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From a Fitness World roller-skating coach to the area head of marketing at PUMA, Bhavisha Dave has had an inspiring journey. Being the leading woman for the brand in Turkey and Russia she has had the opportunity to see every corner of Europe and her love for travel has taken her across the globe. With her globetrotting habits, both professional and personal, come a unique knowledge of the cities she visits and her exceptional tastes made her our number one choice for putting together our guide for the beautiful city of Moscow. Read on to explore Bhavisha’s carefully curated itinerary for the ultimate four-day-long Moscow experience.
Ask her where to begin, and she has some context-setting to do first. “When in Moscow - you’ve got to start with the touristy stuff and then build towards getting inspired by the crazy underground creative belly of the city. This is a city where people love DIY creativity and expression. For instance, if you want to make your own engagement or wedding ring, like literally make it yourself, you can find yourself a workshop here to do that with your partner. Of course, you’ll need at least a few days to actually make the thing...but that’s the kind of creative outlet available all the time, if you know the right people and the right places.”
On what she loves most about it?
“Moscow is a city of communities and no matter where people come from, there is something there to move your very soul. It is amazing how much creativity stems from forced discipline. Creativity is just breaking out of every fissure.”
[The guide below has been written by Bhavisha Dave herself and has only been edited for language and length.]
Day 1
Check into your hotel, drop off your stuff and head out to visit Russia’s most iconic architecture, The Red Square and the Kremlin. Walk around, and be sure to head over to St Basil’s Cathedral.
Pro Tip: It’s better to pre book tours to the Kremlin if you want to spend a while here.
Next up, walk around Tsum - the luxury department store. Move on to Podium market next and then on to Tsvetnoy Central Market - an upscale hipster-meets-avantgarde department store with a really nice rooftop restaurant for a well-deserved drink. Tsvetnoy is one of my favorite shopping places to check out cool Russian designers and they always have great contemporary jewellery.
It should be late evening by now, so go get refreshed and get ready to party. Head over to Simachev bar (preferably on a Friday or a Saturday) on one of the poshest streets in Moscow – StoleshnikovPereulok. (You should definitely come back to this street in the day to check out the high street, but leave that for tomorrow.)
You should know that Moscow clubs love ‘face control’ and no matter who you are, you will get the eye. So just make sure you’re as well dressed as you can be. After boogying away at Simachev, walk on to Lucky Noodles on Petrovka street to grab a quick wok. And then be prepared to have your mind blown! Lucky noodles is the entrance to Moscow’s best New York style secret bar.
Once inside Lucky noodles, turn right (with your back to the door), walk past those heavy black curtains, and walk down those stairs. Welcome to Mendeleev Bar. This is my absolute favorite underground bar - ever! With great cocktails and great ambience - this is the afterparty place. They too are known for face control. So I make sure I’m with the people in the know when I want to go here.
Also, before you head out to party you could stop by the Ready Fen bar on Trubnikovskiy per. 23 - where you can get your hair and makeup done for the evening for about 5000-7000 roubles (INR 5750 - INR 8000). Now, I’m not one to care much about face control and making up, but I do believe that to truly explore a city, you should get with the culture of it – makes for a more interesting experience.
Whenever you’re done, get some rest because there’s still loads to see.
Eat
While at the Kremlin, head over to any of restaurants dotting the area. There’s a Jamie Oliver kitchen close by that I really enjoyed.
Stop by the pop up (summer only) Ping Pong Cafe on TsvetnoyBulvar( it’s a street cafe) and you’ve got to order the avocado bruschetta. And of course play some ping pong. An alternative to the Ping Pong Cafe is ‘Enthusiast’ Bar which is in a hidden yard of StoleschnikovPereulok – where you can drink a beer or cider in a motorcycle-inspired environment.
Pro Tip: Make sure to carry cash!
Day 2
If you are a streetwear enthusiast like me, Moscow is an incredible city, with more than dozens of must-see stores. Here are a few of the highlights:
Besides Supreme and some of the rare-to-cop Japanese brands like Wtaps, Visvim, Neighborhood these shops probably have most of the hype streetwear brands from all over the world. And they always have all the latest sneakers.
