Weekend in St. Petersburg

Our Local Expert Says:

A traditional wedding photo spot for many St. Petersburg newlyweds, this is a great place for bride-spotting!

Description:

The Bronze Horseman (Mednyi Vsadnik) is probably St. Petersburg's best known monument to Peter the Great. Rearing above a huge stone, the horse and its rider seem set to conquer the city. The dynamic sculpture was created in 1782 by E. Falconet. It rests on a roughly polished slab of stone eight meters high and weighs 1,638 tons. The monument is illuminated at night and is a popular meeting place for young lovers. Elegant and inspiring, the Bronze Horseman is one of the great symbols of St. Petersburg.

Our Local Expert Says:

People watching at its best! No visit to St. Petersburg is complete without a stroll down Nevsky Prospekt.

Description:

On a map of the city center, this grand-scale thoroughfare forms a spine with the many canals appearing as spindly but graceful ribs. On the ground "Nevskii" is the city's vital artery, heaving with people from well before dawn until well after dusk. The street's western end lies at The Admiralty, and from there it runs three miles all the way to the Alexander Nevskii Monastery. The street is a dizzying and sometimes exhausting mix of hectic traffic, street poverty, high fashion and eye-turning architecture.

Description:

Catherine II (more popularly known as Catherine the Great) had a huge influence on Russian history. The German-born empress reigned from 1762-1796. The monument on a little square at Nevskii Prospekt shows her as she probably would have liked. Catherine stands on a podium surrounded by G. Potemkin (politician and her long-time lover), princess E. Dashkova (her good friend), poet G. Derzhavin and general A. Suvorov. The monument was erected in 1873, designed by M. Mikeshin and sculpted by M. Chizhov.

Description:

Once home to Grand Duke Sergei and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth in the late 19th century, the deteriorating red colored Beloselskii-Belozerskii Palace is now a wax museum and cultural center. If anything, it is one of the most fantastic looking buildings on Nevskii Prospekt. The site was acquired by the ultra-wealthy Beloselskii-Belozerskii family in 1797 and the building was erected in the mid-1800's. It is without question, one of the best examples of Russian baroque style in St Petersburg. Overlook the wax works and sneak upstairs—the rococo interiors will leave you breathless.

Our Local Expert Says:

Despite its 4 star billing, this is one of St. Petersburg's finest hotels. Don't miss the piano bar in the hotel's terrific Borsalino Restaurant.

Description:

Angleterre Hotel is a grand late-19th century hotel centrally located in the historical district of St Petersburg overlooking St Isaac's Square. Contemporary, air-conditioned guestrooms feature parquet flooring, embroidered fabrics and marble bathrooms. Guests can workout on fitness equipment, swim in the pool, try their luck in the casino and dance the night away in the club.

Our Local Expert Says:

Get a ticket to enter and climb to the cuppola of the cathedral for sparkling rooftop city views.

Description:

St. Isaac's mighty, somber facade rose only in the mid-19th century but has become an indelible part of St. Petersburg's skyline since then. Critics of the day called it "The Inkwell" because of its boxy shape topped by a single enormous gray dome, in contrast to the multilayered and multicolored domes and towers of most Orthodox churches. Its massive hall can accommodate 14,000 people, though it probably never has. More popular with tourists than believers, the church earned residents' respect during World War II, when it endured Nazi shelling and its grounds were planted with cabbage to help residents survive the 900-day Nazi blockade. Its interior is as awesome as its exterior, with columns made of single chunks of granite, malachite, and lazurite; floors of different-colored marble; and never-ending frescoes. If the viewing balcony around the dome is open, it's well worth a climb for the view of the city and of the cathedral from on high. However, ticket prices for this activity are rising at an alarming pace. Allow an hour, more if you visit the balcony.

Our Local Expert Says:

The Alexander Column has borne witness to many of Russia's most tumultuous historical events - from the rushing crowds of the October Revolution to the devastation of the starving masses during the Blockade of Leningrad. Today, the Column is a great place to witness youth culture in the City -- any given (snow-free) day, one will find groups of young skate boarders, rollerbladers and cyclists circling the column and the entire Palace Square.

Description:

This mighty Doric column, cut from a giant granite monolith with a bronze base, cap, bas-reliefs and a sculpture on top, was put on Palace Square in memory of victory in the war of 1812. The huge granite monolith weighs 704 metric tons. It took 2000 soldiers and 400 workers just one hour and 45 minutes to complete the construction of this monument. The column itself has a height of 25.58 meters. It is the highest triumphal column in the world.

Description:

It takes some time for your eyes to get used to the Winter Palace, the outlandish and colorful former home of Tsars that dominates Palace Square on one side and the Neva waterfront on the other. The existing building is the fourth-generation version and was designed by Italian architect Rastrelli and completed in 1762. After the Revolution the existing museum inside the palace was extended, and the Hermitage is now one of the world's foremost art collections.

Our Local Expert Says:

Wonderful family-owned restaurant with some of the city's best bliny!

Description:

Bliny Domik is a cozy, casual restaurant specializing in bliny of all sorts. Here you can sample sweet and savory, stuffed, rolled, and plain bliny all lovingly made. Evenings include local musicians singing jazz standards in a warm, casual environment.

