Ok, I’m busting this out now as I know there are a few guys who are either considering coming to Moscow and/or already have booked their tickets and are on their way (e.g. Slubu!). I’ve read the forum threads and data sheets and there’s already a lot of good stuff out there, but some of it’s a bit dated, some of its incomplete, and some of it is along the lines of ‘I was in Moscow from 2 weeks here’s what I did’ as opposed to a view from someone on the ground. So as I’ve been living here for 4+ years I thought it might be worthwhile to put together something that’s a little more comprehensive and up-to-date.
Having said that, by no means do I think this is a ‘definitive’ data sheet –I’m sure I missed some places that are not on this list, that I’d be happy to hear about, so apologize in advance for anything I might have missed.
Although Moscow is a big city (and the largest in Europe), the nightlife is surprisingly central, or at least most of it is just a quick 10-15 minute or less cab ride from the central area. I’ve organized this datasheet by city region with an emphasis on nightlife ‘clusters’ where there are good bars, restaurants & clubs nearby one another, just to make it easier to get around. Also so as to not have to spend tons of money and time on gypsy taxis (which is really the only way to get around Moscow - you can forget taking the real taxis as they will charge an arm and a leg, and they aren’t very available unless you call ahead). I’ve also tried to break each place down the best I can and have added in links in English wherever I could, along with the Russian spelling in Cyrillic where that’s applicable.
It’s funny, but in putting this sheet together it became a bit tricky for me to make a distinction between what’s really more of a restaurant with small bar scene, as opposed to a bar that’s got a restaurant but in reality is really more of a nightclub (but still actually does have a restaurant scene with good food). As an example, take Soho Rooms, which is one of Moscow’s most famous clubs. Yes it has a huge nightclub section, but it also has a good restaurant scene early and two separate restaurant areas that stay open all night too. And Gypsy has a huge outdoor eating area early on (which is covered, and now even open in Winter (!)), which transitions during the course of the evening from a restaurant into a club-like environment.
Since this is a nightlife guide, I’m focusing on the more ‘nightlifey’ places as opposed to the places with mostly a restaurant angle, but have noted wherever I think the food is good too and also included a few restaurants with decent bar scenes.
At first I was going to split the bar-restaurant-clubs up by category, but as it’s hard to determine sometimes, I ended up doing it by region as I think it’s more helpful to show the nightlife ‘clusters’ in order to give readers a better sense of where everything is in relation to each other.
Although Moscow is a great party town, it’s more Thursday-Sat focused I think than say somewhere like NYC or even London. But during the weekends the people really do party – most of the younger Russians stay out quite late, at least until 5-6am, with many of them actually going into the early hours of the morning and carrying on at after-parties or banyas. As I am an expat working here however, I will freely admit that I might be missing some of the cooler things going on Mon-Wed – there are over 14 million people in this city so there’s likely to be some place that’s got something going on at all times. I would say that on Wednesdays-Thursdays some of the clubs get going later say after 1:00, which rules out most of us working stiffs but would be interesting for travelers with more time on their hands.
Finally, keep in mind that Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and there are generally no bargains here. You’ll generally be paying at least 250-350 Rubles ($7.50-11) for beer & drinks, and even more than that sometimes at the big clubs. It is what it is, but if you want a bargain and/or cheaper places you do have some options. And at least none of the clubs have entry fees.
Central Moscow Nightlife Regions:
The Island
This area is located on an island in the middle of the Moscow River, right in the center of town, across from the Kremlin and the gold-domed Church of Christ the Savior. It’s sort of becoming the Moscow version of NYC’s Soho / Tribeca districts with a lot of art & design stores, galleries and workplaces. But it’s also full of bars and clubs, including some of the biggest & best ones in town. Lots of variety down here so it’s a great place to start when you’re first coming to Moscow. Metro: Kropotkinskaya (need to walk across the pedestrian bridge behind the huge gold domed church (very nice walk by the way); could also get off at Bibliateka Imena Lenina across from the Kremlin and walk down across the auto bridge).
Strelka – great place but a bit hard to get a reservation for the outdoor tables in the summer. Right across from the huge Christ the Savior gold-domed search in the center of town on the “Island” – you can see the Kremlin across the river from the rooftop restaurant deck. More of a restaurant really but the downstairs and upstairs bars tend to have a bit of their own little bar scene with people waiting for tables or just drinking there which can be fun. Getting a bit too ‘hipsterish’ right now though IMO. Views from the deck are great. Try the hummus and other tapas which are really good and not overly expensive (for Moscow). Link here: http://www.strelka.com/bar/?lang=en
Gypsy – Gypsy is a massive nightclub, bar & restaurant all rolled into one, with a huge roof deck that’s now even open in the winter. As a rule, it’s always happening on the weekends and is even ok later on Wednesday-Thursday, and it’s just loaded with people these days after midnight. Located behind the “Red October Chocolate Factory” on the Island, this is the place I think most people should start out at given it’s big and there are a ton of places right nearby (including Rolling Stone, ICON, Strelka, Zoo Café, Reka and several others I haven’t reviewed). Inside this place are several bar areas and places to scout out ladies, including an interior bar/dance floor (which isn’t too busy in summer usually). The outdoor terrace is enclosed and just massive, and has a very large dance floor in the back. There are also ‘food windows’ inside this place where you can order a burger or souvlaki all night long – reasonably good and cheap food. If you don’t get here by say 11:30 the face control gets a lot worse and you can get turned away even if you’re foreign. Link (with directions) here: http://bargipsy.ru/adress-i-shema-proezda
Rolling Stone – another place that’s like Gypsy in that it’s more of a massive bar with a huge terrace than a pure club, but it’s always happening, with huge lines after say 12, so try to get there early, just like Gypsy. After 2am it really starts rocking normally and gets very crowded. It’s right next to Gypsy and one of the better known places in town. Directions/Bar Overview/Link: http://www.afisha.ru/msk/club/map/15786/
ICON – big nightclub, used to be called Rai. Meh, it’s so loud in there I never go, but it’s chock full of hotties that you can pull if you have night game and are willing to stay out til 5-6am (which I know a lot of you are! ). For me I don’t go there anymore but if you’re coming to Moscow I’d say you gotta go, and there’s a new place right next door which just opened too which seems to have some promise. ICON is on the same side of the Island as Gypsy and Rolling Stone, so close to all the places in the area. Doesn’t generally get started until after Midnight. Here’s the link to their website with directions: http://iconclub.ru/contacts/
Zoo Café (Зю Кафе - formerly Art Bar Academia) – it’s usually not bad on Fridays, has a very long and cool bar and even a little dance area where after 12 you’ll find some drunken girls dancing after their dinner parties in the restaurant. The leather couches are next to the bar are pretty comfy and not bad places to approach groups of girls. Now that its under new ownership seems to have more of restaurant feel to it, but the Zoo Café chain is quite popular with Moscow ladies, and the bar is easy to check out as it’s right in the middle of the Island behind Rolling Stone, and across from Reka. So I’d say it’s not a bad place to go pre-clubbing.
Reka (Река) - Right across from Zoo Café, you need to take an elevator to get up to the main (bar) floor. More of a restaurant really but does have a nice bar inside and on the roof deck. It’s a pretty pricey place but yet another option you can try while down on the Island. Worth a look esp. earlier in the night if you’re waiting to go to clubs on in the area that get going later on. Link: http://rekaclub.ru/
Pushkinskaya
Right up from the Kremlin going up the hill on Tverskaya is Pushkinskaya Square. Very central location with tons of bars & restaurants in the area, about a 10 minute walk from the Kremlin. Metro is Pushkinskaya and you can walk to all the places listed below from the metro station.
Barbados – usually a pretty rocking place, with a Caribbean & nautical them. It’s a “Ginza Project” bar/restaurant, just down from Posh Friends. Barbados can really get going after say 1-2am, and it’s good Thurs-Sat. in my experience. Only issue is that because it’s so small it’s kind of tough to move around, and many of the girls that go there seem to now be the higher-maintenance types (e.g. I had this Latvian girl ask me if I would buy her and her friend a drink within 3 minutes of me opening her a month ago (!)). Use the side ‘smoking area’ to chat people up if the main floor is too crowded or loud. And remember, it’s pronounced “bar –Baah-dos” in Russian as opposed to the English pronunciation. Website here: http://ginzaproject.ru/moscow/Restaurant...ados/About
Don’t Tell Mama - restaurant & bar right next door to Barbados. I’m not a fan but some friends say it can get good esp. the bar scene later on. For me it’s mostly a restaurant with sit down tables that are tricky to approach. Face control can also be an issue here later on. But easy to check out if you’re in the area. http://donttellmama.ru/
Posh Friends - Popular club with the locals, esp. younger students, right off Pushinskaya square & Metro station and up the street from Barbados and Don’t Tell Mama. More a Russian crowd really, but can get quite packed with ladies later on. There’s a huge Chaihona restaurant down the street too if you want to try some good Uzbeki food that’s not too crazy expensive. Website link here: http://poshfriends.ru/
Scandanavia – big expat restaurant off Tverskaya, decent burgers and a big outdoor terrace scene in the Summer that will be almost entirely full of expats. I don’t love the place but end up there early on a lot of times for a beer or two, then move on – since it’s so central it’s a decent meeting place. The owners also own gentlemen’s club Night Flight (just up the road) but this is a legit restaurant. The waitresses are from Sweden in the summer funnily enough, maybe an angle to work? Webpage here: http://www.scandinavia.ru/en
Kamegersky/Kuznetsky Most
This area has really come on strong in the past year or so, particularly this year after they created a pedestrian zone right behind the department store TSUM. The Balshoi Theater is right next door as well. Metro stops are Teatralnaya, Ohotni Ryad or Kuznetsky Most.
