traveller no school

Inside the world of gypsy girls and why they leave school at the age of 11 to stay home and clean

For traveller kids like Paddy Doherty’s grandchildren Roseanne, 13, and Margaret, nine, leaving education to clean their trailers is normal

• 07:00, 10 Sep 2017
• Updated 11:50, 10 Sep 2017

On a piece of former wasteland in North Wales, 25 caravans, trailers and mobile homes nestle beneath a grey sky. A child of around six sits on a fat, speckled pony that’s tied to a stump in the scrappy grass, a woman tends to the flower pots by her trailer, and a dog dozes in the dust.

It could be a scene from a holiday park. But, in fact, this site is home to what is arguably one of the most isolated and enigmatic communities in modern day Britain: travellers. It’s also home to Paddy Doherty , the self-professed ‘King of the Gypsies’, whose TV credits include winning Celebrity Big Brother and starring in his own episode of Danny Dyer’s Deadliest Men.

In a trailer next door to his own gleaming chalet, Paddy sips a cuppa as two of his grandchildren – Roseanne, 13, and Margaret, nine – are hard at work. Little Margaret is wiping down every surface with a cloth dipped in very hot water mixed with bleach.

Her perfectly tonged, corkscrew red curls are pinned back from her face with an enormous white bow, as she stands on tiptoes to reach as high as she can. Meanwhile, her big sister Roseanne is on her hands and knees with the hoover nozzle, vacuuming the carpet so that it has alternating stripes as immaculate as Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

Pride in the home

This might look like a once-yearly spring clean, or part of a complicated kids’ game, but this is the daily routine for the girls .

"I’ve been learning to clean since I could walk," says Margaret, rubbing the back of her hand over a mascara’d eye. "Roseanne teaches me, just like my mammy taught her before that."

Roseanne stands up and nods in agreement, running a hand over a nearby surface to inspect her little sister’s work.

"It’s the traveller way: if I were to go to someone’s trailer and it wasn’t clean, I’d feel uncomfortable and I wouldn’t want to stay," she says.

To a traveller, reputation is everything, and for the women, much of that rests on pride in the home. The average girl spends at least five hours a day cleaning, and gets through three bottles of bleach a week, leaving their homes spotless, but their hands dry and sore.

Every morning, all the surfaces of the home are washed with bleach and hot water (even the dish-washing water is dosed with bleach). Mops are considered dirty, so floors are washed by hand and then polished each day. Hoover attachments are also a no-go for hygiene reasons, meaning much of the cleaning is done on all-fours using the nozzle. Every soft furnishing and carpet is also covered in plastic wrapping to help keep it in pristine condition.

"The girls never stop cleaning," says grandfather Paddy, nursing his cup of tea and sitting on the plastic-wrapped sofa. "It’s a point of pride for it to be really clean – you want to smell the cleanness when you walk in. A reputation as an unclean woman? That’s an insult that’s as below the belt as they come in our community. It’s the same for boys – when I was young, you made sure you kept your piece of ground clean, or you’d get a flogging."

Nowadays, many travellers live on settled, council-authorised camps, and around half live in houses. It’s not so much about moving about any more, it’s a way of life. Yet the dedication to cleaning – born during nomadic days when keeping wagons clear from dust and dirt on the road was a tough undertaking for traveller women – remains important.

As a result, cleaning is a process that takes priority over everything else – including school. Traditionally, traveller kids leave education after primary school in order to learn ‘traditional skills’ at home. For boys, this means trades such as bricklaying or tree-cutting, as well as learning to do odd jobs.

Meanwhile, the girls must learn how to clean to impeccable standards, as well as how to cook and to care for younger siblings. Once the eldest daughter has left school, traveller mums take a step back and leave her in charge.

Keeping up tradition

"I left school two years ago when I was 11, and I was over the moon because I didn’t get on with the gorgers (non-travellers)," says Roseanne, as she wipes down the glitzy cupboard doors. "But when I left I had no idea how much I’d have to do at home. It was a shock, but I still wouldn’t have stayed on."

At nine, Margaret still goes to school, but is keen to follow in her big sister’s footsteps.

"I only started three years ago, but I want to leave now because it’s so boring," she says. "None of us travellers like it and we don’t have friends outside the community."

But for Paddy, things are changing. Gone are the days when traveller kids could get by with no education – these days, there are few jobs that don’t require reading, writing or basic maths.

"I encourage them to go to school," he says. "It’s a different race out there, children have got to be more educated. My niece just got a degree and now she’s a psychiatrist. I said, 'Look at that, lads, a young traveller girl and she’s got a degree.' In 20 years, they won’t be here doing this." He gestures at his grandchildren, who are busy polishing already gleaming fruit ornaments. "They’ll be at college, learning to earn their own money."

Both girls say they’d like to become hairdressers, but for Roseanne, the traveller way of cleaning is set in stone.

"When I have kids, I’ll teach them to clean just like I do, and they’ll leave school at the same age," she says. "I don’t think things will change, this is the way things are. If Margaret doesn’t clean properly, I make her do it again until it’s right."

Margaret might be learning to clean, but that doesn’t mean she enjoys it.

"I don’t like it, it’s just boring,’ she says with a roll of her eyes. "I get annoyed with Roseanne telling me what to do, and I hate it when my friends are outside playing and I have to stay inside."

Despite living in a top-of-the-range trailer with all the amenities, much of it goes unused. The dishwasher and washing machine are not plumbed in for fear they might leak and spoil the interior. The oven has never been used and its shelves are covered in plastic wrapping. Both the girls shudder at the thought of using the trailer’s loo.

"That’s just not right," Margaret says matter of factly. "A traveller would never use the toilet where they live. That’s unhygienic."

Instead, the loo is in a nearby neat brick outhouse, and they use a washing machine and oven in a caravan parked outside.

Although the men in the community spend a lot of time keeping the site spick and span, it’s unheard of for a man to pick up a cloth inside.

"I’ve never done cleaning and I never would," says Paddy. "But honest to God, if I saw a man cleaning, I’d admire him."

For centuries, travellers have been discriminated against – two thirds of traveller children have been bullied as a result of their background, and hate crime against adults is common. Because of this, many travellers choose to keep themselves to themselves.

"I’d never marry outside the community, it’s not right," says Roseanne. "If a friend married a gorger, I don’t know if I’d go to the wedding."

But Paddy would like to see things change in the future.

"I used to think the best thing about gorgers was fighting them and bating them," he says with a sigh. "It’s sad, isn’t it? My upbringing was to learn to fight and hate country people (non-travellers). But Celebrity Big Brother really opened my eyes – I couldn’t believe how nice gorgers were.

"I always believed that a traveller had to marry someone of their own race, but I can kiss the Bible now and tell you, I wouldn’t give a damn what race my child married, as long as they loved each other."

Roseanne and Margaret seem unfazed by what the future may hold for the community – for now, there are chores to be done...

Gypsy Kids: Our Secret World is on Thursday, Channel 5, 9pm

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Gypsies and Travellers in Education: Hidden, Deviant or Excluded

• First Online: 26 January 2019

Cite this chapter

• Geetha Marcus 6  

Part of the book series: Studies in Childhood and Youth ((SCY))

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Marcus notes that research explores the experiences of Gypsy and Traveller families in accessing education for their children and interprets their challenges as the direct consequence of interrupted learning. An explanation of the Scottish legal context for enrolment and attendance in school is established. The situation is not straightforward, and the chapter sheds light on gaps and complications that make it possible for some travelling children and young people to legally miss out on an education, whether in school or at home. Gypsy and Traveller pupils are viewed as being ‘on the margins’ or ‘outside the mainstream’, ‘different’, ‘deviant’ or ‘excluded’. This chapter critically surveys relevant scholarly works in England and Wales, and the academic literature on Gypsy and Traveller experiences in education in Scotland. Key reports, recommendations and guidelines since devolution in 1998 reflect the lack of sustained, concerted action or non-performativity, which in turn reflect the myth of egalitarianism in the Scottish educational context in particular. There is currently no research that gives voice to the gendered educational experiences of Gypsy and Traveller girls in Scotland, as seen from their perspective. Neither are there studies that explore their educational experiences, in terms of their level of attainment and achievement, or their attendance in schools. The quality of schooling that they experience and how this relates to their ambitions and aspirations within school and beyond have not been considered or the external influences that might impact on their experiences at school explored. Whilst examples of good practice exist; some Gypsy and Traveller pupils remain socially and educationally excluded. As many do not self-identify out of fear of harassment, exact numbers are difficult to ascertain, and the gravity of the situation challenging to define.

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Marcus, G. (2019). Gypsies and Travellers in Education: Hidden, Deviant or Excluded. In: Gypsy and Traveller Girls . Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03703-1_3

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The Irish Times view on Traveller children at school: Feeling unwanted

The education system is still often not meeting the needs of the community’s children.

Though we have progressed from the days of blatant discrimination against Traveller children, it is clear the education system is still often not meeting their needs. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA Wire

It is not exactly news that too many Traveller children are not fulfilling their potential at school. Census 2016 data tell us 57 per cent of Traveller men and 54 per cent of Traveller women left school with no formal qualifications, compared with 14 per cent and 12 per cent respectively in the general population.

Just one per cent of Traveller men and 1.5 per cent of Traveller women have a third level degree or higher, compared with 25 per cent of men and 31 per cent of women generally.

Though we have progressed from the days of blatant discrimination against Traveller children, which saw them separated from their peers into different classes or even different schools, it is clear the education system is still often not meeting the needs of the community’s children.

A Government-commissioned report, Out of the Shadows, details how Traveller children do not feel included, wanted or safe in school – especially at second level – while their parents, many of whom experienced dreadful treatment during their schooldays, fear for them while they are in school.

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Despite several Government strategies over the past 15 years, including most recently the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021, promising to value Traveller identity in education and increase their participation at senior levels, this report says: “Rather than feeling a strong sense of belonging, the predominant feeling amongst the parents and students from the Travelling community . . . is one of being unwanted – both in school and by the settled community more generally”.

It would be too easy to blame schools for an education system still failing Traveller children. The Department of Education’s decision 10 years ago to withdraw the visiting teacher service for Travellers saved just €2.4 million but deprived Traveller children of a key support.

The sense of not being wanted is one that blights the lives of Travellers well beyond the school gates. Educational spaces must be a safe and welcoming for all children if they are to thrive there, but schools need support to deliver that.

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Home by 10am: 'Misuse' of reduced school days leaving a generation of Traveller children 'lost'

LAST UPDATE | 17 Oct 2021

“I FEEL THAT the schools have been failed, the children have been failed, we’re all failing as professionals and people are afraid to put their hands up and admit it.”

Anne Marie Quilligan – a social care worker for the Tipperary Rural Traveller Project - works with over 100 school children throughout Munster but said only a handful will go on to further education “because they don’t have the basic reading and writing skills”.

A lack of supports in school alongside systemic issues in the education system including the “abuse” of reduced school days – with some children being permitted to attend for just 40 minutes – are having a detrimental impact on Traveller children.

The gap in education attainment between Travellers and the general population has long been highlighted by Traveller organisations. The last census in 2016 showed that 13% of Travellers were educated to an upper secondary school level or above, but this was over 70% in the general population.

Numerous advocates told this  Noteworthy  and TheJournal project of the bleak outlook held by young people who observe their peers facing discrimination when later trying to get a job.

This is reflected in the recent EU Roma and Travellers Survey 2019  which found that 70% of young Irish Travellers (aged 16-24) were not in employment, education or training. This was the highest of all groups across the six countries surveyed and almost seven times more than young Irish people generally (11%).

“Obviously we’ve all dropped the ball somewhere and unless we all start having real, honest conversations, without pointing the finger of blame, there’s going to be no resolving of this and it’s the children who are the collateral damage,” said Quilligan.

At Noteworthy  and  The Journal , over the past number of months, we examined supports for Traveller children in the education system as part of our TOUGH START investigation. 

We can now reveal:

• The Department of Education does not have any data on the usage of reduced school days, hours or timetables on Travellers but hopes to correct this with the implementation of new guidelines in 2022
• Research found Travellers are on the shortest school days, with reports of children attending for just 40 minutes and advocates calling for ‘an eradication’ of reduced hours for Traveller children
• Traveller children told Noteworthy that their schools did not send work home and they were unable to participate in online classes as they had no internet access
• Over 60 children on one halting site in Munster received no digital supports such as tablets and laptops during Covid
• Both Traveller children and adults reported experiencing discrimination in school  with teachers having low expectation of them and treating them differently
• Advocates called on cultural awareness training to be rolled out to address the institutional racism present in the school system
• Only one Department of Education policy document relating to teacher training mentions Travellers and in that, they are grouped with those with additional learning needs as well as diverse linguistic, socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds
• No date was provided by the Department of Education on the development of the promised Traveller Education Strategy

In part one , Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman told Noteworthy that “there’s ingrained institutional racism against the Traveller community”. In part two , we reported that Traveller health is ‘not being prioritised’ despite ‘shocking’ outcomes for children.

Over the next two weeks will also be investigating issues facing Traveller children in relation to housing and the justice system. 

‘Misuse’ of reduced school days   

No matter who the investigation team spoke to, one of the main issues that advocates and education workers raised was the use of reduced school days for Travellers in both primary and secondary school.  

For Bernard Joyce, director of the Irish Traveller Movement, “there is a generation of Traveller children who have lost out in terms of education, opportunity and further progression” due to the use of reduced school days. He called for “an eradication” of their use at a Children’s Rights Alliance event on the topic last month.  

Reduced school days are arrangements where students arrive after the usual start time or leave before the end of the school day. Some have a reduced school week where they don’t attend the full five days or reduced timetables where less subjects are taken. 

Joyce has a number of concerns about their use for Traveller children and the length of time they are being kept in place, in some cases for a child’s “full life experience” of school. He claimed that some are being put on reduced hours simply because of their Traveller ethnicity. 

It’s not the behaviour of the child, it’s the behaviour of the structures in the system. In this case, it can be in terms of that bias or low expectation of a Traveller student or pupil.

Research from 2019 which examined the impact of short school days on children with disabilities and their families found that “the State has failed to exercise its authority to prevent an abuse of power by many schools, which are excluding children in a hidden manner by placing them on short school days”. 

Since there were only a small number of Traveller children, results relating to them were not separated out in the study’s findings. However, lecturer Deborah Brennan from TU Dublin told Noteworthy that “there appears to be a pattern – as reported by parents – that would suggest that children with disabilities in the Traveller community are subject to unusually short days when compared to the overall group of children with disabilities”.

Brennan said this included “the shortest school day reported in the study which had a duration of 40 minutes”. She felt that “this pattern is sufficiently concerning to warrant further investigation”. 

“An audit of the application of limited or reduced timetables for Traveller children” was one of the recommendations of the Interim Report on the Committee’s Examination on the Current Use of Reduced Timetables . 

Noteworthy asked the Department of Education if this had been done and for a copy of the audit report, but the Department’s spokesperson did not answer these queries directly, and instead pointed to their intention to “collect disaggregated data so that reports will inform policy” from next year.  

The number of Traveller children across Ireland on reduced hours is not known. We asked the Department of Education for this data through a freedom of information (FOI) request . The response stated that this has “not been reported by schools up to this and as a result it has not been possible to capture data and monitor their usage”.  

Information on the number of Traveller children in primary and secondary school on reduced hours / timetables / days during the 2020/2021 academic year is not held in this Department. 

The response continued: “The implementation of the Guidelines for the Use of Reduced Days in Schools will address this situation by requiring schools to notify Tusla Education Support Service when a reduced timetable is proposed.” 

These guidelines were issued last month “to ensure that this practice is limited to only those circumstances where it is absolutely necessary” – as it says in their introduction. They come into force in January when all schools must comply with them. 

At the launch of the guidelines, Minister for Education Norma Foley said that the Government has “committed to ensuring robust data collection in the use of reduced school days”. 

Noteworthy asked the Department of Education if data will be collected in a way that it can measure the number of Traveller children that are on reduced school days. A spokesperson said that “work is underway with regard to the data to be collected and the details have not yet been finalised” and added that “the Department envisages that disaggregated data collection will include Traveller ethnicity”. 

Robust monitoring of these guidelines was key for every Traveller advocate and education worker we spoke to and most felt without this, there would be little change.  

Social worker Quilligan told Noteworthy that only five out of the 100 Traveller children she works with do a full day at school. Currently, “there’s no accountability” of their use with “schools are not recording or documenting when these children are finishing school”. 

Can you imagine bringing your child in until 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock? The child doesn’t feel valued in the school. 

Schools in crisis ‘afraid’ to speak out

Quilligan felt that the new guidelines are“not radical enough” and added that “the situation has been allowed to get so bad, no one knows where to start”.  

She said a one-size-fits-all approach to this issue will not work as “it has to be done in a way that acknowledges the child’s feelings and additional educational supports they may need if they are staying in school for the full day”.  

Some children she works with told her that they would leave school completely if they were required to attend for the full day. “It would have to be a very holistic approach and something that would be very gradual. There would have to be a piece of work done where the child really wants to be in the school.” 

In some of the schools that Quilligan works with, students have been moved back to full days but “are not being engaged so are getting bored [and] say that they feel stupid because they can’t write the same way that settled children can”. 

Quilligan said she told one Traveller girl to ask her teacher for help if she didn’t understand. The girl did just that in Geography class but “the teacher said to her ‘that’s not my problem’”. 

Research by Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre found that Traveller education programmes were cut by almost 90% during the recession, which included cuts to Traveller resource teachers. This is blamed for the increased use of reduced days by many advocates we spoke to, who said they are being inappropriately used to deal with behaviour issues.  

