I’ve been passing through Moscow a lot lately. And before we go to the airport, my daughter and I constantly need to do something for one day or one evening. She successfully ignores historical locations and wanders through them with a bored face. Therefore, pretty soon I had a whole list of places to go with my child in Moscow.
It includes entertainment parks, museums, and family restaurants with children’s rooms. In general, I think this collection will be useful not only for me. Let’s get started, and we’ll figure out the nuances as we go along.
Central children’s store
The solution is for those adults who really want to walk around the center of Moscow. The child tolerates you while you climb at the Kremlin. And for this, you take him to the CDM on Lubyanka. It takes literally 10 minutes to walk from Red Square to it.
Inside there is Baba Yaga’s hut, huge teddy bears, a giant Lego Hagrid and an entire floor dedicated to the Harry Potter universe. For a small child, it’s just a delight. The main thing is to choose the right time.
The huge hall is decorated with stained glass windows with the heroes of Russian fairy tales. A bubble show is held every hour in the main hall. And in the evening (at 18,19,20 and 21 o’clock) you can watch a light show with fixies for free here. In general, it is a good option for a family walk. There is a huge toy store for children. For adults – an observation deck with a view of the center of Moscow (399 rub).
How to get there? Walk from the Kremlin or take the metro to Lubyanka metro station. For more information, please visit cdm-moscow.ru .
Cost: free (but all the toys here are like Apple shares).
SoyuZmultPark
An entertainment center on the territory of VDNH. Inside there are 18 interactive attractions dedicated to Winnie the Pooh, Boniface, Carlson and the main philosopher of Soviet animation – the Hedgehog in the Fog.
Photo from the website souzmultpark.ru .
You can get inside during special sessions that start every half hour. On weekdays, children are greeted by animators. On weekends, you climb the territory yourself. At first, when I got here, I decided that the whole park was just cartoons on the walls (and in general some nonsense). But then the rides became more interesting. Somewhere, children were given virtual reality glasses. Somewhere they were allowed to decorate one of the cartoon characters (which then appeared on the big screen and came to life). Therefore, the conclusion is this: you can go with a small child. But he looks funnier in commercials than in reality.
How to get? To the VDNKh metro station, and then walk to Pavilion No.7.
Ticket price: 1050 rub for children and 550 rub for adults. For more information, please visit souzmultpark.ru .
Museum of Magic and Magic Tricks
Photo source: domgarri.rf.
Another family location at VDNKH and, concurrently, an interesting project based on the Harry Potter universe. Children are dressed up in robes and distributed among the faculties; they arrange an electric show in front of them and perform magic tricks. To be honest, the museum itself is quite small. And your impression of him will largely depend on the inspiration of the animators you get to see. But fans of J.K. Rowling should like it here. There are pots with mandrake root, magic wands, a broom, owls and even harmful pixies in cages. There is also a cafe in the establishment, “filled with the atmosphere of a secret lair of dark magicians.” Therefore, I generally took this museum positively.
Photo from domgarri.rf website
How to get there? Take the metro to the VDNKh station, and then walk to the Butterfly House pavilion.
Ticket price: 600 rub on weekdays and 700 rub on weekends. For more information, visit the website domgarri.rf.
Cosmonautics Museum
A place that I liked more than Alice. But I just couldn’t not include him in this list. There you can look at the originals of the flying capsules and climb the block of the spacecraft; listen to stories about how a woman Anna Takhtarova was scared when Yuri Gagarin fell to the ground not far from her, and find out why Wilma and the Drop were renamed Belka and Strelka.
This museum was one of the first on my list of “Where to go with a child in Moscow”. And the reality even exceeded my expectations. The museum is large and interesting. All the exhibits are made at a good level. And the topic of space itself is very close to me personally. In general, I recommend it.
How to get there: everything is the same – to the VDNKh station, and then on foot to the monument to the conquerors of space.
Ticket price: 380 rub. For children under 7 years old – free of charge. For details, see the websitekosmo-museum.ru .
Tip: where to stay and where to eat?
Concluding the topic of VDNH, I want to recommend you one place for lunch. It’s called “Varenechnaya No.1“. The food and prices there are quite average. But I liked the surroundings of the place.
There are rare items from the Soviet era around. There are songs by Ladybug and Yura Belousov in the speakers. And there is also a free children’s corner with toys. Therefore, this is a good option for hiking with children. There are establishments of this network not only at VDNKH, but also in many other parts of the city. For details, see the websitevarenichnaya1.ru .
If you need an inexpensive hotel at VDNH, then you canstart searching from this hotel.