CHIPS – relatively new place at the foot of Kuznetsky Most, right behind TSUM and around the corner from Kamchatka. Several floors, including a roof deck that’s mostly a restaurant but does get hopping on Friday’s and Saturdays when it turns into a bar scene as does the floor beneath it. Seems to be a bit more on the hipster side these days but not a bad venue. The roof deck restaurant will be packed pretty much every day of the week with diners during the summer. Part of the Novikov groups of bars and restaurants, so quality food & drink here, if pricey. Beers are around 300 Rubles. Link: http://novikovgroup.ru/restaurants/chips/#
Barry Bar – we stumbled into this place last week, had a couple beers on the outdoor deck, then went inside when it rained – turned out to be a pretty good dance floor scene with a DJ and a lot of ladies, mostly corporate professional types who were ready to dance and party and have fun with their friends. On Kuznetsky Most down past the row of restaurants, just up from Coyote Ugly. Link: http://www.timeout.ru/clubs/place/35192/
Cherdak (Чердак (“attic”)) – on top of Mr. Lee’s Asian restaurant (which is a good place but very pricey), can be ok on the weekends, has a DJ and dance floor surrounded by tables, small bar area as well. Generally stays open late and draws from the restaurant as well as the Kuznetsky Most crowds. Higher end place than the Kamchatka beer bar downstairs, but not too much attitude (at least as far as Moscow goes). With so many places close by it’s easy to check out and then move on if it’s not happening. Link: http://novikovgroup.ru/restaurants/cherdak/
Kamchatka – indoor/outdoor beer bar right across from TSUM, in the Kamegersky area. In summer there’s a huge outdoor scene here, and you can sit outside and drink cheap beer and try to game (see the Daygame info below). Beers are cheap here and it’s a good place to people watch too. By the way stay away from Vogue Café right next door, tremendously expensive IMO and not really that good.
Denis Simachev – very artsy, trendy and expensive small bar/club with small dance floor and outside veranda. Hipster heaven, you’ll find all sorts of rich trendy Muscovites here. Also can be a bit of a gay scene from time to time. Sounds great right?![[Image: smile.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/smile.gif)
I am generally not a fan of this place but ended up there last week. Place wasn’t that full, and the girls we chatted up were higher-end and I think generally would be tough for non-Russian speaking, poorer (relative to them) expats to game. But it’s worth a shot sometimes, can have strict face control later on.
Gogol – more of music bar/club than a late night place, but can be rocking from time to time. Right down from Simachev in a back alleyway through an arched gateway, it’s on the cheaper side for drinks and has a large central sit down area with a stage and smaller bar to the left which everyone has to order drinks at. Meh it’s not bad but pretty hit or miss, maybe worth a shot if you’re in the area and don’t have any luck elsewhere. Link: http://www.gogolclubs.ru/
Mendeleev – hard to find, is actually inside a small Chinese Restaurant called “Lucky Noodles” across the the 911 Gentlemen’s club , cool basement bar that’s usually got something going on from Wed through Saturday. There’s a small dance floor here too, and it’s a very cozy and stylish bar. I’ve had some great nights here, can be hit or miss in Summer, but usually good. In the center, off Petrovka, you could walk up here from CHIPS or the Kuznetsky Most places in about 10 minutes tops. Link: http://mendeleevbar.ru/welcome-1/
Coyote Ugly & Tequila Bar – up a small hill to the left of the big TSUM department store looking north on Kuznetsky Most, just down from Barry Bar. I tend to stay away from these places as they are a little younger and loud as hell. But you will see hot girls in there and I think if you’re in the Kuznetsky/Kamegersky area it’s easy to just pop in and check them out and move on if they aren’t any good. All the other bars in this area are close, so you could tick these all off rather quickly if you wanted to. Decent options to have, but wouldn’t focus on them week in and week out. You will see crazy drunk girls in there though. Link: http://www.coyoteugly.ru/
Rose Bar – new place, rooftop bar & restaurant, pretty posh and expensive. Had a decent vibe, kind of a ‘see and be seen’ place but I liked it ok. Another option in the area, not for those on a budget, but it’s very nice on the roof deck during the summer. Link: http://rosebar.ru/
Moloko – new French-style café/restaurant/loungey place that’s run by the guys that own Lootch and Mandarin. More of a restaurant, but nice décor and a decent place to have a drink on the weekends before going out. Might have potential on the weekends for a bit of a bar scenes. Easy to walk by and check out and then move on if it’s dead. Directions: http://www.timeout.ru/restaurant/place/36139/
Tsvetnoi Boulevard
These places are just north of the Kamegersky/Kuznetsky Most area and you could walk here in 10 minutes from Mendeleev or even Chips/Kamchatka. Metro is (of course) Tsvetnoi Boulevard.
Buddah Bar – new place, part of the global chain of bar/restaurants. Was there on Friday night a week ago and it was ok, but nothing special yet. Feels like this place could turn into something but so far it’s been fairly quiet the two times I was there, but we did find a few ladies at the upstairs bar. Hopefully will become more popular in the Fall/Winter when more people know about it and the outdoor terraces lose their luster. Link to the Buddah Bar homepage here: http://www.buddhabar.com/en/restaurant-b...-moscou-19
Crazy Daisy – big and loud club just up the road from Tsvetnoi Boulevard. Very Russian place with relatively few expats, sort of like Coyote Ugly with girls dancing on the bar and a really drunk atmosphere. Think it could be a good place for those of you who are in it for the long haul. There is also a small club across the street called “Сахар” (“Sugar”) which is younger, really Russian and was so-so when we were there. Link to website here: http://www.daisybar.ru/main.php
Lubyanka
This area is just north of the Kremlin, and has several more touristy bars and restaurants, along with the more well traveled nightlife places below. Metro station is Lubyanka or you could also use Ploshad Revolutsii. It’s quite close to the Kamegersky/Kuznetsky Most so you could walk over to Lubyanka in around 10 minutes. A pedestrian zone is currently being created that will link Lubyanka with the Kremlin, which should create another area in the city where all sorts of new bars and restaurants will pop up.
Mandarin Combustible – very cool bar/restaurant with a nice long wood grain bar. There are tables across from it which creates a nice bar scene. Bit of a posh place like Lootch (same owners I think) but one of the classier and cooler bars in Moscow, if not always happening. I would think a guy like G could use this as a place to start and clean up. I really like this place and have taken a lot of girls here for drinks. It’s not as busy in summer due to the lack of an outside veranda however. It’s across from Club Che, down from Lubyanka Metro station.
Link with directions here: http://www.afisha.ru/msk/restaurant/map/36109/
Club Che – basically cattie-corner from Mandarin, it’s a typically Cuban/Latin-themed club with the usual suspects running around trying to score Russian chicks who are into Latin dancing and more exotic dudes. Not a big fan of this place really but can be fun from time to time…the dance floor is rather small & gets pretty crowded. Pasha is also right around the corner if you feel like making a quick move late night on the weekend. Link here: http://clubche.ru/
Pacha (Пача) – pretty close to the Kremlin, basically across from Lubyanka, around the corner from Club Che and Mandarin Combustible so you could check all these out rather easily as they are close by. It’s a decent club, but I don’t really like it much anymore as it’s a bit hit or miss and younger. Was actually there on Friday and seemed about half full. But for the younger guys I think it’s a decent option or at least worth checking out one evening in you are in the area. http://pachamoscow.ru/index.html?option=c...ticle&id=8
Liga Pub – one of the best sports bars in town. They show a lot of games, obviously football and hockey focused, but you can get them to show US baseball, football and even Aussie Rules football here no problem. I like this place because it’s one of the few sports bars I’ve ever been in that has a decent girl to guy ratio, and because it’s got reasonably cheap and good beer & food with a nice selection too. This place is closer to Turgenevskaya or Chistie Prudie Metros actually, but can walk up from Lubyanka metro station too. Directions here: http://www.timeout.ru/restaurant/place/5089/
Papa’s – tired old expat bar with cheap beer and drinks. I’ve been here when it’s been ok and also when it’s sucked, not a fan anymore and don’t go there but it’s where some expats still go. During the week might be worth a shot as all the newer expats and those seeking them tend to congregate here. It’s also sort of the place that fills up fast with dudes after starting out with a few decent girls early on. Link: http://papas.ru/
Kitay-Gorod (Chinatown)
No it’s not like other Chinatowns in that there are not a lot of ethnic Chinese here, not sure how this area earned its namesake actually. Anyway, there are a few younger bars and clubs in this area which is just north-east of the Kremlin, including Propoganda and Solyanka. Metro station is Kitay-Gorod.
Propaganda (Пропaганда) – An old Moscow standby with a younger student crowd. Starts as a restaurant and then they clear out the main floor and make it a club later. Goes pretty late. Cheap ok food – and cheap beer and drinks too (think Ruble 150 beers, 50 ruble vodka shots, ~200 Ruble drinks). I was here last weekend for the first time in awhile and the dance floor was packed, although like 60-40 guys to girls. I think there is a gay night so be careful when you go. Website link with directions here: http://www.propagandamoscow.com/en/ It’s right up from Kitay Gorod metro.
Bourbon Street – really cheesy New Orleans themed bar next to Propaganda that might be worth a peek if you’re in the Kitai-Gorod area around, but generally not all that hopping. Cheap booze and beer though for those of you on a budget. Link: http://www.bourbonstreet.ru/
Projektor – bar restaurant that was hopping last Friday night when I was there. The main bar area was a good place to chat up girls as they came to order a drink after dancing. Some decent quality women there out to have a good time as opposed to the ‘see and be seen’ crowds that predominate on the Island and at places like Simachev or Chips. Located at the bottom of the hill where the Kitai-Gorod metro stop is. Link: http://www.trendymoscow.com/projektor/
Solyanka – fairly well-know nightclub here, on Solyanka street about a 5 minute walk from the Kitai Gorod metro at the bottom of the hill. Bit of a younger student vibe but can get very busy. Funnily enough I’ve never been inside there (got face controlled last weekend!!). Here’s the website with directions: http://s-11.ru/
Tema Bar – located closer to Chistie Prudi metro than Kitai Gorod, but probably a 10-12 minute walk from the latter station. Been there once, was ok, probably more of a weekend joint only that can be hit or miss, but another option to check out. Here’s the website with directions. http://www.temabar.ru/
Smolenskaya/Arbat Region
This area is just west of the center, bordered by the “Garden Ring” road surrounding Moscow. You could walk here in 30 minutes from the Kremlin going due west but it’s easier to take the light blue or dark blue Metro lines from the center to Arbat or Smolenskaya stations (former is the beginning of Old Arbat street, the latter is the other end further out from the center). More restaurants here really, but a couple cool places that have very nice views of Moscow, and some cheaper eating options where you might be able to game if you so choose. Old Arbat (Старый Арбат) is very touristy, whereas New Arbat (Новый Арбат) is a very long row of restaurants with patios for people watching.
