Not every museum in the city — only those worth the trip. Every entry carries our own value rating, what to see, a minimum route, when to come and what it costs.
Over 140 works from twenty collections: The Pool, The Emerald Necklace and studies almost never shown. Russian Symbolism is one of the summits at which art lifts a person beyond himself; a retrospective this full comes once in a generation.
Over seven hundred objects: sculpture and painting of Russian Buddhism, almost none of it shown before. More than a hundred sculptures were conserved for the opening.
The New Tretyakov?Why this museumThe Russian avant-garde is the one Russian artistic system to enter the world canon on equal terms, and its largest collection is here. MoMA and the Pompidou show Malevich and Tatlin torn from their setting; here they hang beside what they rebelled against, which changes the reading.
6+With childrenThe avant-garde reaches children more easily than the classics: strong colour, plain shapes. From 6; there are children’s routes and workshops.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. A modern building: ramps, lifts, wide doorways, accessible toilets. Wheelchairs are lent.
Getting there — step-free. Oktyabrskaya and Park Kultury have no lifts. There is convenient parking at the door and low-floor buses along Krymsky Val. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.2–3 hours
The Tretyakov Gallery building on Krymsky Val: the permanent display Art of the 20th Century and the gallery’s main temporary shows. Officially named the New Tretyakov since 2018.
The building. Built 1979–1983 by Y. Sheverdyaev and N. Sukoyan, shared with the Central House of Artists.
Good to know. A separate ticket from Lavrushinsky Lane.
What to see
Malevich’s Black Square, Petrov-Vodkin’s Bathing of a Red Horse, work by Kandinsky, Chagall, Goncharova and Larionov, the model of Tatlin’s Tower. Next door: the Muzeon park of dismantled Soviet monuments.
Minimum route — 2–3 hours на самое важное
Start with the Black Square and the avant-garde hall — Kandinsky, Goncharova, Larionov, Tatlin’s Tower. Then Bathing of a Red Horse. Leave time for the temporary show: the gallery’s biggest projects are here.
Work by the sculptor who carved quebracho and algarrobo: in his hands wood holds shapes impossible in marble.
№ 1
The State Tretyakov Gallery?Why this museumRussian art of the 11th to early 20th century is nowhere else assembled so fully — only the Russian Museum compares. But the canon was formed here: Tretyakov bought from living artists what he himself thought mattered, and one man’s private judgement became what we now call the Russian school. Seeing the 19th century elsewhere means seeing fragments.
8+With childrenChildren under school age get bored: the painting needs explaining. From 8 there are children’s tours and game guides.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. Ramp at the entrance, lifts between floors, wheelchairs lent free at the door, accessible toilets.
Getting there — partly. Tretyakovskaya has no lift. A bus to the “Tretyakov Gallery” stop or a taxi to Lavrushinsky is easier. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.2–3 hours
The largest collection of Russian art of the 11th to early 20th century. It began with Pavel Tretyakov, who bought his first paintings in 1856 and gave the collection to Moscow in 1892.
The building. Bought by the Tretyakov family in 1851; extensions of 1873–1904. The fairy-tale façade was drawn by Viktor Vasnetsov in 1902–1904.
Good to know. The gallery has three buildings: the historic one in Lavrushinsky, the New Tretyakov on Krymsky Val and the Kadashevskaya Embankment wing opened in 2024. Each needs its own ticket; a combined one exists.
What to see
Ivanov’s The Appearance of Christ Before the People in its own hall; Surikov’s Boyarynya Morozova and Morning of the Streltsy Execution; Repin’s Ivan the Terrible and His Son; Serov’s Girl with Peaches; Vasnetsov’s Bogatyrs; the icon halls. Rublev’s Trinity is no longer here: it was handed to the Church in 2023.
Minimum route — 2–3 hours на самое важное
Hall 10 — Ivanov’s Appearance of Christ with its studies. Then halls 25–26: Boyarynya Morozova and Morning of the Streltsy Execution by Surikov, on to Repin’s Ivan the Terrible and Serov’s Girl with Peaches. Finish with the icons, halls 56–62.
Entry and box office close an hour before the museum. Timed tickets — better bought online in advance.
Tickets
Adults 700 ₽. Students and pensioners of Russia and the EAEU 400 ₽. Children 7–17 350 ₽. Under 7 and some categories free.
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When to go
Weekday mornings at 10:00 the halls are nearly empty. Worst: weekend afternoons. Timed entry, so no queue outside, but slots for a popular show go a week ahead.
More than 150 sheets that almost never leave the store: pastel sheds under light and movement and is rarely shown. Halls 49–54.
№ 47
Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center?Why this museumCome for two things at once: the Bakhmetevsky garage by Melnikov and Shukhov, a building of world significance, and the history of Russian Jewry told from inside as nowhere else. The holdings of originals are modest, and that is worth knowing beforehand.
6+With childrenOne of the few museums in Moscow that genuinely holds children: screens, sound, film, interactive tables. From 6.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. Fully accessible: level floors throughout, lifts, accessible toilets, wheelchairs at the door. One of the best in Moscow for this.
