St. Petersburg Facts

Whether traversing the bustling Nevskii Prospekt, admiring the grand residential architecture on Vasilievskii Island, or taking in the awe inspiring Palace Square, visitors will find each of St. Petersburg's neighborhoods steeped in culture and history.

Central

Nevskii Prospekt is a grand-scale thoroughfare cutting right through the heart of the city. The rough triangle (to the north of Nevskii) formed by the street's central stretch, the Fontanka canal and the Neva is crammed full of St. Petersburg's main cultural attractions and a good number of its restaurants and places of entertainment. There's the Winter Palace and Palace Square, the Saviour on Spilled Blood Cathedral and Museum, the Russian...

...was a planned city from day one, and therefore makes sense to most visitors right away. The center of town is relatively compact, and the increasing use of English on street signs and billboards breaks up the puzzling array of Russian lettering and helps visitors get their bearings. But globalization has encroached only so far, and even though the city was Peter the Great's window to the Western world, there's no mistaking St. Petersburg's Russianness. Here are some tips on how to get oriented and get on with your Petersburg adventure.