Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Tretyakov Gallery tickets and prices

An adult ticket to the permanent collection costs 700 ₽. The same price applies at the historic building on Lavrushinsky Lane and at the New Tretyakov on Krymsky Val, but they are separate tickets. Children 6 and under go free.

Concessions of 350 and 400 ₽ exist for children aged 7–17, students and pensioners, but you must show a document at the door, and most discounts are designed around Russian IDs. As a foreign adult, plan on 700 ₽.

Buy on the gallery’s official website — the museum itself recommends it. Entry is timed: you choose a date and a 30-minute slot, and the e-ticket is scanned from your phone. Foreign Visa and Mastercard cards haven’t worked in Russia since March 2022, so online checkout usually needs a Russian card or a friend’s help; at the ticket desk, bring roubles or a Russian card.

Temporary exhibitions in the Engineering Building and the Kadashevskaya Embankment building are ticketed separately. Guided tours cost extra and small groups fill up, so book a tour in advance.

Is the Tretyakov Gallery worth visiting?

Yes, if you have any interest in Russia beyond the Kremlin. This is the one place where Russian painting makes sense as a story — icons, then 18th-century portraits, then the 19th-century realists who painted peasants, monks and the endless forest, then Vrubel’s strange shimmering demons. Most of it you won’t see anywhere outside Russia.

It is less worth it if you only want famous Western names: for Monet, Matisse and Rembrandt go to the Pushkin Museum instead. And if you have just one free Monday, skip it — the gallery is closed.

A guide or tour helps more here than in most museums: the paintings are packed with Russian history, saints and literature that a quick look won’t reveal.

Famous paintings to see

• Viktor Vasnetsov, Bogatyrs — three legendary knights on horseback, the gallery’s most photographed canvas; nearby is his Alyonushka.
• Ivan Shishkin, Morning in a Pine Forest — the bear cubs every Russian knows from a chocolate wrapper.
• Ilya Repin — Religious Procession in Kursk Province, Tsarevna Sophia and the portrait of Mussorgsky.
• Vasily Surikov — the vast Boyarynya Morozova and The Morning of the Streltsy Execution.
• Mikhail Vrubel — The Demon Seated and The Swan Princess, in a room built for his work.
• Valentin Serov, Girl with Peaches — the gallery’s gentlest portrait.
• Alexander Ivanov, The Appearance of Christ to the People — a canvas so large it has its own hall.
• Isaac Levitan, Golden Autumn, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Birch Grove and Vasily Polenov, Moscow Courtyard — Russian landscape at its best.
• Portraits — Kiprensky’s Pushkin, Bryullov’s Horsewoman, Perov’s Dostoevsky and Kramskoi’s Tolstoy.

Main building, New Tretyakov or Kadashi: which one?

“The Tretyakov” is a group of buildings. For a first visit you want the historic building at Lavrushinsky Lane 10 — the red-and-white facade from the photos, with Russian art up to the early 20th century.

The New Tretyakov at Krymsky Val 10, opposite Gorky Park, covers the 20th century: Malevich’s Black Square, Kandinsky, Chagall and Soviet painting. It’s a different address and ticket. The gallery’s director has said the building will close for reconstruction in March 2027, with no reopening date yet — so if the avant-garde is on your list, go before then.

The Engineering Building next door and the Kadashevskaya Embankment building (opened 2024), five minutes away, host temporary exhibitions. Check what’s on — they can be excellent, but they’re extras, not the core collection.

How long do you need?

Two to three hours covers the highlights at a comfortable pace. Seeing all 62 rooms properly takes most of a day, and few people manage it without museum fatigue.

The rooms run in chronological order. Short on time? Head upstairs for the 19th-century realists and the turn-of-the-century rooms with Vrubel and Serov, then come down for the icons if you still have energy. Families with young children usually last about an hour — pick Vasnetsov’s Bogatyrs and Shishkin’s bears first.

Tretyakov Gallery vs Pushkin Museum vs GES-2

If you visit one museum in Moscow, make it the Tretyakov — this collection of Russian art is unique. GES-2 is an easy add-on the same afternoon; the Pushkin Museum is for European art lovers.

Moscow’s historic sights compared

Every historic place in Moscow rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

Nearby — add to your day

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GES-2 House of Culture

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Moscow Metro

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Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

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Kremlin Armoury

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How to do it right

• Two-hour route: icons → 18th-century portraits → Ivanov → Shishkin and Savrasov → Repin and Surikov → Vasnetsov → Vrubel and Serov.
• Take an evening slot, then walk the embankment to GES-2.
• Pair the New Tretyakov with Gorky Park — it stands right opposite.
• Eat before you go: Bolshaya Ordynka and Pyatnitskaya streets are full of cafés.
• Photos are fine without flash — but leave the selfie stick at the hotel.
• A guided tour turns the paintings into stories about Russian history — worth it on a first visit.

Questions