Getting there — step-free. Maryina Roshcha has no lift and Dostoyevskaya is a kilometre away. There is car parking and low-floor buses. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.2.5 hours
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Opened in 2012 in the Bakhmetevsky bus garage. The permanent display tells the history of the Jewish people and of Russian Jewry as a sequence of interactive spaces.
The building. The Bakhmetevsky garage, 1926–1927, architect Konstantin Melnikov, structures by Vladimir Shukhov.
What to see
The building itself — the Bakhmetevsky garage of 1926–1927, one of Konstantin Melnikov’s principal works with steel structures by Vladimir Shukhov; the Café on Basseynaya, a reconstruction of shtetl life.
Minimum route — 2.5 hours на самое важное
The permanent display runs as one route, with the Café on Basseynaya halfway. Look separately at the garage itself.
Сведения сверены 15 августа 2026 года, источник — сайт музея.
№ 54
Mikhail Abramov Museum of the Russian Icon?Why this museumFor Ethiopian Christian art it is the only collection in Russia; for the Russian icon it competes with state museums. Add a circumstance almost unheard of anywhere in the world for a collection of this level: admission is free.
adultsWith childrenIcons say almost nothing to children; come as an adult.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. A lift to all four floors, level floors, an accessible toilet. Entry is free, and so is the companion’s.
Getting there — step-free. Taganskaya has no lift. There is a parking bay on Goncharnaya. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.1.5 hours
Museum of the Russian icon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Викисклад
Reference
The largest private collection of Eastern Christian art in Russia: about five thousand items on four floors. Founded in 2006 by the entrepreneur Mikhail Abramov, who died in 2019; the museum works on and keeps entry free.
The building. A town house on the Taganka hill, converted for the museum.
Good to know. The only museum of this level in Moscow that you enter free and without a ticket.
What to see
The Russian icon of the 14th to 20th century, from Novgorod panels to Old Believer painting; Ethiopian Christian art, the only such collection in Russia; a reconstructed iconostasis and post-Byzantine Greek icons.
Minimum route — 1.5 hours на самое важное
Go up floor by floor: Greek and Ethiopian art, then the Russian icon by century. Do not miss the iconostasis and the Old Believer hall.
Сведения сверены 15 августа 2026 года, источник — открытые источники.
№ 51
Museum of Russian Impressionism?Why this museumThe term “Russian impressionism” is contested, and this is the only institution that investigates rather than illustrates it. The value is the exhibition programme: works come here from private collections that would otherwise never be seen.
8+With childrenA small display and good children’s programmes at weekends.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. Converted for the museum: lift, level floors, accessible toilet.
Getting there — step-free. Belorusskaya has no lift; the former factory has a level approach and parking. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.1.5 hours
A private museum on the site of the former Bolshevik confectionery factory, opened in 2016 on the collection of Boris Mints.
The building. The flour store of the Bolshevik factory (early 20th century), converted by John McAslan + Partners.
What to see
Konstantin Korovin, Valentin Serov, Igor Grabar, Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky. The building is a converted cylindrical flour store of the Bolshevik factory — a rare case of industry turned into a museum.
Minimum route — 1.5 hours на самое важное
The permanent display is small — Korovin, Serov, Grabar. The point is the temporary exhibitions; the building is worth the walk round on its own.
Free for everyone on the third Wednesday of the month.
Tickets
Admission 400 ₽; 300 ₽ with an ISIC card and similar; students of Russian universities 200 ₽; pensioners and disabled visitors of group III 100 ₽; under 18 free.
билеты онлайн
When to go
Wednesday and Thursday until 21:00. Every third Wednesday is free and therefore busy.
Сведения сверены 15 августа 2026 года, источник — сайт музея.
№ 55
Tretyakov Gallery. Kadashevskaya Embankment wing?Why this museumNot yet a collection but an instrument: the first exhibition building in Moscow built to 21st-century museum standards — climate, light, spans. Its value is that things can now be brought here that could not be brought before.
7+With childrenA new building with wide halls and an atrium: a child is not hemmed in. What to see depends on the exhibition.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. Built in 2024 and fully accessible: lifts, ramps, accessible toilets, wheelchairs lent.
Getting there — step-free. No lift at Tretyakovskaya, but the approach from the embankment is level and there is a drop-off point. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.1.5–2 hours
The new Tretyakov Gallery building, opened in 2024: over 35,000 sq m of exhibition space, conservation studios for painting, graphics and sculpture, and a research photo archive. The gallery’s major premieres have moved here.
The building. Built in 2024 to a design by SPEECH; more than ten years in construction.
Good to know. The atrium, shop and box offices are open without a ticket — you may come simply to see the building.
What to see
There is no permanent collection — this is an exhibition wing. See the atrium, open without a ticket, and the façades: they carry reproductions of 34 works by Russian artists.
