Where to Stay in Moscow

This is the historic and geographic center of Moscow. It covers Okhotny Ryad, Manezhnaya Square, and Kitai-Gorod. The smell of incense drifts from Orthodox chapels tucked into the Kremlin wall. On early mornings the cobblestones of Red Square lie damp and grey before the tour groups arrive. St. Basil's flaming onion domes and the cool marble interior of the Lenin Mausoleum are both within a ten-minute walk of any hotel here.

Moscow's main boulevard runs north from Manezhnaya Square. Stalinist-era limestone facades line the canyon. Luxury boutiques and 24-hour restaurants keep the street humming. Georgian khachapuri and sour-pickled cucumbers appear on menus at three in the morning. The Bolshoi Theatre sits a short walk east. Quieter bohemian lanes branch west toward Patriarch's Ponds.

Old Arbat Street is Moscow's original pedestrian quarter. Portrait artists line the lane. Tsarist-era merchants' houses and buildings with deep literary connections stand on both sides. The scratch of charcoal on sketch paper and the sizzle of shashlyk from street grills fill the air from noon onward. New Arbat boulevard runs parallel, wider and windier. It channels six lanes of traffic toward the Moskva River.

The district south of the Moskva River carries the name Zamoskvorechye. It means 'beyond the Moscow River'. The area delivers a quieter register than the tourist-dense north bank. Red-brick merchants' warehouses line the canal embankments. The damp metallic smell of water on warm evenings and the muted ring of passing trams set the sensory atmosphere apart from the rest of central Moscow. The Tretyakov Gallery's collection of Russian masters anchors the quarter. Gorky Park and the Muzeon sculpture garden stretch west along the river.

A single ornamental pond ringed by linden trees and wrought-iron benches gives this upscale quarter its name and its unhurried atmosphere. Bulgakov set the opening chapter of The Master and Margarita on these banks. The literary mood is palpable on winter evenings when lamplight reflects off the dark ice. In May the linden-blossom smell gives way to frozen stillness. Boutique restaurants and natural-wine bars fill the surrounding lanes. In December the crack of skate blades on the frozen pond carries through the still air.

The Moscow International Business Centre rises from the Presnensky embankment. This cluster of steel-and-glass towers houses corporate headquarters, a shopping mall, and a handful of hotels aimed at business travelers. Anyone drawn to sleeping inside the most dramatically scaled skyline in Russia ends up here. Kievsky Station and its Aeroexpress terminal for Vnukovo Airport sit minutes away. The area quiets considerably at weekends when the office towers empty.