Moscow Guide
The Kremlin
www.kremlin.museum.ru Opening time: Complex open daily 10am to 5pm, except Thursday. Note that the Armoury Palace and Diamond Fund can only be entered at set times, and the Faceted, Terem and Great Kremlin palaces only on special tours.
Price: R300; Armoury Palace R350; photo permits (R110 each) are required to take pictures in the cathedrals and the Armoury
Brooding and glittering in the heart of Moscow, the Kremlin thrills and tantalizes whenever you see its towers stabbing the skyline, or its cathedrals and palaces arrayed above the Moskva River. Its name is synonymous with Russia's government, and in modern times assumed connotations of a Mecca for believers, and the seat of the Antichrist for foes of Communism. Unsurprisingly, Russians generally feel more respectful than paranoid, being inclined to agree with Lermontov, who rhapsodized: "What can compare to the Kremlin which, having ringed itself with crenellated walls and adorned itself with the golden domes of cathedrals, sits on a high hill like the crown of sovereignty on the brow of an awesome ruler."
In general, visiting the Kremlin is quite easy. Assuming you're not with a group, the procedure is to buy tickets outside the Kutafya gate before figuring out what size restrictions currently apply to bags being brought into the Kremlin and only stashing yours at the luggage office below the gate-tower's southern side (open 9am–6.30pm; R60 per bag) if you must. Visitors wearing shorts will be refused entry to the Kremlin. The larger ticket kiosks sell illustrated guidebooks (R250) and rent audioguides (R200, plus ID as security), so there's no need to sign up for a tour unless you want to. Capital Tours runs English-language tours of the Kremlin cathedrals and Armoury starting at its office off Red Square at 11am and 2pm every day except Thursday (R1400 per person plus admission charges). Alternatively, you can engage a personal guide from the hopefuls that wait near the Kutafya Tower. Rates are negotiable (R500–700 an hour) and the quality variable; accredited guides should wear a badge issued by the City Government.