Moscow in 7 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
A full week builds on the 6-day plan of the Kremlin, St Basil’s, two free park days, the Moscow City towers, and a Bolshoi evening, adding one flexible finale day. Sort out cash before anything else, since Western cards do not work anywhere in Russia. Days 1 through 6 are unchanged; Day 7 is yours to spend on a repeat visit, a second splurge, or simply more free parks. Shorter trip? See the 5-day or 6-day versions, which build the same six days below.
Book these before you go:
- Kremlin Armoury Chamber, online-only from 17 days ahead, 1,400 RUB (kreml.ru )
- St Basil’s Cathedral, roughly 1,000-2,000 RUB, check the current price (tickets.shm.ru )
- Tretyakov Gallery, around 700 RUB (tretyakovgallery.ru )
- Bolshoi Theatre, ONLY at bolshoi.ru , released roughly 3 months ahead; resale sites mark tickets up 200-500 percent
- A central budget bed: check rates on Ostrovok.ru
| Day | Focus | Est. spend (excl. lodging) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Square, Kremlin and Armoury Chamber, cash sorted | 3,500-5,000 RUB |
| 2 | St Basil’s, Metro palace stations, Tretyakov Gallery | 2,500-3,500 RUB |
| 3 | Gorky Park, GUM, Zamoskvorechye, all free | 500-1,000 RUB |
| 4 | VDNKh grounds and Kolomenskoye estate, both free | 500-1,000 RUB |
| 5 | Moscow City towers (optional splurge), Arbat Street | 1,800-3,000 RUB |
| 6 | Bolshoi evening, Patriarch’s Ponds | 3,000-15,000 RUB |
| 7 | Flexible finale: repeat, second splurge, or free parks | 0-2,000 RUB |
Should a full week in Moscow include a day trip?
Not on this itinerary. A full week is enough time to add Sergiev Posad or even Vladimir and Suzdal as genuine extra days, but that pushes into the Golden Ring family of trips, not this city-only plan. See Moscow, Russia as a base for day trips if you want to extend past a week; this plan keeps all seven days inside the city.
Day 1: Red Square and the Kremlin
Morning: land, exchange cash (USD, EUR, or CNY) at a bank counter rather than a street window, and settle into a central budget bed near a metro stop.
Midday: walk Red Square, free and open at all hours. Photograph St Basil’s from the outside for now; its ticket is tomorrow’s stop.
Afternoon: the Kremlin’s Armoury Chamber , 1,400 RUB adult, booked online from 17 days ahead. Arrive 45 minutes early for airport-style security; large bags go in free storage at the Kutafya Tower, not inside.
Evening: a stolovaya cafeteria meal, 600-900 RUB, near Red Square. Card terminals here only read Russian-issued cards, so pay cash.
Day 2: St Basil’s, the Metro, and the Tretyakov
Morning: St Basil’s Cathedral , a separate ticketed building from the Kremlin, not part of it, roughly 1,000-2,000 RUB (confirm the current price before you go, sources disagree).
Midday: ride the Metro’s palace stations, Komsomolskaya and Mayakovskaya, for the price of a single Troika-card ride, roughly 75 RUB.
Afternoon: the Tretyakov Gallery , around 700 RUB, Russia’s premier collection of Russian art and one of the best-value tickets in the city.
Evening: a biznes-lanch-style dinner or Georgian khachapuri, 400-700 RUB.
Day 3: Gorky Park, GUM, and Zamoskvorechye
Morning: Gorky Park, free, 24 hours, along the Moskva River. Rent a bike if you want to (extra cost); walking it costs nothing.
Midday: window-shop GUM, the 1893 arcade facing Red Square, free to walk through even though it’s a private mall today, not a Soviet state store.
Afternoon: wander Zamoskvorechye, the old merchant quarter across the river, quieter and lower-rise than the Kremlin side, free to explore.
Evening: a stolovaya or biznes-lanch dinner, 400-900 RUB.
Day 4: VDNKh and Kolomenskoye
Morning: the VDNKh grounds, the vast former Soviet exhibition park, free to enter; the restored Cosmos pavilion carries a modest separate fee if you want to go inside.
Midday: ride the metro south to Kolomenskoye, a former royal estate roughly 10km from the Kremlin. Park entry is free; individual museum buildings run 50-350 RUB if you want to see inside them.
Afternoon: keep wandering Kolomenskoye’s grounds, genuinely one of the lowest-commitment “estate” stops in the city, no dedicated travel day required.
Evening: a Georgian dinner, 400-700 RUB.
Day 5: Moscow City and Arbat Street
Morning: decide on the OKO observation deck, 1,800 RUB, or skip it and keep the day free.
Midday: walk the Moscow City towers cluster on foot regardless, a working financial district as much as a sightseeing stop, free to view from ground level.
Afternoon: wander Arbat Street, Moscow’s pedestrian tourist strip, free to browse, though it’s also where the fake-police and string-bracelet scams concentrate, keep your passport in your bag, not your hand.
Evening: a mid-range dinner, roughly 5,000 RUB for two without drinks, before tonight’s Bolshoi curtain if you booked one.
Day 6: Bolshoi evening and Patriarch’s Ponds
Morning: sleep in, or use the slow start to double back to any museum building you didn’t finish earlier in the week.
Midday: wander Patriarch’s Ponds, a compact, well-off district around a small park pond, free to walk, boutique cafes if you want a sit-down coffee.
Afternoon: a light lunch near the Ponds, 400-700 RUB, before the evening’s main event.
Evening: Bolshoi Theatre , restricted-view upper gallery seats from around 500 RUB, stalls for a high-demand ballet running well into five figures; buy only through the official box office or bolshoi.ru, never a resale site.
Day 7: Flexible finale
Morning: pick whichever free sight you liked best and do it again, Red Square at a quieter hour, another lap of Gorky Park, or a second VDNKh pavilion you skipped the first time.
Midday: if you skipped the OKO deck or a Tretyakov building on Day 2, this is the day to add it, since everything else on the itinerary is already covered.
Afternoon: a last cash-only souvenir run near Red Square or GUM, budgeting a final chunk of rubles since you can’t spend leftover cash on a card refund at the airport.
Evening: a final stolovaya meal or a splurge if you saved room in the budget, 600-5,000 RUB depending on which.
How much should you actually budget per day?
Roughly 0-15,000 RUB a day (about USD 0-192) excluding lodging, from a genuinely free finale day to the Bolshoi night. Add the Aeroexpress fare (about 500 RUB) if you’re arriving via Sheremetyevo, and keep enough cash on hand since foreign cards won’t cover any of it.
A full week covers Moscow city completely on a real budget; day trips to Sergiev Posad or Saint Petersburg are a separate plan entirely, see Moscow, Russia as a base when you’re ready to add one.