World Cup 2018: A City Guide

Imagine a European capital, proud Muscovites like to say, think of the architectural monuments, museums, restaurants and bars in the city centre, and now multiply that by ten: now you’re close to imagining what Moscow is like.

At the heart of Moscow lies the Kremlin, a fortified complex that has been continuously inhabited for over 2,000 years.

Step back from Moscow’s crowded main streets and you can still find some well-preserved old quarters, like the small alleys, ancient churches and houses built in the 18th and 19th centuries between Kitai Gorod and Taganskaya metro stations.

Zamoskvorechye, which translates as ‘across the Moskva River’, is a leafy area now bustling with open-air street cafes that was once settled by the Russian merchant class. The district still consists mainly of low-rise pre-revolutionary buildings and luxurious houses built at the beginning of the 20th century.

Beside Kropotkinskaya metro station you will find Ostozhenka and Prechistenka streets, often dubbed Moscow’s ‘golden mile’. Still a prestigious area today, it used to house the capital’s wealthy elite before the revolution in 1917.

A stone’s throw from the metro stands the imposing Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Built in the 19th century, the cathedral was the scene of the world premiere of Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’ in 1882.

You have probably heard of the Arbat, a central Moscow street that is a prime tourist draw.

The alleys adjacent to the Arbat, however, are far more authentic Moscow – both beautiful and well-suited to a leisurely walk.

There is no point in recommending a single eatery, as there are so many of them. But for the largest concentration of restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs, where you can dine for 20 euros or 200, remember the names of these streets: Myasnitskaya, Maroseika, Pokrovka, Bolshaya Dmitrovka and Stoleshnikov Lane.

Lunch with a view over the city can be had in one of the famous Stalin skyscrapers (known as the Seven Sisters) – for example the Radisson hotel near Kievskaya metro – or in one of the skyscrapers in Moscow City.

Be sure to try pelmeny, the national dish of poached dumplings in broth, though you are just as likely to find the larger Georgian version, khinkali, on menus today.

For souvenirs: skip the Arbat and its over-priced matrioshka dolls and fur flap-hats of questionable origin, and head instead for the gift shops at Moscow museums or the flea markets at Izmailovsky Park or the former Kristall vodka factory in Lefortovo district.

In the summer, St Petersburg never sleeps, and this is not a figure of speech. The city’s ‘white nights’, as they are called, see the sun rise at 5 o’clock in the morning and not set until after midnight. During these summer months, the twilit streets and embankments are never empty, and bars and cafes are packed full at any time of the day or night.

The bridges are raised at night to let through boats, making it impossible to cross the Neva River during those times. A new suspension bridge that doesn’t open means there’s now a way to cross to the other bank at night, but a taxi to take you there will set you back a small fortune.

That being the case, it would be advisable to stay in the city centre or on the Petrograd side of the river for easy access to the World Cup stadium.

The streets appear to be a grid, but in fact they weave a complicated labyrinth, where you can stumble across monuments in the Art Nouveau style. Walk for hours and stare at the beautiful houses or take refuge in the district’s quiet green squares.

You could also visit Sytny Market, the oldest in St Petersburg, where they sell cheese from the Caucasus, Georgian pastries, Finnish fish, fruits from the south and oriental sweets.

Not far from the market is the Alexander Park, and beyond that the Peter and Paul Fortress, the origin of St Petersburg.

There’s even a city beach of sand made from granite.

Shaverma, or doner kebabs, are worth a try, but be sure to choose a clean-looking vendor so as not to lose two days of the World Cup to food-poisoning.

Rubinshteina and Dumskaya Streets are often recommended to tourists, but are best avoided: Rubinshteina is aimed at visiting Muscovites with money to burn and Dumskaya can be rather unsafe.

Some of the best St Petersburg souvenirs are sold at the Podpisniye Izdaniya bookstore at 57 Liteiny Prospekt. Here you can buy handmade wooden icons with portraits of Russian writers and poets, postcards and Petersburg fridge-magnets dedicated to the rainy weather and the melancholy mood of the city’s residents.

“This Nevsky Prospekt deceives you at any time of the day or night,” the Russian author Nikolai Gogol wrote in his eponymous short story. Almost 200 years later, nothing has changed.

It’s now just a four-hour ride on the Lastochka (Swallow) or Strizh (Swift) train from the Russian capital to Nizhny, as it’s known, a fine city with river views, reasonably priced bars and some great city art.

Nizhny’s street art encompasses more than 300 works scattered across the city, from murals to sculptures to graffiti.

On the Lower Volga embankment, take a selfie beside the metal deer created by Hungarian sculptor Gabor Miklos Szoke. Admire the ‘Chkalov Steps’, the symbol of the city, at the top of which stands a monument to Soviet pilot Valery Chkalov, who was born close to Nizhny. From here it’s a short walk to the city’s main drag, Rozhdestvenskaya Street, a great place to go bar-hopping.

The Kremlin is the well-spring of the city’s thriving art scene, housing both the Arsenal contemporary art centre and a museum with a rich collection of masterpieces, including one of Kazimir Malevich’s ‘Reapers’, and works by Boris Kustodiev, Nicholas Roerich and Viktor Vasnetsov.

From the Fyodorovsky Embankment there are also good views of the Kanavinsky Bridge and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, as well as the World Cup stadium called, somewhat unimaginatively, the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.

From the Kremlin, you should walk along Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, the city’s main artery, which connects the central Minin and Pozharsky Square with Gorky Square.

