szeitlin

My husband and I will be in Moscow for 4 days in October. We would like to hire a guide - do we need one for the whole time or just for specific places (if so which ones). Also, I can't find schedules for concerts/ballet at this time - is it too early? When do they get posted?

Any help with itinerary, as well as restaurant recommendations will be great as well.

Thanks

stptours

Here's a tentative four-day program:
Day 1 – a panoramic city tour with a visit to Novodevichy convent (approx. 6 hrs.)
Day 2 – a tour of the Kremlin with the Diamond Fund and the Armory, the Red Square and Kitai-gorod tour (approx. 6 hrs.)
Day 3 – Pushkin Art Gallery and Tretiakov Art Gallery (approx. 5 hrs.)
Day 4 - a trip to the monastery in Sergiev Posad (approx. 6 hrs.)
I could supply descriptions of the tours if you are interested.
The schedules for concerts and theaters are usually known a month or two in advance.

Odin

You can book Bolshoi tickets on their website but usually only 2-3 months in advance. I think it is under renovation and performances are not on the main stage but I might have out of date information.

Restaurants I like are U Pirosmani which is a Georgian restaurant near Novodevichy and Noah's Ark (Armenian) near Kitai Gorod (a very interesting part of Moscow), also Aragvi in Tverskaya (not too sure if this one is still around) For cheap eats, there is Shesh Besh, Yolki Palki or Moo Moo which are all chain restaurants.

Paulo59

It depends what kind of traveler you are. You do not need a guide at all if you don't want. I would just hire a guide for specific sites. Moscow is a very modern city with fantastic subway system making it easy to get anywhere. We ended up hiring a guide to see the Diamond Fund at the Kremlin without a guide you'll wait in lines constantly and never get in. And it was worth it. It may also be good just ot hire a guide for the whole Kremlin tour. You can hire someone just outside the ticket booth. Not expensive. Otehrwise enjoy Moscow by wandering. It's a wonderful city and easy to find things as long as you make a little effort to learn the cyrillic alphabet or at least memorize the letters for the places you are going. Lots of good restaurants near the National Hotel and the Kremlin. Ask more specific questions and I will try to answer them. I would hire a car to meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel. Otherwise its crazy. Enjoy.

gplusg

Cafe Pushkin--good food--old Russia atmosphere==open 24 hrs

neeps

Cafe Pushkin = expensive, good food though.

You can do the Kremlin tour with Capital Tours, if you don't want to take a chance on a private guide. Also, October is not exactly high season here so the odds of finding a guide standing outside the Kremlin aren't that great. Also, Patrishy Dom does great tours. Their Star City and Metro tours are great. http://russiatravel-pdtours.netfirms.com/