When it comes to behaviour, Rachel Coffey, a Traveller education worker based in Cork city, felt that lack of resources led to staff not dealing with underlying issues, instead removing students from class.  

“Every behaviour has a feeling – if you sat down and asked the child ‘why are you upset’, instead of not dealing with them. A huge part of it is about communication.”

Quilligan said that an understanding of where Traveller children are coming from is also important. “In Ireland in 2021, we forget that children are living in these conditions. For a lot of children when they go into primary school, especially from a halting site, this might be the first time they have access to running water or a toilet. So the children might be a bit hyperactive because it’s such a new environment.” 

She said that her own family is massive, with over 100 cousins nearby and often 20 around when she visited her grandparents. “We were always so loud and so boisterous. It was natural to us, because if you’re surrounded by another 20 or 30 children and you’re playing, you just would be that way.” 

Quilligan also felt that the “focus is always on the shortcomings of the child due to ethnicity, rather than shining a light on institutional racism”. This leads to many parents feeling coerced into putting their child on reduced school days “because the principal tells them the child cannot cope with full days”. She added: 

The onus of responsibility and blame is far too often placed on the child rather than addressing the weaknesses within the Department of Education or school.

The funding cuts during the recession left schools in a crisis situation, according to Quilligan, who felt they are still having an impact today. 

She said that some schools are “afraid” to speak out and say that they are in crisis because “their backs are against the wall”.  

Minister Foley told  Noteworthy  that “in education we are committed to playing our part alongside parents and guardians to ensure that the school environment for Traveller and Roma children is a place where none are excluded or denied a voice”. She continued:

“My Department is committed to and will continue to work with other Government Departments, Agencies and Traveller Representative Groups to progress the various actions to support improved educational outcomes for the Traveller community.”

Lack of support during lockdown

Schools were again under significant pressure during the pandemic and while all children were impacted by school closures, experts have highlighted the disproportionate effects on disadvantaged children.  

A report compiled by Pavee Point in July 2020 stated that there were “potentially thousands of Traveller and Roma children around the country not currently receiving any education, with no access to proper IT facilities, and parents facing challenges in offering support given their own education experiences”.  

Most of the Traveller children who spoke to Noteworthy said their schools did not send work home to them and they were unable to participate in online classes as there is no internet access at their homes. 

“The teacher said ‘it’s okay, you don’t have to do it’, I was never invited, my mother and father were never called,” one boy said. “I wanted something to do during the lockdown.”

“My teacher got angry at me then for not doing the Zoom classes, for not doing the class online and I had to tell my mother to call because she was getting angry at me even though I was never invited.” 

Despite a commitment in April 2020 by then Education Minister Joe McHugh to provide funding for the purchase of technology and devices for disadvantaged students, Traveller organisations have said many children received no education at all during school closures.  

A total of €7 million in funding was provided in the post-primary sector and €3 million in the primary sector. However, social care worker Quilligan said she was “alarmed” by the lack of effort made by community and State services to ensure Traveller children received an education during the pandemic.  

“A lot of these children would be on halting sites so they wouldn’t be officially recorded or documented as homeless, but they are hidden homeless because they have no access to running water,” she explained. 

“Even during Covid, I’m still working with families now that still have no access to running water or toilets. They would live in overcrowded conditions where in some caravans or trailers there could be eight to ten children, so they wouldn’t even have the workspace to be able to do their bit of homework or a private space to read.” 

I found it very alarming that in one site where there are over 60 children, not one of the children was provided with digital supports, not one – tablets, laptops, internet, nothing.

According to the 2016 Census – the most recent national data available – just 34% of Irish Traveller households reported having access to the internet. This compared to 79% of homes in the general population.  

While some individual teachers or schools did arrange to send work home to Traveller children during the school closures, there was no consistent approach and Traveller organisations have said they were left to plug that education gap. 

Even in best examples, with schools that did manage to secure devices to send out to Traveller children, they said there was a lack of consideration of the fact that many of their parents did not know how to use them and could not help their children with their lessons. 

“One particular school was great – we had 16 Travellers and every young person got a device,” Coffey who is based in Cork City said. 

“I went and gave out the devices and I didn’t even think about how parents couldn’t set it up – one young person had it and the volume was down and she thought it was broken.”  

“It goes back to supporting the parents. You can’t hand out devices out to young people, if parents can’t set them up.  You need to be there with the young person setting it all up together – that came up with the Roma community as well.” 

‘Educational disadvantage has increased’  

A report from the Economic and Social Research Centre (ESRI) in June last year noted that the March lockdown had strained the intense networks of support that students from disadvantaged backgrounds relied on. 

One respondent to a survey by ESRI researchers said they were worried any further closures would “run the risk of a minority of students never returning to school at all”. 

“The gap in their learning will be too great and the return may seem too daunting,” they said. This report was published before the second closure of schools in late 2020 and into early 2021.  

“The most stark learning from the whole episode is the level of educational disadvantage has increased since closure and it is very difficult for schools to know how to bridge that gap,” another respondent said. 

Last month,  Noteworthy reported observations by Pavee Point that  there had been an increase in the number of Traveller teens aged 14-16 not returning to school this year. 

Due to the cancellation of the Junior Cert for the past two years, this means that these teens have not been able to sit any State exams before leaving mainstream education. 

In one secondary school in Finglas, only one out of four Traveller boys returned to their education this September, Pavee Point education officer Tracey Reilly said. 

Minister Foley did not respond to requests for comment on measures specifically targeted at Traveller children to address the digital divide or the education deficit during the pandemic.  

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said that it is receiving funding of €50m under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility “to issue as a once-off grant funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme”. 

“The focus of this funding will be to enable schools to address the infrastructure needs of their learners who may be at risk of educational disadvantage arising from a lack of access to such digital infrastructure.”

They said that a scheme to distribute these grants is currently being developed and the funding will be issued before the end of the year.

Given the stark contrast in education attainment in Traveller children compared to the general population and the ongoing issues in the education system – as highlighted in this investigation – Noteworthy felt it was important to ask Minister Foley for an interview.  

We requested this with a number of weeks’ notice but were told by a spokesperson, five weeks after our initial request, that Minister Foley was unavailable so instead we sent a number of questions to the Minister.  

Two weeks later, and at the time of publication, these remained unanswered despite numerous reminders.  Noteworthy subsequently received a statement from the Minister and a number of responses from her Department a few hours post-publication and this article has been updated to reflect this. 

Minister Foley told the investigation team in this statement:

“As both a teacher, and as Minister for Education, I recognise the importance of inclusive education for all children. It is my primary objective to promote and support actions that will ensure that the school setting is a welcoming environment for all.

“The Irish research and census data shows that Traveller students are most likely to leave school early. As Minister for Education I am committed to doing all that I can to change that.”  

‘They didn’t want to hold our hands’  

The glaring deficiencies identified during the Covid pandemic stem from inequalities ingrained in the education system and experienced by generations of Traveller children, advocates have said.   

Adult Travellers who spoke to Noteworthy said their own negative experiences at school as children had a significant impact on the way they, as parents themselves now, feel about schools. 

“I lived on a Traveller site and we were put on a bus – about 50 of us – and brought out to a school, out to a prefab at the back of the school,” one man, Martin*, said. 

Basically, all the Traveller children were put into that prefab. You were colouring and that’s basically what the school day was. It was more like a babysitting service. That’s probably late ’80s and that would have been the approach for a lot of Traveller children. 

Segregation of Traveller children, either in Traveller-only classes or entire Traveller-only schools, was commonplace in Ireland for generations and the last official Traveller-only secondary school in the country, St Thomas’s Special School in Coolock, Dublin, only closed in 2019.

This followed a commitment by government to phase out segregated education for Traveller children from 2006 onwards. However, Quilligan told Noteworthy that a type of segregated education still continues today with the use of reduced school days.  

“It’s important to note that schools are not just places to learn academically. They are also places where children build friendships and become active members of society. Children on reduced timetables are being robbed of this.”

The investigation team explored the link between childhood trauma – including segregation and discrimination – and poor mental health  in part two of this series , with a six to seven times higher a rate of suicide in the Traveller community. 

In secondary school Martin was the only Traveller in the school, which he said left him feeling “very isolated”.  

Another parent, Rose*, said she remembers spending her days in school when she was 10 years old, minding her five-year-old nephew who was in the same classroom.  

“It was appalling. It was just so, so bad when I look back on it. All my time was wasted in school learning absolutely nothing and it has a big impact now in my life.” 

In Rose’s primary school, she said the Traveller children were even separated from the settled children at play times.  

“We used to have to sit in our classroom until the settled children were finished playing, looking out the window. And when they were finished playing we could go out then, the Traveller boys and girls.” 

Kathy*, who is now in her mid 20s, said that when she finished second year her Spanish teacher “said goodbye and she hoped well for me in the future as she knows I’m not going to come back after the holidays”. 

Kathy did not leave secondary school until the end of fifth year and had not told the teacher she was leaving school at 14.  

“It was a build-up of being put to the back of the class with colours in Spanish, Geography and everything else,” she said. “At lunchtime, we were put into the cooking class to eat our lunches – we didn’t mix with the rest in the normal lunchroom. There were no [expectations] there.” 

Mary*, whose family was the first Traveller family in her school at the time, said she remembers that the other children did not want to sit beside her or play with her and her siblings in the yard.  

Parents have said they still see parallels today in the way their children are treated at school. A 2019 report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)  found that 27% of parents or guardians said their children were bullied at school because they are Travellers.  

In addition, the latest Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Survey in 2018  found 42% of Traveller children reported being bullied at school “in the past couple of months” compared to 31% of all other children surveyed. This was an increase of almost 10% over four years, as in 2014, 33% of Travellers reported being bullied. 

‘Afraid of the school’

Discrimination among teaching and management staff at schools was also reported by parents who spoke to Noteworthy . 

Rose said her son was wrongfully accused of stealing another boy’s coat when he was in sixth class. She said there were five other boys in the class – all settled children – with the same jacket, but Paul* was the only child taken out of the class.  

“His teacher came out and told the principal that Paul came to school with that jacket in September and it was his jacket,” she explained.  

“The principal still wouldn’t have it. He got my child’s jacket, brought it down to the other boy, tried it on the other boy and said – ‘Paul, look it’s no harm you took the jacket, just apologise’. Paul got very upset and said ‘No, that’s my jacket and I want my mother rang now this minute’.” 

Rose said the other child’s teacher later found the missing jacket in the school computer room. This incident happened five years ago. 

“After they scandalised my child, accused him and treated him that way, it put him off school completely,” Rose said. “When he went to secondary school, he had no trust for school because of it.” 

She said Traveller parents can often feel intimidated by the school system because of their own poor experiences as children as well as their lack of basic education.  

“There should be more information days to make parents more aware of how to stand up for themselves and how to take part in a parent-teacher meeting in a secondary school,” she said.

Quilligan said some Traveller parents she works with are “really afraid of the school” because of their own trauma and as a result they want to minimise their engagement with the system. 

“An awful lot of people from the outside looking in at that might think the trope, that Travellers have no interest in education,” she said. “But when I’m actually working with the parents and engaging with the schools on behalf of the parents, sometimes I can see the parent regress right in front of my very eyes, back to when they were a child and they had such negative experiences in school.” 

‘Teachers treat you differently’  

Young Travellers, aged 12 and 13, who spoke to Noteworthy shared their own experiences and all said they had been treated differently by most of their teachers, both in primary and secondary school.  

“They (teachers) know we’re Travellers, they treat us differently to the other children in the class,” one girl said. “They give out to us more, they don’t give out to the other children as much. Travellers get in trouble more.” 

“The students in the class, they wouldn’t treat you differently, if you told them they would probably ask a lot of questions like ‘do you do this, do you travel?’,” another girl, now in first year, told Noteworthy . “But the teachers treat you differently to the other settled pupils.” 

Children who spoke to Noteworthy said that when they ask for help or have trouble understanding a lesson, they do not feel as though teachers offer them the same level of assistance or time as settled students in the class. 

“She (the teacher) would probably come over and explain but she’d say ‘you’d have to know that from primary school’ and probably you wouldn’t know,” one girl, a first-year student said. 

So she’d come over to explain about multiplication or whatever, but she’d only stay for like two minutes and she’d go over to someone else who’s stuck and she’d stay longer to help them. Some days I text one of the settled girls in my class to get the meaning of something she said because she wouldn’t explain it to me, but she’d explain it to someone else.

They also said they did not think their teachers would praise them for doing something well or believed they would succeed in their futures. 

“If I did something good in school they wouldn’t’ say ‘you did a good job, well done’. They’d say that to the settled children but not me,” one girl who is in second year told us. 

One boy who is in first year said: 

They expect me not to do well. When I was leaving primary school, for my graduation, she (the teacher) said to everyone else ‘I know you can make it in your career’ and when I was leaving she just said ‘have a good life’, she didn’t tell me she believed in me or anything like she did with the rest of the class. 

This boy told Noteworthy he wants to go on to university and become a solicitor, something he said he had also told his sixth-class teacher.  

One of the girls who spoke to Noteworthy also said she wants to be a lawyer – or a vet.  

“I’d get support from my Mummy and Daddy but I wouldn’t get support from the school,” she said when asked if she felt like she had the support she needed to achieve her career goals.  

‘Unwanted’ in the education system

Quilligan said this lower level of expectation among teachers with their Traveller pupils is something she regularly comes across through her social care work. 

She told Noteworthy that a principal in one school she worked in during the 2019/20 academic year brought all Traveller students to the gym and informed them that they could legally leave school by the age of 16.  

Quilligan said this incident had also been recorded by a social worker and another educator and is documented in a report she is currently working on.

Feeling unwelcome is not unusual. An unpublished government-commissioned report, titled Out of the Shadows, reportedly warned that Traveller children feel “unwanted” in the education system in Ireland and that their parents fear for them while they are at school. 

This report was conducted on behalf of the Department of Education as part of the  National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS) 2017-2021 . 

In relation to the findings of the Out of the Shadows report, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman told  Noteworthy  it was “deeply disappointing that any child feels unwanted in their own country”. 

We reported in  part one of this investigation  that the Minister said the way in which Travellers have been “marginalised in every engagement with the State” has seeped into the consciousness of the community.  

“This is one of the driving factors now, I assume, why the children are feeling this way as well,” he said. 

Noteworthy  asked Minister Foley for her thoughts on the findings of the Out of the Shadows report, but did not receive a response. 

In relation to this, the Department of Education spokesperson sent the investigation team a statement that included references to their policy on wellbeing as well as a planned review of the 2013 Action Plan on Bullying and a prioritisation by the Department’s Inspectorate “on the implementation of anti-bullying measures in schools”.

The Department’s spokesperson did not comment on the findings of the Out of the Shadows report or list any Traveller-specific actions related to it. 

More focus needed on racism

Traveller parents and children are not the only people impacted by discrimination in the education system. Education workers Quilligan and Coffey have faced challenges at all levels in schools they work in.  

Quilligan recalled a meeting where a principal sat her down to “explain” to her about Travellers: “I had to stop him halfway through and tell him ‘what you’re saying is factually incorrect’. Once I explained to him then that I was a Traveller, he never again engaged with me. I have to say, I came out of that meeting and my knees were knocking.” 

Coffey told Noteworthy : “Even me, as a Traveller, as a worker going into schools, it upsets me the way some teachers and principals speak to me. I’m that small child again”.  

Though there are issues internal to the Traveller community which can’t be ignored, Quilligan said that equally there are challenges external to it.  

When I’m working with some schools, they’re very quick and more comfortable to highlight the challenges within the community; very different when it comes to what the school could do better or could have done better. 

Quilligan added that “schools have to feel safe to have those conversations, because the ball is really in their court”. Cultural awareness training is one of the ways that this can be addressed, according to every advocate that spoke to the investigation team.  

Coffey felt that Traveller workers delivering training to teachers and other school staff would set “good practice for working with minorities” and said that “if the system keeps going the way we are, it’s never going to change”. 

Noteworthy asked the Department of Education – through an FOI request – for all policy documents for primary and secondary education teaching courses relating to modules on Travellers. We were provided with one document: Céim – Standards for Initial Teacher Education published by the Teaching Council. 

Travellers were mentioned once in this document, in the ‘Inclusive Education’ section:

The Council’s view of a truly inclusive approach to professional practice recognises that teachers encounter a diverse range of needs in the course of their teaching, regardless of setting. This will include additional learning needs (e.g. autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia) and learning needs associated with diverse linguistic, socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic (including Traveller community, Roma) backgrounds.

Noteworthy also sent FOI requests to a number of teacher training colleges and asked for module overviews of courses that have content relating to Travellers. All provided details of modules that incorporated Traveller culture or education.  

DCU provided links to three modules “designed around the UN definition of inclusivity” which a spokesperson said is “why the word Traveller is not specifically mentioned in the descriptor”. However, they added that they understood “that the modules deal with Traveller education as well as that of other minorities”. 

Mary Immaculate (UL), Marino Institute of Education (Trinity College) and Froebel (Maynooth University) all provided detail of the topics they covered in a variety of modules, which included guest lectures by Travellers. 

Froebel teacher trainees also took part in a half-day cultural exchange hosted by Kildare Traveller Action Project on a local halting site over the past number of years, with the exception of last year due to Covid. 

The response from Mary Immaculate included slides from a Traveller culture awareness workshop for education professionals from 2019 which delved into topics including culture, history, racism and barriers to education attainment. 

