History and Culture

The low season is without a doubt the best time to visit galleries and museums in Moscow. In fact, if you go to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts at opening time and climb to the top of the vast red-carpeted staircase, you’re almost certainly assured of a private viewing of Monet’s Waterlilies. There are literally hundreds of galleries and museums in the city ranging from the world-renowned Tretyakov Gallery and the State Historical Museum, to those with curiously unique themes such as vodka, felt boots and folk art. A relative newcomer to the gallery scene is Garage, the first philanthropic institution in

Russia to create a comprehensive public collection of contemporary art from the 1950s to the present day. Likewise, modern art fans should also check out Winzavod, an old wine factory that has become one of the city’s best venues for discovering contemporary local talent.

For ballet lovers, there’s no better season for watching Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker than winter. Tickets to the Bolshoi Theatre’s main stage come with a fairly significant price tag, but the nearby Kremlin Theatre makes up for its rather austere Soviet architecture with not only cheaper ticket prices, but also a fairy-tale entrance through the ancient Kremlin walls. If it’s snowing when the performance is over you could be forgiven for thinking you’d just walked out of a fairy-tale castle as you pass through the enormous gates under the rosy glow of the Kremlin’s ruby-red turret stars. Elsewhere, there’s a plethora of classical concerts