Summer in the Bolshoi Gorod
Day Note:
The outdoor patio at Scandinavia is beloved by all businesspeople who work around Tverskaya. Arrive early for a lunch table and enjoy light Scandinavian cuisine, including salmon and sandwiches. Afterwards find your inner child at the Moscow Zoo -- it's the only time of year the animals aren't freezing! Next take a jaunt in Hermitage Gardens, a downtown park which usually has open-air concerts in the summer. For dinner, hit nearby Dymov No. 1, a stylish sausage-and-beer...
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Scandinavia
Contact:
- 7 495 937 5630/ 7 495 694 4986
- visit website
Location:
- Tverskaia Ulitsa, 19
- Tverskaya 19
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Map
Description:
Treat yourself to meals prepared with food brought all the way from Sweden and cooked on an open grill in full view of your table. Prices are high, but remember that's just as they always are in Scandinavian countries. The location—on a quiet lane just half a minute's walk away from Pushkinskaia Ploshchad'—is central and convenient but still remarkably calm. Scandinavian style is everywhere: in the floor tiles, the wooden ceiling, the dark wood furniture and the checked curtains. There's even a summer cafe decorated in the blue and yellow of the Swedish flag.
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Moscow Zoo (Moskovskii Zoopark)
Contact:
- 7 95 255 6034
- visit website
Location:
- Bol'shaia Gruzinskaia ulitsa, 1
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Map
Description:
Founded by a public society in 1864, Moscow Zoo is the biggest and best maintained in Russia. The zoo's 49 acres are filled with cages and unbarred enclosures which both the visitors and (one hopes) the inhabitants enjoy greatly. The zoo contains more than 5,000 examples of 550 species. Located within 5 minutes walk from the White House, the zoo is adored in equal measure by Muscovites young and old.
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Hermitage Gardens (Ermitazhnyi Sad)
Contact:
- 7 495 699 0432
- visit website
Location:
- Karetnyi Riad, 3
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Map
Description:
This garden lying near the north-west stretch of the Garden Ring was founded in 1892 on Karetny Ryad by the entrepreneur Yakov Schukin. The park opened in 1894 and was an immediate success with the public. Nowadays the grounds of the park accommodate three older theatres: New Opera, Sphere, and the Hermitage. A sprinkling of park furniture, flower-beds and decorative touches further enhance the park and by night it is all lit up by 19th century-style lanterns.
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Dymov No.1
Contact:
- 7 495 699 0770
Location:
- 6, Ulitsa Malaya Dmitrovka
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Map
Description:
Part of a chain of beer restaurants, Dymov No.1 is a reasonably priced simple eating joint. Absolutely no-frills, practical and classic in appearance, the simplicity is reflected in the cuisine. Sausages, Russian salad, pies, all conceived and created by the chief technologist are a delightful treat for the taste buds. Some rare international and Russian beers are on the menu.
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Parisian Life (Parizhskaia Zhizn')
Contact:
- 7 495 209 4524
Location:
- Karetnyi Riad Ulitsa, 3, building 1
- Hermitage Gardens
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Map
Description:
The garden where the club is located is a rather poetic mixture, combining a modern theatre building with some pre-revolutionary constructions and bits and pieces of Soviet memorabilia. The club occupies a building attached to the Hermitage theater. On Fridays and Saturdays there are live performances at midnight by famous Russian bands. Finding a place to stand may prove difficult, because these bands have a lot more fans than this place has seats. The disco nights feature a good mix between Moscow's youth and ex-pat community. Drinks are cheap by Moscow standards. European cuisine is served throughout the night. Half-price on all menus before 6pm.
Day Note:
You'll wake up early whether you like it or not when the bright morning sun shines in your face. Head to Le Pain Quotidien for a super-healthy French-style breakfast on pedestrian street Kamergersky Pereulok. Then it's off to the Botanical Gardens to walk amongst the fragrant summer flowers. Mid-afternoon, enjoy a cup of coffee (or iced tea) at popular coffeehouse Coffee Bean, before heading off to the impressive Victory Park, where you'll find many families...
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Le Pain Quotidien
Contact:
- 7 495 29 6673
- visit website
Location:
- Kievskaya Vokzala Ploshchad, 2 (inside Yevropeisky shopping center)
Description:
This international chain makes you think you've left Moscow behind for the wellbeing-obsessed Western world. Harissa, mesclun, Gruyere, organic — these are words you won't find anywhere else in the city, French for "The Daily Bread," Le Pain Quotidien includes fresh baked goods with every course. Pick up gourmet tea, jams and honeys in a small grocery section.
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Botanical Gardens (Botanicheskii Sad)
Contact:
- 7 495 977 9145
- visit website
Location:
- Botanicheskaia ulitsa, 4
- Moscow,Moscow127276
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Map
Description:
This 360-hectare garden was founded in 1945 for scientific and educational purposes, and its collection includes a whole host of wild flowers, grasses and plants, plus a proud 200-year old oak tree. You can also visit the beautifully landscaped Japanese rock garden. The Dendrarium has more than 4000 species of trees and bushes from all over the world.
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Coffee Bean
Contact:
- 7 495 923 9793
- visit website
Location:
- Pokrovka, 18, building 3
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Map
Description:
A lovely comfortable café in the centre of the city. It's quite spacious, and two of the walls are made of glass so you can observe the activity on the rather upmarket street outside. Ideal for a lunchtime snack or casual date. Credit cards are not accepted.
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Victory Park (Park Pobedy)
Contact:
- 7 495 753 0003 (Tourist Information)
- visit website
Location:
- Ploshchad' Pobedy
- Kutuzovsky Prospekt
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Map
Description:
Moscow almost succumbed to the Nazi war machine, and Russia as a whole suffered immeasurably during WWII, known to Russians as the 'Great Fatherland War'. This park is an ample demonstration of the place of those events in the national consciousness here. There are plenty of fountains, a memorial church and a tall angel-crowned obelisk by controversial city-sponsored artist Tsereteli. In the western section of the park you will find the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War.
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Solyanka
Contact:
- 7 495 221 7557
- visit website
Location:
- Solyanka Ulista, 11
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Map
Description:
Solyanka is city's first "elite indie" club. Originally on the hush-hush, it made a name for itself by bringing in international New Rave DJs to its monthly "Thriller" party series, which is always packed with sweaty kids waving glow sticks. On Thursday nights, the club keeps it mellow with "Flammable Nights," an ode to Russian hip hop, which has fought tooth and nail for some musical prestige.
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Kitaiskii Letchik Dzhao Da (Chinese Pilot Dzhao Da)
Contact:
- 7 495 623 2896
- visit website
Location:
- Lubiankskii Proezd, 25
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Map
Description:
A restaurant name should be catchy, memorable and should succinctly embrace the defining characteristics of the cuisine and ambience that lie behind the door underneath the name. In this case we're a bit confused - quite why this joint is named after a Chinese pilot is anyone's guess. Even the menu isn't very Chinese. It's open twenty-four hours and lies near the city center in the region known as Kitai-Gorod. This would be appropriate ('Kitai' is Russian for 'China' and 'gorod' for 'town'), were it not for the fact that historically minded geographers have linked the Kitai part of the name to an old Slavic word meaning 'wall'. Deceptive, but cheap and tasty.