However, Coffey felt from her experience working in schools, enough isn’t being done. “Everyone wants to know about Traveller and Roma culture but we’re not talking about how racism and words impact young people.” 

She works with children who live in Spring Lane – the halting site that was the subject of the damning Children’s Ombudsman report on overcrowded and unsafe conditions.  

“When you go onto Spring Lane, it’s a sand quarry. When the weather gets bad, it’s just muck.”

Many advocates we spoke to felt that the entire school body, including parents, should be included in cultural awareness training.  

As part of this, more focus needs to be put on social justice issues “rather than ‘Travellers like horses’,” according to Coffey. “Let’s talk about racism as we all have our own hidden biases whether we want to believe it or not.” 

When asked if the Department of Education has plans to further improve teacher training to ensure young Travellers feel more supported by their schools, a spokesperson said it “will continue to address the areas of anti-racism, identity-based bullying and cultural awareness through a suite of supports including the continuing professional development (CPD) to teachers at primary and post-primary level”.

“It will ensure that such programmes enable teachers to deal with teaching and learning needs of all students from all cultural backgrounds.” They also referenced the Teaching Council’s ‘Céim – Standards for Initial Teacher Education’ and said that this “includes strengthened provision regarding inclusive education”.

‘Seeing things slowly change’  

A new approach that Coffey has seen “make a massive difference in young people’s lives in school” is the STAR – or Supporting Travellers and Roma – project.  

This pilot project began with three sites two years ago – Galway, Wexford and Dublin – and last year was also rolled out to Cork where Coffey is employed as the project’s Traveller education worker. 

“Expected outcomes of the pilot include improved attendance, participation and retention of Travellers and Roma in education and improved engagement with Traveller representative groups,” a Department of Education spokesperson told Noteworthy . 

“It’s a wraparound service that we give to the community,” explained Coffey who runs homework clubs, one-to-one supports in schools, group work, a mental health programme and literacy support for parents. They team also helped deliver medicine, food and education packs to children during the pandemic’s lockdowns.  

And they are already seeing results from this extra support. Some students are attending school after lunch – something they hadn’t done before while others who didn’t go to school in first year, have rejoined secondary school.  

Coffey said they have seen “a big change in behaviour patterns” with young people opening up and asking for help. Parents also come to the STAR workers for advice and support, often before talking to schools.  

The project had another first recently, as Coffey sourced work experience for all Travellers in fifth year – something that hadn’t happened before. “It’s massive to the young people – the girls were beaming and so proud to tell their teachers.”  

On top of all that, there has been an impact on the wider school community, said Coffey, who used the example of a workshop she ran in primary schools during Traveller Pride Week on the Cant language where “kids brought their posters around to all the classes and the settled kids were asking about the words”.  

Coffey said that children wouldn’t have had that opportunity without STAR. “In Cork City, words like beoir and feen are looked at negatively as northside words. But they’re part of a beautiful language and our kids are getting in trouble for calling someone feen in school.”  

The pilot stemmed from a commitment in the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy that “access, participation and outcomes for Travellers and Roma in education should be improved to achieve outcomes that are equal to those for the majority population”.  

According to a recent report by the Children’s Rights Alliance , the pilot is estimated to cost €2.2 million and each pilot area is being provided with an additional educational welfare officer, home school liaison coordinator and two additional Traveller and Roma education workers. 

Coffey is the Traveller education worker funded as part of this, but only until June 2022 when the pilot ends. “We all have our fingers crossed that it continues because we’ve built up such good relationships with young people, it would be a shame for it to be gone.”  

Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman brought up the four STAR pilots when he spoke Noteworthy and said that they are being evaluated at the moment.  

Noteworthy asked the Department of Education for an update on the future of the pilot and if it intends to roll the initiative out across Ireland. A spokesperson said that it “is extended for a third year in light of Covid-19″. They added:

“It is intended that it will inform future policy initiatives to support children and young people from the Traveller and Roma communities in their education. Plans for a comprehensive evaluation of the pilot are underway.” 

Curriculum has the ‘capacity to disrupt’  

Another recent development that advocates welcome is the ongoing progress of the Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill which is currently in the Committee stage where amendments are debated.

Traveller organisations have campaigned for this for decades. It was included as recommendations in numerous reports, including the 1995 Task Force Report on the Travelling Community which stated that “the curriculum at primary level is monocultural. As a result, Travellers frequently find no mention of themselves in school programmes or materials.” 

Recent research from DCU has found that making Traveller culture and history visible in schools has the “capacity to disrupt and challenge the historical subjugation and silencing of Traveller voices, norms and values”. 

The Bill was supported by the Government in July, where at the debate , Minster Foley welcomed it but also referenced the additional issues that need to be addressed, when she said “the question of improving Traveller outcomes and experiences in education cannot be answered by curricular change alone”.  

A whole school approach was also recommended in an audit by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment  (NCCA) of Traveller culture and history in the curriculum. 

The investigation team asked the Department of Education when it is expected that the Traveller culture and history curriculum will be taught in schools on the ground.

A spokesperson referenced the NCCA’s audit and said that “progression of the findings commenced with the appointment of a full-time NCCA education officer in September 2020″. They added that the NCCA’s work “arising from the audit will continue into 2022″.

Of this work, Minister Foley told Noteworthy  that “the intention is to develop a range of supports and resources that will assist schools in educating all our young people on traveller culture and history”.

Strategy needed ‘with targets’  

When it comes to tackling the systemic issues across the school system that Travellers face, many hope that the promised Traveller Education Strategy will help, if given the proper funding and resources to enable its implementation. 

Its development is in the Programme for Government and Minister O’Gorman told  Noteworthy  that it’s “really important” and can be used to address “structural issues”. He added that the Government can “also shape and design it in a way” that is cognisant of “the particular educational challenges that Covid has thrown up to Travellers”.  

Pavee Point’s Tracey Reilly said that the strategy “needs to happen immediately to address the disadvantages that Traveller children and young people face”.  

A national rollout of supports given as part of the STAR pilot project should be included in the strategy, according to Coffey. She also said it should address key transitions in students’ lives that need extra focus – such as the move from primary to secondary school, Junior Cert to Leaving Cert and on to college.  

This will not be the first strategy to be written, with ‘ The Report and Recommendations for a Traveller Education Strategy ’ published after much preparatory work in 2006.  

The primary aim of this 2006 report “was to ensure a quality, integrated education for Travellers underpinned by the principles of inclusion and mainstreaming”, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Education. “Given the adoption of mainstream policy for education, many of the recommendations have been implemented and are included in current policies and strategies.”

However, Traveller organisations have criticised it for its lack of implementation plan, associated deliverables and deadlines. Ten years after its publication, the Irish Traveller Movement wrote that “progress on its implementation has been remarkably slow”, with a number of chapters with no recommendations implemented and others that were implemented since dismantled.  

That is why advocates spoke to Noteworthy about the need for dedicated funding and consequences if actions are not achieved by certain dates. Reilly summed this up when she said that it “must include Traveller participation, education actions with targets, timelines and appropriate monitoring processes”. 

Minister Foley and the Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment on when the strategy is expected to be published or if dedicated funding will be put in place to implement it.  

A spokesperson for the Department did say that “a final report on a review” of the 2006 report “is currently being finalised and will inform the development of a Traveller education strategy”.

Working collaboratively is key, according to Quilligan, with “the onus of responsibility” on everyone including parents, professionals and government. 

“We all have a duty of care to work together to meet the needs of the child. No one group can do that in isolation.” 

*Names have been changed. 

This article is part of our  TOUGH START  investigation being led  by  Maria Delaney  of Noteworthy and  Michelle Hennessy  of The Journal.  It was updated post-publication to include responses from both Minister for Education Norma Foley and the Department of Education.

Over the next two weeks will also examine issues facing  Traveller children in relation to housing and the justice system.  

This Noteworthy investigation was done in collaboration with The Journal. It was funded by you, our readers, with support from The Journal as well as the Noteworthy  general fund  to cover additional costs.

You may be interested in a proposed investigation which is almost funded –  BLIND JUSTICE  - where we want to look at the experience of Travellers in the justice system.

You can support our work by submitting  an idea , funding for a particular  proposal  or setting up a monthly contribution to our general investigative fund  HERE>>

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Improving educational outcomes for children and young people from travelling cultures: guidance

Guidance for local authorities, schools, early learning and childcare settings to help support children, young people and their families to engage in education.

Section 1: Introduction

Guidance purpose and development

Scotland's Travellers

The educational context

The educational experience – some evidence

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance about supporting Traveller children and young people and their families to engage in education so as to improve their life outcomes. It:

• sets out the context for supporting Traveller children and young people and their families
• encourages an understanding of the challenges they might face in engaging with the education system, and therefore
• supports schools, local authorities and other stakeholders to offer effective, inclusive educational approaches

Why is guidance necessary?

This guidance has been developed as a direct response to the very real concerns about the achievement of educational outcomes, and therefore life outcomes, by some Traveller children and young people. As is evidenced within this document, some Traveller children and young people's educational outcomes are among the worst in Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to enabling all children and young people to reach their full potential and this guidance is intended to support those working with Traveller children and young people in Scotland's schools and communities in improving educational outcomes over time.

Who is this guidance for?

While primarily aimed at schools, ELC settings and local authorities, the guidance may also be useful to a range of stakeholders who have a role in supporting Traveller families such as: health and social care practitioners; those who can support transitions from school into further and higher education or employment; CLD (Community Learning and Development) teams; and adult and family learning providers. The guidance will also be of use to local authorities when developing their Traveller Education strategies. Traveller families living in Scotland, as well as regular seasonal Travellers to Scotland, may also find it helpful in providing clarity on Scottish education and to understand how they can best support their children throughout their education.

How to use this guidance

This document is divided into four sections:

• Section 1 provides an introduction which sets the context and provides evidence of the educational outcomes and educational experience of some Traveller children and young people in Scotland.
• Sections 2 and 3 focus on areas which are most likely to be relevant to improving outcomes for Travellers. The information is loosely based around two of the categories for quality indicators used in How Good is Our School 4 ( HGIOS4 ) and How Good is Our Early learning and Childcare ( HGIOELC ): [1]
• Leadership and Management – in schools and classrooms, and also in the wider local authority.
• Learning Provision – focussed on educational approaches, as well as the importance of family engagement.
• Section 4 comprises annexes, including a summary of the legislative and policy context and information on further resources.

Inevitably, there is overlap between the sections and subsections and because of this, some repetition. References, including references to online material or other parts of the guidance, aid further exploration of points of interest.

How this guidance was developed

The guidance was developed by a diverse working group comprising representatives from local authorities who support Traveller families, including an EAL (English as an additional language) expert, a teacher of Travellers, a headteacher and headteacher representatives, as well as a health practitioner, and a third sector representative. The group was able to bring a range of perspectives to the guidance, and drew on their wide experience of engaging with different groups of Travellers in many different settings. A wider range of perspectives was captured through a public consultation. The guidance recognises that the contexts for delivering services for Travellers will vary widely between practitioners, schools, and local authorities and therefore signposts to many other sources of guidance and support.

Terms used in this Guidance

'Traveller/s' is used to refer to a number of different groups and communities with a mobile lifestyle and/or culture, when it would be onerous, or not possible, to list them individually. The intention is not to disregard the diversity in the history, culture and lifestyles of different Traveller groups (see the Scotland's Travellers subsection below), or suggest that all Travellers share the same experience of education and barriers to learning. Practitioners should always seek to understand individual circumstances.

'School/s' should be considered to include primary, secondary and special schools and units, unless otherwise specified.

' ELC ' or 'early learning and childcare setting' encompasses settings previously known as nursery classes, pre-school centres, day nurseries, community nurseries, nursery schools etc. and also now includes childminders.

'Parent/s' has been used to mean mothers, fathers, carers, and others with responsibility for caring for a child or young person.

The diversity of mobile communities' culture, history and lifestyles

Travelling communities in Scotland are not a single group. There are many different groups. Each is defined by its own history, culture and lifestyle. While each group is made up of extensive family networks, these may have little or no connection with other Traveller groups. Central to each community is its right to self-identity, and to be recognised and respected by the society it lives in. The different groups may have very different educational experiences and outcomes but what they do share is family lifestyles, which are essentially built around a mobile tradition.

Some Traveller groups, such as Scottish Gypsy/Travellers and European Roma, will be recognised in law as minority ethnic groups and are therefore afforded legal protection from discrimination on grounds of race under the Equality Act 2010.

When there is concern about use of terminology, or uncertainty about the Traveller group to which a family identifies, it is important to gain information through the family. Written references to Traveller groups should always capitalise the first letter, e.g. 'Gypsy/Traveller', 'Roma', 'Traveller' or 'Showpeople'.

Further information on the most common Traveller groups in Scotland is provided below. In addition, there are also regular seasonal Travellers in Scotland, such as Irish Travellers, who could also benefit from this guidance. [2]

European Roma - The recent enlargement of the European Union enabled the Roma to come to the UK from many new European Union countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. Importantly, families will generally identify themselves first in national terms and then as Roma e.g. Slovak Roma or Romanian Roma.

Most families have travelled with the aim of finding work and to seek a good education for their children. The majority also seek to escape violence, racism and discrimination in their countries of origin. Roma are the most impoverished and marginalised ethnic minority in Europe with an estimated population of between 10 and 14 million. [3] They are a very diverse group with many different national and ethnic subgroups.

Roma settle in large groups of extended family networks. Group pride is strongly related to the traditions that arise from specific trades such as horse traders and basket weavers. Key to any Roma family's economic and social survival is its strong sense of responsibility for all family members.

In the UK , Roma tend to be drawn to specific areas. For many families, being able to access better education for their children is one of the factors in the decision to migrate. They often have negative experiences of education in their home countries. Scotland's more inclusive system means they often find education a positive experience and therefore Roma children are more likely to attend school in Scotland.

Scottish Gypsy/Travellers identify themselves variously as Gypsy/Travellers, Gypsies, or simply as Travellers. Regardless of whether families currently live a mobile lifestyle or are 'settled' in a house, they continue to identify with the travelling community and have a strong commitment to the maintenance and development of their Traveller identity, lifestyle and culture.

Young people become part of the extended working families from an early age and assume adult roles and responsibilities. Gypsy/Traveller young people, therefore, may not easily adapt to the stark contrast of age-specific grouping in schools.

Scottish Gypsy/Travellers share many cultural features with European Roma communities, such as a belief in the importance of extended family bonds and family descent, a preference for self-employment, and a strong commitment to a nomadic lifestyle. Other cultural practices, such as the common preference to marry within the community, a choice many families make to withdraw children from school at an early age, or not engaging with formal education at all, were and are ways of maintaining their cultures and lifestyles as different from non-Traveller settled communities.

Showpeople bring fairgrounds to locations across the UK . Many Showpeople also travel further afield to attend European fairs. Wherever they travel there is an expectation that the whole family will contribute towards the life of the fair. Showpeople make up a business/cultural community who self-define in terms of their livelihoods. Showpeople's distinctive identity is built on their tradition of bringing entertainment and other services to local communities [4] . Scottish Showpeople share in this strong cultural identity and have a long, proud history of living and working in Scotland. Much of this business could not be conducted without a general education which explains why education has always been valued by the community and why Showpeople have such a long history of engagement with the Scottish education system. Nowadays, most families live on permanent yards, with many more or less commuting to fairs. For those that do travel during the summer months, the stable and predictable pattern of travel means that school attendance can be managed.

Social attitudes towards Gypsy/Travellers

I know Travellers who have …completely disassociated themselves with the culture entirely because they're terrified that they won't be allowed to get a job, they won't get into school. There's a huge issue of people not looking at other cultures, not looking at other ways of 'being'.

Young Gypsy/Traveller

The Scottish Government recognises that, as a group, Gypsy/Travellers experience widespread discrimination and marginalisation. The 2015 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey found widespread discriminatory attitudes towards Gypsy/Travellers. Although there were improvements in attitudes compared to previous years (2006 and 2010), Gypsy/Travellers were still subject to higher levels of prejudice than other groups.

The Survey included two sets of detailed questions relating to employment and personal relationships. It showed:

• 34% of respondents considered that Gypsy/Travellers would be unsuitable as primary school teachers
• 31% said they would be unhappy if a close relative entered into a long-term relationship with a Gypsy/Traveller

The portrayal of Gypsy/Travellers in the media can provide a stark reflection of the deep-rooted prejudices held towards this community. Amnesty International's research into media reporting of Scottish Gypsy/Travellers found that a significant number of articles, which appear in the print media perpetuate prejudicial views of Scottish Gypsy/Travellers. Similarly, in 2016, Article 12 reported that 'a vast majority [of media articles] fell within the categories of negative, discriminatory and racist'. Such negative views and attitudes inevitably affect a Gypsy/Traveller's decision to self-identify, or not.

The above analysis relates to Gypsy/Travellers only. However, all Travellers, whether or not they are recognised as an ethnic minority in law, may be vulnerable to discrimination on the grounds of their identity or the discriminator's perception of their identity. Some may also experience discrimination related to their skin colour, appearance, language, or other factor.

Given the background, context and evidence set out in this Introduction, it is clear that there can be tensions between the maintenance of a mobile tradition and culture and the need to ensure that the children and young people can access education. As mobility is an increasingly common feature in today's society, more and more children and young people are experiencing barriers to learning arising from the challenges associated with being mobile, such as multiple transitions, as well as the cultural differences which may exist between them and settled populations. The impact of such barriers can be heightened when parents have limited educational experience themselves. A partnership approach between families, authorities and agencies is needed to overcome barriers to learning in order that Traveller children's rights, entitlements and potential can be realised.

