Once barred to all but senior spymasters and the party faithful, many of Moscow’s most secret sites are now open to the public. Grudgingly. Brace yourself for strong security and be prepared to pay.

Star City

It used to be a standing joke in Moscow that the Socialist utopia was alive and functioning in Zvezdny Gorodok (Star City), if nowhere else. While more than a decade of free market economics has taken its toll, the pristine tidiness and quite eerie silence are evocative of the centrally-planned show town this once was.

Keep your eyes peeled and you might bump into Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, or Yuri Gagarin’s widow, both still living in Cosmonauts’ Alley.

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Much of the main training complex remains accessible only to employees (and “space tourists”), but you can see the world’s largest centrifuge, catch would-be astronauts practising their space walks in the million gallon capacity hydro lab, explore a full-size model of the Mir space station, and find out (in some detail) what happens with no toilets in space.

Getting there It can be visited independently, but Star City is still a “protected area” and security is tight. Written requests (with full passport information) should be sent to the Training Centre Excursions Department: +7 495 526 3842, +7 495 526 2612 (fax).

Visitors to the museum will also need to contact its administration department separately, in advance: +7 495 526 3817. Getting in isn’t cheap: 7,500 rubles to visit the Training Centre, and a further 2,500 for the museum: about £240 in total. Patriarshy Dom Tours (+7 495 795 0927) visit every month or so, for 2,000 rubles (£48).

Stalin’s Secret Bunker

Built 1934–1939 in response to increasing German militarism, Stalin’s World War II bunker – big enough to accommodate an entire tank battalion – lies beneath a football stadium on the city’s eastern outskirts.

Anyone familiar with the excesses of Moscow’s early 1950s Stalinist architecture will not be surprised by what they find here: even in extremis, it seems the dictator’s tastes still ran to the rococo, with the central Session Hall featuring marble pillars and ornate plasterwork.

Dodge the attendant and you might just get to sit behind the desk in his private office. The bunker is open by appointment only, and it’s almost impossible to find: save money and aggravation with a guided tour. Russkie Prostori (+7 495 983 0334) charge 155EUR for 1-2 people, including translation.

Stalin's Secret Bunker, 80 Sovietskaya Ulitsa. +7 499 166 5596. Metro: Cherkizovskaya, Partizanskaya

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