5 Parks to Visit in Moscow in Autumn

Moscow is beautiful in every season, but especially in fall, during the window of the indian summer, when colours turns into an intense hue of yellow and red the scene become surreal! The leave and trees against the blue skies brings to life the oil painting of a bazaar kind.

You don't need to venture very far to be in a wooded area in Moscow. There are a myriad of parks to chose from within the vicinity of the city, and each one of them are unique in their own way. Autumn comes upon Moscow from mid September, rainy and damp days cools the weather with grey skies and shorter days. But nature always gives a last wave of magic of summer before the deep freeze!

Museon Art Park, Gorky Park, Neskuchny Park, Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory)

• Free

• 24 hours

• Leninsky Prospekt metro stations, Vorobyovy Gory Metro

These 4 parks are kinda connected along the Moskva River. You could walk from The Museum Art Park all along the river right up to Sparrow Hill park, it's may take about 1 and half hour if you take a slow stroll. However, you could rent a bike, get on a river cruise, skate all along the river.

The Museum Art Park has many sculptures by Russian artist and the New Tretyakov Gallery museum is a stone throw away fro the park! This museums houses some of the 20th century Advent Garde, social-realism art works that epitomizes SOVIET RUSSIA ART!

It is brilliant and don't miss it!

There is a huge arch as you enter the Gorky Park across the road from the museum art park. There is a ticket office for cruise boats at the banks of the Gorky Park, the cruise ship is berthed there too. This particular cruise ship is run by the Radisson Hotel Group and you can eat and sip champagne while watching the Moscow scene go by! The cruise take about 2 hours plus, and they run in winter too as the boat is equipped with ice bracker facilities! I really recommend doing this cruise as the view of Moscow from the river is always different as it is from the roads!

Among all these parks Neskuchny Park is among the most clam and quiet. Full of squirrels and birds. Many residences near by spend their time here just taking evening strolls. It is relatively quiet as there are no close by metro that serves this park. In winter when the slopes of the park is frozen and blackened in snow, it turns into a snow park!

Walk up a little further and you will reach the Sparrow Hill Park. There is a little hill here where in winter you could ski or snowboard on this short slope. Otherwise there is a cable car ride that connects you to the Luzniki Stadium across the river.

Go up the hill and you will reach an observation platform of a view the the lovely Moscow city! And on the other side you will see the towering building of the Moscow State University, Московский государственный университет, a fine sample of Stalinist Empire style term given to architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 and 1955 architecture!

If you only have one free day in Moscow do this walk! It is fascinating.

Zaryadye Park

• free

• opening from 10am -10pm

• it is right at the end of the Red square by the river bank

This park has 4 zones that represents the different part of Russian landscapes. There is a floating bridge where you can get a panoramic view of Moscow from the river! It was only open in 2017 September right before the world cup 2018.

Kolomenskoye Park ( Combination of Reserve and Architecture)

Free

May -September 8am-12am

October-April- 8am-9pm

Kolomenskoye metro station

This huge park houses a palace, an orthodox church, old wooden church, apple trees, honey market, and views of the lovely Moskva River. It was the former residence of the tzars when they are on holiday in Moscow. It is slightly far from the city center but if you have a day to spare it is worthwhile

Izmailovo Park

Free, however if you want to enter the market area there is a small fee at the entrance depending weekdays or weekends, or avoid the main entrance if you don't wish to pay.

• Opens 24 hours

• Partizanskaya metro station

I love this park, this market, I have spend hours browsing through the antique market which they host here on weekends. You get to see a piece of history of how and what these people have lived though especially during the war, post war, soviet times!

There is also an art market here where you can get a cheap painting of Moscow or artisanal Matryoska dolls.

There is a vodka museum on the way to the market in Izmailovo. If you are interested in the method of producing vodka or the history of it, it would be a good pit stop!

Aptekarsky Garden or Botanical garden at the Moscow State University

• 300 RB

• Opens from 10am-8pm

• Prospect Mira metro station

This park was founded by Peter The Great in 1706, for growing medicinal plants for the royal family, but it was moved from the Kremlin to this current location.

This garden is beautiful in every season. There are flower festivals here, seasonal flower exhibitions and this park has a strong resemblance to the garden Matisse .

Note: Autumn in Moscow is not a mere 10-15c degree, at times it does go down to 2-8c degree or may even start snowing in late September. It is important to wear your layers and better to have a hot flask with you. When you are in the parks, there can be strong winds and best if you have a pair of gloves. You may turn numb in the cold, so always remember to grab that bottle of vodka with you! (just joking)

The indian summer probably last only 4-5 days each year, some years more intense than others! But normally it comes around the 1st or 2nd week of October!

Babi leta or the indian summer is such an amazing window of the time where nature gives us one more chance to feel the warmth of the sun, the blue skies against the golden leaves! A scent of drying leaves in the air, slowly turning damp and grey, inviting the longer nights than day and slowly the first layer of snow begins to blanket the earth!