on the boulevard stands a monument to Sergei Yesenin, the great Russian poet who lived during Soviet times.
Dr. Zhivago is a grand café on the ground floor of the historic Hotel National, with views toward the Kremlin and Manege Square, and a recommendation from the Michelin Guide. The main hall displays reproductions of major Soviet-era paintings — Malevich, Petrov-Vodkin, Deineka, Samokhvalov — while an inner room takes its black-lacquer, gold-ceilinged look from Palekh lacquer boxes. The menu reworks Russian classics such as pozharsky cutlets, sturgeon aspic, and caviar service, backed by a vodka bar of polugar, samogon, and infused spirits.
Mokhovaya Street, 15, "National" Hotel building, 1st floor, Moscow
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Authentic Soviet cuisine in excellent execution: famous salads like Olivier, herring under a fur coat, and mimosa; borscht, pirozhki, and of course, vodka — without which Soviet cuisine would not be complete.
10A Spiridonyevsky Lane, Moscow
more details →The building of the Mosselprom trade and industrial company, constructed in the Constructivist era, once advertised with poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky: «Nowhere but at Mosselprom,» and other catchy verses like, «Stop, street flow! Remember: at Mosselprom the best cookies.»
The famous pavilion of Arbatskaya station, named after the old and ancient Moscow street nearby. The station pavilion is a protected cultural heritage site.
On Gogolevsky Boulevard (where the writer Nikolai Gogol actually lived nearby) you will find both the Central Chess Club and the Russian Chess School, famed during Soviet times — and, most excitingly, outdoor chess tables for anyone to use.
One of the most picture-perfect views of the city: stand on the Borodinsky Bridge over the Moskva River, and you can see two Stalinist skyscrapers at once — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the former Hotel Ukraina — along with the famous bend of the river featured on many postcards, the majestic Kievsky Railway Station, and Rostovskaya Embankment with its rich Soviet architecture.
Russian and, in part, Soviet cuisine — in small portions, but with the addition of perfect seafood, brought here mainly from Russian seas.
8 Smolenskaya St., Moscow
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This Russian restaurant is helmed by Vlad Piskunov—a true guru and champion of the cuisine. In crafting the menu, the chef drew inspiration from the culinary traditions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, utilizing regional ingredients and dishes based on historic recipes—such as *pelmeni*, Pozharsky cutlets, and game. In Piskunov’s hands, however, these dishes do not feel like museum pieces, but rather like classics given a modern touch.
Kutuzovsky Avenue, 2/1с6, Moscow
more details →Boat rides along the Moskva River — there is a pier nearby where various boats are waiting.
A famous structure, one of Moscow’s best-known railway stations, whose architecture shows traces of Venetian palazzos — this was the vision of architect Kulagin, who worked on the station in the 1940s.
A grand city park, designed by the best urban planners of the USSR: walking paths, fountains, pavilions, and other beauties that improved the lives of ordinary people living in modest Soviet apartments. From here, you also get a view of the Frunzenskaya Embankment — grand in conception and demonstrating the power of Soviet architecture.
Stop by the Voronezh restaurant at the corner of Prechistenka and Gogolevsky Boulevard, celebrating the meat of the Voronezh region. Look for all kinds of cutlets, stuffed cabbage rolls, and everything that was popular in the second half of the 20th century — the local chef works wonderfully with this gastronomic heritage.
Prechistenka street, building 4, Moscow
more details →Study the park’s architecture: here you will find Constructivism, as well as Classicism rethought by Soviet architects. Be sure to visit the Garage Museum, which has an excellent book and souvenir shop and a terrace with light snacks.
Walk under the Krymsky Bridge (read about it separately) and find yourself in the Museon Park, filled with Soviet monuments and various contemporary sculptures. The sight is captivating — it is worth reading about some of the larger pieces, as they once adorned the streets of Moscow.
One of the most important urban attractions from Soviet times: a vast territory in the north of Moscow, filled with pavilions of rare beauty. Some glorified the Soviet republics, others celebrated industry and sectors of the economy. For example, the Armenia pavilion still sells various Armenian specialties, while the Cosmos pavilion shows the starry sky.
A rare Soviet doughnut shop that has survived to this day. Ponchiki are deep-fried pastries without filling, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Long lines form here, and it is well worth the wait. Note that they sometimes accept cash only.
1st Ostankinskaya Street, 1, Building 1, Moscow
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A food hall on the VDNKh grounds. 15 counters of regional cuisine from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad under one roof, cooking masterclasses and tastings throughout the day. A rare format: the gastronomy that usually takes a month of travel across the country — covered in a single lunch.
Prospekt Mira, 119, building 66A, Moscow
more details →A serious museum dedicated to Soviet space exploration: stuffed dogs-cosmonauts, food in tubes, rocket parts, documents, and other mind-blowing exhibits. The museum is located near VDNKh — between the exhibition grounds and the metro entrance.
The country’s main botanical garden, adjacent to VDNKh. Plants were brought here from all over the Soviet Union. They are divided into zones, some living in greenhouses — the local flora is breathtaking, and you should set aside at least a couple of hours for a walk.
IMPERIAL MOSCOW
The crowned heart of the empire
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CONTEMPORARY MOSCOW
New architecture, new kitchens, new energy
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THE THEATRICAL TABLE
A theatrical journey through flavour, spectacle and Moscow nights
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Moscow From Above
A high-altitude escape through the city’s most beautiful vantage points
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