Not so long ago, it’s true, but it is now well and truly a thing of the past.

These days Moscow has grown up. Today it is delightfully decadent and fun, a city that glitters and shines, matching any in the world for its attractions and the (mainly pleasant) surprises it offers.

Take shopping. Wander through a little street called Tretyakovsky Proezd which, alone, has enough top designer names to make Ivana Trump hyperventilate. They’re all here: Graff, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Chopard, Roberto Cavalli, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Tiffany and Ralph Lauren (who hails from nearby Belarus) to name a few, alongside showrooms selling Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Ferraris– all in the shadow of the hulking Lubyanka, headquarters of
the old KGB secret police.

Venture into GUM, the elegant Tsarist arcade on Red Square, once the sad symbol of the USSR’s empty shelves, where today you will find the likes of Moschino, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Dior near its magnificent fountains.

Even if you can’t afford to buy, you can rub shoulders with Moscow’s famous oligarchs, their haughty wives and stylish, avaricious mistresses. 

Drop into some of Moscow’s new bars, a world away from the Le Carré image of dingy vodka halls filled with apparatchiks smoking pungent Soviet tobacco.

The rooftop conservatory at the Ararat Park Hyatt, a favourite of Paris Hilton on her regular visits to Moscow, was voted one of the top 10 in the world. 

A must, with equally glorious views over the Kremlin and onion-domed St Basil’s Cathedral, is the terrace on the top of Moscow’s newest five-star hotel, the Ritz Carlton.

If you’re on a splurge, this is also the place where you can splash out on a £350 breakfast, which includes a bottle of Cristal champagne, Kobe beef steak, foie gras and Beluga caviar.

Or pop into MOST, run by squillionaire Kremlin insider Alexander Mamut, a great place for people-watching (especially, as one guide puts it, for observing the local “babeskis” seeking to snare their millionaire).

To eat Russian-style but on a more modest budget (though nothing is cheap these days in Moscow),
try Pushkin Café where you might get soup, salad, steak and beer for £40 per head, or the wide choice of good eateries in the city centre with prices more akin to London.

A delightful surprise for anyone who travelled here in Soviet times is the warm, smiling welcome you will now receive in most Moscow bars and restaurants, where English is widely spoken.

This week sees hordes of English fans descending on Moscow for the Champions League final. For those without tickets, there are two fine sports bars in which they can soak up the atmosphere and celebrate ­– or drown their sorrows: Sportland and Jigsaw, serving British-style comfort food and familiar beers.

Getting around is easy: a metro ticket costs about 35p for any distance. Or take a taxi Russian-style – just stick your hand out and any car will stop. Negotiate a price with the driver, usually a couple of quid, and you’re away.

And then there is the culture. The Kremlin remains one of the great sights of the world but Moscow is also awash with wonderful theatres such as the Bolshoi, art galleries and museums.

If that’s not your scene, try one of the ornate banyas – steam saunas where the highlight is being whipped with birch twigs before plunging into a cold pool.

Whether it’s a warm summer day or minus 15C in midwinter, central Moscow is also a delightful city in which to just wander, discovering hidden churches and quiet parks.

For the ultimate blast from the past, pay your respects to the founder of the Soviet Union, Lenin, whose body remains on display in his mausoleum on Red Square.

Is it me or is that a frown on his face at the capitalist changes sweeping over his old capital?

GETTING THERE:
Regent Holidays (0845 277 3317/www.regent-holidays.co.uk) offers three nights’ B&B at the three-star Hotel Peking from £555pp (two sharing), including return BA flights from Heathrow. The same package at the Ritz Carlton is from £1,195pp.
Russian National Tourist Office: 020 7495 7570/www.visitrussia.org.uk.