Moscow 3-day itinerary: Kremlin, art museums, Metro and VDNKh

This three-day Moscow route groups sights by river bank and Metro line so you spend your time inside cathedrals, galleries, and parks rather than backtracking across the city. Before locking in your dates, remember two weekly closures: the Moscow Kremlin closes on Thursdays, and both the Tretyakov Gallery and Pushkin Museum close on Mondays. Swap Day 1 and Day 2 if your arrival falls on one of those days.

Day 1: Red Square, the Kremlin, Kitay-gorod, and Zaryadye Park

• Morning, Moscow Kremlin and Armoury Chamber: Start in Alexander Garden for your pre-booked morning session at the Kremlin Armoury Chamber (entered through the Borovitskaya Tower) and Cathedral Square. Spend three hours exploring the imperial regalia and Fabergé eggs in the Armoury, Aristotele Fioravanti's Dormition Cathedral (1475 to 1479), the Cathedral of the Archangel, the Annunciation Cathedral, the 81-metre Ivan the Great Bell Tower, the 201,924-kilogram Tsar Bell, and the 1586 Tsar Cannon.
• Midday, Red Square and Saint Basil's Cathedral: Walk through the twin-arched Resurrection Gate onto Red Square. Tour the ten chapels of Saint Basil's Cathedral (1555 to 1561), pause for lunch under the Vladimir Shukhov glass arcades of GUM (built 1890 to 1893), and visit the red-brick State Historical Museum.
• Late afternoon and evening, Kitay-gorod, Zaryadye Park, and Theatre Square: Stroll east along medieval Varvarka Street past the sixteenth-century Old English Court into Zaryadye Park, walking out onto the cantilevered Floating Bridge over the Moskva River at dusk before continuing up Nikolskaya Street to Theatre Square and the illuminated portico of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Day 2: Tretyakov Gallery, Zamoskvorechye, Pushkin Museum, and Old Arbat

• Morning, State Tretyakov Gallery and Zamoskvorechye: Ride the Metro to Tretyakovskaya or Novokuznetskaya and spend two to three hours inside the Viktor Vasnetsov Russian Revival building of the State Tretyakov Gallery on Lavrushinsky Lane, viewing medieval Russian icons and nineteenth-century masterpieces. Afterwards, walk along Pyatnitskaya and Bolshaya Ordynka streets in Zamoskvorechye and cross the river via Sofiyskaya Embankment and the pedestrian Patriarshy Bridge.
• Afternoon, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and Pushkin Museum: Visit the 103-metre Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on the northern bank, then cross Volkhonka Street to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (1912) and its neighbouring Gallery of 19th- and 20th-Century European and American Art to see the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collections.
• Evening, Old Arbat Street and Patriarch's Ponds: Walk northwest to Arbatskaya Square and follow pedestrianised Old Arbat Street past the Vakhtangov Theatre and the 1831 Pushkin Memorial Apartment at No. 53, finishing with dinner on classic Russian dishes near Patriarch's Ponds.

Day 3: Historic Metro loop, VDNKh, Novodevichy Convent, and Sparrow Hills

• Morning, Metro architecture tour and VDNKh: Use a Troika smart card to ride the Moscow Metro architecture route through Mayakovskaya (1938), Ploshchad Revolyutsii, Novoslobodskaya (1952), and Komsomolskaya (1952). From Prospekt Mira, ride Line 6 north to VDNKh station to visit the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics beneath the 107-metre Conquerors of Space titanium obelisk (1964) and walk the fountain avenue of VDNKh to the Vostok rocket on Industry Square.
• Afternoon, Novodevichy Convent, Sparrow Hills, and Gorky Park: Return south-west on Line 1 to Sportivnaya station for UNESCO-listed Novodevichy Convent (founded 1524) and Novodevichy Pond. Ride one stop to Vorobyovy Gory station on the lower deck of the Luzhniki Metro Bridge, ascend to the Sparrow Hills observation terrace in front of the 239-metre Moscow State University main building, and finish with an evening walk along the riverside embankment into Gorky Park.