Kalina Bar - Located at the top of the Lotte Plaza hotel on the corner of the Garden Ring road and Novy Arbat, it’s a great place to have an (expensive) drink and take in an amazing view of Moscow and Moscow City. The bar scene is small and there are a few pros here usually, but it can be worthwhile to chat up groups of women waiting for their tables. Not a ‘go-to’ pickup spot but rather a nice place to see some pretty nice ladies having dinner and trying to game them at the bar while enjoying a couple drinks before moving on elsewhere. There’s another nice restaurant called Balcon (Балкон) on the seventh floor of the Lotte Plaza (same elevator) that is also a very good restaurant with a small bar. Directions here: http://www.kalinabar.ru/index.html/contacts. You’d get off at Smolenskaya metro stop for this place.
Dandy Café – it’s a ‘Ginza Project’ place right off Novy Arbat, across from Lotte, but with cheaper food & drinks compared to most of their other places. Mostly a restaurant early, but there is a bit of a bar scene with a DJ and small dance floor so can be a decent place to start and hang out til say 1 before going to a club. Bit of a younger crowd but you’ll see all types here. Relatively inexpensive for Moscow. Link: http://dandytimes.ru/
White Rabbit – probably my favorite restaurant, fairly high end and somewhat expensive, located on the rooftop of shopping center “Smoleknsky Passage”, at the end of Old Arbat (but across the street). The upstairs bar scene is ok - but the views of the city are awesome. More of a classy restaurant with loungy feel to it, and you’d have to approach people at tables or waiting at the bar but worth coming here for a drink even if you don’t want dinner (which is pricey, but good). It’s right by Smolenskaya metro stop. Link: http://whiterabbitmoscow.ru/
John Donne – John Donne Pub is just up the road at the end of Novy Arbat. Not the worst place to see a game and have a drink, actually a decent amount of women there from time to time, but more a place just to have a few pints with friends or do some pre-game drinking if you want to watch a football game. This pub has an outdoor seating around along the street which is good for people watching too during the summer. There’s a row of restaurants connected to this pub including Jean Jacques next door. Link: http://www.john-donne.ru/?lang=en
Old Arbat Street – very touristy street, but you should check it out. Can even sit at Starbucks or one of the various restaurants on the street and check out passers-by. There are all sorts of souvenir shops and small restaurants with outdoor seating areas up and down this historic old Moscow street. Easy access to the metro and New Arbat.
New Arbat Street– right behind Lotte Plaza there are tons of restaurants and bars with outdoor seating on the street where you can sit and watch Moscow’s finest walk by. Dve Palochki, Chaihona – even Dunkin Donuts now. The places on this street are more of a good day game options or just chill places to hang out early and people watch.
Belorussykaya
The area is at the end of Tverskaya away from the Kremlin to the north-east. Basically if you walk up Tverskaya Ulitsa from Pushkinskaya going away from the Kremlin you end up here. The nightlife area surrounds a business center across from the train station called “White Square” where there is a nice cluster of restaurants and bars. Metro stop is Belorusskaya, but when you get out make sure that you don’t go to the Belorusskaya Train station when you exit, as it’s located far across the road from the area where the bars and restaurants are. Note: this area upon further reflection is much more of a ‘restauranty’ area, but a lot of expats live and work here, and you’ll see Torro and Hudson jammed with foreigners & locals all week.
Hudson Bar – Moscow’s only really authentic NYC style Irish Bar, in the White Square office complex behind Torro Grill across from Belorusskaya Train Station. I’d say it’s not a bad place, esp. earlier on when the offices clear out during the week where you can try to catch the women from the businesses in the office park just after work. Later turns into a bit of a sausage fest in my experience, but there are still enough women to make it interesting. Maybe more of a starter place or somewhere to have a drink after having a burger or steak for dinner at nearby Torro Grill which also has a mini-bar scene and reasonably priced food Link: http://hudsonbar.ru/
Torro Grill – Moscow’s ‘most affordable steak house’ with decent steaks and burgers, located right in the center of the business complex. The bar is actually quite nice with very comfortable bar tables with large windows overlooking the square, usually need a reservation to get these. Much more of a place to eat than a pickup place, but the bar is big enough to work things from time to time and is reasonably priced – during the week might be a decent place to get a drink and see what’s up as Hudson Bar is right around the corner. There will usually be a small scene here even early in the week, replete with lots of expats who work in the area. Torro is a steakhouse chain (like Goodmans) with several restaurants around town. Link: http://eng.torrogrill.ru/
World Trade Center/1905 Goda Area
Most of this area is in a small business center area that’s right off the Moscow River, just up from the tall skyscrapers of Moscow City and down the road going west from the big white Duma government building. Basically one main street with a few bars and restaurants that goes right up a hill from the river to 1905 goda area.
To get to Jagger/Manon and the other places by the river via metro is tricky and you probably should take a gypsy taxi. However, you could go to the 1905 Goda metro stop and walk down the street which would take about 15 minutes on foot – or do the same thing from the Vuistovochnaya metro in Moscow City along the river heading back towards the center. The only place really that I’ve been to that’s any good around the 1905 metro is 16 Tonnes. Unfortunately the old Opera club in this area burned down a few years ago – that was a great club!
Premier Lounge (formerly Imperia, Club Prestige) – nightclub sort of behind the World Trade Center, up the road from Manon. Place has just changed its name again, but I’ve been there a few times and it’s generally been pretty good. It’s completely dead until around 12:30-1, but can run into some serious face control here so be careful and try to get there early. Fairly posh and full of rich Russian dudes, so you gotta have the game + DHV I think, but a fun place. Homepage here: http://www.premierlounge.ru/
Manon – tremendously expensive, posh place with a nice outdoor terrace right across from the World Trade Center & basically across the river from the Hotel Ukraine. I’ve actually never been here but friends say it’s good, if not expensive and full of ‘see and be seen’ ladies many of whom are looking for potential sponsor guys I guess. Really nice views from the terrace. Link: http://www.manon-club.ru/
Club Jagger – I have not been here, but hear good things despite the lame name – my buddy said last Thursday night was great and full of women. Near Manon, directions here: http://www.afisha.ru/msk/club/map/17955/
Vinograd – between Moscow City and the World Trade Center Complex, across the river from Krisha. More of a summer restaurant scene but the bar can get busy from time to time and they even have live music on Saturdays. It’s a pretty upscale and posh crowd though, and much more Russian than expat, but you can work the bar here I think. Never had much luck here though. If you wanted you could try out this place early, then try a late-night push for Manon or Premier Lounge which are within 10-15 minutes walking distance max.
16 Tonnes – multi-level Irish-type bar/music club. It’s located right near the 1905 Goda metro so the easiest place in this area to get to via metro, but further away from the other places described in this section. It’s ok I’d say and can get pretty crowded on the weekends esp. if there is a live band playing. Link: http://www.16tons.ru/en/
Park Kultury
For our purposes this is a bit more of a disperse area where it’s hard to get to some of these spots via the Metro. Certainly the places listed below would be tricky to get to walking around if you’re not familiar with Moscow, so I’d advise you to take a gypsy taxi if you can, other than maybe for Carabas. Technically Lootch & Soho Rooms are not really all that close to the Park Kultury area/metro, but I didn’t know where else to put them. Metro: Park Kultury.
Soho Rooms – probably the biggest and best known club, right on the Moscow river, not really that far from the Garden Ring road but not really close to anything other than maybe Lootch. Huge scene there and lot of ‘rope burn’ even for ladies – get there before 11:00-11:30 at the latest I’d say. No entry fee. Pretty much any taxi driver will know how to get there if you tell them the name.
Full disclosure, I am no longer a fan of this club, but if you are there early and hit the dance floor you’ll be amazed at the number of 7s, 8s and 9s on the floor already. A lot of these girls are the model-wannabe types who are there to see and be seen (or hired by the club to fill it up early) so be aware of that. The VIP row of hotties is pretty awesome too, I’ve seen oligarchs up there with these girls, but good luck getting in there unless you’ve got an ‘in’ and also want to deal with some of the biggest gold-digging, Sponsor-seeking hotties you’ve ever seen. That said, I dated one of these girls for a few months and it was a hell of a ride!!
By the end of the night there will be all kinds of girls here no doubt, from club rat girls to groups of girls who had dinner and are more normal to the aforementioned Sponsor ‘semi-pro’ 8s and 9s to outright hookers. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the latter two types apart I think. You need to be really careful here of what type of girl you approach because you will waste a lot of time with the uber-hotties who only date guys who have Ferraris and take them to Dubai, etc. I’m not always the best judge of these women either and have spent a lot of lost hours chasing girls here that aren’t that into me and were trying to size me up in terms of wealth.
Website and directions here: http://www.sohorooms.com/
Lootch (Луч) – On Balshaya Pirogovskaya, one of my favorite bars and I think the coolest actual bar set up in Moscow. The bar itself is massive – like 30-40 yards/meters long, with a huge 20+ foot (~6 meter) ceiling. They play good music here, and have great drinks, with typical Moscow prices (Ruble 300 beers, 400-500 for fancy mixed drinks). The food is pretty good here too, even the sushi. This place use to be really rocking on the weekends but has lost its luster a bit in the past year or so, but it’s still a great place to have a drink and spend an early Friday evening at before heading out to a club. Link here: http://www.luchbar.ru/art/
Carabasbar – never been there, heard it’s not bad, same owners as Lootch and Mandarin Combustible. Worth a look and is fairly close to the Park Kultury metro if you are around that area. Link to website here: http://carabasbar.ru/ Directions here: http://www.afisha.ru/msk/restaurant/photo/33242/396487/
Other Area Bars & Clubs:
Oblaka (Облака (“Cloud”)) – (NOTE: Thursday night only) – it’s sort of ‘the’ Thursday place to go for those who want to ‘see and be seen’, but I’m a seller of this joint. It’s not a good place to pickup IMO but if you want to see a lot of attractive women looking for rich guys on a Thursday night it’s the place to be. Mostly Russian, not a huge expat scene. In Summer they have a big roof deck and this place really does get pretty rocking. Place will go well past 4am on a Thursday. Located a bit of a taxi ride out from the center, on Kutuzovsky Prospect in the Vremya Goda Shopping mall on the top floor. Basically a straight shot out on Kutuzovsky just across from the huge Park Pobedi. Needless to say, it’s a very expensive place as well (as Prosal and some others have pointed out). Link here: http://www.oblakarestoran.ru/events/
Krisha Mira (Крыша Мира (“Roof of the World”)) – on the Moscow river sort of behind the Hotel Ukraine (which by the way has a cool bar on the top floor with good views but very, very expensive drinks) so not that far out from the center but is a bit of a difficult place to find and not really very close to any metros except Kieveskaya which is a good 15-20 minute walk.
