In the Soviet Union, every large town had a Park of Rest and Culture, and Moscow's Gorky Park is undoubtedly the most famous. Originally designed to entice the workers out for some fresh air and exercise, these parks have adapted to the times, and now provide a variety of outdoor entertainments for Muscovites and visitors. Nonetheless, much of their Soviet pomp has thankfully been preserved.

[Photo from moscow.info]

Gorky Park

The Central Park of Rest and Culture Named After M. Gorky, to give it its full name, is one of the most famous places in Moscow (thanks presumably to Martin Cruz Smith's grizzly tale of a psychopathic professor, and the Hollywood film it inspired - shot mostly in Stockholm). Laid out in 1928, this was the first park of its kind, and the prototype for hundreds of others across the Soviet Union.

The park stretches along the banks of the Moscow River, and is divided into two parts. The first is primarily of interest to children or those trying to entertain them, as it contains a range of funfair rides and rollercoasters - some safer looking than others, although they are being upgraded all the time. You can also hire boats or horses, go bungee jumping, and there's a sports club with tennis courts. In winter the whole area becomes a vast skating rink with skate hire, disco lights and music to match. In summer the "beach" area is hugely popular with sun-worshippers, and becomes an open air club in the evenings.

The other, older, half of the park is considerably more restrained, consisting of formal gardens and woodland that combine the former Golitsynskiy and Neskuchniy Gardens, names that crop up regularly in Russian literary classics. There are a number of fine old buildings dating from the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, including two summerhouses by the great Moscow architect Mikhail Kazakov (who designed the Senate Building in the Kremlin), and the first City Hospital. Nearby is the enormous Green Theater, an outdoor amphitheater that hosts various gigs and concerts in the summer months.

Gorky Park's attractions are generally more appealing for locals than for tourists but it's the place to come if you want to find out how the majority of Muscovites spend their free time. Across the road from the main entrance, in front of the House of Artists, is the Graveyard of Fallen Monuments, a ramshackle but intriguing collection of old Soviet official statues and other homeless sculpture that's well worth a brief inspection.

Address: 9, Krymskiy Val, Moscow, 117049, Russia.

Getting there: Park Kultury or Oktiabrskaya Metro Stations.

Opening hours: Daily from 10:00 to 22:00 (most of the rides are closed in the winter).

[Photo from moscow.info]

The All-Russian Exhibition Center (VVTs)

The VVTs is still much better known by its Soviet-era name, VDNKh - the Exhibition of National Economic Achievements - and it remains a fascinating monument to Russia's transitional period, a mixture of faded Soviet pomp and unregulated, rapacious capitalism.

It began life in 1939 as the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition, a monumental paean to the achievements of collectivization epitomized by the famous statue Worker and Collective Farm Girl by renowned Soviet sculptor Vera Mukhina. The exhibition was housed in 250 buildings spread over 136 hectares, and attracted 4.5 million visitors in 1940 alone; 3,000 guides were employed to take care of them.

The exhibition had to be closed during the war years, and was only reopened in 1954, with the addition of the magnificent arch that stands at the main entrance and further exhibition pavilions that extended the area of the park to 207 hectares. Two years later, the All-Union Industrial Exhibition was opened on the same site and, in 1958, the Construction Exhibition was moved here, too, and all three were renamed VDNKh. In 1992, the park was given its current name and opened up to private enterprise.

The results were instantaneous and extraordinary: temporary kiosks and garish billboards spread like a rash across the park, in stark contrast to the grandiose Stalinist architecture of the original pavilions. These, too, were swiftly taken over, with luxury car dealerships and gun shops taking the place of earnest exhibitions detailing agricultural processes and industrial breakthroughs.

Nowadays the VVTs is a bizarre juxtaposition: part agricultural fair, part trade expo, part shopping centre and part street market, with amusements as diverse as paint-balling and camel rides - as well as the ubiquitous slot-machine arcades - on offer in various parts of the grounds. The park itself is an intriguing example of 20th century landscaping and, even if they are a little the worse for wear, the buildings are still preposterously magnificent. The VVTs is truly unique, and well worth a visit, especially as there is plenty more to be seen nearby, including the wonderful Cosmonautics Musuem, the Ostankino TV Tower, and the very different delights of the Ostankino Park and Estate.

Getting there: VDNKh Metro Station.

