Online Guide to Moscow

Check out the U.S. edition of the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com) for a useful free guide to attractions in Moscow. I don't agree with all their selections of the top places to see, but do agree with VDNKh, the All-Russia Exhibition Centre, whose entrance is pictured above. The piece is produced by College Tourist, whom you can follow on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com.)

The VDNKh is remarkable because it is a time-warp back to Soviet times, but in a good way. It is a large park with many free attractions in the northwest part of the city, easily accessible by Metro.
Many of the College Tourist's choices are the standard ones--the Kremlin, Red Square, GUM etc. and you can't really argue with them. Christ the Saviour Cathedral is a relatively new standard attraction, and it is of great historic and religious significance. However, I get more sense of the importance of Russian religion by just dropping into random Orthodox churches.

The choice of excursions out of the city would not be mine--I have little interest in a big new shopping centre. Far better, I think, to visit Peredelkino, the writer's colony, or Tolstoy's home at Yasnaya Polyana, or to attend a concert an any of a number of country estates near Moscow.

In any case, the article is a helpful introduction for first-time visitors to Moscow.