More of a late night club that doesn’t really get started until 2:30-3am, but there’s an earlier party that you can attend before 11pm which requires a weekly password. As I said, a bit hard to find – basically you’ll see a metal staircase with a big metal door, press the button and they will let you in. If you show up late night there will be a big line and a lot of pretty posh Muscovites trying to get it, so be ready for serious rope burn esp. as it gets much busier later say after 3-4am. Remember it will be full daylight by then in summer so you’ll still have the great views on the deck and people will be going crazy! Bit of a place for the real rich Moscow party-crowd, replete with rampant drug use. Link here: http://www.kryshamira.ru/
Klava Bar – near Patriarshii Prudi, bordering the Garden ring just down from Mayakovskay and 3-4 blocks off Tverskaya is Klava. Sort of a ‘hole in the wall’ bar, can get pretty crowded there as the entire bar is quite narrow and the dance floor is quite small. There are a couple cool restaurants nearby too, including Uilliams. Metro stop would be
Mayakovskaya or Tverskaya. Directions here: http://www.timeout.ru/restaurant/place/29894/
The Real McCoy – CLOSED - I mention this place because it was an old Moscow standby for so long and has somewhat of a legendary reputation, but in my opinion you’re not missing much as the place got sort of lame in its last few years anyway.
Daygame:
Endless possibilities, but remember English is still not widely spoken so it’s trickier and you’ll get a lot of girls who will just say ‘sorry no speak English’ so be warned. Not really sure where to start but here are a few ideas:
Behind TSUM/Kamchatka – as mentioned earlier, it’s the bar right behind TSUM where there’s starting to be a big gathering of people on the weekends and even during weeknights during the summer. Just sit at a table, grab a beer and watch the ladies go by. A lot of people just sit on the benches nearby or the grass lawn behind TSUM and congregate there. Constant stream of people walking by.
Gorky Park- massive park, perfect for gaming I’d say. The park is endless with ponds, a river walk, volleyball and basketball courts, etc. One thing I like about this park is that there are so many areas within it with different vibes – for instance, there’s a section inside which has a couple French restaurants so a euro feel, there’s the rollerblading area, the fountain area, a skater park, the volleyball court area, etc. Sort of something for everyone here on the weekends.
Malls – either the European shopping mall (across from Kievskaya) or the one right by the Kremlin are good. These places are really unreal on a Saturday just to see some of the most beautiful women the city has to offer in full shopping mode.
McDonalds – seriously, just sit around inside at the Mickey Ds at the beginning or Arbat, or Pushkinskaya, and observe the hordes of young hotties running around eating there (which could be the start of a terrible trend, let’s hope not). I haven’t worked out how to work this angle, so am all ears as for how to game there….tend to be girls on the younger side of course.
The Metro – endless possibilities, as another poster said you can just see thousands of 7s, 8s and even many 9s running around. Metro tends to be pretty crowded most days, and trains come frequently so there’s not much time to chat up girls on the platform, but have to be opportunities here.
Old Arbat/Novy Arbat – touristy streets with lots of restaurants and souvenir shops along the way that I described earlier.
Women:
I don’t even need to tell you, there are lots of hotties, and they will generally blow you away with their looks (especially their bodies) if you’re coming from an Anglo country that’s chock a block with land-whales and non-feminine hipsters. However, recently I’ve noticed much more attititude and phone culture, and a lot of ‘look at me’ activity from the devushki, especially in very popular places I am writing about. My Russian friends even complain about this. Unfortunately it feels like the Western “Princess” and “Facebook” culture is slowly taking over, even in Russia, albeit in a different format. It sucks, but I guess it’s easy for women to get sucked into it at the end of the day, especially in a city that has loads and loads of rich guys who have all the money in the world to spend on the cream of the crop.
Looks-wise, I’d say that Moscow women are generally on par with most of the Kiev/Ukrainian girls, maybe not quite as high, but many will have a bit more of an attitude. I’m still really not sure about how they stack up to Ukrainians, and would be interested in hearing what the general consensus is. Keep in mind that many women are not native Muscovites and come from the provinces to find work, and these will be more ‘down to earth’ generally. Not a high concentration of English speakers, especially above say 30, but most women will know a little English, even if they say they don’t. A little Russian goes a LONG WAY and I will admit my results here improved dramatically once I had some basic Russian down.
Lodging/Logistics:
As I live here in not that good with this, but I think Air B&B is your best and cheapest bet. You can also apparently get a hostel that’s central for a reasonable price but not sure on that – check the other threads like flashbang’s and gadabout’s. Moscow hotels are notoriously expensive, so be careful if you want a nice place – it’s going to be really expensive. Booking a hotel/hostel outside the city is not recommended as you’ll be a slave to the metro late night (closes at 1am, opens at 6am) and not close to any of the good places, plus you’d be looking at Ruble 500-600 type taxi prices home (when the shark cab drivers sniff out that you are a foreigner and going way outside the city at 5am they try to price gouge you big-time).
Whatever airport you are flying into, ideally try to take the Aeroexpress train into town and then if you don’t have a lot of luggage you can save by taking the metro. If you’re flying into Domodevovo keep in mind the train itself is 47 minutes to Pavelestky station, and then you’re only on the southern central edge of central Moscow on the Garden Ring road, so you’ll need to then take a taxi from there to your hotel – if there are two of you that’s probably 300 rubles each for the train plus 300-400 for that taxi from the metro so you are approaching what it would cost to get a taxi from the airport (but you gotta deal with traffic, there will be traffic the whole way). But if you’re exhausted and flying from the US with luggage I’d say just bite the bullet and pay for a taxi – should be around 1200-1600 Rubles ($35-45) from Sheremetyevo , Domodedovo or Vnukovo, depending on the area. You can get official taxis at the airport, try not to take the guys running around yelling taxi as they charge a lot more I think.
Transport:
During the day the metro is perfect for getting around, trains come very frequently so try to use that when possible, but remember that it shuts down right a 1am.
Late night gypsy taxis are your best bet. You generally shouldn’t be paying more than 300 Rubles per ride, but sometimes later I end up paying 400 just because it’s late and the cabbies are more aggressive.
Keep in mind you’ll be riding in 1988 Ladas and Zhigulis mostly, with drivers from all over, so try to watch yourself and also realize that these drivers generally don’t give a sh*t and are not the best drivers in the world by any means. But most are ok, however, don’t get in taxis wasted and pass out, bad move. Just last Summer there was a fairly well known expat guy here who got in a cab driven by a guy from the ‘Stans, passed out, then woke up to a group of non-Russian immigrants kicking and beating him. Guy ended up in his underwear, with no shoes or wallet at 5am in the outskirts of Moscow. Don’t be that guy!
Safety:
Generally you should be ok. Funnily enough, I’ve never seen a fight at a bar (!!) but I’ve heard stories (a few weeks ago there was apparently a big all-out brawl around Kamchatka right in the center). Just don’t do anything to brazen and try not to be a jerk or look for trouble. The main bars and clubs in the center all have massive security forces and a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for any shenanigans. This is Russia and when things go bad they go bad big-time, so everyone (particularly the club owners) has that in mind.
The one place I’d recommend extra caution is if you are thinking of trolling bars a bit outside the center, then you might want to be more careful. Counter to what you hear in the Western media about ‘racism’ and ‘Russian Nationalism’, in my opinion you’re much more likely to be jacked by some recent immigrant guys/gangs than the Russians I’d say, depending on the area. As Flashbang said a couple years ago in his datasheet, “the racism issue has been often grossly overinflated in the past on the forum so please don't raise it here again because it's fabricated.” I firmly believe that to a large extent but there are of course some exceptions. Due to the influx of people from the Caucuses and the ‘stans and the wolf packs of these dudes running around you are more likely to be accosted by them than Russians. I have numerous first-hand stories to back this up. In particular, do not get falling down drunk and decide to take a gypsy cab home as you might get robbed or worse (see the taxi story above, there are many more of these too including an American teacher I know who was robbed during the middle of the day right on Kutuzovsky by some Caucasians and several girls I’ve dated telling me how they or their grannies were robbed).
All that said, watch yourself in certain situations and just use caution if. Just remember, life is still short here for most men, people live much more for the moment and some big Russian or Chechnyan dude in an MMA t-shirt could give a sh*t about you and is probably looking for a chance to show how tough he is and escalate if you give him the chance. It happens.
But I don’t want to make it seem like it’s a warzone, it’s not at all and I generally feel safer than I did in NYC when I lived there, still, just use caution.
Banya:
Anyone who comes to Russia should try a banya at some point. The most famous one in town is called “Sanduny” (Сандуновские бани) which is located near Tsvetnoi Boulevard – link here: http://www.sanduny.ru/
Although a bit pricey @ 2000 Rubles 2000 per 2-hours it’s still a great experience – I love this place. You can also do one that’s right next door that’s around 1500 Rubles too – no pool in this one, however. The food is good, you can get beer and wine there too if you want. Great way to spend a winter afternoon with some friends.
For me, there is nothing better than sitting in a hot banya to get the juices flowing after a night out, and then diving into a freezing cold tub or pool to get every bit of your senses tingling!! And what’s cool about these places is that you can rent them out if you want with some friends or girls, depending on the place.
Summary Recommendations:
If you’re only here a couple of days just go to the Island and explore Gypsy, Rolling Stone, ICON, Strelka etc and you will do fine. Or you can do the Pushkinskaya or Kuznetsky Most areas where there are also loads of places to hit up. Try to focus on the ‘clusters’ that I’ve highlighted above so that you can get around easily and efficiently and not waste too much time going from place to place.
If you’ve got a couple weeks or more time try to get out and explore the other places, day game around town a bit, hit up some of the places with nice views, etc. You’re going to have a great time here if you’re visiting in the summer, no doubt, the winter is a bit trickier and is when you really need to have your logistics down. The city seems massive and it is, but it’s surprising that the majority of places we go to are really all within a 10-15 minute cab ride from the center, and most are pretty easily reachable by subway too.
