Moscow

Set along a broad series of bends in the Moskva River in Central Russia, Moscow is the capital of Russia and the largest city entirely on the European continent, covering 2,511 square kilometres with more than 13 million residents within city limits. First documented in chronicles in 1147, the settlement rose as the seat of the Grand Principality of Moscow before becoming the capital of the unified Tsardom of Russia in 1547. Although Peter the Great moved the imperial capital to Saint Petersburg in 1712, Moscow remained the coronation seat of the Russian monarchs and regained its status as national capital in 1918.

For visitors, the city's layout is organised by concentric rings radiating outward from the triangular brick fortress of the Moscow Kremlin and the Armoury Chamber and the cobblestones of Red Square and Saint Basil's Cathedral. The tree-lined Boulevard Ring, the wider Garden Ring, and the 54-kilometre Moscow Central Circle orbital railway connect medieval white-stone churches in Kitay-gorod and Zaryadye Park, nineteenth-century merchant mansions in Arbat Street and Zamoskvorechye, Stalinist skyscrapers on Sparrow Hills, and the monumental fountains and space pavilions of VDNKh and Kolomenskoye.

Flights arrive at Sheremetyevo (SVO), Domodedovo (DME), and Vnukovo (VKO) airports, linked to Circle Line rail terminals by double-decker Aeroexpress trains and, at Vnukovo, directly by Metro Line 8A. Intercity and high-speed trains arrive at the three terminals of Komsomolskaya Square (Leningradsky, Yaroslavsky, and Kazansky) and six other central stations. See the how to get to Moscow guide for transfer details.

Staying inside the Boulevard Ring or Garden Ring keeps daily transit short: Tverskoy and Theatre Square put you within walking distance of the Kremlin, Kitay-gorod and Pokrovka offer historic lanes and lively cafés, and Zamoskvorechye provides a quieter base beside the Tretyakov Gallery. Compare districts in the where to stay in Moscow guide.

Pair Red Square and the Moscow Kremlin on Day 1, cross the river between the Tretyakov Gallery and Pushkin Museum on Day 2, and tour the historic Metro stations, VDNKh, and Novodevichy Convent on Day 3. Follow the things to do guide and 3-day itinerary.

Traditional Muscovite and Russian dining centres on hot beetroot borscht with smetana, cabbage shchi, Siberian pelmeni dumplings, beef Stroganoff, buckwheat blini, and curd-cheese syrniki, served across historic boulevard dining rooms and modern domed market halls such as Danilovsky Market; see what to eat in Moscow.

Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites stand within city limits: the Kremlin and Red Square (inscribed in 1990), the white-stone tent-roofed Church of the Ascension at Kolomenskoye (inscribed in 1994), and the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century ensemble of Novodevichy Convent (inscribed in 2004).