Science and nature : Moscow museums open on Monday

Not every museum in the city, but those that can open new worlds, point to genuine masterpieces, sharpen the mind and move the soul. Every entry carries our own rating of the collection, what matters most here, a minimum route to the essentials, when to come to avoid the crowds and what it costs. Every entry is dated with its last check.

MuseumRatingAddressToday
Experimentanium Museum of Entertaining Sciencefor enthusiastsLeningradsky Prospekt 80, bldg 1110:00–20:00
The Water Museumfor enthusiastsSarinsky Proyezd 13
Closed

We do not remove them from the catalogue: a museum may reopen, and the history of a collection is knowledge too.

Volkhonka 10 · The permanent display has been closed since 2015: the building is part of the Pushkin Museum’s “museum town” works. Individual exhibitions of the department are shown in other buildings. Checked 14 August 2026.
Polytechnic Museum outstanding
Novaya Ploshchad 3/4 · The historic building has been under reconstruction since 2013; opening is promised for 2026. The museum park around it is open. Part of the collection is shown at the Technopolis Moscow, Volgogradsky Prospekt 42. Checked 15 August 2026.
1st Samotyochny Lane 9, bldg 1 · The museum has been closed to visitors since 2024 and no opening date has been announced. Checked 15 August 2026.
Our rating scale

We give the rating ourselves and answer for it: it is about the value of the collection, not the size of the building, the visitor numbers or the fame of the name.

world-class
In the same rank as the world's leading museums.
outstanding
A strong collection: worth setting aside a day for.
significant
There are things here worth seeing.
for enthusiasts
Of interest to those already drawn to the subject.
niche
Valuable to a narrow circle, without wider recognition.
A distinction apart
underratedThe collection is stronger than its reputation: fewer people know it than it deserves
The collection is stronger than its reputation: fewer people know it than it deserves
How we keep this list

Checked on 15 August 2026 — against museum websites and open sources. Every entry carries its own date of checking and what it was checked against. A price we could not confirm we say so, rather than leaving the old one.

Time needed is for the essentials, along our minimum route, without the café, the shop or the cloakroom queue. Going through the whole museum almost always takes longer.

The photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and the licence are given under each one.

18 May is International Museum Day (since 1977), and the night of 17–18 May is Museum Night. On those days museums keep different hours and are often free.

Found a mistake?

We answer for every figure and date on these pages. If a museum has changed its hours or its prices, if a link has died, or if you think a museum is missing from the list — write to us. We will correct it and set a new date of checking.

Write via the form