Finally, remember, you can smoke in bars and restaurants too so keep that in mind. If “let’s grab a smoke outside” is a big part of your game you need to adjust, especially in winter, but I’ve found that in the loud clubs people still tend to go outside (or to a side room) to smoke so you can still work the smoking angle in most places.
Having said that, by no means do I think this is a ‘definitive’ data sheet –I’m sure I missed some places that are not on this list, that I’d be happy to hear about, so apologize in advance for anything I might have missed.
Although Moscow is a big city (and the largest in Europe), the nightlife is surprisingly central, or at least most of it is just a quick 10-15 minute or less cab ride from the central area. I’ve organized this datasheet by city region with an emphasis on nightlife ‘clusters’ where there are good bars, restaurants & clubs nearby one another, just to make it easier to get around. Also so as to not have to spend tons of money and time on gypsy taxis (which is really the only way to get around Moscow - you can forget taking the real taxis as they will charge an arm and a leg, and they aren’t very available unless you call ahead). I’ve also tried to break each place down the best I can and have added in links in English wherever I could, along with the Russian spelling in Cyrillic where that’s applicable.
It’s funny, but in putting this sheet together it became a bit tricky for me to make a distinction between what’s really more of a restaurant with small bar scene, as opposed to a bar that’s got a restaurant but in reality is really more of a nightclub (but still actually does have a restaurant scene with good food). As an example, take Soho Rooms, which is one of Moscow’s most famous clubs. Yes it has a huge nightclub section, but it also has a good restaurant scene early and two separate restaurant areas that stay open all night too. And Gypsy has a huge outdoor eating area early on (which is covered, and now even open in Winter (!)), which transitions during the course of the evening from a restaurant into a club-like environment.
Since this is a nightlife guide, I’m focusing on the more ‘nightlifey’ places as opposed to the places with mostly a restaurant angle, but have noted wherever I think the food is good too and also included a few restaurants with decent bar scenes.
At first I was going to split the bar-restaurant-clubs up by category, but as it’s hard to determine sometimes, I ended up doing it by region as I think it’s more helpful to show the nightlife ‘clusters’ in order to give readers a better sense of where everything is in relation to each other.
Although Moscow is a great party town, it’s more Thursday-Sat focused I think than say somewhere like NYC or even London. But during the weekends the people really do party – most of the younger Russians stay out quite late, at least until 5-6am, with many of them actually going into the early hours of the morning and carrying on at after-parties or banyas. As I am an expat working here however, I will freely admit that I might be missing some of the cooler things going on Mon-Wed – there are over 14 million people in this city so there’s likely to be some place that’s got something going on at all times. I would say that on Wednesdays-Thursdays some of the clubs get going later say after 1:00, which rules out most of us working stiffs but would be interesting for travelers with more time on their hands.
Finally, keep in mind that Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and there are generally no bargains here. You’ll generally be paying at least 250-350 Rubles ($7.50-11) for beer & drinks, and even more than that sometimes at the big clubs. It is what it is, but if you want a bargain and/or cheaper places you do have some options. And at least none of the clubs have entry fees.
Central Moscow Nightlife Regions:
The Island
This area is located on an island in the middle of the Moscow River, right in the center of town, across from the Kremlin and the gold-domed Church of Christ the Savior. It’s sort of becoming the Moscow version of NYC’s Soho / Tribeca districts with a lot of art & design stores, galleries and workplaces. But it’s also full of bars and clubs, including some of the biggest & best ones in town. Lots of variety down here so it’s a great place to start when you’re first coming to Moscow. Metro: Kropotkinskaya (need to walk across the pedestrian bridge behind the huge gold domed church (very nice walk by the way); could also get off at Bibliateka Imena Lenina across from the Kremlin and walk down across the auto bridge).
Strelka – great place but a bit hard to get a reservation for the outdoor tables in the summer. Right across from the huge Christ the Savior gold-domed search in the center of town on the “Island” – you can see the Kremlin across the river from the rooftop restaurant deck. More of a restaurant really but the downstairs and upstairs bars tend to have a bit of their own little bar scene with people waiting for tables or just drinking there which can be fun. Getting a bit too ‘hipsterish’ right now though IMO. Views from the deck are great. Try the hummus and other tapas which are really good and not overly expensive (for Moscow). Link here: http://www.strelka.com/bar/?lang=en
Gypsy – Gypsy is a massive nightclub, bar & restaurant all rolled into one, with a huge roof deck that’s now even open in the winter. As a rule, it’s always happening on the weekends and is even ok later on Wednesday-Thursday, and it’s just loaded with people these days after midnight. Located behind the “Red October Chocolate Factory” on the Island, this is the place I think most people should start out at given it’s big and there are a ton of places right nearby (including Rolling Stone, ICON, Strelka, Zoo Café, Reka and several others I haven’t reviewed). Inside this place are several bar areas and places to scout out ladies, including an interior bar/dance floor (which isn’t too busy in summer usually). The outdoor terrace is enclosed and just massive, and has a very large dance floor in the back. There are also ‘food windows’ inside this place where you can order a burger or souvlaki all night long – reasonably good and cheap food. If you don’t get here by say 11:30 the face control gets a lot worse and you can get turned away even if you’re foreign. Link (with directions) here: http://bargipsy.ru/adress-i-shema-proezda
Rolling Stone – another place that’s like Gypsy in that it’s more of a massive bar with a huge terrace than a pure club, but it’s always happening, with huge lines after say 12, so try to get there early, just like Gypsy. After 2am it really starts rocking normally and gets very crowded. It’s right next to Gypsy and one of the better known places in town. Directions/Bar Overview/Link: http://www.afisha.ru/msk/club/map/15786/
ICON – big nightclub, used to be called Rai. Meh, it’s so loud in there I never go, but it’s chock full of hotties that you can pull if you have night game and are willing to stay out til 5-6am (which I know a lot of you are! ). For me I don’t go there anymore but if you’re coming to Moscow I’d say you gotta go, and there’s a new place right next door which just opened too which seems to have some promise. ICON is on the same side of the Island as Gypsy and Rolling Stone, so close to all the places in the area. Doesn’t generally get started until after Midnight. Here’s the link to their website with directions: http://iconclub.ru/contacts/
Zoo Café (Зю Кафе - formerly Art Bar Academia) – it’s usually not bad on Fridays, has a very long and cool bar and even a little dance area where after 12 you’ll find some drunken girls dancing after their dinner parties in the restaurant. The leather couches are next to the bar are pretty comfy and not bad places to approach groups of girls. Now that its under new ownership seems to have more of restaurant feel to it, but the Zoo Café chain is quite popular with Moscow ladies, and the bar is easy to check out as it’s right in the middle of the Island behind Rolling Stone, and across from Reka. So I’d say it’s not a bad place to go pre-clubbing.
Reka (Река) - Right across from Zoo Café, you need to take an elevator to get up to the main (bar) floor. More of a restaurant really but does have a nice bar inside and on the roof deck. It’s a pretty pricey place but yet another option you can try while down on the Island. Worth a look esp. earlier in the night if you’re waiting to go to clubs on in the area that get going later on. Link: http://rekaclub.ru/
Pushkinskaya
Right up from the Kremlin going up the hill on Tverskaya is Pushkinskaya Square. Very central location with tons of bars & restaurants in the area, about a 10 minute walk from the Kremlin. Metro is Pushkinskaya and you can walk to all the places listed below from the metro station.
Barbados – usually a pretty rocking place, with a Caribbean & nautical them. It’s a “Ginza Project” bar/restaurant, just down from Posh Friends. Barbados can really get going after say 1-2am, and it’s good Thurs-Sat. in my experience. Only issue is that because it’s so small it’s kind of tough to move around, and many of the girls that go there seem to now be the higher-maintenance types (e.g. I had this Latvian girl ask me if I would buy her and her friend a drink within 3 minutes of me opening her a month ago (!)). Use the side ‘smoking area’ to chat people up if the main floor is too crowded or loud. And remember, it’s pronounced “bar –Baah-dos” in Russian as opposed to the English pronunciation. Website here: http://ginzaproject.ru/moscow/Restaurant...ados/About
Don’t Tell Mama - restaurant & bar right next door to Barbados. I’m not a fan but some friends say it can get good esp. the bar scene later on. For me it’s mostly a restaurant with sit down tables that are tricky to approach. Face control can also be an issue here later on. But easy to check out if you’re in the area. http://donttellmama.ru/
Posh Friends - Popular club with the locals, esp. younger students, right off Pushinskaya square & Metro station and up the street from Barbados and Don’t Tell Mama. More a Russian crowd really, but can get quite packed with ladies later on. There’s a huge Chaihona restaurant down the street too if you want to try some good Uzbeki food that’s not too crazy expensive. Website link here: http://poshfriends.ru/
Scandanavia – big expat restaurant off Tverskaya, decent burgers and a big outdoor terrace scene in the Summer that will be almost entirely full of expats. I don’t love the place but end up there early on a lot of times for a beer or two, then move on – since it’s so central it’s a decent meeting place. The owners also own gentlemen’s club Night Flight (just up the road) but this is a legit restaurant. The waitresses are from Sweden in the summer funnily enough, maybe an angle to work? Webpage here: http://www.scandinavia.ru/en
Kamegersky/Kuznetsky Most
This area has really come on strong in the past year or so, particularly this year after they created a pedestrian zone right behind the department store TSUM. The Balshoi Theater is right next door as well. Metro stops are Teatralnaya, Ohotni Ryad or Kuznetsky Most.
