48 Hours in Moscow
Before the world takes good notice of Moscow for the FIFA World Cup, Tatler explores the beautiful city in two jam- packed days
With the FIFA World Cup rolling into Moscow this month, Tatler Russia social
editor Masha Limonova takes Melissa Twigg on a whirlwind tour of the city’s top restaurants, opulent palaces, and glitziest shops, not to mention the odd spa, opera house, and secret bar where connoisseurs of the good life gather
DAY 1 8.30Am
Start the day in a suitably ornate atmosphere at Café Pushkin, the closest a 21st-century visitor can get to taking tea at the Winter Palace. With its 200-year-old harps, leather-bound books, and golden grandfather clocks, the wood-panelled room is Tolstoy chic, right down to the drooping moustaches of the waiters who take your order for prostokvasha, a traditional probiotic milk drink, or caviar and blinis.
10Am
Take a pretty 15-minute taxi ride across the river to the biggest expanse of green space in the city, Gorky Park, which has been transformed from Soviet utilitarian to hipster chic in the past few years. Enter Make through the monumental triumphal arch supported by a forest of columns and wander around the tulip gardens and old-fashioned amusements parks within, or explore the trendy cafes and boutiques that line the park. If the weather is warm, rent a pedal boat and paddle around the lake.
11.30Am
Visit the Gorky Park Museum, which tells an upbeat tale of 20th-century Russia and the remarkable story of Betty Glan, the young woman from Kiev who turned Gorky Park into the cultural heart of Soviet Moscow. Most importantly, get up to the rooftop observation deck, below which Moscow is laid out like a carpet embroidered with the Moscow River, the Kremlin, Red Square, and St Basil’s Cathedral.
12.30pm
All that walking is bound to have made you hungry, so stock up on snacks from the nearby Tsvetnoy Central Market, which has stalls selling freshly baked black bread, rich cheese, and cherries from Georgia. Shopping here is a highfashion affair, as this is where the Tatler crowd buys groceries—hence the scrum at the caviar stall. Want a seated lunch? Try Gorynych restaurant, which serves the best borscht in the city.
2pm
Russian society figures don’t get much glitzier than gallerist Dasha Zhukova, the ex-wife of billionaire Roman Abramovich and best friend of American writer Derek Blasberg and model Karlie Kloss. She founded the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in what was one of the Soviet era’s most popular restaurants, which Rem Koolhaas redesigned for its new purpose. Today, its rooftop bar and summer parties have become one of the main staples of Moscow nightlife, not to mention its ground-breaking exhibitions. Don’t miss Juergen Teller’s show in June.
3.30pm
A mixture between a hamman and a sauna, a Russian banya is part warming one’s freezing toes in hot, scented water and part vaguely terrifying exfoliation scrub. Sanduny is a quick walk from Garage and is the most luxurious banya in the city, with 18th-century marble floors and ornate, arched golden ceilings. Ask your concierge to book you a private pool and sauna for two hours to relax like a tsar.
6pm
After a hotel pit stop, get to an early evening ballet or opera at the Bolshoi decked out in your finery. Home to an extravagant gold and scarlet interior and some of the world’s most talented
performers, the Bolshoi is a spectacle like no other. It can be difficult to get tickets, but a good concierge can usually manage. 9pm Russia has three restaurants in the
San Pellegrino Taste Guide, and White Rabbit is ranked the highest. Translating Russian classics from the past into moreish modern cuisine, it serves extravaganzas like bird cherry dough with morel sauce, and veal tongue with turnip crisps. Take your copy of Who’s
Who in Russia along, as this glass-domed spot is a favourite with the oligarch set, who like to eat the recipes of their youth in sumptuous surroundings. 11pm Jump in a taxi and wind past the skyscrapers known as the Seven Sisters to Hermitage Garden, a bar where Moscow’s creative crowd gathers to drink, smoke, and flirt under the stars in the summer months. Packed with the city’s most influential photographers, writers, and artists, it’s the ideal mingling spot for culture vultures. 1am If heading to bed isn’t an option, then take another taxi to Voda or Delicatessen, two secret bars with only 20 seats a piece and some of the best vodka cocktails in the city. Be warned: you’ll need a driver in the know as they aren’t identified by signs on the street.
DAY 2 9am
If you only remember one location in Moscow, make it Denis Simachev. Open 24 hours a day, it is the key hangout for everyone in the fashion industry—so much so that fashionistas rarely specify where they’re meeting as it’s always at Simachev. Come early for breakfast and mingle with the sprightly just-out-of-bed crowd and the not-so-sprightly been-dancing-since-dusk one.
10.30am
Walk to the absurdly beautiful Ploshchad Revolyutsii subway station, take the Metro, and pop up 20 minutes later at Kievskaya. Around the corner, you will find Hotel Ukraina (otherwise known as the Radisson Royal), which was originally commissioned by Stalin and is now home to an impressive array of contemporary Russian art. From the hotel dock, rent a small yacht and sail up the river past the Kremlin and Gorky Park. Request a snack pack, which comes with caviar and vodka.
12pm
Hop off at the Kremlin and head to the Armory Chamber, which has 4,000 collectibles from the era of the tsars, including one of the world’s largest collections of diamonds, exquisite tiaras, and pieces of jewellery, and even diamond-encrusted playing cards.
1pm
The city’s best concierges will be able to nab you a window table at Dr Zhivago, a high-end restaurant on Red Square serving classic Russian and Soviet dishes. The interior is almost as distracting as those voluminous multicoloured domes outside, with crystal chandeliers, ornate ceilings, and dramatic artworks.
3pm
If your energy level is still high, hop in a taxi for a 30-minute journey to the outskirts of Moscow to see one of the most extraordinary palaces in the country. Before the revolution, Arkhangelskoye Palace belonged to Prince Nikolai Yusupov, who would undoubtedly be editor of Tatler
Russia if he were alive today. Now a state museum, it has been beautifully renovated to reflect the style of the 18th century, including monuments to Catherine the Great.
5pm
Soothe away any aches and pains from all that sightseeing with a deep-tissue massage at the Barvikha Hotel. Its goldplated spa is renowned among Moscow high society as the best in the city.
8pm
Georgian food has become a major Moscow trend, harking back to Soviet days when Georgia’s sun-dappled hills were the breadbasket of the union. Sakhli brings old-world Tbilisi to the Russian capital, assisted by a hearty Georgian band that plays most nights. Make sure you have Sakhli’s legendary khinkali, giant dumplings eaten with your hands.
11pm
Finish the day where you began it— dancing the night away in Simachev. Who knows, you might make it through to breakfast.