In some local authorities and schools in Scotland, proactive efforts have been made to engage and support Traveller children and young people and their families, at times through a family learning approach. There is evidence of emerging and established good practice, some of which is included in this guidance. However, overall progress is slow and in some areas activity to support Travellers is limited. Without appropriate engagement and support, starting with our very youngest Traveller children and extending to the parents and family, educational outcomes for many Traveller children are likely to continue to be poor. This guidance is intended as a tool to support that improvement.

Right to education

Like all children and young people in Scotland, Travellers have rights to education under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ( UNCRC ). These rights have been incorporated in Scots Law under section 1 of the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000 which sets out the right of every child of school age to be provided with school education by, or through arrangements made by, an education authority. In carrying out their duty to provide that education, education authorities must under section 2(1) of that same Act secure that the education is directed to the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of the child or young person to their fullest potential

It should be noted that separately, an education authority has a duty under section 1 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to secure adequate and efficient provision of education in their area, regardless of whether the children are nationals of the UK or some other state. The parents of such children are also under an obligation through section 30 of the same Act to ensure their children are educated (whether at school or otherwise).

Further, in Scotland, education authorities are required to provide up to 600 hours of funded early learning and childcare for all children from three years old, and in some cases from two years old. [5] This is to expand to 1140 hours per year by August 2020.

Entitlements

Within Scotland's inclusive education framework, Traveller children, young people and their families have entitlements under:

• Curriculum for Excellence which provides the flexible framework to meet the needs of all learners
• A legislative framework of additional support for learning to help overcome barriers to learning
• 'Getting it right for every child' ( GIRFEC ), the national approach based on children's and young people's rights which through partnership working supports the wellbeing of children and young people
• The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 which provides a range of duties on local authorities and schools to involve parents in their child's education and in the life and work of their children's school
• The new health and social care standards which describe what to expect when accessing health and social care services, and apply to ELC settings. Each of the standards are based on the same set of "principles" which are: dignity and respect; compassion; be included; responsive care and support; wellbeing.

Practitioner responsibilities

One young Traveller said that when he went to secondary school his father told him to do everything he could to hide his Traveller identity. "That was really hard for me at school. Travellers are really proud people and trying to keep that hidden is horrendous."

All teachers in local authority schools and grant-aided schools, and new teachers in independent schools, must be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS ). Also, from 1 October 2020, all existing teachers in independent schools must be registered with the GTCS . The GTCS Professional Standards for Teachers place Professional Values and Personal Commitment at their core. The first of these is Social Justice, which is particularly relevant as it involves:

• committing to the principles of democracy and social justice through fair, transparent, inclusive and sustainable policy and practices in relation to all protected characteristics, including race, and ethnicity
• valuing as well as respecting social, cultural and ecological diversity and promoting the principles of local and global citizenship for all learners

Standard 3.1.4 'Have high expectations of all learners' under Professional Skills and Abilities is also pertinent.

Headteachers also have specific responsibilities in relation to parental involvement, as set out in the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006.

The Scottish Social Services Council ( SSSC ) registers staff working in ELC services and regulates their learning and development. Registration with the SSSC places a requirement on workers, and employers, to abide by the Code of Practice . The Code sets out clear standards of conduct and practice expected of workers in ELC including support workers, practitioners and managers/lead practitioners. It embeds the values of promoting diversity, respecting other cultures and non-discriminatory practice, and is a tool for workers and employers to use to help continually improve their practice. The Code lets people who use social services and carers know what they can expect from the workers who support them.

Parental responsibilities

Under section 30 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 , parents and carers of school age children have a legal duty to provide their child with an "efficient education" which is "suitable to the age, ability and aptitude" of the child. In securing such an education, parents have a right to choose whether to send their child to school (whether a public or independent school) or to home educate. They should have regard to the child's views, as well as any additional support needs they may have, when making this decision. Parents will require consent to withdraw a child from school in order to home educate if the child is in attendance already [6] . Parents should expect to be informed and involved in their child's education under the provisions within the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 .

Parents are not required to educate their children before they reach school age and early learning and childcare is an entitlement, not an obligation. Parents can decide whether or not to take up their 600 (soon to be 1140) hours, or how much of the entitlement they take up.

A partnership approach to education

All partners should have high expectations that all Traveller children and young people receive an education, enter the senior phase of the curriculum, achieve the four capacities , and go on to realise positive, sustained destinations. Partnership and collaboration are key to achieving improvements and realising this aim. A commitment to improving educational outcomes for this group extends to the Scottish Government, local authorities and schools. Partners, communities and families, working with a range of education providers, also have an important role to play in bringing about improvements. A range of partnership work, for example work set out in the Child Poverty Delivery Plan and Learning Together: A National Action Plan on Parental Involvement, Parental Engagement, Family Learning and Learning at Home , will be relevant here.

This subsection presents evidence which demonstrates that some Travellers have poor outcomes and experiences in Scottish education. This data is for Gypsy/Travellers specifically, for the reasons explained below. However, we know from anecdotal evidence and wider research that some other Traveller groups may be similarly disadvantaged. However, we also know that some children and young people from other Traveller groups may have significantly better educational experience and outcomes than this evidence suggests.

A note about statistical evidence

The Scottish Government captures statistics for the ethnic group 'White Gypsy/Traveller'. In the analysis below, these statistics have been used to give an indicative picture of numbers of Gypsy/Traveller children in schools, their educational outcomes and other related factors. However, it is important to note that:

• There are many Travellers who attend school who, while fitting the description for the White Gypsy/Traveller ethnic group, would choose not to disclose themselves as such, to a greater degree than is common with other groupings.
• There will be many Travellers attending school who belong to a distinct Traveller group which cannot be identified through these statistics. For example it is impossible to identify Roma children and young people as a separate group through these statistics.
• Fluctuations in population and small numbers mean that year on year comparisons for the White Gypsy/Traveller ethnic group may not be fully reliable.
• Anecdotally, we know that some Traveller children and young people never attend school, but we have no statistics to measure this.
• Ethnicity data is not currently collected in ELC statistics, although plans for an individual child level data collection should mean that this will become possible in future years.

Scotland's White Gypsy/Travellers

Sources: (Adult Qualifications) Scotland’s Census 2011; (School Leavers and Positive Destinations) Summary statistics for attainment, leaver destinations and healthy living, No. 7: 2017 Edition; (ASN) Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, No: 8-2017; (Attendance and Exclusions) Attendance and Absence in Scottish Schools 2016/17

Achievement and attainment

"There are no inherent reasons why a child from a Gypsy, Roma or Traveller community should not achieve as well as any other child" [7]

As a group, Gypsy/Travellers' educational outcomes in terms of attainment and positive destinations are among the worst in Scottish education. A two year average from the 2014/15 and 2015/16 leavers' data, shows that:

• 74.6% of leavers recorded as 'White - Gypsy/Traveller' were in a positive follow-up destination, compared to 91.7% for all publicly funded secondary school leavers.
• 23.9% of leavers recorded as 'White - Gypsy/Traveller' left school with no qualifications at SCQF level 3 or higher, compared to 2.1% for all publicly funded secondary school leavers.
• 43.3% of leavers recorded as 'White - Gypsy/Traveller' left school with 1 or more qualifications at SCQF level 5, compared to 85.4% for all secondary school leavers.

An analysis of 2011 Scotland's Census data presents some important education variables for Gypsy/Travellers age 16 plus compared to the general population:

• 50% of Gypsy/Travellers aged 16 and over had no qualifications [8] compared to 27% of the population as a whole.
• Only 16% of Gypsy/Travellers held Level 4 or above (degree) qualifications compared to 26% of the population as a whole
• 38% of Gypsy/Travellers age 16-24 were full-time students compared to 46% of the general population in this age group.
• Transitions and retention

Although it is not possible to obtain from published statistics the actual number of Travellers attending school (see 'a note about statistical evidence' above), the following table shows that the numbers of children and young people who are ascribed to the ethnic group 'White Gypsy/Traveller' enrolled in schools has increased since 2011 [9] .

It is not known whether the increase is due to a growth in the Gypsy/Traveller population in Scotland, or increased engagement with school education, or both.

Many Gypsy/Traveller children in school do not complete the broad general education ( BGE ) or progress to senior stage but are withdrawn at the end of primary school. Annex E provides transitions data for White Gypsy/Traveller pupils in publicly funded primary and secondary schools in Scotland. It includes data on changes in cohort size from P7 to S1 and through secondary school. It suggests a high drop-out rate between primary and secondary school, and that the decrease in cohort size between S3 and S5/6 is much bigger for Gypsy/Traveller pupils than for all pupils.

Anecdotal evidence also indicates that there are many Gypsy/Traveller children who do not attend school, either because they have been withdrawn to be home educated or because they have always been home educated. However, data which would allow us to assess the extent of home schooling for Gypsy/Travellers, or any Travellers, is not collected nationally.

There is a correlation between attendance and attainment. Pupils with the lowest rates of attendance demonstrate the highest rates of underachievement.

In Scotland, overall, school attendance rates have remained relatively stable in the last few years, increasing from 93.1 to 93.7 per cent between 2010/11 and 2014/15 then decreasing to 93.3 per cent in 2016/17. However, White Gypsy/Traveller pupils enrolled in school continue to have the lowest attendance rates of any ethnic group at 78.8% in 2016/17 compared to the 93.3% Scotland average. It follows that Gypsy/Traveller children and young people, and other mobile children whose attendance is irregular, are missing out on time in education compared to other children.

Scotland's anti-bullying service, respect me , report that Gypsy/Traveller children and young people are a particularly discriminated against and marginalised group and concerns about bullying are especially acute for secondary schools [10] . Perceived risks about bullying and parents' own experiences of discriminatory behaviour may lead to low levels of enrolment and poor attendance for Gypsy/Traveller children and young people, as well as early exit from formal education. Other Traveller families, such as Roma, may have similar concerns.

In Scotland the rate of exclusions continues to fall for all local authority pupils – from 33 per 1,000 in 2012/13 to 27 per 1,000 in 2016/17. While exclusions for Gypsy/Travellers have also fallen over the same period, from 58 to 53 per 1,000 pupils [11] , they remain higher than the overall Scotland figure. Research in England reported that "Gypsy/Roma boys and girls of Irish Traveller heritage were the ethnic groups most likely to experience exclusion from school, and boys in these groups were twice as likely as girls to be excluded".

Additional Support for Learning

2017 data shows a relatively high percentage of Gypsy/Travellers recorded as receiving additional support for learning at 54% of pupils compared to 27% for all other ethnicities combined. This compares to 51% and 25% respectively in 2016.

Rates of additional support needs (per 1,000 pupils) for most common reasons for support

Source: Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, No: 8-2017

Email: Lynne Carter

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Home » Europe » Moscow

EPIC MOSCOW Itinerary! (2024)

Moscow is the heart of Mother Russia. Just the mention of this city conjures images of colorful bulbous pointed domes, crisp temperatures, and a uniquely original spirit!

Moscow has an incredibly turbulent history, a seemingly resilient culture, and a unique enchantment that pulls countless tourists to the city each year! Although the warmer months make exploring Moscow’s attractions more favorable, there’s just something about a fresh snowfall that only enhances the appearance of the city’s iconic sites!

If you’re a first-time visitor to Moscow, or simply wanting to see as much of the city as possible, this Moscow itinerary will help you do just that!

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Best Time To Visit Moscow

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Here is a quick look at the seasons so you can decide when to visit Moscow!

The summer months (June-August) are a great time to travel to Moscow to take advantage of the enjoyable mild temperatures. This is considered peak travel season. Bear in mind that hotel prices rise along with the temperatures!

If you’re planning a trip to Moscow during fall (September-November) try to plan for early fall. This way the temperatures will still be pleasant and winter won’t be threatening.

Russian winters (December-February) are not for the faint of heart as Napoleon learned to his peril. Some days the sun will be out for less than an hour, and snow is guaranteed. Although winters are exceptionally cold, this is when you’ll get a true glimpse of the Moscow experience!

The best time to visit Moscow is during spring  (March-May). The temperatures will begin to creep up and the sun begins to shine for significant portions of the day. Hotel rates will also have yet to skyrocket into peak ranges!

With a Moscow City Pass , you can experience the best of Moscow at the CHEAPEST prices. Discounts, attractions, tickets, and even public transport are all standards in any good city pass – be sure invest now and save them $$$ when you arrive!

Moscow is a large city with many accommodation options to choose from. Staying in a location that fits with your travel plans will only enhance your Moscow itinerary. Here is a brief introduction to a few great areas of the city we recommend checking out!

The best place to stay in Moscow to be close to all the action is Kitay-Gorod. This charming neighborhood will put you within walking distance to Moscow’s famous Red Square, thus cutting down on travel time. This will allow you to see more of the city in a shorter amount of time!

It’s surrounded by restaurants, cafes, bars, and shops. If you’re a first-time visitor to Moscow, or just planning a quick weekend in Moscow, then this area is perfect for you!

Another great area to consider is the Zamoskvorechye district. This area of the city offers a blend of new and old Moscow. It has an artsy vibe and there are plenty of fun sites you can explore outside of the main touristy areas of Moscow.

Of course, as in all areas of Moscow, it’s close to public transportation that will quickly connect you with the rest of the city and make your Moscow itinerary super accessible!

Best Airbnb in Moscow – Exclusive Apartment in Old Moscow

Modern and cozy, this apartment is in the heart of Old Moscow. Bordering the Basmanny and Kitay-Gorod districts, this two-bedroom flat is walking distance to the Kremlin and Red Square. Safe, quiet, and comfortable, this is the best Airbnb in Moscow, no question!

Best Budget Hotel in Moscow – Izmailovo Alfa Hotel

The Izmailovo Alfa Hotel is a very highly rated accommodation that provides all the components necessary for a comfortable trip to Moscow. There is an on-site restaurant, bar, fitness center, and an airport shuttle service. The rooms are modern and spacious and are equipped with a TV, heating/air conditioning, minibar, and more!

Best Luxury Hotel in Moscow – Crowne Plaza Moscow World Trade Centre

If you’re touring Moscow in luxury, the Crowne Plaza Moscow World Trade Centre is the hotel for you! Elegantly furnished rooms are equipped with a minibar, flat-screen TV,  in-room safes, as well as tea and coffee making facilities! Bathrooms come with bathrobes, slippers, and free toiletries. There is also an onsite restaurant, bar, and fitness center.

Best Hostel in Moscow – Godzillas Hostel

Godzillas Hostel is located in the center of Moscow, just a short walk from all the major tourist attractions and the metro station. Guests will enjoy all the usual hostel perks such as self-catering facilities, 24-hour reception, Free Wi-Fi, and security lockers. This is one of the best hostels in Moscow and its wonderful social atmosphere and will make your vacation in Moscow extra special!

Godzillas Hostel is one of our favourites in Moscow but they’re not taking guests right now. We’re not sure if they’re closed for good but we hope they’ll come back soon.

An important aspect of planning any trip is figuring out the transportation situation. You’re probably wondering how you’re going to get to all of your Moscow points of interest right? Luckily, this sprawling city has an excellent network of public transportation that will make traveling a breeze!

The underground metro system is the quickest and most efficient way to travel around Moscow. Most visitors rely exclusively on this super-efficient transportation system, which allows you to get to pretty much anywhere in the city! It’s also a great option if you’re planning a Moscow itinerary during the colder months, as you’ll be sheltered from the snow and freezing temperatures!

If you prefer above-ground transportation, buses, trams, and trolleybuses, run throughout the city and provide a rather comfortable alternative to the metro.

Moscow’s metro, buses, trams, and trolleybuses are all accessible with a ‘Troika’ card. This card can be topped up with any sum of money at a metro cash desk. The ticket is simple, convenient, and even refundable upon return to a cashier!

No matter which method you choose, you’ll never find yourself without an easy means of getting from point A to point B!

Red Square | Moscow Kremlin | Lenin’s Mausoleum | St. Basil’s Cathedral  | GUM Department Store

Spend the first day of your itinerary taking your own self guided Moscow walking tour around the historic Red Square! This is Moscow’s compact city center and every stop on this list is within easy walking distance to the next! Get ready to see all of the top Moscow landmarks!

Day 1 / Stop 1 – The Red Square

• Why it’s awesome: The Red Square is the most recognizable area in Moscow, it has mesmerizing architecture and centuries worth of history attached to its name.
• Cost: Free to walk around, individual attractions in the square have separate fees. 
• Food nearby: Check out Bar BQ Cafe for friendly service and good food in a great location! The atmosphere is upbeat and they’re open 24/7!

The Red Square is Moscow’s historic fortress and the center of the Russian government. The origins of the square date back to the late 15th century, when Ivan the Great decided to expand the Kremlin to reflect Moscow’s growing power and prestige!

During the 20th century, the square became famous as the site for demonstrations designed to showcase Soviet strength. Visiting the Red Square today, you’ll find it teeming with tourists, who come to witness its magical architecture up close!

The square is the picture postcard of Russian tourism, so make sure to bring your camera when you visit! No matter the season, or the time of day, it’s delightfully photogenic! 

It’s also home to some of Russia’s most distinguishing and important landmarks, which we’ve made sure to include further down in this itinerary. It’s an important center of Russia’s cultural life and one of the top places to visit in Moscow!

In 1990, UNESCO designated Russia’s Red Square as a World Heritage site. Visiting this historic site is a true bucket-list event and essential addition to your itinerary for Moscow!

