Affectionately known as Piter to locals, St Petersburg is a visual delight. The Neva River and surrounding canals reflect unbroken facades of handsome 18th- and 19th-century buildings that house a spellbinding collection of cultural storehouses, culminating in the incomparable Hermitage. Home to many of Russia's greatest creative talents (Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky), Piter still inspires a contemporary generation of Russians making it a liberal, hedonistic and exciting place to visit as well as a giant warehouse of culture.
The city covers many islands, some real, some created through the construction of canals. The central street is Nevsky pr, which extends some 4km from the Alexander Nevsky Monastery to the Hermitage.
General Staff BuildingMUSEUM
The east wing of this magnificent building, wrapping around the south of Dvortsovaya pl and designed by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s, marries restored interiors with contemporary architecture to create a series of galleries displaying the Hermitage's amazing collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist works. Contemporary art is here, too, often in temporary exhibitions by major artists.
Russian MuseumMUSEUM
The handsome Mikhailovsky Palace is home to the country's biggest collection of Russian art. After the Hermitage you may feel you have had your fill of art, but try your utmost to make some time for this gem of a museum. There's also a lovely garden behind the palace.
Church on the Spilled BloodCHURCH
This five-domed dazzler is St Petersburg’s most elaborate church with a classic Russian Orthodox exterior and interior decorated with some 7000 sq metres of mosaics. Officially called the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, its far more striking colloquial name references the assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander II here in 1881.
St Isaac's CathedralMUSEUM
The golden dome of St Isaac’s Cathedral dominates the St Petersburg skyline. Its obscenely lavish interior is open as a museum, although services are held in the cathedral on major religious holidays. Most people bypass the museum to climb the 262 steps to the kolonnada (colonnade) around the drum of the dome, providing superb city views.
Peter & Paul FortressFORTRESS
Housing a cathedral where the Romanovs are buried, a former prison and various exhibitions, this large defensive fortress on Zayachy Island is the kernel from which St Petersburg grew into the city it is today. History buffs will love it and everyone will swoon at the panoramic views from atop the fortress walls, at the foot of which lies a sandy riverside beach, a prime spot for sunbathing.
KunstkameraMUSEUM
Also known as the Museum of Ethnology and Anthropology, the Kunstkamera is the city’s first museum and was founded in 1714 by Peter himself. It is famous largely for its ghoulish collection of monstrosities, preserved ‘freaks’, two-headed mutant foetuses, deformed animals and odd body parts, all collected by Peter with the aim of educating the notoriously superstitious Russian people. While most rush to see these sad specimens, there are also very interesting exhibitions on native peoples from around the world.
StrelkaLANDMARK
Among the oldest parts of Vasilyevsky Island, this eastern tip is where Peter the Great wanted his new city’s administrative and intellectual centre to be. In fact, the Strelka became the focus of St Petersburg’s maritime trade, symbolised by the colonnaded Customs House (now the Pushkin House). The two Rostral Columns, archetypal St Petersburg landmarks, are studded with ships’ prows and four seated sculptures representing four of Russia’s great rivers: the Neva, the Volga, the Dnieper and the Volkhov.
TO/FROM THE AIRPORT
From St Petersburg's superb new Pulkovo International Airport, an official taxi to the centre should cost around R900, or you can take the bus to Moskovskaya metro station for R30, then take the metro from Moskovskaya (Line 2) all over the city for R28 – a journey of about 50 minutes all told.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
The metro is usually the quickest way around the city. Zhetony (tokens) and credit-loaded cards can be bought from booths in the stations (R28).
If you are staying more than a day or two, it’s worth buying a smart card (R55), which is good for multiple journeys to be used over the course of a fixed time period.
Buses, trolleybuses and marshrutky (fares R22 to R30) often get you closer to the sights and are especially handy to cover long distances along main avenues like Nevsky pr.
TAXI
Unofficial taxis are common. Official taxis (four-door Volga sedans with a chequerboard strip down the side and a green light in the front window) have meters that drivers sometimes use, though you most often pay a negotiated price.
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