CHIPS – relatively new place at the foot of Kuznetsky Most, right behind TSUM and around the corner from Kamchatka. Several floors, including a roof deck that’s mostly a restaurant but does get hopping on Friday’s and Saturdays when it turns into a bar scene as does the floor beneath it. Seems to be a bit more on the hipster side these days but not a bad venue. The roof deck restaurant will be packed pretty much every day of the week with diners during the summer. Part of the Novikov groups of bars and restaurants, so quality food & drink here, if pricey. Beers are around 300 Rubles. Link: http://novikovgroup.ru/restaurants/chips/#
Barry Bar – we stumbled into this place last week, had a couple beers on the outdoor deck, then went inside when it rained – turned out to be a pretty good dance floor scene with a DJ and a lot of ladies, mostly corporate professional types who were ready to dance and party and have fun with their friends. On Kuznetsky Most down past the row of restaurants, just up from Coyote Ugly. Link: http://www.timeout.ru/clubs/place/35192/
Cherdak (Чердак (“attic”)) – on top of Mr. Lee’s Asian restaurant (which is a good place but very pricey), can be ok on the weekends, has a DJ and dance floor surrounded by tables, small bar area as well. Generally stays open late and draws from the restaurant as well as the Kuznetsky Most crowds. Higher end place than the Kamchatka beer bar downstairs, but not too much attitude (at least as far as Moscow goes). With so many places close by it’s easy to check out and then move on if it’s not happening. Link: http://novikovgroup.ru/restaurants/cherdak/
Kamchatka – indoor/outdoor beer bar right across from TSUM, in the Kamegersky area. In summer there’s a huge outdoor scene here, and you can sit outside and drink cheap beer and try to game (see the Daygame info below). Beers are cheap here and it’s a good place to people watch too. By the way stay away from Vogue Café right next door, tremendously expensive IMO and not really that good.
Denis Simachev – very artsy, trendy and expensive small bar/club with small dance floor and outside veranda. Hipster heaven, you’ll find all sorts of rich trendy Muscovites here. Also can be a bit of a gay scene from time to time. Sounds great right?
I am generally not a fan of this place but ended up there last week. Place wasn’t that full, and the girls we chatted up were higher-end and I think generally would be tough for non-Russian speaking, poorer (relative to them) expats to game. But it’s worth a shot sometimes, can have strict face control later on.Gogol – more of music bar/club than a late night place, but can be rocking from time to time. Right down from Simachev in a back alleyway through an arched gateway, it’s on the cheaper side for drinks and has a large central sit down area with a stage and smaller bar to the left which everyone has to order drinks at. Meh it’s not bad but pretty hit or miss, maybe worth a shot if you’re in the area and don’t have any luck elsewhere. Link: http://www.gogolclubs.ru/
Mendeleev – hard to find, is actually inside a small Chinese Restaurant called “Lucky Noodles” across the the 911 Gentlemen’s club , cool basement bar that’s usually got something going on from Wed through Saturday. There’s a small dance floor here too, and it’s a very cozy and stylish bar. I’ve had some great nights here, can be hit or miss in Summer, but usually good. In the center, off Petrovka, you could walk up here from CHIPS or the Kuznetsky Most places in about 10 minutes tops. Link: http://mendeleevbar.ru/welcome-1/
Coyote Ugly & Tequila Bar – up a small hill to the left of the big TSUM department store looking north on Kuznetsky Most, just down from Barry Bar. I tend to stay away from these places as they are a little younger and loud as hell. But you will see hot girls in there and I think if you’re in the Kuznetsky/Kamegersky area it’s easy to just pop in and check them out and move on if they aren’t any good. All the other bars in this area are close, so you could tick these all off rather quickly if you wanted to. Decent options to have, but wouldn’t focus on them week in and week out. You will see crazy drunk girls in there though. Link: http://www.coyoteugly.ru/
Rose Bar – new place, rooftop bar & restaurant, pretty posh and expensive. Had a decent vibe, kind of a ‘see and be seen’ place but I liked it ok. Another option in the area, not for those on a budget, but it’s very nice on the roof deck during the summer. Link: http://rosebar.ru/
Moloko – new French-style café/restaurant/loungey place that’s run by the guys that own Lootch and Mandarin. More of a restaurant, but nice décor and a decent place to have a drink on the weekends before going out. Might have potential on the weekends for a bit of a bar scenes. Easy to walk by and check out and then move on if it’s dead. Directions: http://www.timeout.ru/restaurant/place/36139/
Tsvetnoi Boulevard
These places are just north of the Kamegersky/Kuznetsky Most area and you could walk here in 10 minutes from Mendeleev or even Chips/Kamchatka. Metro is (of course) Tsvetnoi Boulevard.
Buddah Bar – new place, part of the global chain of bar/restaurants. Was there on Friday night a week ago and it was ok, but nothing special yet. Feels like this place could turn into something but so far it’s been fairly quiet the two times I was there, but we did find a few ladies at the upstairs bar. Hopefully will become more popular in the Fall/Winter when more people know about it and the outdoor terraces lose their luster. Link to the Buddah Bar homepage here: http://www.buddhabar.com/en/restaurant-b...-moscou-19
Crazy Daisy – big and loud club just up the road from Tsvetnoi Boulevard. Very Russian place with relatively few expats, sort of like Coyote Ugly with girls dancing on the bar and a really drunk atmosphere. Think it could be a good place for those of you who are in it for the long haul. There is also a small club across the street called “Сахар” (“Sugar”) which is younger, really Russian and was so-so when we were there. Link to website here: http://www.daisybar.ru/main.php
Lubyanka
This area is just north of the Kremlin, and has several more touristy bars and restaurants, along with the more well traveled nightlife places below. Metro station is Lubyanka or you could also use Ploshad Revolutsii. It’s quite close to the Kamegersky/Kuznetsky Most so you could walk over to Lubyanka in around 10 minutes. A pedestrian zone is currently being created that will link Lubyanka with the Kremlin, which should create another area in the city where all sorts of new bars and restaurants will pop up.
Mandarin Combustible – very cool bar/restaurant with a nice long wood grain bar. There are tables across from it which creates a nice bar scene. Bit of a posh place like Lootch (same owners I think) but one of the classier and cooler bars in Moscow, if not always happening. I would think a guy like G could use this as a place to start and clean up. I really like this place and have taken a lot of girls here for drinks. It’s not as busy in summer due to the lack of an outside veranda however. It’s across from Club Che, down from Lubyanka Metro station.
Link with directions here: http://www.afisha.ru/msk/restaurant/map/36109/
Club Che – basically cattie-corner from Mandarin, it’s a typically Cuban/Latin-themed club with the usual suspects running around trying to score Russian chicks who are into Latin dancing and more exotic dudes. Not a big fan of this place really but can be fun from time to time…the dance floor is rather small & gets pretty crowded. Pasha is also right around the corner if you feel like making a quick move late night on the weekend. Link here: http://clubche.ru/
Pacha (Пача) – pretty close to the Kremlin, basically across from Lubyanka, around the corner from Club Che and Mandarin Combustible so you could check all these out rather easily as they are close by. It’s a decent club, but I don’t really like it much anymore as it’s a bit hit or miss and younger. Was actually there on Friday and seemed about half full. But for the younger guys I think it’s a decent option or at least worth checking out one evening in you are in the area. http://pachamoscow.ru/index.html?option=c...ticle&id=8
Liga Pub – one of the best sports bars in town. They show a lot of games, obviously football and hockey focused, but you can get them to show US baseball, football and even Aussie Rules football here no problem. I like this place because it’s one of the few sports bars I’ve ever been in that has a decent girl to guy ratio, and because it’s got reasonably cheap and good beer & food with a nice selection too. This place is closer to Turgenevskaya or Chistie Prudie Metros actually, but can walk up from Lubyanka metro station too. Directions here: http://www.timeout.ru/restaurant/place/5089/
Papa’s – tired old expat bar with cheap beer and drinks. I’ve been here when it’s been ok and also when it’s sucked, not a fan anymore and don’t go there but it’s where some expats still go. During the week might be worth a shot as all the newer expats and those seeking them tend to congregate here. It’s also sort of the place that fills up fast with dudes after starting out with a few decent girls early on. Link: http://papas.ru/
Kitay-Gorod (Chinatown)
No it’s not like other Chinatowns in that there are not a lot of ethnic Chinese here, not sure how this area earned its namesake actually. Anyway, there are a few younger bars and clubs in this area which is just north-east of the Kremlin, including Propoganda and Solyanka. Metro station is Kitay-Gorod.
Propaganda (Пропaганда) – An old Moscow standby with a younger student crowd. Starts as a restaurant and then they clear out the main floor and make it a club later. Goes pretty late. Cheap ok food – and cheap beer and drinks too (think Ruble 150 beers, 50 ruble vodka shots, ~200 Ruble drinks). I was here last weekend for the first time in awhile and the dance floor was packed, although like 60-40 guys to girls. I think there is a gay night so be careful when you go. Website link with directions here: http://www.propagandamoscow.com/en/ It’s right up from Kitay Gorod metro.
Bourbon Street – really cheesy New Orleans themed bar next to Propaganda that might be worth a peek if you’re in the Kitai-Gorod area around, but generally not all that hopping. Cheap booze and beer though for those of you on a budget. Link: http://www.bourbonstreet.ru/
Projektor – bar restaurant that was hopping last Friday night when I was there. The main bar area was a good place to chat up girls as they came to order a drink after dancing. Some decent quality women there out to have a good time as opposed to the ‘see and be seen’ crowds that predominate on the Island and at places like Simachev or Chips. Located at the bottom of the hill where the Kitai-Gorod metro stop is. Link: http://www.trendymoscow.com/projektor/
Solyanka – fairly well-know nightclub here, on Solyanka street about a 5 minute walk from the Kitai Gorod metro at the bottom of the hill. Bit of a younger student vibe but can get very busy. Funnily enough I’ve never been inside there (got face controlled last weekend!!). Here’s the website with directions: http://s-11.ru/
Tema Bar – located closer to Chistie Prudi metro than Kitai Gorod, but probably a 10-12 minute walk from the latter station. Been there once, was ok, probably more of a weekend joint only that can be hit or miss, but another option to check out. Here’s the website with directions. http://www.temabar.ru/
Smolenskaya/Arbat Region
This area is just west of the center, bordered by the “Garden Ring” road surrounding Moscow. You could walk here in 30 minutes from the Kremlin going due west but it’s easier to take the light blue or dark blue Metro lines from the center to Arbat or Smolenskaya stations (former is the beginning of Old Arbat street, the latter is the other end further out from the center). More restaurants here really, but a couple cool places that have very nice views of Moscow, and some cheaper eating options where you might be able to game if you so choose. Old Arbat (Старый Арбат) is very touristy, whereas New Arbat (Новый Арбат) is a very long row of restaurants with patios for people watching.