Day 1 / Stop 2 – The Moscow Kremlin

• Why it’s awesome: The Moscow Kremlin complex includes several palaces and cathedrals and is surrounded by the Kremlin wall. It also houses the principal museum of Russia (the Kremlin Armory).
• Cost: USD $15.00
• Food nearby: Bosco Cafe is a charming place to grat a casual bite to eat. They have excellent coffee and wonderful views of the Red Square and the Moscow Kremlin!

The iconic Moscow Kremlin , also known as the Kremlin museum complex, sits on Borovitsky Hill, rising above the Moscow River. It is a fortified complex in the center of the city, overlooking several iconic buildings in the Red Square!

It’s the best known of the Russian Kremlins – citadels or fortress’ protecting and dominating a city. During the early decades of the Soviet era, the Kremlin was a private enclave where the state’s governing elite lived and worked.

The Kremlin is outlined by an irregularly shaped triangular wall that encloses an area of 68 acres! The existing walls and towers were built from 1485 to 1495. Inside the Kremlin museum complex, there are five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers.

The Armoury Chamber is a part of the Grand Kremlin Palace’s complex and is one of the oldest museums of Moscow, established in 1851. It showcases Russian history and displays many cherished relics. Definitely make sure to check out this museum while you’re here!

The churches inside the Moscow Kremlin are the Cathedral of the Dormition, Church of the Archangel, Church of the Annunciation, and the bell tower of Ivan Veliki (a church tower).

The five-domed Cathedral of the Dormition is considered the most famous. It was built from 1475–1479 by an Italian architect and has served as a wedding and coronation place for great princes, tsars, and emperors of Russia. Church services are given in the Kremlin’s numerous cathedrals on a regular basis.

The Grand Kremlin Palace was the former Tsar’s Moscow residence and today it serves as the official workplace of the President of the Russian Federation (Vladimir Putin seems to have bagged that title for life) .

Insider Tip: The Kremlin is closed every Thursday! Make sure to plan this stop on your Moscow itinerary for any other day of the week!

Day 1 / Stop 3 – Lenin’s Mausoleum

• Why it’s awesome: The mausoleum displays the preserved body of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin .
• Cost: Free!
• Food nearby: Khinkal’naya is a charming Georgian restaurant with vaulted ceilings and exposed brick. It’s a popular place with locals and right next to the Red Square!

Lenin’s Mausoleum, also known as Lenin’s Tomb, is the modernist mausoleum for the revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. It’s located within the Red Square and serves as the resting place for the Soviet leader! His preserved body has been on public display since shortly after his death in 1924.

It’s located just a few steps away from the Kremlin Wall and is one of the most controversial yet popular Moscow attractions!

Admission is free for everyone, you’ll only need to pay if you need to check a bag. Before visitors are allowed to enter the mausoleum, they have to go through a metal detector first. No metal objects, liquids, or large bags are allowed in the mausoleum!

Expect a line to enter the building, and while you’re inside the building, you’ll be constantly moving in line with other visitors. This means you won’t be able to spend as long as you’d like viewing the mausoleum, but you’ll still be able to get a good look. Pictures and filming while inside the building are strictly prohibited, and security guards will stop you if they see you breaking this rule.

The mausoleum is only open on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday – unless it’s a public holiday or a day scheduled for maintenance. The hours it’s open for each day are limited, make sure to check online before you visit to make sure you can fit this into your Moscow itinerary for that day!

Insider Tip: The Lenin’s Museum is there for people to pay their respect; remember to keep silent and move along quickly, it’s not intended for people to congregate around. Also, men are not allowed to wear hats and everyone must take their hands out of their pockets when inside the building.

Day 1 / Stop 4 – St. Basil’s Cathedral

• Why it’s awesome: A dazzling designed cathedral that showcases Russia’s unique architecture. This cathedral is one of the most recognizable symbols of the country!
• Cost: USD $8.00
• Food nearby: Moskovskiy Chaynyy Klub is a cozy cafe serving food items and pipping hot tea; it’s the perfect place to go if you’re visiting Moscow during the winter months!

Located in the Red Square, the ornate 16th-century St. Basil’s Cathedral is probably the building you picture when you think of Moscow’s unique architecture. Its colorful onion-shaped domes tower over the Moscow skyline!

The cathedral was built from 1555-1561 by order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. It was designed with an iconic onion dome facade and enchanting colors that captivate all who see it. Fun fact: If you’re wondering why Russian churches have onion domes, they are popularly believed to symbolize burning candles!

This iconic cathedral has become a symbol of Russia due to its distinguishing architecture and prominent position inside the Red Square. It’s one of the most beautiful, wonderful, and mesmerizing historical cathedrals in the world!

The interior of the church surprises most people when they visit. In contrast to the large exterior, the inside is not so much one large area, but rather a collection of smaller areas, with many corridors and small rooms. There are 9 small chapels and one mausoleum grouped around a central tower.

Visiting the inside is like walking through a maze, there are even small signs all around the cathedral tracing where to walk, and pointing you in the right direction! The walls are meticulously decorated and painted with intricate floral designs and religious themes.

The church rarely holds service and is instead a museum open for the public to visit.

Insider Tip: During the summer months the line to go inside the cathedral can get quite long! Make sure to arrive early or reserve your tickets online to guarantee quick access into the cathedral!

Day 1 / Stop 5 – GUM Department Store

• Why it’s awesome: This is Russia’s most famous shopping mall! It’s designed with elegant and opulent architecture and provides a real sense of nostalgia!
• Cost: Free to enter
• Food nearby: Stolovaya 57 is a cafeteria-style restaurant with a variety of inexpensive Russian cuisine menu items including soups, salads, meat dishes, and desserts. It’s also located inside the GUM department store, making it very easily accessible when you’re shopping!

The enormous GUM Department Store is located within the historic Red Square. It has a whimsical enchantment to it that sets it apart from your typical department store.

A massive domed glass ceiling lines the top of the building and fills the interior with natural sunlight. There are live plants and flowers placed throughout the mall that give the shopping complex a lively and cheerful feel! A playful fountain sits in the center, further adding to the malls inviting a sense of wonder and amusement!

The GUM department store opened on December 2, 1893. Today, it includes local and luxury stores, including Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and many more! There are numerous cafes, restaurants, and even a movie theater inside!

For a special treat, head into Gastronom 1. This 1950s-style shop sells gourmet food items, like wine, freshly-baked pastries, cheese, Russian chocolate, and of course, vodka! Also, be on the lookout for a bicycle pedaling ice cream truck with an employing selling ice cream!

The ambiance is simply amazing, a trip to this idyllic shopping mall is an absolute must on any Moscow itinerary!

Insider Tip: Make sure to carry some small change on you in case you need to use the restroom, you’ll need to pay 50 rubles – or about USD $0.80 to use the bathroom in GUM.

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These are packing cubes for the globetrotters and compression sacks for the  real adventurers – these babies are a traveller’s best kept secret. They organise yo’ packing and minimise volume too so you can pack MORE.

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Novodevichy Convent | Gorky Park | State Tretyakov Gallery | All-Russian Exhibition Center | Bolshoi Theater

On your 2 day itinerary in Moscow, you’ll have a chance to use the city’s excellent public transportation service! You’ll explore a few more of Moscow’s historic highlight as well as some modern attractions. These sites are a little more spread out, but still very easily accessible thanks to the metro!

Day 2 / Stop 1 – Novodevichy Convent

• Why it’s awesome: The Novodevichy Convent is rich in imperial Russian history and contains some of Russia’s best examples of classical architecture!
• Cost: USD $5.00
• Food nearby: Culinary Shop Karavaevs Brothers is a cozy and simple place to have a quick bite, they also have vegetarian options!

The Novodevichy Convent is the best-known and most popular cloister of Moscow. The convent complex is contained within high walls, and there are many attractions this site is known for! 

The six-pillared five-domed Smolensk Cathedral is the main attraction. It was built to resemble the Kremlin’s Assumption Cathedral and its facade boasts beautiful snowy white walls and a pristine golden onion dome as its centerpiece. It’s the oldest structure in the convent, built from 1524 -1525, and is situated in the center of the complex between the two entrance gates.

There are other churches inside the convent as well, all dating back from many centuries past. The convent is filled with an abundance of 16th and 17th-century religious artworks, including numerous large and extravagant frescos!

Just outside the convent’s grounds lies the Novodevichy Cemetery. Here, you can visit the graves of famous Russians, including esteemed authors, composers, and politicians. Probably the most intriguing gravestone belongs to Russian politician Nikita Khruschev!

The Novodevichy Convent is located near the Moscow River and offers a peaceful retreat from the busy city. In 2004, it was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The convent remains remarkably well-preserved and is an outstanding example of Moscow Baroque architecture! 

Insider Tip: To enter the cathedrals inside the complex, women are advised to cover their heads and shoulders, while men should wear long pants.

Day 2 / Stop 2 – Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure

• Why it’s awesome: A large amusement area in the heart of the city offering many attractions!
• Cost: Free! 
• Food nearby: Check out Mepkato, located inside Gorky Central Park for a casual meal in a cozy setting. There are indoor and outdoor seating options and the restaurant is child-friendly!

Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure is a large green space in the heart of Moscow. The park opened in 1928, and it stretches along the scenic embankment of the Moskva River. It covers an area of 300-acres and offers a lovely contrast from the compact city center.

You’ll find all sorts of wonderful attractions, from boat rides to bike rentals to tennis courts and ping-pong tables, and much more! there are an open-air cinema and festive events and concerts scheduled in the summer months.  A wide selection of free fitness classes is also offered on a regular basis, including jogging, roller skating, and dancing!

Although many of the options you’ll find here are more suited for outdoor leisure during the summer, you’ll also a selection of winter attractions, including one of Europe’s largest ice rinks for ice-skating!

If you’re trying to decide what to do in Moscow with kids, the park also offers several venues designed specifically for kids. Check out the year-round Green School which offers hands-on classes in gardening and art! You can also feed the squirrels and birds at the Golitsinsky Ponds!

The park is very well maintained and kept clean and the entrance is free of charge, although most individual attractions cost money. There is also Wi-Fi available throughout the park.

With so many attractions, you could easily spend all day here! If you’re only planning a 2 day itinerary in Moscow, make sure to plan your time accordingly and map out all the areas you want to see beforehand!

Day 2 / Stop 3 – The State Tretyakov Gallery

• Why it’s awesome: The gallery’s collection consists entirely of Russian art made by Russian artists!
• Food nearby : Brothers Tretyakovs is located right across the street from the gallery. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric restaurant serving top quality food and drinks!

The State Tretyakov Gallery was founded in 1856 by influential merchant and collector Pavel Tretyakov.  The gallery is a national treasury of Russian fine art and one of the most important museums in Russia!

It houses the world’s best collection of Russian art and contains more than 130, 000 paintings, sculptures, and graphics! These works have been created throughout the centuries by generations of Russia’s most talented artists!

The exhibits range from mysterious 12th-century images to politically charged canvases. The collection is rich and revealing and offers great insight into the history and attitudes of this long-suffering yet inspired people!

All pictures are also labeled in English. If you plan to take your time and see everything inside the museum it will take a good 3-4 hours, so make sure to plan your Moscow trip itinerary accordingly! This gallery is a must-see stop for art lovers, or anyone wanting to explore the local culture and history of Russia in a creative and insightful manner! 

Insider Tip: When planning your 2 days in Moscow itinerary, keep in mind that most museums in Moscow are closed on Mondays, this includes The State Tretyakov Gallery!

Day 2 / Stop 4 – All-Russian Exhibition Center

• Why it’s awesome: This large exhibition center showcases the achievements of the Soviet Union in several different spheres. 
• Food nearby: Varenichnaya No. 1 serves authentic and homestyle Russian cuisine in an intimate and casual setting.

The All-Russian Exhibition Center is a massive park that presents the glory of the Soviet era! It pays homage to the achievements of Soviet Russia with its many different sites found on the property.

The center was officially opened in 1939 to exhibit the achievements of the Soviet Union. It’s a huge complex of buildings and the largest exhibition center in Moscow. There are several exhibition halls dedicated to different achievements and every year there are more than one hundred and fifty specialized exhibitions!

The Peoples Friendship Fountain was constructed in 1954 and is a highlight of the park. The stunning gold fountain features 16 gilded statues of girls, each representing the former Soviet Union republics. 

The Stone Flower Fountain was also built in 1954 and is worth checking out. The centerpiece of this large fountain is a flower carved from stones from the Ural Mountains! Along the side of the fountain are various bronze sculptures.

You will find many people zipping around on rollerblades and bicycles across the large area that the venue covers. It’s also home to amusement rides and carousels, making it the perfect place to stop with kids on your Moscow itinerary! Make sure to wear comfortable shoes and allow a few hours to explore all the areas that interest you!

Day 2 / Stop 5 – Bolshoi Theater

• Why it’s awesome: The Bolshoi Theater is a historic venue that hosts world-class ballet and opera performances!
• Cost: Prices vary largely between USD $2.00 –  USD $228.00 based on seat location.
• Food nearby: Head to the Russian restaurant, Bolshoi for high-quality food and drinks and excellent service!

The Bolshoi Theater is among the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world! It also boasts the world’s biggest ballet company, with more than 200 dancers!

The theater has been rebuilt and renovated several times during its long history. In 2011 it finished its most recent renovation after an extensive six-year restoration that started in 2005. The renovation included an improvement in acoustics and the restoration of the original Imperial decor.

The Bolshoi Theater has put on many of the world’s most famous ballet acts! Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake premiered at the theater in 1877 and other notable performances of the Bolshoi repertoire include Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker!

Today, when you visit the theater, you can expect a magical performance from skilled singers, dancers, and musicians with the highest level of technique!

If you don’t have time to see a show, the theater also provides guided tours on select days of the week. Tours are given in both Russian and English and will provide visitors with a more intimate look at the different areas of the theater!

The stage of this iconic Russian theater has seen many outstanding performances. If you’re a fan of the performing arts, the Bolshoi Theater is one of the greatest and oldest ballet and opera companies in the world, making it a must-see attraction on your Moscow itinerary!

Godzillas Hostel

Godzillas Hostel is located in the center of Moscow, just a short walk from all the major tourist attractions and the metro station.

• Towels Included

Cosmonautics Museum | Alexander Garden | Ostankino Tower | Izmaylovo District | Soviet Arcade Museum

Now that we’ve covered what to do in Moscow in 2 days, if you’re able to spend more time in the city you’re going to need more attractions to fill your time. Here are a few more really cool things to do in Moscow we recommend!

Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics

• Hear the timeline of the ‘space race’ from the Russian perspective
• This museum is fun for both adults and children!
• Admission is USD $4.00

The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics is a museum dedicated to space exploration! The museum explores the history of flight, astronomy, space exploration, space technology, and space in the arts. It houses a large assortment of Soviet and Russian space-related exhibits, and the museum’s collection holds approximately 85,000 different items!

The museum does an excellent job of telling the full story of the exciting space race between the USSR and the US! It highlights the brightest moments in Russian history and humanity and is very interesting and fun for all ages!

If you’re a fan of space or just curious about gaining insight into Russia’s fascinating history of space exploration, make sure to add this to your 3 day itinerary in Moscow!

The Alexander Garden

• A tranquil place to relax near the Red Square
• Green lawns dotted with sculptures and lovely water features
• The park is open every day and has no entrance fee

The Alexander Garden was one of the first urban public parks in Moscow! The garden premiered in 1821 and was built to celebrate Russia’s victory over Napoleon’s forces in 1812!

The park is beautiful and well maintained with paths to walk on and benches to rest on. The park contains three separate gardens: the upper garden, middle garden, and lower garden.

Located in the upper garden, towards the main entrance to the park is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with its eternal flame. This monument was created in 1967 and contains the body of a soldier who fell during the Great Patriotic War!

The park stretches along all the length of the western Kremlin wall for about half a mile. Due to its central location in the city, it’ll be easily accessible when you’re out exploring The Red Square.

It provides a bit of relief from the city’s high-energy city streets. Bring a picnic lunch, go for a walk, or just sit and people watch, this is one of the best Moscow sites to wind-down and relax!

Ostankino Television Tower

• Television and radio tower in Moscow
• Currently the tallest free-standing structure in Europe
• Make sure you bring your passport when you visit, you can’t go up without it!

For spectacular views of the city, make sure to add the Ostankino Television Tower to your itinerary for Moscow! This impressive free-standing structure provides stunning views of the city in every direction. The glass floor at the top also provides great alternative views of the city!

It takes just 58 seconds for visitors to reach the Tower’s observation deck by super fast elevator. The tower is open every day for long hours and is a great site in Moscow to check out! There is even a restaurant at the top where you can enjoy rotating views of the city while you dine on traditional Russian cuisine or European cuisine!

The tower is somewhat of an architectural surprise in a city that is not known for skyscrapers! To see the city from a new perspective, make sure to add this stop to your Moscow itinerary!

Izmaylovo District

• The most popular attractions in this district are the kremlin and the flea market
• Outside of the city center and easy to reach via metro
• Most popular during the summer and on weekends

Travel outside the city center and discover a unique area of the city! The Izmaylovo District is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike, and one of the coolest places to see in Moscow! The two main attractions we recommend checking out are the Kremlin and the flea market.

The Izmailovo Kremlin was established as a cultural center and molded after traditional Russian architecture. This colorful complex is home to several single-subject museums, including a Russian folk art museum and a vodka museum!

