0 Mailbag Monday: June 21, 2010

One of the things that I also read was that you can find English speaking Russians waiting outside the Kremlin to be guides - less expensive. Did you see this? My question now is what did you do for visiting places in further out Moscow. That is Sparrow Hills, University, Izmaylovky Park, Gorky Park, Novodevichy Convent & Cemetary, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, any other suggestions? What is the best, most efficient, safest way to do those? Does the subway have English lettering to make that an option? Taxi? Hire a private car without a guide? Find a group tour at the hotel?
-Bruce S., Charlotte, NC USA


We didn't notice English speaking guides outside the Kremilin but we wouldn't be surprised if there were a few.  All the subway maps have the stops in both the Cyrillic and Roman characters so that made taking the subway a little easier and therefore that was our primary mode of transportation.  The chaos of the subway and its beautiful stations are a sight in itself!

We actually walked to Cathedral of Christ the Savior from Red Square (took about half an hour) and then from there visited Park Iskusstv which is filled with sculptures and statues from the Soviet Era.  Then basically across the street from there is Gorky Park which was entertaining enough but definitely could be skipped.  There are two subway stops not too far from there including Park Kultury.

On a separate day we took the subway out to Novodevichy Convent & Cemetary and that was definitely worth the trip.  Also make sure to visit the park outside the convent walls to the northwest....very pretty and peaceful.  From there we walked back into the city along the Moscow river but it wasn't a very scenic walk.

Those were the major sights we saw outside the city center and overall we would say the subway is your most economical option for getting around.