Kalina Bar - Located at the top of the Lotte Plaza hotel on the corner of the Garden Ring road and Novy Arbat, it’s a great place to have an (expensive) drink and take in an amazing view of Moscow and Moscow City. The bar scene is small and there are a few pros here usually, but it can be worthwhile to chat up groups of women waiting for their tables. Not a ‘go-to’ pickup spot but rather a nice place to see some pretty nice ladies having dinner and trying to game them at the bar while enjoying a couple drinks before moving on elsewhere. There’s another nice restaurant called Balcon (Балкон) on the seventh floor of the Lotte Plaza (same elevator) that is also a very good restaurant with a small bar. Directions here: http://www.kalinabar.ru/index.html/contacts. You’d get off at Smolenskaya metro stop for this place.
Dandy Café – it’s a ‘Ginza Project’ place right off Novy Arbat, across from Lotte, but with cheaper food & drinks compared to most of their other places. Mostly a restaurant early, but there is a bit of a bar scene with a DJ and small dance floor so can be a decent place to start and hang out til say 1 before going to a club. Bit of a younger crowd but you’ll see all types here. Relatively inexpensive for Moscow. Link: http://dandytimes.ru/
White Rabbit – probably my favorite restaurant, fairly high end and somewhat expensive, located on the rooftop of shopping center “Smoleknsky Passage”, at the end of Old Arbat (but across the street). The upstairs bar scene is ok - but the views of the city are awesome. More of a classy restaurant with loungy feel to it, and you’d have to approach people at tables or waiting at the bar but worth coming here for a drink even if you don’t want dinner (which is pricey, but good). It’s right by Smolenskaya metro stop. Link: http://whiterabbitmoscow.ru/
John Donne – John Donne Pub is just up the road at the end of Novy Arbat. Not the worst place to see a game and have a drink, actually a decent amount of women there from time to time, but more a place just to have a few pints with friends or do some pre-game drinking if you want to watch a football game. This pub has an outdoor seating around along the street which is good for people watching too during the summer. There’s a row of restaurants connected to this pub including Jean Jacques next door. Link: http://www.john-donne.ru/?lang=en
Old Arbat Street – very touristy street, but you should check it out. Can even sit at Starbucks or one of the various restaurants on the street and check out passers-by. There are all sorts of souvenir shops and small restaurants with outdoor seating areas up and down this historic old Moscow street. Easy access to the metro and New Arbat.
New Arbat Street– right behind Lotte Plaza there are tons of restaurants and bars with outdoor seating on the street where you can sit and watch Moscow’s finest walk by. Dve Palochki, Chaihona – even Dunkin Donuts now. The places on this street are more of a good day game options or just chill places to hang out early and people watch.
Belorussykaya
The area is at the end of Tverskaya away from the Kremlin to the north-east. Basically if you walk up Tverskaya Ulitsa from Pushkinskaya going away from the Kremlin you end up here. The nightlife area surrounds a business center across from the train station called “White Square” where there is a nice cluster of restaurants and bars. Metro stop is Belorusskaya, but when you get out make sure that you don’t go to the Belorusskaya Train station when you exit, as it’s located far across the road from the area where the bars and restaurants are. Note: this area upon further reflection is much more of a ‘restauranty’ area, but a lot of expats live and work here, and you’ll see Torro and Hudson jammed with foreigners & locals all week.
Hudson Bar – Moscow’s only really authentic NYC style Irish Bar, in the White Square office complex behind Torro Grill across from Belorusskaya Train Station. I’d say it’s not a bad place, esp. earlier on when the offices clear out during the week where you can try to catch the women from the businesses in the office park just after work. Later turns into a bit of a sausage fest in my experience, but there are still enough women to make it interesting. Maybe more of a starter place or somewhere to have a drink after having a burger or steak for dinner at nearby Torro Grill which also has a mini-bar scene and reasonably priced food Link: http://hudsonbar.ru/
Torro Grill – Moscow’s ‘most affordable steak house’ with decent steaks and burgers, located right in the center of the business complex. The bar is actually quite nice with very comfortable bar tables with large windows overlooking the square, usually need a reservation to get these. Much more of a place to eat than a pickup place, but the bar is big enough to work things from time to time and is reasonably priced – during the week might be a decent place to get a drink and see what’s up as Hudson Bar is right around the corner. There will usually be a small scene here even early in the week, replete with lots of expats who work in the area. Torro is a steakhouse chain (like Goodmans) with several restaurants around town. Link: http://eng.torrogrill.ru/
World Trade Center/1905 Goda Area
Most of this area is in a small business center area that’s right off the Moscow River, just up from the tall skyscrapers of Moscow City and down the road going west from the big white Duma government building. Basically one main street with a few bars and restaurants that goes right up a hill from the river to 1905 goda area.
To get to Jagger/Manon and the other places by the river via metro is tricky and you probably should take a gypsy taxi. However, you could go to the 1905 Goda metro stop and walk down the street which would take about 15 minutes on foot – or do the same thing from the Vuistovochnaya metro in Moscow City along the river heading back towards the center. The only place really that I’ve been to that’s any good around the 1905 metro is 16 Tonnes. Unfortunately the old Opera club in this area burned down a few years ago – that was a great club!
Premier Lounge (formerly Imperia, Club Prestige) – nightclub sort of behind the World Trade Center, up the road from Manon. Place has just changed its name again, but I’ve been there a few times and it’s generally been pretty good. It’s completely dead until around 12:30-1, but can run into some serious face control here so be careful and try to get there early. Fairly posh and full of rich Russian dudes, so you gotta have the game + DHV I think, but a fun place. Homepage here: http://www.premierlounge.ru/
Manon – tremendously expensive, posh place with a nice outdoor terrace right across from the World Trade Center & basically across the river from the Hotel Ukraine. I’ve actually never been here but friends say it’s good, if not expensive and full of ‘see and be seen’ ladies many of whom are looking for potential sponsor guys I guess. Really nice views from the terrace. Link: http://www.manon-club.ru/
Club Jagger – I have not been here, but hear good things despite the lame name – my buddy said last Thursday night was great and full of women. Near Manon, directions here: http://www.afisha.ru/msk/club/map/17955/
Vinograd – between Moscow City and the World Trade Center Complex, across the river from Krisha. More of a summer restaurant scene but the bar can get busy from time to time and they even have live music on Saturdays. It’s a pretty upscale and posh crowd though, and much more Russian than expat, but you can work the bar here I think. Never had much luck here though. If you wanted you could try out this place early, then try a late-night push for Manon or Premier Lounge which are within 10-15 minutes walking distance max.
16 Tonnes – multi-level Irish-type bar/music club. It’s located right near the 1905 Goda metro so the easiest place in this area to get to via metro, but further away from the other places described in this section. It’s ok I’d say and can get pretty crowded on the weekends esp. if there is a live band playing. Link: http://www.16tons.ru/en/
Park Kultury
For our purposes this is a bit more of a disperse area where it’s hard to get to some of these spots via the Metro. Certainly the places listed below would be tricky to get to walking around if you’re not familiar with Moscow, so I’d advise you to take a gypsy taxi if you can, other than maybe for Carabas. Technically Lootch & Soho Rooms are not really all that close to the Park Kultury area/metro, but I didn’t know where else to put them. Metro: Park Kultury.
Soho Rooms – probably the biggest and best known club, right on the Moscow river, not really that far from the Garden Ring road but not really close to anything other than maybe Lootch. Huge scene there and lot of ‘rope burn’ even for ladies – get there before 11:00-11:30 at the latest I’d say. No entry fee. Pretty much any taxi driver will know how to get there if you tell them the name.
Full disclosure, I am no longer a fan of this club, but if you are there early and hit the dance floor you’ll be amazed at the number of 7s, 8s and 9s on the floor already. A lot of these girls are the model-wannabe types who are there to see and be seen (or hired by the club to fill it up early) so be aware of that. The VIP row of hotties is pretty awesome too, I’ve seen oligarchs up there with these girls, but good luck getting in there unless you’ve got an ‘in’ and also want to deal with some of the biggest gold-digging, Sponsor-seeking hotties you’ve ever seen. That said, I dated one of these girls for a few months and it was a hell of a ride!!
By the end of the night there will be all kinds of girls here no doubt, from club rat girls to groups of girls who had dinner and are more normal to the aforementioned Sponsor ‘semi-pro’ 8s and 9s to outright hookers. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the latter two types apart I think. You need to be really careful here of what type of girl you approach because you will waste a lot of time with the uber-hotties who only date guys who have Ferraris and take them to Dubai, etc. I’m not always the best judge of these women either and have spent a lot of lost hours chasing girls here that aren’t that into me and were trying to size me up in terms of wealth.
Website and directions here: http://www.sohorooms.com/
Lootch (Луч) – On Balshaya Pirogovskaya, one of my favorite bars and I think the coolest actual bar set up in Moscow. The bar itself is massive – like 30-40 yards/meters long, with a huge 20+ foot (~6 meter) ceiling. They play good music here, and have great drinks, with typical Moscow prices (Ruble 300 beers, 400-500 for fancy mixed drinks). The food is pretty good here too, even the sushi. This place use to be really rocking on the weekends but has lost its luster a bit in the past year or so, but it’s still a great place to have a drink and spend an early Friday evening at before heading out to a club. Link here: http://www.luchbar.ru/art/
Carabasbar – never been there, heard it’s not bad, same owners as Lootch and Mandarin Combustible. Worth a look and is fairly close to the Park Kultury metro if you are around that area. Link to website here: http://carabasbar.ru/ Directions here: http://www.afisha.ru/msk/restaurant/photo/33242/396487/
Other Area Bars & Clubs:
Oblaka (Облака (“Cloud”)) – (NOTE: Thursday night only) – it’s sort of ‘the’ Thursday place to go for those who want to ‘see and be seen’, but I’m a seller of this joint. It’s not a good place to pickup IMO but if you want to see a lot of attractive women looking for rich guys on a Thursday night it’s the place to be. Mostly Russian, not a huge expat scene. In Summer they have a big roof deck and this place really does get pretty rocking. Place will go well past 4am on a Thursday. Located a bit of a taxi ride out from the center, on Kutuzovsky Prospect in the Vremya Goda Shopping mall on the top floor. Basically a straight shot out on Kutuzovsky just across from the huge Park Pobedi. Needless to say, it’s a very expensive place as well (as Prosal and some others have pointed out). Link here: http://www.oblakarestoran.ru/events/
Krisha Mira (Крыша Мира (“Roof of the World”)) – on the Moscow river sort of behind the Hotel Ukraine (which by the way has a cool bar on the top floor with good views but very, very expensive drinks) so not that far out from the center but is a bit of a difficult place to find and not really very close to any metros except Kieveskaya which is a good 15-20 minute walk.
