Russia’s second-largest city is nestled around a beautiful network of waterways and majestic palaces, giving you plenty of reasons to visit St Petersburg. Saint Petersburg (Sankt-Peterburg), Petrograd, Leningrad and St Petersburg again – the city’s succession of names reflects Russia’s turbulent history. Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as a “window on the West,” three hundred years later St Petersburg is a confident, forward-looking city that still retains more of a Western European feel than Moscow. The elegant capital of the Tsarist empire, the cradle of the Communist Revolution of 1917 and a symbol of Russian stoicism thanks to the city’s heroic endurance of a three-year Nazi siege during World War II, today’s St Petersburg has evolved into a modern city. Without sacrificing its old-world splendor and charm, shopping malls and nightclubs sit alongside its opulent palaces. The city is easy to navigate and the pace of life is relaxed. The best time to visit St. Petersburg is during the white nights in midsummer (mid-June to mid-July), when darkness never sets in. From May to October, all the bridges across the Neva are raised from XNUMX a.m. to XNUMX a.m.—a beautiful spectacle best seen from a boat.
The center of St. Petersburg is located on the south bank of the Neva River, with the meandering Fontanka River marking its southern boundary. The area within the Fontanka is cut by a series of avenues that branch out from the golden spire of the Admiralty on the south bank of the Neva. Many of the city's main attractions are located on and around Nevsky Prospekt, which has been the core and heart of the city for the past three centuries, stretching from the Alexander Nevsky Monastery to Palace Square. Across the Neva is Vasilievsky Island, with the Strelka at its eastern end, and Petrogradskaya Storona, home to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Across the Fontanka is Smolny, where the Bolsheviks staged their revolution in 1917. When choosing where to stay in St. Petersburg, it's worth considering the location of these attractions.
Things to do in Saint Petersburg
St. Petersburg's population lives on islands and peninsulas bounded by the Neva River and its tributaries. River cruises can be a romantic introduction to the city. The metro covers most of the city's points of interest to visitors, but the historic center is best explored on foot—easy with a decent map, given the abundance of attractions.
St Petersburg's large islands and mainland areas sit side by side in a magnificent panorama of the Neva Basin. On the southern bank of the Neva, the golden dome of St Isaac's Cathedral and the spire of the Admiralty tower over the Fontanka district, whose striking main axis, Nevsky Prospekt, passes a host of landmarks culminating in the Winter Palace. Seductive views of the Moika and Griboyedov rivers will have you searching for the Mariinsky Ballet, the site of Rasputin's murder, or the setting of Crime and Punishment.
Two museums here are a must for any visit to St Petersburg. The Hermitage boasts a superb collection of Rembrandts, Spanish masters, French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists; treasures from Siberia, Central Asia, India, Persia and China; and the sumptuous state rooms of the Winter Palace, which is part of the complex. You can skip the line for a two-hour tour. If there’s no Russian art there, it’s because it’s in the Russian Museum, which covers a wide range from folk art and icons to Futurism and Socialist Realism. Next to both is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, a standing rebuke to foreign architecture and revolutionary ideas, built on the site where Alexander II was fatally wounded by a nihilist bomb; its onion-shaped domes recall Moscow’s St Basil’s Cathedral, and its interior is entirely covered in gilded mosaics. If you're in the mood for something a little more unusual, head to the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines.
Opposite the Admiralty, on the spit of Vasilievsky Island, the Rostral Columns and the Naval Museum proclaim the maritime legacy bequeathed by Peter the Great. Nearby is the Kunstkamera of Anatomical Curiosities, founded by Peter as the first museum in Russia. Further along the embankment is the Academy of Arts and the palace of Prince Menshikov.
Accommodation
St Petersburg now has a huge number of hotels, from multinational chains to chic B&Bs or guesthouses with real character. Accommodation will probably be the biggest part of your daily expenses. Accommodation agencies and the Internet allow tourists to search for discounts on hotels. This applies equally to luxury hotels, old Soviet giants, and many new B&Bs that market themselves online, remaining invisible on the street. Although the supply of accommodation has improved significantly, it still does not meet the demand in June, July and August, so reservations are essential now.
Drinking and nightlife
St Petersburg is not a city that goes to bed early. Whether it’s jazz fusion, trance, grunge, there’s a club for every taste. Most feature local DJs and international guests, with plenty of one-off theme parties. Many act as concert venues for acts covering a wide range of tastes, from local ska to thrash, as well as international and world music acts – big bands are likely to hold gigs in one of the city’s sports palaces or stadiums.
Cover charges and drink prices are modest in most places, but some clubs are expensive in both cases.
St Petersburg's restaurants are as varied as the food they serve. From midday to 16pm on weekdays, many establishments offer three- or four-course business lunches at prices lower than you'd pay for a la carte dining, although the quality and quantity may not be as good.
Cafes and bars in St. Petersburg range from humble eateries to trendy watering holes, and since most establishments serve alcohol, the differences between them are often vast.
Another phenomenon is the street cafes (usually open from May to the end of September), where you can have a coffee, beer or a hamburger while watching the world go by.
