Renovations in honour of the zoo's 150th anniversary are ongoing, but the place should be in great shape in coming years. Huge flocks of feathered friends populate the central ponds, making for a pleasant stroll for birdwatchers. For a new perspective on Moscow’s nightlife, check out the nocturnal animal exhibit. Other highlights include the big cats (featuring Siberian tigers) and the polar bears. For more four-legged fun, follow the footbridge to see exhibits featuring animals from each continent.
Moscow Zoo
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.72 MILES
The Armoury dates to 1511, when it was founded under Vasily III to manufacture and store weapons, imperial arms and regalia for the royal court. Later it…
1.63 MILES
This is Moscow’s premier foreign-art museum, split over three branches and showing off a broad selection of European works, including masterpieces from…
1.95 MILES
At the southern end of Red Square stands the icon of Russia: St Basil’s Cathedral. This crazy confusion of colours, patterns and shapes is the culmination…
1.81 MILES
The apex of Russian political power and once the centre of the Orthodox Church, the Kremlin is the kernel of not only Moscow, but of the whole country…
1.81 MILES
Although Vladimir Ilych requested that he be buried beside his mum in St Petersburg, he still lies in state at the foot of the Kremlin wall, receiving…
2.46 MILES
Moscow's main city escape isn't your conventional expanse of nature preserved inside an urban jungle. It's not a fun fair either, though it used to be one…
1.89 MILES
Immediately outside the Kremlin’s northeastern wall is the celebrated Red Square, the 400m-by-150m area of cobblestones that is at the very heart of…
State Tretyakov Gallery Main Branch
2.32 MILES
The exotic boyar (high-ranking noble) castle on a little lane in Zamoskvorechie contains the main branch of the State Tretyakov Gallery, housing the world…
Nearby attractions
0.19 MILES
Moscow’s most prolific artist has opened up his ‘studio’ as a space to exhibit his many masterpieces. You can’t miss this place – whimsical characters…
0.31 MILES
The planetarium has become one of the biggest and brightest stars on the Moscow museum circuit, now incorporating all kinds of high-tech gadgetry,…
3. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
0.34 MILES
This neo-Gothic cathedral is the biggest Catholic church in Russia. Its construction was completed in 1917, but its history is one of turmoil: during…
4. Kudrinskaya Apartment Block
0.36 MILES
The 160m, 22-storey Stalinist skyscraper at Kudrinskaya pl contains elite apartments, mostly occupied by pre-eminent cultural figures during Soviet times.
0.41 MILES
‘The colour of the house is liberal, ie red', playwright Anton Chekhov wrote of his house on the Garden Ring, where he lived from 1886 to 1890. The red…
0.5 MILES
The model for Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation design principle, this architectural landmark was an early experiment in semicommunal living. Designed…
7. Central House of Writers (CDL)
0.54 MILES
The Central House of Writers is an elaborate art nouveau mansion dating to 1889. The historic mansion housed the administrative offices of the writers'…
0.58 MILES
Patriarch’s Ponds hark back to Soviet days, when the parks were populated with children and babushky. Today you’ll see grandmothers pushing strollers and…