You are in the Heart of Saint Petersburg

St. Petersburg is a city where granite embankments remember the footsteps of poets, and the raising of bridges sounds like an overture to its own history. Here, you can sip coffee beneath palace windows, watch clouds drift across canal waters, and stumble into the past just by turning down the wrong street. Welcome to St. Petersburg – a place where every day reads like a chapter from a great novel.

What to Do

1. Take photos of the city's iconic landmarks – the Admiralty, Palace Square, the Bronze Horseman, Peter and Paul Fortress, the Rostral Columns, and the cruiser Aurora.

2. Lose track of time at the Hermitage or the State Russian Museum.

3. Explore the interiors of the Stieglitz Academy and the Singer Company House.

4. Be amazed by the grandeur of the city’s palaces – the Yusupov Palace, the Winter Palace, and the Marble Palace.

5. Take a boat tour through the canals.

6. Spend a day strolling through a masterpiece of world architecture and landscape art – the Peterhof or Tsarskoye Selo palace-and-park ensemble.

7. Admire one of the city’s gardens – Mikhailovsky, Summer, or Tauride.

8. Visit the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, Kazan Cathedral, or St. Isaac’s Cathedral.

9. Walk around the atmospheric New Holland Island with its cafés and art spaces.

10. Attend a performance at one of the theaters – the Mariinsky, Mikhailovsky, or the Bolshoi Puppet Theater.

11. Take a long walk along the embankments, count the bridges and lion statues, and find the Seven Bridges viewpoint.

12. Join a rooftop, courtyard, or historical entrance hall tour.

13. See the whole city from the observation deck of the Lakhta Center.

14. Go on a gastronomic journey on Rubinstein Street, at the Vasileostrovsky Market, or at Sevkabel Port.

15. See Russia in miniature at the Grand Maket Rossiya show-museum.

16. Buy a keepsake at the historic Kuptsy Eliseevy store.

17. Stroll along Nevsky Prospect, admiring the architecture.

18. Enjoy the rides at Divo Ostrov, one of the best amusement parks in Russia.

19. Attend a FC Zenit or HC SKA match.

20. Celebrate the White Nights and see the tall ship Rossiya with scarlet sails during the Scarlet Sails holiday.

What to Try

- Pyschki (Russian doughnuts);
- Shawarma (St. Petersburg’s street food staple);
- Leningrad-style Rassolnik (pickle soup);
- Smelt fish (koryushka);
- Neva lampreys.

What to Bring Home

- Petersburg Nights or Leningrad chocolates from the Krupskaya confectionery factory;
- Leningradsky cake;
- Porcelain from the Imperial Porcelain Factory;
- Art souvenirs from museum shops – the Hermitage or the State Russian Museum;
- Gifts from the Saint Petersburg House of Books, located in the Singer Company Building.