Things to Do at Gum Department Store
Complete Guide to Gum Department Store in Moscow
About Gum Department Store
Walking into GUM on Red Square feels less like entering a department store and more like stepping into a nineteenth-century railway station reimagined as a palace of commerce. The building stretches along the entire eastern flank of Red Square, its pale facade catching the low Moscow sun. Pass through the heavy doors and the scale hits you immediately.
Three long parallel arcades lined with wrought-iron balconies rise three stories to meet an arched glass roof designed by the engineer Vladimir Shukhov. Light floods down through those panels even on overcast December afternoons, warming the cream-colored limestone walls and bouncing off the polished stone floors underfoot.
The air carries a faint sweetness, partly from the pastry counters on the ground level and partly from something harder to name, a kind of old-building warmth that mixes beeswax and stone dust.
GUM, which stands for Glavny Universalny Magazin, has occupied this spot since 1893, when architect Alexander Pomerantsev completed what were then called the Upper Trading Rows. The structure replaced an earlier market that had burned, and Pomerantsev drew on the covered passages of Milan and Naples but scaled everything up to match Moscow's imperial ambitions.
During the Soviet decades the building served various purposes, including, for a time, as office space and even temporary housing. But it returned to retail in the post-Soviet years and now houses international fashion labels alongside Russian brands. For whatever reason, though, GUM never feels like a generic luxury mall.
The bones of the building are too distinctive, too theatrical, and the crowds that move through it on any given afternoon are an honest cross-section of Moscow: families with strollers, tourists craning their necks at the skylights, older Muscovites who remember the Soviet-era queues and come now partly out of habit and partly out of genuine affection for the place.
What to See & Do
The Glass Roof and Central Arcade
The main draw is structural. Stand at the ground level of the first line, the central arcade, and look up. The Shukhov-designed glass-and-steel canopy arches overhead like the ribcage of some enormous animal, held together by slender iron struts that seem almost too delicate for the span they cover. On bright days the light through the glass is sharp and theatrical, casting lattice-shaped shadows across the upper walkways. On snowy Moscow afternoons the effect softens into something gentler, almost aquatic. The arcade runs roughly 242 meters from end to end, and the walk from one entrance to the other, if you resist stopping, takes about three minutes at a comfortable pace.
The GUM Fountain
Roughly at the midpoint of the central arcade sits a circular fountain that has become one of Moscow's minor landmarks in its own right. The sound of falling water echoes off the stone walls and provides a surprisingly calming anchor in a space that can get crowded on weekends. Locals use it as a meeting point, and you will likely see people perched on its rim eating the store's famous ice cream, which is sold from small counters nearby and comes in a pressed waffle cone with a distinctive crunch.
The Soviet-Era Ice Cream Counters
GUM's ice cream is a genuine Moscow institution, not a tourist invention. The recipe reportedly dates to a 1954 Soviet standard, and the taste reflects that: dense, creamy, and not overly sweet, with a slight tang that suggests real dairy. You will smell the waffle cones toasting before you see the counters. Lines form quickly but move fast. Eating a cone while walking the arcade is one of those small rituals that connects you to decades of Muscovites who did exactly the same thing.
The Upper Galleries and Bridge Walkways
Most visitors stick to the ground floor, which means the second and third levels tend to be quieter. The iron bridges that connect the three parallel arcades at each upper level offer a different perspective on the building, and the metalwork itself is worth examining: ornate railings with floral motifs, bolted joints that speak to the engineering confidence of the 1890s. The sound changes up here too, the crowd noise fading to a murmur below while your footsteps on the iron walkways ring clearly.
Gastronom No. 1
On the ground floor you will find Gastronom No. 1, a food hall styled after a Soviet-era grocery but stocked with imported cheeses, smoked fish, chocolate, and preserves. The smell alone is worth a detour: cured meats, fresh bread, and something slightly briny from the caviar counter. It is a good place to pick up edible souvenirs, and the packaging on some of the Russian-made sweets and teas has a retro charm that feels deliberate but not ironic.
Practical Information
Opening Hours
GUM is open daily, typically from 10:00 until 22:00 year-round, though individual shops and restaurants inside may keep slightly shorter hours. During major holidays and the winter festival season, the store sometimes extends its evening hours. The food hall tends to open a bit earlier than the fashion boutiques.
Tickets & Pricing
Entry to GUM is free. It is a functioning shopping center and public space, so you can walk in, admire the architecture, eat ice cream, and leave without spending anything beyond the cone. No tickets, no queues at the door. During the winter holiday season or major events on Red Square, security checks at the entrances might slow things down. But the wait is rarely more than a few minutes.
Best Time to Visit
Weekday mornings between 10:00 and noon are your best window for seeing the building without competing for floor space. The light through the glass roof is also at its best before midday in summer. That said, there is something to be said for visiting in December or January, when Moscow goes all-in on holiday decorations and GUM strings lights across the arcades and sets up a skating rink on Red Square just outside. The crowds are heavier then, obviously, but the atmosphere might be worth the trade-off. Weekend afternoons in any season tend to be the most packed.
Suggested Duration
An hour covers the three arcades, the architecture, and an ice cream. Want to browse Gastronom No. 1, linger in a cafe, or shop? Budget two hours. Architecture buffs photographing the roof structure and ironwork details could lose a full morning here.
Getting There
GUM sits on Red Square, making it among Moscow's most accessible landmarks by metro. Ploshchad Revolyutsii station is closest. The walk from exit to entrance takes three minutes across the square. Okhotny Ryad and Teatralnaya stations sit roughly equidistant and connect to different lines. Whichever direction you come from, you will likely have a direct option.
By surface transport, several bus routes stop along Mokhovaya Ulitsa or Tverskaya, both nearby. Taxis can drop you on Ilyinka Ulitsa, which runs along the store's north side. Red Square itself is pedestrianized. Visiting the Kremlin or Saint Basil's Cathedral? GUM is across the cobblestones.
Things to Do Nearby
You are already there. Step out of GUM's main entrance and you stand on Red Square's cobblestones with Saint Basil's spiraling domes to the south. The proximity invites combining the two. The contrast hits hard. The commercial warmth of GUM against the open, wind-swept grandeur of the square is striking.
Across Red Square from GUM, the Kremlin walls and towers dominate the view. The Armoury Chamber and Cathedral Square inside warrant a separate visit of two to three hours. Book Kremlin ground tickets ahead during peak months.
Ten minutes southeast of GUM, this 2017 park replaced the demolished Rossiya Hotel. Its floating bridge cantilevers over the Moskva River, offering among Moscow's better free views. The landscaped zones recreate Russian climate regions. They are surprisingly well executed for a city-center park.
At Red Square's northern end, this deep-red brick museum pairs naturally with GUM. It supplies the historical context for the square and the city. Collections span prehistoric artifacts through the imperial period. The interiors, with painted ceilings and tiled halls, are attractions themselves.
Tips & Advice
Tours & Activities at Gum Department Store
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