Guide Russia: Saint Petersburg

A Window to Europe "," The Gateway to the West "or" Venice of the North "- St. Petersburg has many names and even more sights. A visit to the city is usually unforgettable, not least because of its size and the buildings from the time of the tsars.

A small selection of the sights of St. Petersburg

The centre of St. Petersburg is located on the left side of the Neva River and is crossed by the boulevard Nevsky Prospect. This begins directly on the banks of the river, at the world-famous art museum, the Eremitage and leads, among other things, over the Schlossplatz, past the so-called Admiralty to the Alexander-Newski-Kloster, which is about five kilometres away.
On the way, for example, there is the Kazan Cathedral, modelled on the Roman St. Peter's Basilica, and the early classicist department store Gostini Dwor, whose façade is over a kilometre long and is one of the city's most remarkable buildings.
The Church of the Resurrection of Christ is called the "most Russian" of all the churches in St. Petersburg because of its colourfulness. A little further along the waterfront is the Marsfeld and the Sommerpalast, the comparatively simple city residence of Peter the Great. The Marsfeld was once a focal point of the decadent Tsarist lifestyle and was used by the high nobility as a "pleasure meadow". That's probably why there are so many graves in the field today: It is assumed that after the February Revolution of 1917 those who fell were buried there as a symbolic end of the aristocratic illusory world.
From Marsfeld, the approximately 600-metre-long Trotsky bridge leads to the right side of the Neva, where the famous Peter and Paul's Fortress is enthroned on the so-called Rabbit's Island. On sunny days in particular, there is a great view of the huge river and the diagonally opposite Eremitage complex from the fortress walls.

Slightly northeast of the fortress, the historical battleship "Aurora" can be admired in a branch of the Neva River. In the autumn of 1917 he fired the starting signal for the October Revolution and today one of the city's numerous museums is located here. In the southwest of the fortress lies Vassily Island. The Zoological Museum, the Academies of Sciences and Arts and the Manikov Palace are located on its banks, often called the most beautiful of St. Petersburg, and there is also a great view of the Admiralty and the Hermitage on the opposite bank.

Preparations for a trip to St. Petersburg

Tourism is one of the city's most important economic pillars and many providers now offer flights to the Pulkovo Airport in Petersburg. The city has around 20,000 hotel beds in all categories and numerous private accommodations. However, a trip to St. Petersburg must be well planned. Regardless of whether by plane, ship or overland, it is important to clarify all deadlines and regulations in advance so that there are no nasty surprises in the end. For example, visas are mandatory, foreign health insurance must be available and the passport must be valid for at least six months.