We didn’t stay here ourselves, but she figured in my top for a long time. Room rates start from 4100 rub. But with the promo code MOSCOW20 you can get a discount of 20% (works until 30.06.2024).
Moscow Zoo
A family classic and an almost universal answer to the question of where to go with a child in Moscow. Firstly, the local zoo is one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. Secondly, it is very conveniently located – almost in the city center (near the metro stations “Barricadnaya” and “Krasnopresnenskaya”). And thirdly, in 2019, two panda bears were brought to the zoo (and they are cute, like Dukalis’s smile). Therefore, going to the zoo will definitely be a good idea.
The zoo is open all year round from 9:00 to 20:00. The territory is divided into two parts – the old and the new. In one part of the park you can see giraffes, elephants, leopards, penguins, flamingos and various rodents.
In the other, there are crocodiles, lions and zebras. And there’s also a cool underground cafe where you can look at polar bears.
The cost of tickets to the zoo is 1000 rub. For children under 18 years old – admission is free.
Walking along the Moskva River
If you still want to see Moscow (but do it so that the child does not commit genocide to your nerve cells in the process), then here’s another idea for you. Pay attention to the pleasure ships plying the Moskva River. You will swim by the walls of the Kremlin, look from the water at St. Basil’s Cathedral and see one of the Stalin skyscrapers.
The exact route and all the details can be found here. It seems to me that this format of the walk will be interesting to everyone at any age.
How to get there? By metro to Kievskaya station, and then a 5-minute walk to the train station of the same name.
Cost: 790 rub per person, free for children under 5 years old.
Family tours of Moscow
Continuing the topic of exploring Moscow, I will also give here a small selection of family excursions that were not useful to me, but may be useful to you. For example…
- guided tour of the Mosfilm film studio;
- And here is a tour to the factory of glazed cheeses by B. Y. Alexandrov;
But my personal favorite is the costume tour “Ghosts and witches of the Russian capital“.
In fact, it’s a cross between a guided tour and a street theater. The guide plays the role of an alchemist and a magician, and also shows magic tricks and at the same time tells stories about the past of Moscow. For example, about the ghost of Savva Morozov, locked in the Alekseevskaya Tower, or about how the Patriarchal Ponds are connected with the “Master and Margarita”. You can view all the details here. The cost is 1400 rub (for adults) and 1200 rub (for children).
Frais Chocolate Factory
I think there is a little Willy Wonka in the soul of every child. Therefore, an excursion to a real chocolate factory will not leave anyone indifferent. They will tell you how cocoa beans are selected, and how dark chocolate is turned into milk; they will show a robot that forms tiles, and help the child make his own sweets.
The whole program is very contact and interactive, and therefore well suited for children from 5 years old. The cost of the tour is 1500 rub per person. All details can be viewed here.
“Island of dreams”
A very expensive, but pretty cool amusement park for the whole family. The complex has 9 thematic zones: “Smurf Village“, “Hotel Transylvania“, “Mowgli in the land of dinosaurs“, “Abandoned house” and some others. Therefore, each child will be able to choose what he likes best.
Next to the covered part of the complex there is a beautiful park with fountains, playgrounds, a wave pool and a private beach. There are many restaurants and a food court inside, so a trip to the “Island of Dreams” can easily be extended for a whole day.
There is only one minus in all this – ticket price. The “package” for 2 adults and 1 child costs 10,400 rub (single ticket – 3800 rub). And if you take into account the cost of lunch, the amount will be another 30-50% higher. At the same time, on weekends and holidays, many attractions have long queues. You can view the details on the websitedreamisland.ru . Whether it is worth the money – you already think for yourself.
How to get there? By metro to the Technopark station.
Endgame
At the very end, I will write a few more words about our own trip (or rather trips) to Moscow. Maybe our developments will be of interest to you.
As a place to stay for the night, we usually choose this hotel near the Dynamo metro station. It is conveniently located relative to the Belorussky railway station and the city center. And the rooms there are cozy. That’s why I personally like him.
For connoisseurs of the cultural program there is a Petrovsky travel Palace nearby. And for fans of shopping – Aviapark shopping center with the largest vertical aquarium in Europe.
As a place for lunch, you can choose the family restaurant “Food Mama”. The food there is very average, but I liked the views from the windows. And there are several free playgrounds for children at once.
If you decide to settle in another part of Moscow, you can also take note of the chain cafe “Anderson“. There is a children’s menu, its own pastry shop and free children’s rooms.
If you also have ideas where to go with your child in Moscow, leave them in the comments. I’ll be glad to read it. Well, that’s all I have for today. Thank you for reading the text to the end. Bye to everyone and have a nice trip!
