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.
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
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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.
№ 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
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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
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.
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.
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