Next to the Kremlin is the Izmailovo open-air market, which dates back to the 17th century! The market is connected to the Izmailovo Kremlin by a wooden bridge. Pick up all your Russian souvenirs here, including traditional handicrafts, paintings, books, retro toys, and Soviet memorabilia!

You will find many hand-made and hand-painted options available at higher prices, as well as mass-produced souvenir options at lower prices!

Museum of Soviet Arcade Games

• Closed on Mondays
• Filled with old arcade games that visitors get to try out!
• The museum also includes a small cafe and burger shop

For something a little different, check out the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games! The museum features roughly 60 machines from the Soviet era, including video games, pinball machines, and collaborative hockey foosball! The machines inside the museum were produced in the USSR in the mid-1970s.

The best part is, most of the games are still playable! Purchase tickets and try the games out for yourself! The museum also has a neat little screening room that plays old Soviet cartoons and an area with Soviet magazines! This unique attraction is a fun addition to a 3 day itinerary in Moscow, and an attraction that all ages will enjoy! 

Whether you’re spending one day in Moscow, or more, safety is an important thing to keep in mind when traveling to a big city! Overall, Moscow is a very safe place to visit. However, it is always recommended that tourists take certain precautions when traveling to a new destination!

The police in Moscow is extremely effective at making the city a safe place to visit and do their best to patrol all of the top Moscow, Russia tourist attractions. However, tourists can still be a target for pickpockets and scammers.

Moscow has a huge flow of tourists, therefore there is a risk for pickpocketing. Simple precautions will help eliminate your chances of being robbed. Stay vigilant, keep your items close to you at all times, and don’t flash your valuables!

If you’re planning a solo Moscow itinerary, you should have no need to worry, as the city is also considered safe for solo travelers, even women. Stay in the populated areas, try and not travel alone late at night, and never accept rides from strangers or taxis without a meter and correct signage.

The threat of natural disasters in Moscow is low, with the exception of severe winters when the temperature can dip below freezing! Bring a good, warm jacket if you visit in Winter.

However, please note that Russian views on homsexuality are far less accepting than those in Western Europe. Likewise, Non-Caucasian travellers may sadly encounter racism in Russia .

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ALWAYS sort out your backpacker insurance before your trip. There’s plenty to choose from in that department, but a good place to start is Safety Wing .

They offer month-to-month payments, no lock-in contracts, and require absolutely no itineraries: that’s the exact kind of insurance long-term travellers and digital nomads need.

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Now that we’ve covered all the top things to see in Moscow, we thought we’d include some exciting day trips to other areas of the country!

Sergiev Posad (Golden Ring)

On this 7-hour guided tour, you’ll visit several scenic and historic areas of Russia. Start your day with hotel pick-up as you’re transferred by a comfortable car or minivan to Sergiev Posad. Admire the charming Russian countryside on your drive and enjoy a quick stop to visit the Russian village, Rudonezh!

You’ll see the majestic Saint Spring and the Church of Sergiev Radonezh. You’ll also visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, one of the most famous Orthodox sites in Russia!

Lastly, you’ll swing by the local Matreshka market and enjoy a break in a nice Russian restaurant before returning to Moscow!

Day Trip to Vladimir and Suzdal

On this 13-hour trip, you’ll discover old Russia, with its picturesque landscapes and white-stoned beautiful churches! You’ll visit the main towns of the famous Golden Ring of Russia – the name for several cities and smaller towns north-east of Moscow.

Your first stop will be in the town of Vladimir, the ancient capital of all Russian principalities. The city dates back to the 11th century and is one of the oldest and the most important towns along the Ring! Next, you’ll visit Suzdal, a calm ancient Russian town north of Vladimir with only 13,000 inhabitants!

The old-style architecture and buildings of Suzdal are kept wonderfully intact. If you’re spending three days in Moscow, or more, this is a great option for exploring the charming areas outside the city!

Zvenigorod Day Trip and Russian Countryside

On this 9-hour private tour, you’ll explore the ancient town of Zvenigorod, one of the oldest towns in the Moscow region! As you leave Moscow you’ll enjoy the stunning scenery along the Moscow River, and make a few stops at old churches along the way to Zvenigorod.

Upon arrival, you’ll explore the medieval center, including the 14th-century Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. Next, you’ll take a break for lunch (own expense) where you’ll have the chance to try out the Russian cuisine! Next, you’ll visit the Museum of Russian Dessert and sip on tea at a Russian tea ceremony.

The final stop of the day is at the Ershovo Estate, a gorgeous place to walk around and enjoy nature!

Day Trip to St Petersburg by Train visiting Hermitage & Faberge

On this full-day tour, you’ll enjoy a a full round trip to St Petersburg where you’ll spend an exciting day exploring another popular Russian city! You’ll be picked up from your hotel in Moscow and be transferred to the train station where you’ll ride the high-speed train ‘Sapsan’ to St Petersburg.

Upon arrival, you’ll start the day by touring the Hermitage Museum and the Winter Palace. Next, you’ll visit the Faberge Museum, where you’ll explore the impressive collection of rare Faberge Eggs! In the afternoon, enjoy a sightseeing boat ride and a traditional 3-course Russian lunch.

If you’re spending 3 days in Moscow, or more, this is an excellent trip to take!

Trip to Kolomna – Authentic Cultural Experience from Moscow

On this 10-hour tour, you’ll escape the city and travel to the historic town of Kolomna! First, you’ll visit the 14th-century Kolomna Kremlin, home to the Assumption Cathedral and an abundance of museums!

Next, enjoy lunch at a local cafe (own expense) before embarking on a tour of the Marshmallow Museum – of course, a marshmallow tasting is provided!  Your final stop is the Museum of Forging Settlements, where displays include armor and accessories for fishing and hunting.

Discover this beautiful Russian fairytale city on a private trip, where all of the planning is taken care of for you!

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Find out what people want to know when planning their Moscow itinerary.

How many days you need in Moscow?

We recommend that you spend at least two or three days in Moscow to take it all in.

What’s the best month to visit Moscow?

The best time to visit Moscow is over the spring, from March to May as temperatures are mild, crowds are thin and prices are reasonable.

What are some unusual things to do in Moscow?

I mean, queuing up to see an almost 100 year old corpse is pretty unsual! Check out Lenin’s Mausoleum if you fancy it!

What are some fun things to do in Moscow?

The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics is a fun place to explore the famous space race from the perspective of the ‘other side’!

We hope you enjoyed our Moscow itinerary! We’ve made sure to cover all the Moscow must-sees as well as some unique attractions in the city! Our addition of insider tips, favorite food stops, and day trips from Moscow is an added bonus and will guarantee you make the most out of your exciting Russian vacation!

Immerse yourself in the modern and traditional Russian lifestyle! Get lost in museums, witness awe-inspiring architecture, and indulge in Russian cuisine! Spend the day strolling through all of the charming sites of Moscow, admiring the beautiful scenery and discovering the city’s fairytale-like enchantment!

And for transparency’s sake, please know that some of the links in our content are affiliate links . That means that if you book your accommodation, buy your gear, or sort your insurance through our link, we earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). That said, we only link to the gear we trust and never recommend services we don’t believe are up to scratch. Again, thank you!

Alya and Campbell

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A History of Moscow in 13 Dishes

Featured city guides.

Travel Itinerary For One Week in Moscow: The Best of Moscow!

I just got back from one week in Moscow. And, as you might have already guessed, it was a mind-boggling experience. It was not my first trip to the Russian capital. But I hardly ever got enough time to explore this sprawling city. Visiting places for business rarely leaves enough time for sightseeing. I think that if you’ve got one week in Russia, you can also consider splitting your time between its largest cities (i.e. Saint Petersburg ) to get the most out of your trip. Seven days will let you see the majority of the main sights and go beyond just scratching the surface. In this post, I’m going to share with you my idea of the perfect travel itinerary for one week in Moscow.

Moscow is perhaps both the business and cultural hub of Russia. There is a lot more to see here than just the Kremlin and Saint Basil’s Cathedral. Centuries-old churches with onion-shaped domes dotted around the city are in stark contrast with newly completed impressive skyscrapers of Moscow City dominating the skyline. I spent a lot of time thinking about my Moscow itinerary before I left. And this city lived up to all of my expectations.

Travel Itinerary For One Week in Moscow

Day 1 – red square and the kremlin.

Metro Station: Okhotny Ryad on Red Line.

No trip to Moscow would be complete without seeing its main attraction. The Red Square is just a stone’s throw away from several metro stations. It is home to some of the most impressive architectural masterpieces in the city. The first thing you’ll probably notice after entering it and passing vendors selling weird fur hats is the fairytale-like looking Saint Basil’s Cathedral. It was built to commemorate one of the major victories of Ivan the Terrible. I once spent 20 minutes gazing at it, trying to find the perfect angle to snap it. It was easier said than done because of the hordes of locals and tourists.

As you continue strolling around Red Square, there’s no way you can miss Gum. It was widely known as the main department store during the Soviet Era. Now this large (yet historic) shopping mall is filled with expensive boutiques, pricey eateries, etc. During my trip to Moscow, I was on a tight budget. So I only took a retro-style stroll in Gum to get a rare glimpse of a place where Soviet leaders used to grocery shop and buy their stuff. In case you want some modern shopping experience, head to the Okhotny Ryad Shopping Center with stores like New Yorker, Zara, and Adidas.

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To continue this Moscow itinerary, next you may want to go inside the Kremlin walls. This is the center of Russian political power and the president’s official residence. If you’re planning to pay Kremlin a visit do your best to visit Ivan the Great Bell Tower as well. Go there as early as possible to avoid crowds and get an incredible bird’s-eye view. There are a couple of museums that are available during designated visiting hours. Make sure to book your ticket online and avoid lines.

Day 2 – Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Tretyakov Gallery, and the Arbat Street

Metro Station: Kropotkinskaya on Red Line

As soon as you start creating a Moscow itinerary for your second day, you’ll discover that there are plenty of metro stations that are much closer to certain sites. Depending on your route, take a closer look at the metro map to pick the closest.

The white marble walls of Christ the Saviour Cathedral are awe-inspiring. As you approach this tallest Orthodox Christian church, you may notice the bronze sculptures, magnificent arches, and cupolas that were created to commemorate Russia’s victory against Napoleon.

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Unfortunately, the current Cathedral is a replica, since original was blown to bits in 1931 by the Soviet government. The new cathedral basically follows the original design, but they have added some new elements such as marble high reliefs.

Home to some precious collection of artworks, in Tretyakov Gallery you can find more than 150,000 of works spanning centuries of artistic endeavor. Originally a privately owned gallery, it now has become one of the largest museums in Russia. The Gallery is often considered essential to visit. But I have encountered a lot of locals who have never been there.

Famous for its souvenirs, musicians, and theaters, Arbat street is among the few in Moscow that were turned into pedestrian zones. Arbat street is usually very busy with tourists and locals alike. My local friend once called it the oldest street in Moscow dating back to 1493. It is a kilometer long walking street filled with fancy gift shops, small cozy restaurants, lots of cute cafes, and street artists. It is closed to any vehicular traffic, so you can easily stroll it with kids.

Day 3 – Moscow River Boat Ride, Poklonnaya Hill Victory Park, the Moscow City

Metro Station: Kievskaya and Park Pobedy on Dark Blue Line / Vystavochnaya on Light Blue Line

Voyaging along the Moscow River is definitely one of the best ways to catch a glimpse of the city and see the attractions from a bit different perspective. Depending on your Moscow itinerary, travel budget and the time of the year, there are various types of boats available. In the summer there is no shortage of boats, and you’ll be spoiled for choice.

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If you find yourself in Moscow during the winter months, I’d recommend going with Radisson boat cruise. These are often more expensive (yet comfy). They offer refreshments like tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and, of course, alcoholic drinks. Prices may vary but mostly depend on your food and drink selection. Find their main pier near the opulent Ukraine hotel . The hotel is one of the “Seven Sisters”, so if you’re into the charm of Stalinist architecture don’t miss a chance to stay there.

The area near Poklonnaya Hill has the closest relation to the country’s recent past. The memorial complex was completed in the mid-1990s to commemorate the Victory and WW2 casualties. Also known as the Great Patriotic War Museum, activities here include indoor attractions while the grounds around host an open-air museum with old tanks and other vehicles used on the battlefield.

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The hallmark of the memorial complex and the first thing you see as you exit metro is the statue of Nike mounted to its column. This is a very impressive Obelisk with a statue of Saint George slaying the dragon at its base.

Maybe not as impressive as Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower , the skyscrapers of the Moscow City (otherwise known as Moscow International Business Center) are so drastically different from dull Soviet architecture. With 239 meters and 60 floors, the Empire Tower is the seventh highest building in the business district.

The observation deck occupies 56 floor from where you have some panoramic views of the city. I loved the view in the direction of Moscow State University and Luzhniki stadium as well to the other side with residential quarters. The entrance fee is pricey, but if you’re want to get a bird’s eye view, the skyscraper is one of the best places for doing just that.

Day 4 – VDNKh, Worker and Collective Farm Woman Monument, The Ostankino TV Tower

Metro Station: VDNKh on Orange Line

VDNKh is one of my favorite attractions in Moscow. The weird abbreviation actually stands for Russian vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva (Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy). With more than 200 buildings and 30 pavilions on the grounds, VDNKh serves as an open-air museum. You can easily spend a full day here since the park occupies a very large area.

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First, there are pavilions that used to showcase different cultures the USSR was made of. Additionally, there is a number of shopping pavilions, as well as Moskvarium (an Oceanarium) that features a variety of marine species. VDNKh is a popular venue for events and fairs. There is always something going on, so I’d recommend checking their website if you want to see some particular exhibition.

A stone’s throw away from VDNKh there is a very distinctive 25-meters high monument. Originally built in 1937 for the world fair in Paris, the hulking figures of men and women holding a hammer and a sickle represent the Soviet idea of united workers and farmers. It doesn’t take much time to see the monument, but visiting it gives some idea of the Soviet Union’s grandiose aspirations.

I have a thing for tall buildings. So to continue my travel itinerary for one week in Moscow I decided to climb the fourth highest TV tower in the world. This iconic 540m tower is a fixture of the skyline. You can see it virtually from everywhere in Moscow, and this is where you can get the best panoramic views (yep, even better than Empire skyscraper).

Parts of the floor are made of tempered glass, so it can be quite scary to exit the elevator. But trust me, as you start observing buildings and cars below, you won’t want to leave. There is only a limited number of tickets per day, so you may want to book online. Insider tip: the first tour is cheaper, you can save up to $10 if go there early.

Day 5 – A Tour To Moscow Manor Houses

Metro Station: Kolomenskoye, Tsaritsyno on Dark Green Line / Kuskovo on Purple Line

I love visiting the manor houses and palaces in Moscow. These opulent buildings were generally built to house Russian aristocratic families and monarchs. Houses tend to be rather grand affairs with impressive architecture. And, depending on the whims of the owners, some form of a landscaped garden.

During the early part of the 20th century though, many of Russia’s aristocratic families (including the family of the last emperor) ended up being killed or moving abroad . Their manor houses were nationalized. Some time later (after the fall of the USSR) these were open to the public. It means that today a great many of Moscow’s finest manor houses and palaces are open for touring.

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There are 20 manor houses scattered throughout the city and more than 25 in the area around. But not all of them easily accessible and exploring them often takes a lot of time. I’d recommend focusing on three most popular estates in Moscow that are some 30-minute metro ride away from Kremlin.

Sandwiched between the Moscow River and the Andropov Avenue, Kolomenskoye is a UNESCO site that became a public park in the 1920’s. Once a former royal estate, now it is one of the most tranquil parks in the city with gorgeous views. The Ascension Church, The White Column, and the grounds are a truly grand place to visit.

You could easily spend a full day here, exploring a traditional Russian village (that is, in fact, a market), picnicking by the river, enjoying the Eastern Orthodox church architecture, hiking the grounds as well as and wandering the park and gardens with wildflower meadows, apple orchards, and birch and maple groves. The estate museum showcases Russian nature at its finest year-round.

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If my travel itinerary for one week in Moscow was a family tree, Tsaritsyno Park would probably be the crazy uncle that no-one talks about. It’s a large park in the south of the city of mind-boggling proportions, unbelievable in so many ways, and yet most travelers have never heard of it.

The palace was supposed to be a summer home for Empress Catherine the Great. But since the construction didn’t meet with her approval the palace was abandoned. Since the early 1990’s the palace, the pond, and the grounds have been undergoing renovations. The entire complex is now looking brighter and more elaborately decorated than at possibly any other time during its history. Like most parks in Moscow, you can visit Tsaritsyno free of charge, but there is a small fee if you want to visit the palace.

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Last, but by no means least on my Moscow itinerary is Kuskovo Park . This is definitely an off-the-beaten-path place. While it is not easily accessible, you will be rewarded with a lack of crowds. This 18th-century summer country house of the Sheremetev family was one of the first summer country estates of the Russian nobility. And when you visit you’ll quickly realize why locals love this park.

Like many other estates, Kuskovo has just been renovated. So there are lovely French formal garden, a grotto, and the Dutch house to explore. Make sure to plan your itinerary well because the estate is some way from a metro station.

Day 6 – Explore the Golden Ring

Creating the Moscow itinerary may keep you busy for days with the seemingly endless amount of things to do. Visiting the so-called Golden Ring is like stepping back in time. Golden Ring is a “theme route” devised by promotion-minded journalist and writer Yuri Bychkov.

