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Saint Petersburg
Imperial palaces, canals and white summer nights
Imperial palaces, canals and white summer nights
One of the world’s greatest museums, spread through the sumptuous Winter Palace, holds millions of works from da Vinci and Rembrandt to Matisse, amid gilded halls of imperial splendour.
💡 Book online and prioritise a few wings; it is impossibly vast.
This dazzling cathedral of swirling, multicoloured onion domes, built on the site of Tsar Alexander II’s assassination, shelters a breathtaking interior of intricate mosaics.
💡 The mosaic interior is as stunning as the famous exterior.
Peter the Great’s seaside palace rivals Versailles, its Grand Cascade of gilded statues and gravity-fed fountains tumbling down to the Gulf of Finland through landscaped gardens.
💡 Take the hydrofoil from the city and visit when the fountains run (summer).
The grand main avenue and the city’s web of canals are best explored on foot and by boat, past palaces, bridges, cafes and the golden dome of Kazan Cathedral.
💡 Take an evening canal boat cruise during the white nights.
The city’s original citadel on the Neva holds the slender golden spire of its cathedral, the burial place of the Romanov tsars, and sweeping river views.
💡 Hear the noon cannon fired from the fortress walls.
Saint Petersburg’s dining blends refined Russian tradition with a creative modern scene. Savour blini with caviar, pelmeni, hearty soups and Baltic fish, plus Georgian and Central Asian flavours across the city. Historic cafes serve pastries and tea, while trendy quarters like Rubinshteyna Street buzz with bars and bistros. Toast the white nights with local craft beer, Georgian wine or a chilled vodka.
Spend the morning in the Hermitage, then walk Palace Square, Nevsky Prospekt and the Church on Spilled Blood.
Take the hydrofoil to Peterhof for its fountains and gardens, returning for a white-nights canal cruise.
Visit the Peter and Paul Fortress and a palace or two, then enjoy a ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre.
Visa, entry and payment conditions for Russia change often and foreign cards may not work; verify the latest before booking.
Mid-June to early July brings near-midnight sun, festivals and raised bridges; it is the city’s magical peak season.
Cards issued abroad are widely unusable; bring and exchange cash and keep rubles handy.
Yandex Maps and Go make navigating and getting taxis easy in a Cyrillic city.
Red Square Moscow, imperial Saint Petersburg, Tatar Kazan, Black Sea Sochi and the ice of Lake Baikal — the vast range of Russia.