Description:

It was Catherine the Great who was responsible for creating the celebrated Hermitage museum within the walls of her glorious Imperial residence, the Winter Palace. At the time of her death the collection contained nearly 4,000 paintings. Today there are more than three million items making the Hermitage one of the largest and most prestigious museums in the world. Visitors can be forgiven for being unsure where to begin, coronation carriages, the Malachite Room, centuries old porcelain and antiques, Faberge, Rembrandt, Raphael, DaVinci, Michelangelo, and Van Gogh, Matisse, Renoir, Degas, and Rodin, and all that just for starters. It can take a complete day to see the highlights, but investigating every corner in each of the five linked buildings could take years.

Our Local Expert Says:

Walk to the center of this bridge to take in stunning views of the Peter and Paul Fortress, summer fountains on the Neva, the Hermitage and the glorious facades of the St. Petersburg State University, Zoological Museum and Kunstkamera

Description:

Dvortsovyi Most (Palace Bridge) is a drawbridge that is 250 meters long, 27.7 meters wide and stretches across the Neva near the Winter Palace. In so doing, it connects the Admiralteiskii area of the city with Vasil'evskii Ostrov. It was built between 1912 and 1916 by engineer A. I. Pshenitskii. During summer months, the central section composed of two wings, opens during the night to allow shipping traffic to pass. The lights created (called "White Nights") provide tourists with good nighttime photo opportunities.

Our Local Expert Says:

All seasons of the year, Petersburgers line up in their skivvies against the outer wall of the fortress to catch the sun's rays.

Description:

This is the historic heart of the city. Tsar Peter I built the fortress in just six months in 1703. Situated on the Zaiachii (Rabbit) island, the fortress faces the Winter Palace and is one of the city's symbols. The fortress houses an assembly of interesting monuments such as the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Trubetskii prison, Peter's Boathouse and the The Mint. Peter and other Russian Tsars are buried at the cathedral.

Description:

Situated near the famous statue of the Bronze Horseman down Galernaia Ulitsa (Galernaia Street), Senat consists of both a bar and restaurant, both of which are popular with monied Russians more than westerners. The menu in the restaurant is extensive, and consists mostly of elegantly prepared and luscious Russian dishes. The camambert served on a leafed bedding with pine nuts and tomato dressing is delicious, as is the 'Sibirskaia Solianka' (Siberian solianka) - a meat soup.

Our Local Expert Says:

Despite its 4 star billing, this is one of St. Petersburg's finest hotels. Don't miss the piano bar in the hotel's terrific Borsalino Restaurant.

Description:

Angleterre Hotel is a grand late-19th century hotel centrally located in the historical district of St Petersburg overlooking St Isaac's Square. Contemporary, air-conditioned guestrooms feature parquet flooring, embroidered fabrics and marble bathrooms. Guests can workout on fitness equipment, swim in the pool, try their luck in the casino and dance the night away in the club.

Our Local Expert Says:

Come here on a weekend morning in the summer for free concerts by local musicians, military bands and chamber orchestras.

Description:

This is the place to rest on a bench after a day of visiting museums, or to escape from the crush of city sidewalks -- or to imagine how Peter the Great spent his summer afternoons. The lush greenery (at least for a few months of the year) almost makes you forget that these gardens were entirely planned, designed for Peter's pleasure walks and adhering to the city's rules of classicism. Peter brought in marble Renaissance-era statues from Italy to give the park a more European feel. He and his successors threw grand receptions here with dancing, drinking, and fireworks under the endless sun of the White Nights. The statues and fountains serve as landmarks in case you get disoriented. The shrubbery was once carefully trimmed but now its groomers allow trees to take on more abundant forms. The Summer Palace is open to visitors, its rooms re-created as they would have been in Peter's time. The small two-story building was not heated, so it was a summer treat. Glance inside the Coffee House and the Tea House, too. The park closes for a few weeks in spring, usually in April, for a "drying out" period as the slush melts.

Description:

Acknowledged in 1992 by the President of the Russian Federation as one of Russia's most precious objects of cultural heritage, The State Russian Museum is home to the largest collection of Russian fine art in the world. Founded in 1898 by Emperor Nicholas II in memory of his father Alexander III, it became the first state museum of Russian art. Today it holds over 400,000 exhibits spanning a period of one thousand years including an overwhelming collection of medieval icons and works from well-known Russian masters such as Repin, Shishkin, Nesterov, Cahagall, Rublev and Brullov. A visit to The State Russian Museum is to experience the essence of Russia in a fantastic display of style, shape, color and meaning.

Our Local Expert Says:

Wireless internet!

Description:

Swanky and relatively new, Zoom is aptly named, for time seems to fly by when you're having fun. Very slick black glass-topped tables set off the blue walls. Books are revered here, as you will realize when two menus are handed to you – one for books and the other for your meal! The menu consists of loads of salads and soups, well-balanced by steak and fish dishes. Leave room for a wholesome dessert, such as an apple baked with honey and nuts. Regular drinkers will be a tad disappointed, though, for liquor is not served all the days of the week.