I will be visiting Moscow for three days in December from the 30th thru the 1st and St. Petersburg from January 2-5. How can I check to see if there will be any performances for either the Bolshoi or the Kirov ballet? Also what is the best way to get tickets?

We used to show up and look for hawkers in front of the theatre . . but not look too intrested until just before show time . . worked every time.

See this for a schedule:

http://ananiashvili.com/pschedpl.htm

Enjoy . . Moscow is a great place to visit . . also pretty good place to live!

Rich

You can purchase directly online for the bolshoi at bolshoi.ru. An agency that handles tickets in St Petersburg is at ticketsofrussia.ru.

I have purchased tickets from boilshoi.ru with no problems, tickets are picked up at the theatre ticket office in Moscow. I have ordered tickets from ticketsofrussia which I hope will be waiting for me at my hotel when I arrive in St Petersburg.

My wife and I were in Moscow last week. We went to the Bolshoi at about 4pm of the day that we wanted to see a show and after talking to the ticket hawkers out front we went in to the box office (a building to the left of the actual theater) and were able to buy good seats for that night for much less than the guys out front wanted. We ended up seeing an opera and enjoyed it very much. The Bolshoi is a great place to check out and well worth the time.

Thanks, everyone. Garfield: I purchased New Year's Eve Tickets to the Bolshoi at bolshoi.ru with no difficulty. It's an awkward website to nagivate and you have to check daily for updated postings of events, but it did work well. Looking forward to it!

We're staying at the Astoria in St. Petersburg. I just emailed them and they were able to obtain tickets for us at the Mariinsky Theatre. When travelling in Europe, I rely more heavily on the hotel concierge's than I do at home. And, they are usually able to obtain better seats than I could by going direct. You can check the schedules at www.kirov.com