Sokolniki Park

Sokolniki Park is not far from the center of the city, near Sokolnicheskaya Gate. The park gained its name from the Sokolnichya Quarter, the 17th century home of the sovereign's falconers (sokol is the Russian word for falcon). It was created by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (father of Peter the Great), a keen hunter who loved to go falconing in the area.

The park's current layout of clearings and alleys began under Peter. In 1900 a "labyrinth", or network of alleys, was laid out. The park has been open to the public since 1878, and from 1931 onwards Sokolniki has been being developed as an official "park of culture and leisure".

Today Sokolniki is a typical Russian park, with an ageing funfair and other amusements for children, and numerous fast food stalls all clustered near the main entrance. In summer the central alleyways are a mass of brightly colored formal flowerbeds, while the depths of the park are a wilderness home to pines and spruces, birches and oaks, limes and maples - all trees native to the Moscow region - as well as a number of non-indigenous trees, such as larches, cedars, walnut, red oaks, etc. The park's wildlife includes hares, squirrels and weasels, as well as 76 types of bird.

Getting there:Sokolniki Park is located next to Sokolniki metro station.

Victory Park on Poklonnaya Gora

Victory Park was only completed in the mid-nineties, and is something of a last gasp for the Soviet tradition of monumental triumphal art. Located on and around the Poklonnaya Gora - the hill where Napoleon waited in vain to be given the keys to the city when his troops were surrounding Moscow in 1812 - the park is set in an area steeped in Russian military history.

Victory Park was initially laid out over an area of 98 hectares in 1961, although work on the creation of an architectural memorial was only mooted in the Politburo in 1983. Fortunately, the original plan - to level the hill and replace it with a 250-meter high column - was abandoned in the turbulent eighties, and only returned to under Yeltsin's government, when it was considered imperative to get the long-delayed project finished in time for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945 - Russians have little interest in other countries' participation). Questions of taste left aside, the results are certainly impressive. The central avenue is called "Years of War": It has five terraces, symbolizing the five years of conflict, and there are 1,418 fountains - one for every day. It runs past a memorial chapel, mosque, and synagogue to the circular Victors' Place, which has a triangular obelisk soaring 150 meters and surmounted by a statue of Nike, the Goddess of Victory. Behind this lies the crescent-shaped Museum of the Great Patriotic War, which gives a detailed but staid overview of Russia's appalling loses and eventual victory.

On 9 May, Victory Day in Russia, the park becomes the center of Moscow's celebrations, and as many of the remaining veterans and survivors as can make there way here, along with scores of the younger generations. In Russia the emphasis is on celebration rather than remembrance, and this is one of the most popular public holidays.

Getting there: Park Pobedy Metro Station.

Khoroshevsky Forest Park and Serebryany Bor

Serebyany Bor is a famous pine forest in the west of Moscow. Most of it is taken up by the Khoroshevsky Forest Park, which has many trees over 100 years old. The park has 230 forms of plantlife, and is also home to a watersports complex, marinas and stables belonging to wealthy Muscovites.

One area of Serebyrany Bor is now called the Lemeshev Memorial Zone, after the great Russian singer S.Ya. Lemeshev, who often came here to relax; it now hosts concerts and musical evenings. The layout of Serebryany Bor is unusual, as it is located on an artificial island between a meander in the Moscow River and a canal. There is an artificial lake, the Deep Gulf, in the depths of the forest. There is also the picturesque Bezdonnoe (Bottomless) Lake.

Serebryany Bor's beaches are the cleanest in the city and very popular among Muscovites. On weekends it is difficult to find a free spot here, especially because a whole range of services are on offer to visitors, from simple deckchairs to catamaran and yacht rides.

Getting there: Take the trolleybus from Polezhaevskaya or Shchukinskaya Metro Stations.

Filevsky Park

Located in the west of Moscow on the former estate of the Naryshkin Princes, the park has preserved an 18th-century palace and colonnade erected as a monument to Catherine the Great's visit to the estate. Until 1964 there was a nature reserve here, and work is currently ongoing in the creation of a landscape cultural park.

The five-kilometer stretch of the park along the Moscow River is particularly beautiful. Nearby is the Garbushka market, notorious for selling pirate CDs and DVDs.

Getting there: The entrance to the park is next to Filevsky Park Metro Station.