You may have heard stories about Moscow (and Russia) as riddled with crime, corrupt police officers and officials and dangerous in all sorts of ways, but the truth is that the city is not significantly more or less dangerous than most capitals in the world. Crime which is prevalent in Moscow is of the sort that doesn't affect tourists, such as the corruption of government officials and wide-scale bribery. The gangster reputation Moscow earned in early 1990s is largely a thing of the past, and the only real threat to a foreigner are pickpockets, which target locals and visitors alike, as long as they look like they might be packing some serious cash in their wallets. Mugging is rare in the city, although you might have the misfortune to find yourself plagued by a drunk who feels a bit xenophobic towards tourists after his had a few: if anything like that happens, be polite but firm and try not to get into a fight. Some advice which would be wise to follow while holidaying in Moscow:
Police car on the Red Square
Don't carry around with you valuable things that you don't need, leave them at the hotel.
When carrying money, don't carry large sums in your wallet: put smaller amounts of money in various pockets, or in a money belt or a neck pouch that you can hide under your clothes.
Legally you're not obliged to carry your documents on you all the time, but the police may stop you and ask to see them. If you don't have them on you (or if you carry only photocopies of your documents while leaving the originals at the hotel for fear of losing them), they have the right to take you to a police station to confirm your identity. Sometimes you'll find that the police officer tries to extort money from you by claiming something is wrong with your papers. In those situations remain polite but firm and pretend you don't know what they are talking about and they'll back down.
You might want to carry just one credit card with you and leave the others at the hotel in order not to lose or risk having all your credit cards stolen. Credit cards are now accepted at an ever increasing number of restaurants, shops and hotels in Moscow - unfortunately, you might find yourself in the situation that the one credit card you have on you doesn't work, or is not accepted by a particular retail store (American Express, for example, is the least accepted card so its best to have a Visa or MasterCard on you). If you find yourself in a store or restaurant that only accept cash, don't worry, there's probably an ATM around the corner and you'll be able to withdraw cash from your Visa or MasterCard without a problem (you can find ATMs all over the city, and they're mostly in English, as well as Russian).
Be careful when crossing the street: use underground crossings and traffic lights because, even though pedestrians have the right of passage, the drivers are careless and arrogant and may not respect that right.
If your coming to Moscow in the winter, watch out for the ice! The snow (or water) on the streets freezes over during the night, making the streets slippery like ice-skating rings. Be careful when walking on ice and always wear shoes with rubber soles which will allow you to step more firmly.
It would be wise to invest in travel insurance that will cover for medical care outside your home country. Russia's clinics and hospitals are not of as high standard as some western hospitals but they do provide good care, although it may sometimes be hard to find English-speaking medical staff. There are also "western" clinics in Moscow, such as the European Medical Center, but their only advantage is that you'll be able to communicate with them more easily in English: the quality of the equipment and the proficiency of the doctors is usually the same as in good Russian hospitals, but the cost of the service is usually much higher.