Having started in Moscow the route will take you through a number of historical cities. It now includes Suzdal, Vladimir, Kostroma, Yaroslavl and Sergiev Posad. All these awe-inspiring towns have their own smaller kremlins and feature dramatic churches with onion-shaped domes, tranquil residential areas, and other architectural landmarks.

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I only visited two out of eight cities included on the route. It is a no-brainer that Sergiev Posad is the nearest and the easiest city to see on a day trip from Moscow. That being said, you can explore its main attractions in just one day. Located some 70 km north-east of the Russian capital, this tiny and overlooked town is home to Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, UNESCO Site.

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Sergiev Posad is often described as being at the heart of Russian spiritual life. So it is uncommon to see the crowds of Russian pilgrims showing a deep reverence for their religion. If you’re traveling independently and using public transport, you can reach Sergiev Posad by bus (departs from VDNKh) or by suburban commuter train from Yaroslavskaya Railway Station (Bahnhof). It takes about one and a half hours to reach the town.

Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is a great place to get a glimpse of filling and warming Russian lunch, specifically at the “ Gostevaya Izba ” restaurant. Try the duck breast, hearty potato and vegetables, and the awesome Napoleon cake.

Day 7 – Gorky Park, Izmailovo Kremlin, Patriarch’s Ponds

Metro Station: Park Kultury or Oktyabrskaya on Circle Line / Partizanskaya on Dark Blue Line / Pushkinskaya on Dark Green Line

Gorky Park is in the heart of Moscow. It offers many different types of outdoor activities, such as dancing, cycling, skateboarding, walking, jogging, and anything else you can do in a park. Named after Maxim Gorky, this sprawling and lovely park is where locals go on a picnic, relax and enjoy free yoga classes. It’s a popular place to bike around, and there is a Muzeon Art Park not far from here. A dynamic location with a younger vibe. There is also a pier, so you can take a cruise along the river too.

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The Kremlin in Izmailovo is by no means like the one you can find near the Red Square. Originally built for decorative purposes, it now features the Vernissage flea market and a number of frequent fairs, exhibitions, and conferences. Every weekend, there’s a giant flea market in Izmailovo, where dozens of stalls sell Soviet propaganda crap, Russian nesting dolls, vinyl records, jewelry and just about any object you can imagine. Go early in the morning if you want to beat the crowds.

All the Bulgakov’s fans should pay a visit to Patriarch’s Ponds (yup, that is plural). With a lovely small city park and the only one (!) pond in the middle, the location is where the opening scene of Bulgakov’s novel Master and Margarita was set. The novel is centered around a visit by Devil to the atheistic Soviet Union is considered by many critics to be one of the best novels of the 20th century. I spent great two hours strolling the nearby streets and having lunch in the hipster cafe.

Conclusion and Recommendations

To conclude, Moscow is a safe city to visit. I have never had a problem with getting around and most locals are really friendly once they know you’re a foreigner. Moscow has undergone some serious reconstruction over the last few years. So you can expect some places to be completely different. I hope my one week Moscow itinerary was helpful! If you have less time, say 4 days or 5 days, I would cut out day 6 and day 7. You could save the Golden Ring for a separate trip entirely as there’s lots to see!

What are your thoughts on this one week Moscow itinerary? Are you excited about your first time in the city? Let me know in the comments below!

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24 comments.

Ann Snook-Moreau

Moscow looks so beautiful and historic! Thanks for including public transit information for those of us who don’t like to rent cars.

MindTheTravel

Yup, that is me 🙂 Rarely rent + stick to the metro = Full wallet!

Mariella Blago

Looks like you had loads of fun! Well done. Also great value post for travel lovers.

Thanks, Mariella!

I have always wanted to go to Russia, especially Moscow. These sights look absolutely beautiful to see and there is so much history there!

Agree! Moscow is a thousand-year-old city and there is definitely something for everyone.

Tara Pittman

Those are amazing buildings. Looks like a place that would be amazing to visit.

Adriana Lopez

Never been to Moscow or Russia but my family has. Many great spots and a lot of culture. Your itinerary sounds fantastic and covers a lot despite it is only a short period of time.

What was their favourite thing about Russia?

Gladys Parker

I know very little about Moscow or Russia for the\at matter. I do know I would have to see the Red Square and all of its exquisite architectural masterpieces. Also the CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE SAVIOUR. Thanks for shedding some light on visiting Moscow.

Thanks for swinging by! The Red Square is a great starting point, but there way too many places and things to discover aside from it!

Ruthy @ Percolate Kitchen

You are making me so jealous!! I’ve always wanted to see Russia.

Moscow is in my bucket list, I don’t know when I can visit there, your post is really useful. As a culture rich place we need to spend at least week.

DANA GUTKOWSKI

Looks like you had a great trip! Thanks for all the great info! I’ve never been in to Russia, but this post makes me wanna go now!

Wow this is amazing! Moscow is on my bucket list – such an amazing place to visit I can imagine! I can’t wait to go there one day!

The building on the second picture looks familiar. I keep seeing that on TV.

Reesa Lewandowski

What beautiful moments! I always wish I had the personality to travel more like this!

Perfect itinerary for spending a week in Moscow! So many places to visit and it looks like you had a wonderful time. I would love to climb that tower. The views I am sure must have been amazing!

I was lucky enough to see the skyline of Moscow from this TV Tower and it is definitely mind-blowing.

Chelsea Pearl

Moscow is definitely up there on my travel bucket list. So much history and iconic architecture!

Thumbs up! 🙂

Blair Villanueva

OMG I dream to visit Moscow someday! Hope the visa processing would be okay (and become more affordable) so I could pursue my dream trip!

Yup, visa processing is the major downside! Agree! Time and the money consuming process…

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Social barriers faced by Roma, Gypsies and Travellers laid bare in equality survey

British community study finds groups experiencing high levels of poor health, racist assault, job insecurity and deprivation

The barriers which Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people face in modern Britain have been laid bare in unprecedented survey data, which reveals extremely high levels of racial assault, poor health, precarious employment and socioeconomic deprivation.

The figures were recorded as part of the Evidence for Equality National Survey (Evens) of ethnic and religious minorities, which included the largest number of Roma, Gypsy and Traveller participants in any national survey to date.

The research found that 62% of Gypsy or Traveller people had experienced a racial assault . The percentage exceeded that for any other ethnic minority group. One in three experienced a physical racist attack.

Of Roma people, 47% had experienced a racist assault, while 35% had been physically attacked.

The survey also revealed shocking health disparities between Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people and the rest of the population. Gypsy or Traveller men were 12.4 times as likely to suffer from two or more physical health conditions than white British men, while Roma men were five times as likely – both were higher figures than for any other ethnicity.

Access to health and social care services was found to be a larger issue for Roma people than any other ethnic group, who were 2.5 times more at risk of not having access than the white British population.

The survey also found that people from Roma, Gypsy and Traveller ethnic groups experienced the highest levels of socioeconomic deprivation. About 51% of Gypsy Travellers and 55% of Roma had no educational qualifications. They were also less likely to be in the highest occupational positions, and also had high rates of financial difficulties and benefit receipts.

Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people were also among the least likely of ethnic groups to be in employment, and when they did have jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic they were the most likely to be in precarious employment. After adjusting for age, 85% of Gypsy or Traveller men and 65% of Roma men were in precarious employment, compared with 19% of white British men.

The study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and undertaken by the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity, in collaboration with community groups and charities. To reach such high numbers of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people, academics trained and employed six Roma and Traveller researchers to go out and record responses from community members.

Sarah Mann, director at Friends, Families and Travellers, said: “We are hugely proud of and grateful to the Romany, Roma and Traveller people that came forward and took part in the Evidence for Equality National Survey, the largest ever participation of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community members in a survey.

“As the data shows, the devastating experiences of people from Romany, Roma and Traveller communities are no longer just anecdotal. The racism, hate, discrimination, and gross marginalisation across the board is actively damaging Romany, Traveller and Roma people’s life chances.

“The government needs to listen to Romany, Traveller and Roma people, and concrete steps must be taken so that everyone can live healthy lives with dignity, respect, and free from hate.”

Prof Nissa Finney, who led the project, said: “Evens allows us to compare the pandemic experiences of Roma and Traveller people to other ethnic groups, which hasn’t been possible before now. The disadvantage that we’ve found with the data is striking.

“Rigorous, robust, reliable data like that in Evens is essential for designing appropriate and effective policies and interventions. There’s still work to do to improve data and data collection – marginalised communities can be mistrustful of research and of its ability to bring change.

“A clear message from our study is the need for political commitment to better monitoring and measurement of the full range of ethnic groups. This is how we’ll make visible in evidence and policy those people who have been invisible.”

• Roma, Gypsies and Travellers
• Social exclusion
• Discrimination at work
• Communities

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TravelAwaits

Our mission is to serve the 50+ traveler who's ready to cross a few items off their bucket list.

19 Unique And Fabulous Experiences In Moscow

• Destinations

Thinking of visiting Russia? When visiting such a famous city, one must, of course, visit the iconic landmarks first. Moscow has plenty of those, most of them in the center of the city, which is very well-planned for tourists. Once you’ve seen the sights that are on most travelers’ lists, it’s time to branch out and visit some of the lesser-known sites, and there are some fascinating places to see and things to do.

I know this list is long, but I just couldn’t help myself. You probably won’t have the time to see them all. But that’s okay. Just scroll through the list and choose what sounds the most interesting to you. Where possible, make sure to book in advance, as things can get crowded, especially during high season.

1. The Red Square, Kremlin, And Surroundings

Red Square (Krasnya Ploshad) is the heart and soul of Russia, and where much of the country’s history has unfolded. This is the most famous landmark in Moscow and indeed the whole country, it’s an absolute must-do! The square is always full of people and has a rather festive atmosphere!

Saint Basil’s Cathedral

This is the famous church with the rainbow-colored, onion-domed roof. The cathedral was commissioned in the 1500s by Ivan the Terrible and according to legend, the Tsar thought it was so beautiful, that he ordered that the architect’s eyes be cut out afterward, so he could never build anything more beautiful! He wasn’t called Ivan the Terrible for no reason!

Lenin’s Mausoleum

The “love-it-or-hate-it” of tourist attractions in Russia. A glass sarcophagus containing the embalmed body of Russian revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin. It may seem a bit bizarre to display the mummy of a person, but it has been there for almost half a century and the 2.5 million visitors who come each year, clearly feel the queuing and thorough body search are worth it, to be in Lenin’s presence.

Pro Tip: no photos and no loud talking are allowed inside the Mausoleum.

Eternal Flame

There is an Eternal Flame in honor of an unknown soldier on the left side of Red Square. The hourly changing of the guards is worth seeing.

The Kremlin is the official residence of the Russian president. You can see it from the outside, or you can take an excursion to one of the museums located inside. This is the biggest active fortress in Europe, and holds a week’s worth of attractions! Once behind the 7,332-feet of walls, there are five squares, four cathedrals, 20 towers, various museums, and the world’s largest bell and cannon to see. Worth a special mention is the Armory Chamber that houses a collection of the famous Faberge Eggs.

Pro Tip: You can only go inside the Kremlin if you are part of a tourist group.

2. Bolshoi Theatre

Bolshoi Theatre translates to “The Big Theatre” in Russian, and the building is home to both the Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera — among the oldest and most famous ballet and opera companies in the world.

Pro Tip: It’s hard to get an inexpensive ticket, so if you’re reading well in advance of going to Moscow then try buying tickets on the official website . Last-minute tickets cost around $250 per person. If this is out of your budget, about an hour before a performance, you can try buying a ticket at the entrance from a reseller. Most can speak enough English to negotiate the price.

Tour the Bolshoi Theatre: You can take a group guided tour of the Bolshoi Theatre which focuses on the history and architecture of the theatre and behind the scenes. There’s an English language tour that lasts 2 hours and costs around $300 for a group of up to six.

3. Luxury Shopping At GUM And TSUM

Russia’s main department store, GUM, has a stunning interior that is home to over 100 high-end boutiques, selling a variety of brands: from luxurious Dior to the more affordable Zara. Even if shopping is not on your Moscow to-do list GUM is still worth a visit; the glass-roofed arcade faces Red Square and offers a variety of classy eateries. TSUM, one of the biggest luxury malls in town, is right behind the Bolshoi and GUM. It’s an imposing building with lots of history, and worth a visit just for its design and its glass roof.

4. Christ The Savior Cathedral

This is one of Russia’s most visited cathedrals and is a newer addition to the gorgeous array of Muscovite cathedrals, but don’t let its young age fool you. After perestroika, in the early 90s, the revived Russian Orthodox Church was given permission to build a cathedral on this site. It did the location honors and built the largest temple of the Christian Orthodox Church. The façade is as grand as you’d expect, but it’s the inside that will mesmerize you, with its domes, gold, gorgeous paintings, and decor!

The cathedral is located just a few hundred feet away from the Kremlin and was the site of the infamous Pussy Riot protest against Putin back in 2012.

Pro Tip: Bring a shawl to cover your hair as is the local custom.

5. Gorky Park

Moscow’s premier green space, Gorky Park (Park Gor’kogo) is the city’s biggest and most famous park. There is entertainment on offer here for every taste, from outdoor dancing sessions to yoga classes, volleyball, ping-pong, rollerblading, and bike and boat rental in summer. In winter, half the park turns into a huge ice skating rink. Gorky Park is also home to an open-air movie theater and the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. There is also Muzeon Art Park, a dynamic contemporary space with a unique collection of 700 sculptures. It is located right in front of Gorky Park.

6. Sparrow Hills Park

If you take a walk from Gorky Park, along the Moscow River embankment, you’ll end up in the city’s other legendary park, Sparrow Hills. Although the park doesn’t offer as many activities as its hip neighbor, it has a great panoramic view of the city

Pro Tip: You can take a free walking tour to all of the above attractions with an English-speaking guide.

7. River Cruising

One of the best ways to experience Moscow, and see all the famous landmarks, but from a different angle, is from the Moscow River. Take a river cruise. Avoid the tourist crowds. There are little nameless old boats that do the cruise, but if you are looking for a more luxurious experience take the Radisson Blu cruise and enjoy the sights with some good food and a glass of wine.

8. Metro Hopping

Inaugurated in the 1930s, the Moscow Metro system is one of the oldest and most beautiful in the world. Started in Stalinist times, each station is a work of art in its own right. I’d recommend touring the stations between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. This way, you’ll be able to properly see it without the crowds. Ideally, I’d recommend taking a tour with a knowledgeable guide with GuruWalk, who will tell you stories of forgotten stations and how the history of the country is interconnected with the metro development. If going by yourself, then I definitely recommend checking out: Mayakovskaya, Ploschad Revolutsii, Kievskaya, Kropotkinskaya, Kurskaya, and Novoslobodskaya stations.

Visit the free Moscow Metro Museum: For real train enthusiasts, located in the southern vestibule of Sportivnaya station is a small free museum. Here you can take a peek into the driver’s cabin, see a collection of metro tokens from different cities, and see different models of a turnstile, traffic lights, escalator, and more.

9. Moscow State University View

In his effort to create a grander Moscow, Stalin had seven skyscrapers built in different parts of town; they’re called the Seven Sisters. The largest of these buildings and the one with the best view is the main building of the Moscow State University. Although this is a little outside the city center, the view is more than worth it.

10. Izmailovsky Market

Mostly known for the city’s largest flea market, the district of Izmaylovo is home to a maze of shops where you can get just about anything, from artisan crafts to traditional fur hats, handcrafted jewelry, fascinating Soviet memorabilia, and antiquities. It’s also one of Moscow’s largest green spaces. There are often no price tags, so be prepared to haggle a bit. Head to one of the market cafes for a warming mulled wine before continuing your shopping spree.

The History of Vodka Museum is found here, and the museum’s restaurant is the perfect place to sample various brands of the national drink.

Once you’ve covered the more touristy spots, Moscow still has plenty to offer, and the places below will also be full of locals! So for some local vibes, I would strongly recommend the spots below!

11. Moscow City

With a completely different vibe, Moscow City (also referred to as Moscow International Business Center) is like a mini Dubai, with lots of impressive tall glass buildings. Here is where you’ll find the best rooftops in towns, like Ruski Restaurant, the highest restaurant both in Moscow City and in Europe. Moscow City is great for crowd-free shopping and the best panoramic views of the city.

12. Tretyakov Gallery

Tretyakov Gallery started as the private collection of the Tretyakov brothers, who were 19th-century philanthropists. They gave their private collection to the government after their deaths. If there is just one museum you visit in Moscow, I recommend this one!

13. Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve

Tsaritsyno was a residence of Catherine the Great more than two centuries ago. It became derelict during the Soviet era but has now been fully renovated. With its opulently decorated buildings, gardens, meadows, and forests, Tsaritsyno Park is the perfect place for a green respite in Moscow.

14. Kolomenskoye

A 10-minute metro ride from the city center is Kolomenskoe Museum-Reserve, where you can get an idea of what Russia looked like 200 years ago. You’ll find ancient churches (one dating back to the 16th century), the oldest garden in Moscow, and the wonderful fairytale wooden palace of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich, father of Peter the Great.

15. Ostankino TV Tower

Built in 1967, Ostankino TV Tower was the tallest free-standing construction in the world at the time, it’s still the 8th tallest building in the world and the highest in Europe. It’s also the best observation deck, with a glass floor and 360-degree views. The speedy elevators take you 1,105 feet in next to no time.

Pro Tip: You need to book in advance; entrance is based on specific ticket times and the capacity is limited and only a certain number of tourists are allowed per day. Don’t forget your passport, you’ll need it to get through security.

