Some people will see this place as a tourist trap, but first of all, if you are looking to buy souvenirs this is the best place to go as you can find absolutely anything here - clothing, matryoshki, amber jewelry, shapki, flasks, etc. It's going to be mostly the same items you see at kiosks elsewhere, but at Izmailovsky, it's all in one convenient area for you.

You have to haggle. They will quote you ridiculous prices at first, so have some patience and be willing to walk away. You'll find the deals get a little better if you can do your negotiating in Russian, although most of the people selling there speak enough English so that you definitely can get by without speaking the language - you'll probably just pay more.

The amount of open stalls varies by day of the week and weather. I've been there when literally every stall was open, but the last time I went, only the main row of stalls at the entrance was occupied. Also, I've been there on days when they charged a small fee (like, 10-20 rubles) to enter, and other days when you could just walk in.

The metro station there, Partizanskaya, is a unique station (it has a center rail and is very shallow) and Izmailovo Kremlin is right next door to the market if you're looking for other attractions.

Or you could do the crazy thing that I did, and walk through the massive construction site/remains of the Cherkizovsky Market that used to be right behind Izmailovsky.

Either way, you can have a good time here. Be sure to visit!

Went here in August during free time on a tour. Encouraged by the reviews on Trip Advisor. So glad I made it.

Took a cab from the hotel, with three other folks. Half hour ride outside downtown Moscow. About $11.00 per person with the cab driver waiting an hour to take us back to the hotel. (Use the city taxi, otherwise you'll be charged more.)

You can see the market from the road and it looks like a giant amusement park. The buildings are very unique and cool.

Food vendors on the ground level. The souvenir vendors are downstairs. Unfortunately we only had an hour on a Sunday to go through the market. They close at 6 p.m.

Our group made good use of our time and found things from hand-carved and painted Christmas ornaments, Matryoshka dolls - even Red Sox, Yankees, Patriots, NY Giants ones, etc., lacqured pins, t-shirts and more. (Much better prices here for sure and you can barter with most of the vendors.)

Highly recommend going on a weekend and plan on spending more than an hour. So much to see.

This is a local market view and If you have got spear time in complex hotels next door you should go and see shops