Moscow is a big cosmopolitan city of 12 million.
It is diverse, powerful and seethes with pulsating energy and excitement! You never know what is waiting for you around the corner: an ancient ruin or a hi-tech futuristic skyscraper. Throughout its 850 year history Moscow has always been a symbol of Russia. Unlike the young St. Petersburg, Moscow was never built to be a showcase yet there are many treasures – some on glorious display and easy to visit, others hidden to be secretly discovered!
Besides regular first-timer tours these are special interest tours with your own private guide
The Space Command Center – subject to permission
Visit one of the most restricted areas in the world!
minimum 10 people required
Duration 1.5 hour
This visit will take half a day. You will visit the headquarters of Space Mission Center, the only place on the Earth, which can navigate all the sections of the International Space Station. Walk through few halls, which you usually see on TV reports, where one wall is a huge screen with a tiny moving dot, indicating the spaceship in live time. See the movie about routine life of the astronauts, find out how many sputniks are on the orbit, why do we need sea launching, what to do with the space garbage. You can even book a telephone call and have a conversation with people on the orbit!
The Space Command Center, located app. 10km outside of Moscow, is divided into two rooms which are shown on TV whenever there is news from space. From one room un-manned satellites are manipulated and in the other room about 100 scientists are in contact with manned space ships and space station – here every 75 minutes all PC are working on the top of their capacity for about 5 minutes as this is the time span when MKS is in operating distance.
During the tour through these rooms we will get to know how the Space Command Center operates and hear stories about the Cosmonauts life in space which we will then also be shown in a video – we will see how they eat, shower, sleep and much more…
By the way: if you are willing to afford it: for app. 5.000 EUR per minute you can call directly to MKS and talk to the Cosmonauts .
As this is a very restricted areas you passport details need to be delivered the latest 1 month in advance. On the grounds taking pictures is not permitted and please leave big bags at home.
Star City day expedition 10am-6pm – subject to permission
Spend a whole day in the former super secret town, Star City! Would you like to know what changes human body goes through in antigravity? Have you ever been inside the Mir Station? Want to know how the astronauts & space tourists live on the International Space Station on the orbit day by day? When and why we will fly to Mars? This mindboggling visit will answer on many such questions
Star City is a military research and training facility 14 km northeast of Moscow. Cosmonauts have lived and trained in Star City at the Academy of Cosmonauts since the 1960s.
Many Russian cosmonauts, past and present, and Academy’s personnel live in the Star City with their families. The town of 7,500 dwellers has its own post office, high school, shops, child day/kindergarten, Movie Theater, sports and recreation facilities, railway station and a museum of space travel and human exploration, which we shall visit after lunch.
Our expedition trip will be guided by an engineering researcher who has worked and lived in Star City for 40 years. You will be able to ask any questions you want and depending on your curiosity and interest please set aside most of the day for this special outing. There will be no need to rush through.
As the tour will last for quite a while in between we take you for lunch to café Zvezdochka (included).
Visit Backstage of Bolshoi’s Theater and Workshop
Even if the old Theater is undergoing its major USD 730 million restoration until 2011, we still want to show you what’s happening behind the scenes in the new building and, due to our special arrangements, take you at the workshops where costumes, shoes and scenery are made.
We will visit the cradle of Russian art and stand on the world famous stage where so many celebrities danced. Get a close insight of the storage place for all the settings and visit the stage where rehearsals take place – maybe we will be lucky and see the rehearsal of the ballet troupe or an orchestra. After this we will enjoy a cup of tea in the artistic buffet while maybe standing next to the prima ballerina which will be on stage that night
After this we will walk about 10 min to the 4 storey building where the workshops of the Bolshoi Theater are. You will see artists working on tutus, ballerina shoes and on the scenery for the stage.
As a special souvenir a pair of ballerina shoes can be specially prepared for you to take home (one size, 1000 rubles).
Grand Kremlin Palace
The Grand Kremlin Palace was built in the middle of the 19th century, but parts of it date back as early as the 15th century, including famous Terem Palace of the father of Peter the Great. Previously it used to be the Moscow residence of many Tsars and today is the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. Furthermore, it is used as a venue for state events and political happenings – it is the place where Ambassadors and the political heads of other countries are welcomed. Therefore it is not only one of the most exclusive places to visit in Russia, but also one of the most beautiful and breathtaking.
Romanov Dynasty Tour
The house, where the Romanov family
actually lived, was made into a museum in 1913 by Nikolas II for the 300th anniversary of Romanov Dynasty. It is a 3 story building – the first floor, a stone construction was used as a storage room mostly for food. The second and third floors are wooden constructions and where split into one floor for men and one floor for women and children.
The visit of the museum will be guided by a woman wearing traditional clothes from the period in which the Romanovs lived there. We will hear about daily routines and live of men, women and bringing up children.
As a mini show / concert on the women’s floor mannequins will be sewing and singing old songs to give a better feeling of the time back there and maybe to give you some goose bumps running down your back.