16. Zaryadye Park

Zaryadye is a newly opened, landscaped urban park so new you won’t find it in a lot of tour guides. The park is near Red Square and is divided into four climatic zones: forest, steppe, tundra, and floodplains, depicting the variety of climatic zones in Russia.

These last three suggestions are a little quirky, but all are really worth checking out.

17. Museum Of Soviet Arcade Games

Release your inner child playing on 66 arcade machines from the Soviet era! What a great way to spend a couple of hours when tired of visiting museums and palaces. The staff speaks excellent English and are happy to explain how the games work.

18. Moscow Rooftop Tour

Take a 1-hour private Moscow rooftop tour with an experienced roofer. I can just about guarantee none of your friends will be able to say they’ve done it! For your comfort, I recommend wearing comfortable shoes. Take your camera, there are some amazing photo opportunities out there!

19. Sanduny Banya

This classical Russian bathhouse opened its doors in 1808 and is famous for combining traditional Russian banya services with luxurious interiors and service. If you enjoy spas and saunas, then you should experience a Russian bathhouse at least once in your life! Go with an open mind and hire a specialist to steam you as it’s meant to be done — by being beaten repeatedly with a besom (a leafy branch)! This is said to improve circulation, but is best done by a professional!

So there you have my list of things to do in Moscow. I could have gone on and on and on, but I didn’t want to try your patience! There are so many things to do in this vibrant city that you’ll definitely need to allocate several days for exploring.

Here are some other reasons to visit Moscow and Russia:

• 7 Reasons To Put Moscow On Your Travel Bucket List
• Russia 30 Years (And 30 Pounds) Ago
• Massive Mysterious Craters Appearing Again In Siberia

Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, before moving to Africa at the age of 21, Sarah Kingdom is a mountain climber and guide, traveler, yoga teacher, trail runner, and mother of two. When she is not climbing or traveling she lives on a cattle ranch in central Zambia. She guides and runs trips regularly in India, Nepal, Tibet, Russia, and Ethiopia, taking climbers up Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro numerous times a year.

'Not a religion': Florida governor signs school chaplain bill, says Satanists not welcome

T he devil is in the details after Florida Satanic Temple members announced plans to take advantage of a bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday that would allow volunteer chaplains to provide support services for public K-12 students.

"We're not playing those games in Florida," DeSantis said at a press conference at a high school in Kissimmee. "[Satanism] is not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this."

If such a restriction occurs, it's likely to result in a First Amendment fight in the courts. The Satanic Temple, which the IRS recognizes  as a tax-exempt church, told the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida earlier in the year that it would put school chaplains in Florida if the bill became law.

"Despite DeSantis's contempt for religious liberty, the Constitution guarantees our equal treatment under the law, and DeSantis is not at liberty to amend the Constitution by fiat, at whim," said Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the Satanic Temple. "He just invited Satanic chaplains into public schools, whether he likes it or not."

More: Trump trial coverage live updates: Juror #4 dismissed from Trump hush money trial

DeSantis' comments contradict those of the bill's sponsor, Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, who said that because of the First Amendment’s religious freedom protections, the school chaplain bill wasn’t limiting.

Grall, though, was concerned about satanic chaplains: "I think that as soon as we get in the middle of defining what is religion and what is not, and whether or not someone can be available and be on a list, we start to run (into) constitutional problems,” she said before the legislation passed.

More on the chaplain bill

But implementing school chaplain programs—if they choose to have them at all—will be up to local school leaders. The legislation doesn't require them.

Rather, the bill authorizes school districts and charter schools to adopt a policy for chaplains “to provide support, services, and programs to students.” 

It requires parental consent before a student meets with a chaplain, who must undergo background checks. It also mandates that districts publish a list of the chaplains on their websites and that school principals inform parents about them.

Various supporters of the bill said it's a win for school children, addressing concerns about youth mental health and the need for more school counselors.

What The Satanic Temple said: Satanic Temple 'looks forward to participating' if Florida school chaplain bill passes

"There's some students who need some soulcraft, and that can make all the difference in the world," DeSantis said. "It's totally voluntary for a parent or a student to participate. No one's being forced to do anything. But to exclude religious groups from campus, that is discrimination."

Democratic lawmakers who voted against the bill had worried about the controversial groups that might participate. Some also warned it could be a vehicle for Christian nationalism , the belief that the government should favor Christianity or even be replaced by it.

Still, others had constitutional concerns and questions about the credentials of those interacting with minors who may be facing serious mental health crises.

Lawmakers pass bill: Florida lawmakers pass contentious bill allowing for chaplains in public schools

Not DeSantis' first run-in with The Satanic Temple

For more than a decade, the organization has captured attention – and generated controversy – in its advocacy  for the First Amendment and religious freedom .

“The Satanic Temple believes that religion can, and should, be divorced from superstition,” it says  on its website . It encourages “effective and artful protest."

And this is not the first time DeSantis has called out the group.

When he was still running for president, he said he would help pay the legal fund of a man who destroyed a shrine erected by the group's Iowa chapter in its state capitol.

“Satan has no place in our society and should not be recognized as a ‘religion’ by the federal government,” he said in a social media post .

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA TODAY Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule can be reached at  [email protected] .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 'Not a religion': Florida governor signs school chaplain bill, says Satanists not welcome

'Not a religion': Florida Gov. DeSantis signs school chaplain bill, says Satanists not welcome

'that is not a religion,' the governor said. 'that is not qualifying to be able to participate in this.'.

Satanic Temple members are planning on taking advantage of a bill Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Thursday that allows volunteer chaplains to provide support services for public K-12 students.

But DeSantis says that's not going to happen.

"Some have said that if you do a school chaplain program, that somehow you're going to have Satanists running around in all our schools," he said at a press conference at a high school in Kissimmee, where he also signed a bill ( HB 1317 ) giving more school access to “ patriotic organizations ."

"We're not playing those games in Florida," DeSantis continued. "That is not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this."

If such a restriction occurs, it's likely to result in a First Amendment fight in the courts. The Satanic Temple, which the IRS recognizes  as a tax-exempt church, told the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida earlier in the year that it would put school chaplains in Florida if the bill became law.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

And, in a statement sent after the bill signing, the group indicated that hadn't changed. The legislation takes effect July 1.

"Despite DeSantis's contempt for religious liberty, the Constitution guarantees our equal treatment under the law, and DeSantis is not at liberty to amend the Constitution by fiat, at whim," said Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the The Satanic Temple. "He just invited Satanic chaplains into public schools, whether he likes it or not,"

DeSantis' comments contradict the bill's sponsor – Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce – who said that because of the First Amendment’s religious freedom protections, the school chaplain bill ( HB 931 ) wasn’t limiting.

Grall, though, was concerned about satanic chaplains: "I think that as soon as we get in the middle of defining what is religion and what is not, and whether or not someone can be available and be on a list, we start to run (into) constitutional problems,” she said before the legislation passed.

More on the chaplain bill

But putting school chaplain programs into practice really will be up to local school leaders, if they choose to have them at all. The legislation doesn't require them.

Rather, the bill authorizes school districts and charter schools to adopt a policy for chaplains “to provide support, services, and programs to students.” 

It requires parental consent before a student meets with a chaplain, who must undergo background checks. It also mandates that districts publish a list of the chaplains on its website and for school principals to inform parents about them.

Various supporters of the bill said it's a win for school children, addressing concerns about youth mental health and the need for more school counselors.

"There's some students who need some soulcraft, and that can make all the difference in the world," DeSantis said. "It's totally voluntary for a parent or a student to participate. No one's being forced to do anything. But to exclude religious groups from campus, that is discrimination."

Democratic lawmakers who voted against the bill had worried about the controversial groups that might participate. Some also warned it could be a vehicle for Christian nationalism , the belief that the government should favor Christianity or even be replaced by it.

Still others had constitutional concerns and questions about the credentials of those interacting with minors who may be facing serious mental health crises.

What The Satanic Temple said: Satanic Temple 'looks forward to participating' if Florida school chaplain bill passes

Lawmakers pass bill: Florida lawmakers pass contentious bill allowing for chaplains in public schools

Not DeSantis' first run-in with The Satanic Temple

To be clear, Satanic Temple members do not actually worship Satan. Nor do they necessarily believe Satan exists.

For more than a decade, the organization has captured attention – and generated controversy – in its advocacy  for the First Amendment and religious freedom .

“The Satanic Temple believes that religion can, and should, be divorced from superstition,” it says  on its website . It encourages “effective and artful protest."

And this is not the first time DeSantis has called out the group.

When he was still running for president, he said he would help pay the legal fund of a man who destroyed a shrine erected by the group's Iowa chapter in its state capitol.

“Satan has no place in our society and should not be recognized as a ‘religion’ by the federal government,” he said in a social media post .

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA TODAY Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule can be reached at  [email protected] .

Questions, no answers as police hold former Berlin Boro school employee

BERLIN BOROUGH — Former Berlin Community School employee Scott Nalick remained in custody on Tuesday a day after his detention for unspecified reasons was disclosed in a joint Facebook post by local police and school officials.

There was confirmation from the school system on Tuesday that concerns had been raised about Nalick over alleged email communications and social media posts, with parents advised to monitor their children's accounts and to report any issues.

An email on Tuesday from police Chief Michael Scheer confirmed Nalick still is being held and called the case an "active investigation," but Scheer stated that no other information was available for release. The school system also declined to say more on Tuesday.

More: Here’s what police say a teacher did that put a South Jersey school on edge

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However, school Interim Superintendent Brenda Harring confirmed on Tuesday that she had sent a related email and text to staff and families. Those were published on a private community Facebook page.

Harring advised in those communications that it was her understanding Nalick had used his personal email to contact "certain students and staff" and also had posted messages on unspecified social media.

Harring's email added: "I apologize for any inconvenience or distress this may cause and can assure you that we are taking all steps necessary to protect the students and staff (of) the district. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have."

In a related text message, Harring states she had met with police to arrange extra coverage of district buildings for the rest of the week.

Scheer and Harring addressed their Monday night joint statement to “BCS Families and Staff.”

“We can confirm that Scott Nalick, a former employee of the Berlin Community School, has been taken into custody where he remains at this time,” the statement reads.  “School will go on as scheduled tomorrow as it has been deemed safe to attend by the Berlin Borough Police Department. Out of an abundance of caution, there will be an increased police presence throughout the day.”

It adds: “Due to the ongoing nature of this matter, we cannot comment further at this time. We will provide updates as we are able to do so. However, please be assured that the safety of all students, parents, staff and visitors at Berlin Community School is of paramount importance to both the Police Department and the School Administration. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Board of Education meeting records from April 2023 identify a Scott Nalick as a veteran teacher whose status was renewed for the 2023-2024 academic year. Recent board records also identify a Scott Nalick as head wrestling coach.

The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday referred questions on the matter to borough police.

This is a developing story.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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Florida can open public schools to volunteer chaplains under law signed by DeSantis

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Florida school districts will soon have the option of allowing volunteer chaplains to counsel students under a bill signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who dismissed critics’ complaints that the measure mixes religion with public education.

The only requirements for a chaplain to participate would be passing a background check and having their name and religious affiliation listed on the school website. The chaplains would “provide support, services, and programs to students as assigned by the district school board,” according to the law that takes effect July 1. The fact that no training is required is one issue cited by critics of the law.

DeSantis emphasized that the program is voluntary. Schools don’t have to have a chaplain, and students don’t have to work with them. Parental permission would be required before they do.

“No one’s being forced to do anything, but to exclude religious groups from campus, that is discrimination,” DeSantis said. “You’re basically saying that God has no place. That’s wrong.”

Supporters say the legislation will provide another resource for children seeking guidance and pointed out that chaplains already serve in other government roles by working with police and serving in the military.

Opponents cite several problems they have with the new Florida law, in addition to the lack of a training requirement for chaplains. They also fear that some students might be ostracized if they are atheist or belong to a non-Christian religion in a Christian majority district.

“When you have a military chaplain, they go through intensive training and they have to be in a position where they can provide information which is factually correct and appropriate to the situation,” said Democratic state Sen. Lori Berman of Palm Beach County.

Without that training, a chaplain could provide psychologically damaging counseling, Berman said. She suggested schools add more social workers, guidance counselors or psychologists if they need them.

“Let’s put the trained professionals in and not some unlicensed, untrained people with a religious affiliation,” Berman said.

Florida is among more than a dozen states that have sought to create school chaplain programs. Texas became the first under a law passed in 2023.

More to Read

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April 2, 2024

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March 25, 2024

Sexual orientation, gender ID can be discussed in Florida classrooms under lawsuit settlement

March 11, 2024

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Prime UNC Basketball Transfer Target Schedules Visit to Big 12 School

Durham native Jonas Aidoo may still visit the UNC basketball program, but the Tar Heels need to act fast.

• Author: Matt Giles

In this story:

It's no secret that UNC basketball has considerable playing time in the paint up for grabs next season due to the departure of the Tar Heels' former five-year starting center in Armando Bacot. One potential addition for Hubert Davis and his staff in this department is former Tennessee big man Jonas Aidoo, who entered the transfer portal last week and recently reported interest out of Chapel Hill.

RELATED: UNC Lands Among Finalists for One Massive Transfer Target

However, the 6-foot-11, 240-pound Aidoo, once on the UNC basketball recruiting radar as a four-star prep ranking No. 40 overall on the 247Sports 2021 Composite, has a wealth options when it comes to choosing where he'll spend his senior season. And one of those suitors appears to making a strong push in the form an upcoming visit.

According to a report from 247Sports' Travis Branham on Wednesday evening, Jonas Aidoo is now on tap to be at Baylor this weekend for an official visit. In this era of the transfer portal, recruitments often move quickly, especially after a target begins checking out campuses; sometimes, a visit translates into an instant commitment.

In other words, while Davis and his cohorts still have a shot to emerge as a frontrunner for Aidoo's "Giraffe" services — no Crystal Ball picks exist in the race just yet — time could soon run out on the Tar Heels.

The quiet giant. Holds it down in the paint. Giraffe is a very fitting nickname for @Vol_Hoops Jonas Aidoo. 🦒 pic.twitter.com/HUnl63Fg0P — March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) March 29, 2024

As a junior in Knoxville, the 21-year-old Aidoo, now the No. 1 power forward on the 247Sports transfer rankings, averaged career-highs across the board with his 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game while earning Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team honors. He drew a starting in every game for a Volunteer squad that finished 27-9 overall and reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Purdue.

Stay tuned to  All Tar Heels on SI  for more UNC basketball news.

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Threat against Davidson Fine Arts Magnet deemed not credible

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A heavy law enforcement presence was spotted at Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School Thursday morning.

MORE | S.C. State University to require ID for entering campus

Our News 12 crew on scene says around five Richmond County patrol cars and several Richmond County School Police were on scene around 11 a.m.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office says they are assisting the Richmond County School System with securing the school after dispatch received a telephone threat involving the school.

After a thorough search of the campus, it was determined the threat was not credible, the school system says.

Normal operations resumed at 11:15 a.m.

School officials say students and staff remained in their classrooms and offices during the campus search. An increased police presence will remain on campus for the remainder of Thursday’s school day.

Around 12:15, the sheriff’s office said the investigation was turned over to the Richmond County School System.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

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Division I Council approves changes to transfer rules

Student-athletes who meet progress-toward-degree requirements to be immediately eligible at new school.

The Division I Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a package of rules changes to allow transferring student-athletes who meet certain academic eligibility requirements to be immediately eligible at their new school, regardless of whether they transferred previously. The council's action is not final until the meeting concludes Thursday and is subject to ratification by the Division I Board of Directors at its meeting later this month. If ratified, the rules would be effective immediately.

Specifically, to be immediately eligible after a transfer, undergraduate student-athletes would have to have left their previous school while academically eligible and in good standing (not subject to disciplinary suspension or dismissal) and meet progress-toward-degree requirements at their new school before competing. For graduate transfer student-athletes to be eligible, they would have to earn a degree from their previous school, leave while academically eligible and be enrolled as a full-time postgraduate student while continuing to satisfy minimum academic standards.

"With these rule changes, NCAA members continue to prioritize long-term academic success for college athletes who transfer, while supporting their opportunity to compete immediately," said Lynda Tealer, deputy athletics director at Florida and chair of the council. "We hope that this practical approach to transfer eligibility requirements will encourage student-athletes to make well-informed decisions about transferring and the impacts such a move could have on their ability to graduate on time in their degree of choice, particularly as it relates to transferable credits."

Moving forward, student-athletes are expected to enter the Transfer Portal within their sport's notification-of-transfer windows, which Division I members emphasized are important for providing transparency to student-athletes and coaches for recruitment opportunities, roster management and financial aid planning. There will continue to be exceptions to the legislated transfer windows, including for the departure of a head coach or a discontinued sport. Student-athletes who plan to enroll as graduate students at their next school can enter the portal at any time during the academic year but must enter the portal prior to the conclusion of their respective sports' final transfer windows.

In addition to reviewing the council actions during its meeting next week, the Division I board will consider directing the Committee on Academics to examine criteria for academic waivers and consider the creation of a Transfer Academic Progress Rate, which would give real-time information about the academic health of a school's four-year undergraduate transfer student-athletes. 

The board also will consider charging the Committee on Academics to study the creation of a Graduation Passport, which would specifically track academic progress and will provide a measure of graduation outcomes for student-athletes who transfer. This resource would be the first metric of its kind to specifically track graduation for students who transfer. Currently, the federal graduation rate does not count transfers as graduates, and the NCAA's graduation success rate generally assumes outcomes based on the academic status at the time of a student-athlete's departure. 

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