Boulevard Ring

Enjoy a city centre stroll under the trees
Word to the wise: Don't miss the fantastic 'swimming horses' monument near Kropotkinskaya metro dedicated to Mikhail Sholokov, author of 'Quietly Flows the Don'.

Talk of the town: The Chistye Prudy section of the boulevard is where the recent Russian protest movement started and is still popular with lone protesters.
A green and pedestrian-friendly boulevard circling the inner-city, the boulevard ring is a great central walking route. Walking the whole ring would take around an hour and a half and along the way there are numerous monuments to famous Russian cultural figures such as Gogol, Pushkin, the playwright Griboedev and Soviet bard Vladimir Vystosky.

Planned out in the years after Moscow was almost entirely burnt to the ground during the Napoleonic war, the ring was inspired by the boulevards of Paris and Austria. Nowadays it's still a popular place for a relaxed stroll, as well as a venue for open air exhibits and the occasional political protest.

Starting at the Kropotkinskaya metro station it passes through one of Moscow most central through-ways – Tverskaya street – before skirting up and down hills to the lovely Chistye Prudy, or 'Clean Ponds', which is a popular summer hangout and informal skating venue in winter.