Close to this square is one of the most popular shaurma (kebab) outlets in the city. Aficionados flock to this stall to eat kebabs the size of footballs.

Stroll along Pokrovka to see a mix of musicians, flame-throwers and street-beggars, and drop into any of the cafes for burgers, hummus or noodles.

On this street you can see the imposing neo-Russian-style State Bank building and the Drama Theatre where the legendary bass opera singer Fyodor Chaliapin made his debut.

Other things you should not miss: one of the longest cable car rides in Europe – a snip at just 100 rubles one way – which takes you to the nearby town of Bor; impressive Stalinist architecture of Sotsgorod, literally a 'Socialist town', built in the 1930s around the Gorky Car Plant; Shchelokovo farm and its museum of wooden architecture; and nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov’s house museum, where the dissident and nuclear disarmament activist lived for six years.

Yekaterinburg is a rambling city with an easy rhythm of life. The construction of the Yeltsin Centre – the former Russian president is the city’s most famous export – and a plethora of new restaurants means its centre has become a great place for a pleasant stroll.

For this you should employ an experienced guide or arm yourself with a guide book from the ‘Tatlin’ publishing house.

Here you can see the orange-coloured Houses of Exemplary Living – a Constructivist concept devised in the 1920s, which rethought the way people should live to make it more communal.

From there go to the 1905 Square metro station, walk to the Yeltsin Centre, where you will need at least three hours to visit the three main exhibitions, and then walk on to the stadium, passing on your way a scattering of cafes, bars and restaurants.

Near the post office at 41 Lenin Street – another great example of the Constructivist form, which has recently been scrubbed clean and brought back to life – you will find a huge range of cafes selling everything from bistro burgers to Vietnamese street food.

Two more areas for eating should be noted: the intersection of Malyshev and Khokhryakov Streets, where you can find warm waffles with bacon, Belgian beer and authentic Vietnamese Pho soup.

And if you are in the Chekist district, don’t miss a plate of traditional Ural dumplings and hash.

You can also find jewellery and ornaments with Constructivist themes – better than postcards, as they are both functional and attractive.

If you want to see multinationalism and multiculturalism in Russia, look no further than Kazan. As a single region, the Republic of Tatarstan, of which Kazan is the capital, has the largest Muslim population in Russia.

The well-thought-out infrastructure and eclectic architecture of the city, some of it reminiscent of Moscow, make any walk through Kazan a kaleidoscope of impressions.

There you can go to the banks of the Kazanka River and look across to the ranks of tall new buildings, two large ferris wheels and the lights of residential complexes.

Aside from bustling Bauman Street, the bars on Profsoyuznaya Street or the restaurants on Sibgat Hakim Street, the centre of Kazan is almost deserted by nine o’clock in the evening.

Some have compared Kazan to an exotic film set, full of beautiful streets and buildings, but one to which they forgot to invite any cast or crew.

Samarans can’t seem to decide whether they live in a teaming metropolis or a resort on the banks of the Volga. Old wooden dwellings stand cheek-to-cheek with high-rise business centres, traditional houses jostle for space with shiny new shopping malls and the countryside surrounding the city is fast becoming urban sprawl.

There is a bronze statue of Prince Grigory Zasekin, the founder of Samara, astride a horse. There is a monument to the burlaks, the workers who hauled barges and other vessels upstream by hand.

Close to the embankment you definitely should not miss a trip to a long-standing Samara institution, a bar called Na Dne (At the Bottom) close to the Zhigulyovsky brewery.

This tiny bar serving the local beer is loved by Samarans young and old. And at 85 rubles a glass, it’s easy to see why.

Here you can find an exciting mix of the old and the new: Stalinesque buildings stand beside designer fashion boutiques, against a backdrop of yachts, open-air terraces serving fresh fish and French cafes selling dainty patisseries.

Not far, at 9 Ordzhonikidze Street, is the oldest khinkalnaya in the city, serving khinkaly, a delicious Georgian dish of garlicky meat dumplings. This one is the most delicious and the least expensive in Sochi. You can also try shish kebabs, solyanka (a delicious sour soup) and lavash, the local bread, with goat’s cheese and vegetables, as well as finding a variety of vodkas and Georgian wines.

Don’t miss Navaginskaya Street, the popular and picturesque pedestrian zone in the centre of town.

After Navaginskaya you have a choice: walk to the railway station or to Platanovaya (Plane Tree) Alley. After that, take a bus or a taxi to the Dendrarium, 40 hectares of stunning parkland containing 1,500 different plants and trees.

Try these locations for cult film and music industry illustrations: 39 Ostrovsky Street (the Soviet film The Diamond Arm), 2 Ordzhonikidze Street (the Soviet film Ostap Bender), 48 Gorky Street (Albert Einstein), 1 Nesebrskaya Street (The Beatles), Mayak beach (Jacques Cousteau).

Moving further into the city centre, you will come to the cathedral - a modern building, but monumental and impressive in its own way.

It’s a little harder to find places to eat in Saransk than in the other World Cup host cities. Don’t risk your health eating shaurma or chebureki, a deep-fried pastry filled with minced meat and onions.

Sadly for Saransk, the World Cup development has only touched the town centre.

This Saransk still has outdoor toilets, drunkards loitering in doorways and rowdy youths who are not necessarily the most hospitable. But if you come to the capital of Mordovia for only one day, you are unlikely to see the grimmer reality behind the World Cup.