Moscow by road

Russian border checkpoint

We were driving to the Latvia-Russia border in our motorhome Vanni, and were a little nervous about the border procedures. We had been denied entry two weeks ago because Vanni’s papers were not in order, so we had been in Latvia since then, waiting for the correct papers to be delivered from the Czech Republic.

The papers finally reached us in Rīga. With new papers for Vanni and fingers crossed that we would be let into Russia this time around, we trekked from Rīga, right across Latvia to the border.

Getting out of Latvia was easy, but not quick as they shut the border for some time during their shift change.  Eventually they stamped our papers and, holding our breath, we drove sedately into the Russian border area.

Vanni's new papers now stamped

No problems with our passports but they wanted evidence of Marg’s address in New Zealand (NZ). After a mild panic (no address on a NZ driving licence or passport), we remembered that our international driving licence has a photo and address – whew! All good.

Then they looked over Vanni and she passed with flying colours, and we were moved on. We were at the last barrier when they closed it and stopped us – oh no – not again!

But it seems that they had forgotten to give us our exit card! A lady ran it up to us and with big smiles, we were waved on into Russia. Woo hoo!!

Long line of trucks waiting cross from Russia into Latvia

It was around 9 pm but, but after buying some rubles, we pushed on to get as far as we could toward Moscow. On the way, we passed a long line of trucks waiting to leave Russia. It must take them hours to get over the border.

By around 11 pm (Russian time), we were very tired so found a truck stop for the night.

It cost 100 Roubles (NZ$2.30), had a watchman, and was fenced; we felt quite safe. We used our own bathroom as the ones for truckies were yuk!

The next morning, we were up early, and continued on toward Moscow.

500 km of this road to Moscow

But the roads were shocking. There were many places where the top surface of the tarmac was missing, and where exposed concrete slabs and iron reinforcing wire was poking through.

This made our progress incredibly slow at between 10 and 30 km per hr, with an occasional optimistic burst of speed when we hit new seal. It was like...90 kilometres of no seal to each 30 kilometres of seal for more than 500 km – sooooo tiring and slow!!! 

It took us much longer than expected to reach Moscow. Then we had the challenge of finding our Moscow campground with no English signage at all, and everything in Cyrillic!

Our Russian Map

Leigh was a star navigating us there. We were on the M9 (aka The Baltic Highway), but our GPS system does not have routes for Russia, and Russia cannot be saved in Google maps on the android phone, so we purchased a Russian road map at the border (all in Russian language). 

Leigh managed to get a handle on how the Cyrillic alphabet works so she was able to decipher Russian street names.

Then, using our Russian map and road signs, she got us onto the right ring road (they have 4), and then off at the right place to head to the centre of Moscow (Москва).

The Zhivopisny cable bridge into Moscow

We finally entered Moscow, over the incredible Zhivopisny cable bridge, then drove through the city.

Marg drove fearlessly in the Moscow traffic, and between us, we quickly and painlessly found our campsite in Moscow’s Sokolniki Park.

What a relief....and although it was around 7 pm, it was still open to let us in. It was very sheltered among the trees with lots of security guards wandering around, and we had a good night's sleep.

The next day, we walked 15-minutes to the metro and caught a train into Moscow centre (after a slight diversion to the Holiday Inn for a tourist map).

Palatial metro in Moscow

We were pleased that we had navigated the metro so well and found it quite an experience. The Moscow Metro is amazing, with most of the stations looking absolutely glamourous, having stunning chandeliers, beautiful friezes and other artistic detail.

They are a tourist event in themselves!

On the train, a delightful woman helped us get off at the right station, and then another woman who spoke some English lead us out of the metro and explained that we were in a central area with lots of attractions.

Such friendly and helpful people - and we found this time and time again in Russia, with people going out of their way to help us – fantastic!

Leigh in Red Square, outside the Kremlin (UNESCO), Moscow

Arriving in the city, we headed for its centre which is marked by the famous Red Square, and the Kremlin which is a fortified citadel containing several historic buildings. Red Square, the Kremlin and other nearby buildings are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Built along the Moskva River, Moscow has played a role in Russian history as far back as 1147. It has now become the political, scientific, industrial, educational, and cultural centre of Russia. It is currently the most heavily populated city in Russia and the largest city in Europe.

We walked around the Kremlin and Red Square. The Square separates the Kremlin, which contains the official residence of the Russian president, from Kitay-Gorod. the historic merchant quarter of Moscow.

Historical Museum with Resurrection Gate on left, Red Square, Moscow

Red Square was originally designed to be Moscow’s main marketplace. Now days, it contains several iconic buildings such as the State Historical Museum of Russia, and the Resurrection Gate. The Gates are the main entry to Red Square.

Other buildings include the Moscow Town Hall, Lenin's Mausoleum, the Kazan Cathedral, and the huge GUM Department Store. The GUM store (acronym for Glavny Universalny Magazin/Main Department Store) is a beautiful building.

Moscow is known as a global city, and regarded as one of the iconic cities of the world. We were enjoying its historic and grand architecture, and looking forward to seeing more.

St Basil's Cathedral (UNESCO), Moscow

Walking back to the other end of Red Square, we saw the iconic St Basil’s Cathedral with its amazing and colourful onion-shaped domes. 

It was a fascinating place to wander around, inside and out, with its ancient architecture and frescoes.

Tired from all our walking, we then decided to catch the hop-on-hop-off bus around the city. Moscow is so vast, so this gave us a good overview of where things were and what we really wanted to see.

We saw beautiful domed churches everywhere, such as the gold domes of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, and lots of very grand buildings including the Bolshoi Theatre, the Metropol Hotel, the Soviet style Lubyanka Building which used to house the KGB, and more.

Changing of the Guard, Kremlin (UNESCO), Moscow

Later, returning to the metro, we saw fabulous parks, more interesting architecture and the changing of the guard at the Kremlin, which we really enjoyed.

The next morning, we used the metro for another day of sightseeing, visiting some of the places that we spotted briefly from the bus on our first visit.

A favourite was Arbat district and Ulitsa Arbat Street (Old Arbat), a 1-kilometre long pedestrian street. Dating back to the 15th century, it is one of the oldest original streets of Moscow. It was once home to many craftspeople and the side streets are still called by the craft such as Carpenter St, Bread St and Silver St.

The Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge with views of the Kremlin (UNESCO)

We crossed the famous Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge to Zamoskvorechye, also called The Island. This is an artificial island on the Moskva River, located right across from the Kremlin. It houses many buildings with interesting architecture, and has a history dating back to the 14th century.

Another interesting place was Tverskaya Street, once known at Gorky Street. It is the main road of Moscow, and was once used as the route for the tsar’s as they were driven to the Kremlin for their coronation.

It is also lined with impressive architecture, but its main draw is the upscale shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants. It is like 5th Avenue in New York, or Oxford Street in London.

By the time we left Moscow, we felt we had covered a huge amount of ground and seen heaps in a short space of time. However, we needed to move on. Our next step will take us further east, to drive Russia’s 'Golden Ring'.

This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around northern and eastern Europe, which began in Prague.