One of the coolest things on Kuznetsky Most is the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines. It costs about 500 roubles (575 rupees) to get in. For this price, you will get a quick 20-minute tour as well. It’s a very Instagrammable place.
Just for kicks, head over to Kamchatka bar close to Simachev bar - this is an old Soviet-bar and grab a cider on the street to people watch for a while.
Eat
Get brekkie or lunch at KM20 - they have a really good bulletproof coffee and a great vegetarian only menu - really good laksa curry and black base pizza. Misia, the store, too has good coffee and croissants, so take your pick. Alternatively, get lunch at Cafe Fresh at ul. Dobroslobodskaya - a delicious vegan restaurant. This will let you load up on healthy and deliciously yummy food Buy some pretzels to eat as you walk. This entire day can be spent walking and shopping.
You could get a late lunch at Marivanna just off Tsverskaya street. Marivanna is a lovely Russian home kitchen experience and please give the horseradish wine a go here! For dinner, I recommend LavkaLavka - a cool Russian restaurant that has different regional home recipes.
Day 3
Gorky Park... Personally, I could spend a whole summer day in Gorky Park. You can play beach volleyball if you have a bunch of friends, skate or skater-watch at the VANS skate park, go for a run by the Moskva river, take a walk through the Garage contemporary museum. Eat Soviet ice cream (it is delicious). Most places in Gorky park usually take cash, so make sure you have currency. Also if you want to bike, skate or longboard, this is the place to be. And don’t be surprised to find people dressed up as Harry Potter playing Quidditch, American football or even Pétanque! If you want to try Pétanque yourself with a bunch of your friends and drink cider – go directly to La Boule Café.
In the winter, the streets of Gorky Park turn into ice skating lanes, and the opening of the park is magnificent with fireworks et al. Gorky Park has been the venue for Faces & Laces - a local street culture and lifestyle and music festival - for the past 10 years. This usually happens during the first weekend of August. Check their website for 2017.
After you’ve had your fill of Gorky Park, go across the river to Red October which used to be a candy factory but now, in typical Moscow artfully-takeover-factories style, has cool cafes, offices, bars and Strelka - an architecture school that has a really nice bar. You could even get a boat ride down the Moskva river in the summer. Get a drink or a bite to eat at Strelka bar but you might have to make a reservation if it’s a weekend.
While you’re here, don’t miss the giant ‘Peter the Great’ statue that the locals don’t love but tourists absolutely do. And if you feel up to it, go check out Brusov ship which is a really interesting retail space inside a ship. There’s even a barbershop inside there if you feel like getting some pampering.
Day 4
Today, spend time in Moscow’s ‘intellectual’ district called Patriarch Ponds. A lot of writers and intellectuals live here. The area used to be a huge hipster bar-hopping district but then the ‘intellectual’ residents complained and now there are lovely but quiet restaurants around here. Depending on whether you’re an industrial arty kinda person there are some amazing art districts to check out and just wander about in. You’ll find local shops, cafes and of course studios dotting these buildings - Artplay, Flacon, Pravda. Flacon is my favorite of the lot.
Eat
Get lunch or dinner at Open Bar Wine House - delicious mussels from what I hear (I’m vegetarian). At some point, you should find time to check out the Timeout Bar for the view. It has a brilliant rooftop restaurant and you will definitely need a reservation here. If you have time please book tickets to a ballet at the Bolshoi theatre. I haven’t yet managed to do this but I hear it is INCREDIBLE.
Other things to do…
Get dinner, Georgian-style at Café Сhita-ra (Suschevsky val. 14b) or at a restaurant called Darbazi (Nikoloyamskaya 16/2). Moscow has a delicious and varied food scene - from Uzbek restaurants to single ingredient cafes and everything in between.
For those of you missing Indian food, I recommend Moscow Deli near Patriarch Ponds- which is a satvik Indian food experience (the flour is ground inside the restaurant) and accepts only cash (2,200 rouble per person), and Jai Hind which is a 24 hour restaurant inside Azimuth restaurant in Olympisky - eat the podidosa here.
Museums to Check Out:
You could even participate in a few runs - the Moscow marathon and iGnite Moscow happens in September.
Your time is up but if you have some more, here are a few other spots to hit outside of Moscow
