Shopping
Shopping in Moscow is surprisingly rewarding. This previously
deprived nation loves shopping and Moscow's city centre has
numerous malls and upmarket boutiques, offering all the big name
brands and some pricey local produce.
The GUM building in Red Square hosts Hugo Boss, Dior and Calvin
Klein. Tverskaya Ulitsa, running north from Red Square, is Moscow's
most trendy shopping street. More modest, high-street fashions such
as Benetton, Guess, Nike and Reebok, are available from Okhoktny
Ryad, under Manezh Square. Izmailovskii Park has a market at the
weekends, selling traditional Russian arts and crafts (such as
nesting dolls) as souvenirs.
Eliseev Gastronome was an 1880s palace and retains many of its
original features, such as curling marble pillars and candelabras,
but is now an exclusive supermarket where visitors mights find the
finest Russian vodka or caviar; the Cheremushinsky Rynok market
also sells fresh local produce. Warehouses in the suburbs sell
cheap electronic goods, DVDs and software, as do vendors at the
Gorbushkin Dvor market.
Shops are generally open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm; some
larger retailers stay open till 8pm, many smaller shops are closed
between 1pm and 3pm. Ensure that all necessary export permits are
in order, and beware of purchasing illegally manufactured/pirated
goods.