FIFA World Cup Guide to Moscow
135 days until the FIFA World Cup! Time to get your trip sorted out. Where to eat, where celebrate and what to see… On June 14th, the whole football world is going to look at one place, the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, where the first game of the 21st World Cup will kick off.
Overall, Moscow will be hosting the games in two stadiums, approximately 20 kilometres away from each other by car, however Moscow’s traffic is already amongst the worst world-wide, so during the World Cup it’s going to be even more crazy. Therefore, your safe bet would be the metro. Metros are convenient, arriving every 90 seconds. (Definitely download the app, because in some older metro stations, the names of the stations are only written in Cyrillic+ there is free Wifi available). If you still prefer going by car, taxis are a very cheap option (eg. Yandex Taxi through the app).
To make life easier and more comfortable, below you will find some recommendations:
Where to Eat:
For Breakfast: Check out the “Friends Forever Company”. It’s a chain of breakfast places in the city centre with amazing pancakes and French toast.
For a more balanced start to the day, get your avocado toast at “Fresh”.
Lunch and Dinner: Moscow has amazing options, but you can’t go wrong with restaurants by the restaurateur Arkady Novikov. He owns several good places, such as: “Strana Kotorey Net”- International cuisine and hookah bar, “Vysota 5642”- Georgian Cuisine, and “Aist”- international cuisine and summer terrace and many more. For meat lovers, definitely check out the “Butcher Steak House”.
For your (unhealthy) cravings in between: “Shake Shack” and secondly, Novikov also owns the hippest fast food chain, “Farsh”. To enjoy Moscow’s skyline whilst eating: “Sixty” - is a restaurant in one of “Moscow City” skyscrapers. “Kalina Bar”, “White Rabbit”, and “Time Out Bar”.
Where to Party:
Moscow’s main party street is the Bolotnaya Naberezhnaya, with several clubs (most famous are Gipsy, Rolling Stone Bar and Icon). Right next to it you can find the bar “Strelka” which has a beautiful view on the river and the cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
In summer, the nights are really short and it’s only dark from approximately 12am-3am, so whilst you’re (hopefully) celebrating your country’s win, you can watch the sun rise above the river. Alternatively, try out the restaurants and cafes for an afternoon stroll, as well as bars and clubs around the “Patriarchie Prudy”, such as “Bar Klava”, “Fen Dry Bar”.
What to See:
Rather than paying for a viewing platform, you will get an amazing picture of the vibrant city on the rooftop of a children’s department store (Detsky Mir - Teatralny dr., 5/1, Metro Lubyanka)
Another beautiful view for free is the one from “Bol’shoy Kammeny Most”, and “Bol’shoy Moskvoretskiy Most” (two bridges) with outlooks on the Kremlin.
Museums:
“Garage Museum Of Contemporary Art”
“MOMMA”
“Artplay”
Hang out:
The area surrounding Patriarchy Ponds;
VDNH;
Park Kultury (Park of Culture);
Overall, it is guaranteed that you will not get bored in the country of tsars, matrioshkas and pelmeni. Just make sure to plan ahead and buy your tickets asap. You will not need a visa by the way, just your passport and the FIFA “Fan ID”.
Have a great time!
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