The Romanov Museum, situated behind the shopping center GUM in the city center of Moscow reminds of the architecture of St. Basils Cathedrals or Yusupov Palace – the typical Russian architecture of the 16th and 17th century before Peter the Great and before European influence to Russia.
The museum is a very charming and rather unknown place in Moscow and therefore even more interesting as it takes you off the usual touristy route.
Stalin’s Architecture Tour
We walk the roads rarely visited by tourists and will show you a regular apartment of government employees and famous people during the Stalin-area. You will get a firsthand impression of living conditions in the house on the Embankment (Dom Na Naberjnoi) and after listening to the stories about the inhabitants of this building, who were accused to be public enemies or guilty of high treason, you will understand how the common phrase “the walls have ears” occurred.
Enjoy the beautiful few from the bridge together with a tour on Stalinist Architecture on your way to the House of Scientists, where you will discover the history of the Club of the Moscow Scientific Community. Today it is used as a kind of club where people from different fields of profession are able to present their work. The building itself is a perfect example of prerevolutionary architecture mixed with the interior from the Stalin times. Inside you can enjoy a good lunch for a reasonable price and discover the history of this unique building.
Yusupov Palace Moscow
While many of our clients visited Yusupov Palace in St. Petersburg (where Rasputin was killed), for the first time ever Yusupov Palace opened for public in May 2010, after its 40 million EURO restoration.
This hidden treasure in Moscow displays a typical Russian style building before the reign of Peter the Great and the European influence to Russia. “Enigma wrapped in mystery” awaits for you there: after being a hunting lodge of Tsar Ivan the Terrible it was given as a present to the Yusupov family by Tsar Peter II. It was in the possession of the Yusupov family from 1727 to 1917.
After Felix Yusupov killed Rasputin in 1916 he was exiled to his estate in Crimea and his family followed shortly after. Without the owners, the devoted servant in Moscow kept their treasures secret even after being tortured by the KGB. The treasures, hidden under the staircase, where only found in 1926
Stalin’s Bunker
Visit a Stalin’s original bunker, preserved just as it was during Stalin’s time. Go inside the bunker, dine there while the on-site expert will give you a piercing insight into Soviet Russia, relating the history of the bunker’s origination and telling you stories about Stalin’s life and World War II.
Cold War Bunker
7, 000 sq meters of underground space right downtown Moscow. This Bunker, built in 50s, opened for public just couple years ago. Walk the endless tunnels, watch the movie how the Cold War started and brought us all almost on the edge of nuclear outbreak.
Banya – know how tour
Move over Baden-Baden!
Sanduny – Russian’s most famous and elite bath house with a romantic history that goes back hundreds of years, situated right in the heart of Moscow. The bath house features 3 steam rooms for men and 2 steam rooms for women. Find out all the do’s and don’t of going to a Russian banya and discover the sense of complete relaxation which follows.
The inside is lavishly decorated with gold and tile mosaics. Chefs of different cuisines are ready to take your orders and surprise and delight you with their masterpieces featuring Russian, Asian and European cuisine.
KGB Tales
KGB and its scary stories: what is true and what is false? Russians are much less concerned with this entity than the rest of the world. Would you like to know why? Find the answer yourself. Visit the amazing 7,000 sqm underground complex, which had been a secret command center only a couple of years ago. Have a walking tour of downtown Moscow KGB area. Visit the Museum of Russian revolutions to view the personal belongings of all Soviet leaders, from Lenin to Eltsin.
Orthodox Russia
Explore Orthodox Moscow. Walk the old downtown with its cosy courtyards in the endless lanes, narrow streets lined up with two storey buidlings, so different from the multistory constructions “scraping’ the city skyline now. Old Moscow streets end up usually with the church spier. Walk in the most beautiful park with its recently restored Palace of Catherine the Great. Visit Novospassky working monastery for the candle light Orthodox mass with its rarely heard in the West low bass chanting voices. Travel in time through Russian history “in faces” while walking along the tombs of Russian celebrities of the last 500 years. Perhaps even gain some insight into where the mystique side of Russian souls come from
Highlights: Tsaritsyno Park & PalaceNovospasski working monasetry with a candle light mass , Novodevichy Monastery and cemetery
Lev Tolstoy itinerary – day trip from Moscow
Visit the house where Lev Tolstoy lived with his 12 children after he changed his way of living. The Tolstoy family was one of the most aristocratic families in Russia and their ancestors trace back to approximately 100 years. After Lev Tolstoy wrote the famous book Anna Karenina he changed is opinion towards lifestyle and moved together with his 12 children into the little house in a factory area in Moscow. The house was very simple and he brought up his children in the surrounding of the working class – still he sent them to the best schools in the city.
Everyone in the family had their jobs to accomplish in the house and Lev Tolstoy for example made his boots by his own hands – comparable to the boots of Peter the Great (on display in the Armory Museum in the Kremlin. Visit this house full of history and learn more about the famous character of Lev Tolstoy and his family.