Minimum route — 1.5–2 hours на самое важное
The exhibition you came for, then the atrium and the view over Lavrushinsky from the upper level. Ten minutes on foot to the historic building.
Over 140 works from twenty collections: The Pool, The Emerald Necklace and studies almost never shown. Russian Symbolism is one of the summits at which art lifts a person beyond himself; a retrospective this full comes once in a generation.
№ 56
Museum of Moscow?Why this museumA city museum — an ordinary genre in Europe — but the material is unique in scale: a million objects about one city. The value is also the Provision Warehouses by Stasov, a model Empire building rarely accessible from inside.
7+With childrenThe archaeology of Moscow and city life make sense to children: potsherds, bones, models. From 7, with children’s programmes.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. The Provision Warehouses were converted: ramps, lifts, a level courtyard.
Getting there — step-free. Park Kultury has no lift. Surface transport along Zubovsky Boulevard; the approach is level. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.2 hours
The head museum of the association that also runs the Museum of Archaeology and the Old English Court. Founded in 1896 as the Museum of Municipal Economy. About a million items on the city from the Stone Age onwards; since 2009 the museum occupies the Provision Warehouses.
The building. The Provision Warehouses, 1829–1835, after Vasily Stasov’s model design; a military store that became a museum in 2009.
Good to know. Tickets online only. Children under 13 must be accompanied.
What to see
The permanent display History of Moscow: the archaeology of Moscow soil, town life, plans and views of the city by century. And the Provision Warehouses themselves, an Empire monument after Vasily Stasov.
Minimum route — 2 hours на самое важное
Walk History of Moscow through — that is the core; then one temporary show in the second block. Linger in the yard: the parade ground between the warehouses is a rare piece of city.
Сведения сверены 15 августа 2026 года, источник — открытые источники.
№ 57
State Darwin Museum?Why this museumThe oldest museum of evolution in Russia, built around an idea rather than around a case of stuffed animals: Kots collected proofs of variability, and the display serves the proof. It cannot match Vienna or Berlin for material, but its way of arguing stands on its own.
4+With childrenThe best museum in Moscow for pre-schoolers: mounted animals, models, hands-on halls. From 4 to the early teens.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. Ramps, lifts between floors, accessible toilets, wheelchairs at the door.
Getting there — step-free. Akademicheskaya has no lift and is 700 m away. There is parking and low-floor buses along Vavilova. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.2 hours
What to see
Early 20th-century taxidermy by Filipp Fedulov, among the finest anywhere; the collection of albinos and melanists gathered by Kots as visible proof of variability; the Living Planet hall.
Minimum route — 2 hours на самое важное
Second floor — Stages in the Knowledge of Living Nature with the historic taxidermy groups; third — Zoogeography and the case of variability with the albinos. Finish with Living Planet.
Getting in
The building
Built for the museum in 1974–1995; the exhibition wing added in 2007.
The oldest museum of evolution in Russia, founded in 1907 by Alexander Kots, who began collecting as a student and gave the museum to the state together with his own collection. About 400,000 items.
The building. Built for the museum in 1974–1995; the exhibition wing added in 2007.
Good to know. The museum was built to demonstrate one idea — evolution — and the display serves that idea rather than systematics. That is rare, and it is what sets it apart from ordinary natural history museums.
Сведения сверены 15 августа 2026 года, источник — открытые источники.
№ 19
The Manege Central Exhibition Hall?Why this museumThere is no collection; the value is entirely engineering — a column-free span of nearly 45 metres calculated by Betancourt, a monument of engineering thought with few equals in Europe. Everything else here is temporary.
adultsWith childrenDepends on the exhibition: there is no permanent display.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. The hall is level throughout and there is a ramp at the entrance.
Getting there — partly. Neither Okhotny Ryad nor Biblioteka imeni Lenina has a lift. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.1–2 hours
Bernt Rostad uploaded and derivative work: MrPanyGoff, CC BY 2.0 · Викисклад
Reference
The country’s main exhibition hall. It has no collection of its own — only large temporary projects. Exhibitions have been held here since 1957.
The building. Built in 1817 for the fifth anniversary of the victory over Napoleon; engineer A. Betancourt, decoration by O. Bove. Restored after the fire of 2004.
What to see
The building itself: a column-free hall spanned by timber trusses of almost 45 metres, calculated by the engineer Agustín de Betancourt — a rare monument of engineering.
Minimum route — 1–2 hours на самое важное
See the exhibition you came for, and the hall: 45 metres of span without a single column.
Сведения сверены 15 августа 2026 года, источник — открытые источники.
№ 49
Experimentanium Museum of Entertaining Science?Why this museumA Western-style science centre, not a museum: no originals, only apparatus. Excellent for a first acquaintance with physics; it gives nothing at all for the history of science.
5+With childrenThe museum exists to be touched. From 5 to about fourteen is the best age.wheelchairStep-free accessThe museum — step-free. All three floors are connected by lift and the exhibits are at reachable height.
Getting there — step-free. Sokol has no lift; the building has parking and a level approach. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.3 hours
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