Visiting Moscow in the winter
When you look at the sheer facts and numbers, Moscow is a an urban, world metropolis with a population of over eleven million people inhabiting an area of over four hundred square miles. Exploring such a big place might seem like quite a daunting task, but even more-so when one thinks about the fact that it is actually best discovered on foot.
While this may not apply for the major attractions, in order to discover the quaint and old icon-filled churches, the house-museums and the like, you’ll need to actually go walking through the place’s many back streets and pathways, because in such a big place there are literally hundreds of wonderful nooks and corners that are not mentioned on any major tourist map.
The true kicker comes when you consider that this is a place used to heavy snows and cold, and as such the city doesn’t stand still when the cold season sets upon it, quite the contrary, the place is abuzz with a specific energy, which makes visiting Moscow during the winter more of an attraction than a deterrent.
The arrival of winter conditions only help to enhance the experience that Moscow has to offer, there are few things comparable with taking a walk alongside the Moskva river through the frozen, snowy parkland which encircles most of the city. Heading towards the Church of Ascension in the snow will have you passing a three-dome wooden chapel as well as a plethora of wood log cabins serving coffee and pancakes.
When the cold air start getting to you, pop into one of the capital’s over a hundred and fifty museum to warm up a bit and get some information on the rich history and culture of the place.
Another type of attraction that you can engage with when needing to warm a bit up is to visit one of the preserved homes of Moscow’s famous inhabitants, places like the home of singer Fyodor Shalyapin, or the studio of Viktor Vasnetsov. For those with a leaning more towards the literary, they can see the skin of the bear that Tolstoy shot under the piano that he played, some great stuff indeed.
This only scratches the surface of what it is to visit Moscow during the winter, or at any time of year for that matter; there are still literally tens if not hundreds of points that can prove to be great attractions if only you’re willing to look for them.