A ready-made hour by hour plan. We start in the morning at Moscow State University, travel from west to east and finish at sunset by the Moskva River, when the lights come on at the Kotelnicheskaya skyscraper.
The numbers on the map match the stop numbers.
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The tallest sister and the best start to the day. In the morning there is almost nobody at the main entrance, and the sun lights the facade on the avenue side.
15 By metro to Kievskayaabout 55 minutes
Go back to Universitet station. Take the red line to Park Kultury, change to the Circle line and ride one stop to Kievskaya. From the metro walk along Taras Shevchenko Embankment.
The second tallest sister and a working hotel. You can simply walk in from the street.
On foot to the Foreign Ministryabout 25 minutes
Walk along Taras Shevchenko Embankment to Borodinsky Bridge, cross the river and go up Smolenskaya Street. The Foreign Ministry skyscraper will be ahead of you all the way.
The only skyscraper without a star on its spire. Visitors are not let in, so a quarter of an hour is enough here.
Lunch on the Arbat1 hour, from 12:40 to 13:40
The Old Arbat starts right by the skyscraper. There are dozens of cafés for every taste, and after lunch you can stroll a hundred metres along Moscow’s best-known pedestrian street.
On foot along the Garden Ringabout 20 minutes
From Smolenskaya Square walk north along Novinsky Boulevard. The tower on Kudrinskaya Square will appear ahead of you within a few minutes.
The very building from Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears. It is an apartment building, and you cannot enter the stairwells without a resident.
5 By metro to Komsomolskayaabout 25 minutes
Krasnopresnenskaya station is five minutes from the building, by the zoo. Ride four stops on the Circle line to Komsomolskaya. Do not rush out, as the station itself, with its mosaics and chandeliers, deserves five minutes of its own.
The smallest and most ornate of the sisters stands on the square of three railway stations.
On foot to Krasnye Vorotaabout 15 minutes
Walk along Kalanchyovskaya Street under the railway bridge. After a kilometre the street brings you straight to the skyscraper on the Garden Ring.
The skyscraper was built leaning on frozen ground, and a metro entrance works inside it.
16 By metro to Kitay-gorodabout 35 minutes
From Krasnye Vorota ride one stop to Chistye Prudy, change to Turgenevskaya and ride one stop on the orange line to Kitay-gorod. Then walk 15 minutes along Solyanka and across the Yauzsky Bridge.
The most famous apartment building in Moscow is saved for last, because it looks its best in the evening light.
On foot to Zaryadyeabout 20 minutes
Walk along the Moskva River on Moskvoretskaya Embankment towards the Kremlin.
End the day in Zaryadye Park. From the tip of the Floating Bridge you can see the Kremlin, the river and the Kotelnicheskaya skyscraper you have just come from. After sunset its lights come on. By the way, the park itself stands where the eighth skyscraper was to be built.
About the skyscraper that was never builtPick the three skyscrapers that stand close together. Start at Hotel Ukraina, walk to the Foreign Ministry and then along the Garden Ring to Kudrinskaya Square. The whole walk takes about three hours and needs no metro.
Book a tour under the spire of the Kotelnicheskaya skyscraper and a tour of the Leningradskaya interiors in advance. In that case it is better to split the route over two days.
It gets dark by five in the evening. Start an hour earlier or skip the viewpoint so that you reach Kotelnicheskaya before sunset.
Come on a weekday. At weekends the hotels and the viewpoint are noticeably busier.
You will walk about 10 kilometres in a day, so wear comfortable shoes.
You can pay for rides with a bank card right at the turnstile or with a Troika card.
The best time is from April to October, when it stays light into the evening and the fountains at Moscow State University are on.
Yes. If you follow this route from west to east and use the metro, it all takes about nine hours including lunch.
The Moscow State University Main Building. It is the furthest from the centre, and it is least crowded in the morning. It is best to finish at Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, close to the river and the evening lights.
The lobbies of Hotel Ukraina and Hotel Leningradskaya, the metro entrance hall in the Red Gates building and the Illuzion cinema at Kotelnicheskaya. There is no free entry to Moscow State University or the Foreign Ministry.
Only the metro fares, three rides in a day. Everything else can be seen for free.
Yes, but then you reach Moscow State University in the evening. That is lovely too, as the facade is lit at sunset and the viewpoint shows the city at dusk.
Yes, if you shorten it. With children it is better to take the half day option and add the zoo and the planetarium near Kudrinskaya Square.