More of a late night club that doesn’t really get started until 2:30-3am, but there’s an earlier party that you can attend before 11pm which requires a weekly password. As I said, a bit hard to find – basically you’ll see a metal staircase with a big metal door, press the button and they will let you in. If you show up late night there will be a big line and a lot of pretty posh Muscovites trying to get it, so be ready for serious rope burn esp. as it gets much busier later say after 3-4am. Remember it will be full daylight by then in summer so you’ll still have the great views on the deck and people will be going crazy! Bit of a place for the real rich Moscow party-crowd, replete with rampant drug use. Link here: http://www.kryshamira.ru/
Klava Bar – near Patriarshii Prudi, bordering the Garden ring just down from Mayakovskay and 3-4 blocks off Tverskaya is Klava. Sort of a ‘hole in the wall’ bar, can get pretty crowded there as the entire bar is quite narrow and the dance floor is quite small. There are a couple cool restaurants nearby too, including Uilliams. Metro stop would be
Mayakovskaya or Tverskaya. Directions here: http://www.timeout.ru/restaurant/place/29894/
The Real McCoy – CLOSED - I mention this place because it was an old Moscow standby for so long and has somewhat of a legendary reputation, but in my opinion you’re not missing much as the place got sort of lame in its last few years anyway.
Daygame:
Endless possibilities, but remember English is still not widely spoken so it’s trickier and you’ll get a lot of girls who will just say ‘sorry no speak English’ so be warned. Not really sure where to start but here are a few ideas:
Behind TSUM/Kamchatka – as mentioned earlier, it’s the bar right behind TSUM where there’s starting to be a big gathering of people on the weekends and even during weeknights during the summer. Just sit at a table, grab a beer and watch the ladies go by. A lot of people just sit on the benches nearby or the grass lawn behind TSUM and congregate there. Constant stream of people walking by.
Gorky Park- massive park, perfect for gaming I’d say. The park is endless with ponds, a river walk, volleyball and basketball courts, etc. One thing I like about this park is that there are so many areas within it with different vibes – for instance, there’s a section inside which has a couple French restaurants so a euro feel, there’s the rollerblading area, the fountain area, a skater park, the volleyball court area, etc. Sort of something for everyone here on the weekends.
Malls – either the European shopping mall (across from Kievskaya) or the one right by the Kremlin are good. These places are really unreal on a Saturday just to see some of the most beautiful women the city has to offer in full shopping mode.
McDonalds – seriously, just sit around inside at the Mickey Ds at the beginning or Arbat, or Pushkinskaya, and observe the hordes of young hotties running around eating there (which could be the start of a terrible trend, let’s hope not). I haven’t worked out how to work this angle, so am all ears as for how to game there….tend to be girls on the younger side of course.
The Metro – endless possibilities, as another poster said you can just see thousands of 7s, 8s and even many 9s running around. Metro tends to be pretty crowded most days, and trains come frequently so there’s not much time to chat up girls on the platform, but have to be opportunities here.
Old Arbat/Novy Arbat – touristy streets with lots of restaurants and souvenir shops along the way that I described earlier.
Women:
I don’t even need to tell you, there are lots of hotties, and they will generally blow you away with their looks (especially their bodies) if you’re coming from an Anglo country that’s chock a block with land-whales and non-feminine hipsters. However, recently I’ve noticed much more attititude and phone culture, and a lot of ‘look at me’ activity from the devushki, especially in very popular places I am writing about. My Russian friends even complain about this. Unfortunately it feels like the Western “Princess” and “Facebook” culture is slowly taking over, even in Russia, albeit in a different format. It sucks, but I guess it’s easy for women to get sucked into it at the end of the day, especially in a city that has loads and loads of rich guys who have all the money in the world to spend on the cream of the crop.
Looks-wise, I’d say that Moscow women are generally on par with most of the Kiev/Ukrainian girls, maybe not quite as high, but many will have a bit more of an attitude. I’m still really not sure about how they stack up to Ukrainians, and would be interested in hearing what the general consensus is. Keep in mind that many women are not native Muscovites and come from the provinces to find work, and these will be more ‘down to earth’ generally. Not a high concentration of English speakers, especially above say 30, but most women will know a little English, even if they say they don’t. A little Russian goes a LONG WAY and I will admit my results here improved dramatically once I had some basic Russian down.
Lodging/Logistics:
As I live here in not that good with this, but I think Air B&B is your best and cheapest bet. You can also apparently get a hostel that’s central for a reasonable price but not sure on that – check the other threads like flashbang’s and gadabout’s. Moscow hotels are notoriously expensive, so be careful if you want a nice place – it’s going to be really expensive. Booking a hotel/hostel outside the city is not recommended as you’ll be a slave to the metro late night (closes at 1am, opens at 6am) and not close to any of the good places, plus you’d be looking at Ruble 500-600 type taxi prices home (when the shark cab drivers sniff out that you are a foreigner and going way outside the city at 5am they try to price gouge you big-time).
Whatever airport you are flying into, ideally try to take the Aeroexpress train into town and then if you don’t have a lot of luggage you can save by taking the metro. If you’re flying into Domodevovo keep in mind the train itself is 47 minutes to Pavelestky station, and then you’re only on the southern central edge of central Moscow on the Garden Ring road, so you’ll need to then take a taxi from there to your hotel – if there are two of you that’s probably 300 rubles each for the train plus 300-400 for that taxi from the metro so you are approaching what it would cost to get a taxi from the airport (but you gotta deal with traffic, there will be traffic the whole way). But if you’re exhausted and flying from the US with luggage I’d say just bite the bullet and pay for a taxi – should be around 1200-1600 Rubles ($35-45) from Sheremetyevo , Domodedovo or Vnukovo, depending on the area. You can get official taxis at the airport, try not to take the guys running around yelling taxi as they charge a lot more I think.
Transport:
During the day the metro is perfect for getting around, trains come very frequently so try to use that when possible, but remember that it shuts down right a 1am.
Late night gypsy taxis are your best bet. You generally shouldn’t be paying more than 300 Rubles per ride, but sometimes later I end up paying 400 just because it’s late and the cabbies are more aggressive.
Keep in mind you’ll be riding in 1988 Ladas and Zhigulis mostly, with drivers from all over, so try to watch yourself and also realize that these drivers generally don’t give a sh*t and are not the best drivers in the world by any means. But most are ok, however, don’t get in taxis wasted and pass out, bad move. Just last Summer there was a fairly well known expat guy here who got in a cab driven by a guy from the ‘Stans, passed out, then woke up to a group of non-Russian immigrants kicking and beating him. Guy ended up in his underwear, with no shoes or wallet at 5am in the outskirts of Moscow. Don’t be that guy!
Safety:
Generally you should be ok. Funnily enough, I’ve never seen a fight at a bar (!!) but I’ve heard stories (a few weeks ago there was apparently a big all-out brawl around Kamchatka right in the center). Just don’t do anything to brazen and try not to be a jerk or look for trouble. The main bars and clubs in the center all have massive security forces and a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for any shenanigans. This is Russia and when things go bad they go bad big-time, so everyone (particularly the club owners) has that in mind.
The one place I’d recommend extra caution is if you are thinking of trolling bars a bit outside the center, then you might want to be more careful. Counter to what you hear in the Western media about ‘racism’ and ‘Russian Nationalism’, in my opinion you’re much more likely to be jacked by some recent immigrant guys/gangs than the Russians I’d say, depending on the area. As Flashbang said a couple years ago in his datasheet, “the racism issue has been often grossly overinflated in the past on the forum so please don't raise it here again because it's fabricated.” I firmly believe that to a large extent but there are of course some exceptions. Due to the influx of people from the Caucuses and the ‘stans and the wolf packs of these dudes running around you are more likely to be accosted by them than Russians. I have numerous first-hand stories to back this up. In particular, do not get falling down drunk and decide to take a gypsy cab home as you might get robbed or worse (see the taxi story above, there are many more of these too including an American teacher I know who was robbed during the middle of the day right on Kutuzovsky by some Caucasians and several girls I’ve dated telling me how they or their grannies were robbed).
All that said, watch yourself in certain situations and just use caution if. Just remember, life is still short here for most men, people live much more for the moment and some big Russian or Chechnyan dude in an MMA t-shirt could give a sh*t about you and is probably looking for a chance to show how tough he is and escalate if you give him the chance. It happens.
But I don’t want to make it seem like it’s a warzone, it’s not at all and I generally feel safer than I did in NYC when I lived there, still, just use caution.
Banya:
Anyone who comes to Russia should try a banya at some point. The most famous one in town is called “Sanduny” (Сандуновские бани) which is located near Tsvetnoi Boulevard – link here: http://www.sanduny.ru/
Although a bit pricey @ 2000 Rubles 2000 per 2-hours it’s still a great experience – I love this place. You can also do one that’s right next door that’s around 1500 Rubles too – no pool in this one, however. The food is good, you can get beer and wine there too if you want. Great way to spend a winter afternoon with some friends.
For me, there is nothing better than sitting in a hot banya to get the juices flowing after a night out, and then diving into a freezing cold tub or pool to get every bit of your senses tingling!! And what’s cool about these places is that you can rent them out if you want with some friends or girls, depending on the place.
Summary Recommendations:
If you’re only here a couple of days just go to the Island and explore Gypsy, Rolling Stone, ICON, Strelka etc and you will do fine. Or you can do the Pushkinskaya or Kuznetsky Most areas where there are also loads of places to hit up. Try to focus on the ‘clusters’ that I’ve highlighted above so that you can get around easily and efficiently and not waste too much time going from place to place.
If you’ve got a couple weeks or more time try to get out and explore the other places, day game around town a bit, hit up some of the places with nice views, etc. You’re going to have a great time here if you’re visiting in the summer, no doubt, the winter is a bit trickier and is when you really need to have your logistics down. The city seems massive and it is, but it’s surprising that the majority of places we go to are really all within a 10-15 minute cab ride from the center, and most are pretty easily reachable by subway too.
Finally, remember, you can smoke in bars and restaurants too so keep that in mind. If “let’s grab a smoke outside” is a big part of your game you need to adjust, especially in winter, but I’ve found that in the loud clubs people still tend to go outside (or to a side room) to smoke so you can still work the smoking angle in most places.
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