St. Petersburg is indeed one of the most beautiful cities in the world, located on 42 islands of the Neva river mouth on east side of the Gulf of Finland. Peter the Great founded the city in 1703 to rival the great European cities and to carry out his reforms in the new capital, far from Moscow boyars (aristocrats supporting traditional Russian styles). The swamp on which the city was being built and the wet climate of the Northwest led to hundreds of deaths among the construction workers, but they left their trace in history with their amazing creation. St. Petersburg was given a lot of poetic names, like "Venice of the North" (for its numerous canals) or "Northern Palmira", the city seems to inspire artistic people for great creations: Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin", Tolstoy's "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina", Blok's poem "The Twelve" are just a few examples. Broad squares and avenues, majestic cathedrals, government buildings, mansions and palaces, amazing canals and bridges decorated with carvings - all were created by the best architects, sculptors and artists invited here by Peter the Great. St. Petersburg lies on 610 sq. km., more than 10% of which is water: canals, lakes, rivers, ponds and creeks.

With a population of 4.5 million people, St. Petersburg is the second biggest city in Russia, and of all the large cities in the world it is the closest to the North Pole. Its geographic location is responsible for the phenomenon that attracts crowds of tourists to the city during summer - the white nights. The white nights season begins on May 25-26 and ends in the middle of July with the peak on June 21-22, during this period you will not notice the evening twilight turning into dawn.

According to UNESCO statistics, St. Petersburg is the eighth most popular city in the world among tourists (while Moscow is the 300th), fifteen million tourists come to the region every year.

The capital of Russia from 1712 till 1918, St. Petersburg played a great role in the country's history. It's been called for a long time "the city of 3 revolutions", it also changed its name 3 times. In 1991 the city regained its original name - St. Petersburg, "the city of St. Peter".

RED STAR TRAVEL invites you to visit Russia's cultural capital, home to the world-famous Hermitage, a city with numerous museums and galleries, theaters and cathedrals, palaces and parks. Take a boat ride on the Neva river and canals, stroll along Nevsky Prospect or get away to one of the beautiful parks - you will feel the enchantment dwelling in the city. Poetic atmosphere and friendly people will make your stay in St. Petersburg the memory of your life.

Located in the heart of downtown, on the corner of Nevsky Prospect and Mikhailovskaya Street, near the Russian Museum. 1 km. to Moskovsky railway station and 17 km to Pulkovo airport. Built in 1824 and reopened after the reconstruction in 1991. The hotel offers classic old charm and modern comfort. 5 floors. All floors accessible by elevator. 301 rooms: 212 standard and upgraded singles and doubles, 19 Belle Chambres, 17 Terrace suites, 22 Penthouse suites, 24 two-room suites, 5 apartment suites, 1 Presidential suite, 1 Imperial suite. All rooms feature private bathroom, air conditioner, satellite TV, radio, direct-dial international satellite telephone, mini-bar, in-room safe. 3 restaurants, bars and coffee shops. Business center. 8 conference rooms. Currency Exchange. Fitness center: sauna, swimming pool, solarium, gym. Towncar service. On-site parking. Room rates - from $470.

CORINTHIA NEVSKY PALACE HOTEL * * * * *

Located in the heart of downtown, on Nevsky Prospect. 1 km to Moskovsky railway station and 17 km to Pulkovo airport. Reopened after reconstruction in 1993. Luxurious interiors, comfortable rooms and good service. 5 floors. All floors accessible by elevator. 287 rooms: 251 classic singles and doubles, 24 deluxe suites, 2 Presidential suites (49 non-smoking rooms). All rooms feature private bathroom, air conditioner, satellite TV, radio, direct-dial international satellite telephone, mini-bar. 5 restaurants (Russian and European cuisine): Imperial, Landscrona, Admiralty, brewery, Vienna Cafe. Bar. 4 conference rooms. Fitness center: sauna, circular shower, solarium, gym. Currency Exchange. Shopping arcade. Towncar service. On-site parking. Room rates - from $335.

FORTE ASTORIA * * * * *

Located in the historical center of the city, near St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Founded in 1912, reopened after reconstruction in 1990. 2 km to Moskovsky railway station and 22 km to Pulkovo airport. 2 blocks - Astoria and Angleterre. 7 floors. All floors accessible by elevator. 436 rooms: 22 singles, 346 doubles, 12 junior suites, 53 main suites, 3 apartment suites. The interior of the hotel is a combination of classic elegant style and modern comfort. All rooms feature private bathroom, air conditioner, satellite and cable TV, telephone, refrigerator. Suites are additionally equipped with kitchenette, mini-bar, radio. 3 restaurants : Winter Garden, Astoria, Angleter. 2 Bars and coffee shops. Business center. Conference room for 205 seats. Meeting rooms. Fitness center: 2 saunas, swimming pool, solarium. Casino. Towncar service. On-site parking. Room rates - from $340.

PRIBALTIYSKAYA PARK INN * * * *

Located on Vasilievsky Island, on the shore of Gulf of Finland. One of the largest hotels in St. Petersburg. 10 km to Moskovsky railway station and 25 km to Pulkovo airport. Opened in 1979. 15 floors. All floors are accessible by elevator. 1,200 rooms: 1,140 standard doubles, 40 suites, 20 three-room apartment suites. All rooms feature private bathroom, air conditioner, TV with satellite channels, radio, direct-dial international satellite telephone, mini-bar, refrigerator. 6 restaurants. 4 bars and coffee shops. Business center. Congress Hall for 900 seats. Conference Hall for 250 seats. Meeting rooms. Sauna with a swimming pool and gym. Bowling alley and billiards room. Currency Exchange. Post office. News stand. On-site parking. Room rates - from $230.

PULKOVSKAYA PARK INN * * * *

Located in the south part of the city, on the way from the airport to the city center. Opened in 1981. 12 km to Moskovsky railway station and 5 km to Pulkovo airport. 7 floors. All floors are accessible by elevator. 840 rooms: 80 singles, 743 doubles, 17 suites. All rooms feature private bathroom, air conditioner, TV, radio, telephone, mini-bar. 5 restaurants. 6 bars and coffee shops. Business center. Congress Hall for 500 seats. 5 Banquet rooms. 2 saunas with swimming pools. Hair salon. Currency Exchange. Service Bureau. Shopping arcade. Towncar service. On-site parking. Room rates - from $230.

DESSON LADOGA * * *

Located on the left bank of the Neva river, near downtown. Opened in 1964. Renovated in 1994. 3 km to Moskovsky railway station and 24 km to Pulkovo airport. 5 floors. All floors are accessible by elevator. 96 rooms: 44 singles, 48 doubles, 4 suites (10 non-smoking rooms). All rooms feature private bathroom, satellite TV, direct-dial international satellite telephone, refrigerator. Restaurant (European and Chinese cuisine). Bar. Business center. Sauna. Hair salon. Night Club. Towncar service. On-site parking. Room rates - from $140.

ST. PETERSBURG * * *

Located on the right bank of the Neva river, near Summer Gardens. Nice view of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Neva Embankment and the Winter Palace (the Hermitage). Opened in 1970. Partially renovated in 1991. 5 km to Moskovsky railway station and 25 km to Pulkovo airport. 10 floors. All floors are accessible by elevator. 410 rooms: 100 singles, 300 doubles, 10 three-room suites. All rooms feature private bathroom, TV, radio, telephone. 2 restaurants. 3 bars. Business center. Congress Hall for 796 seats. 3 conference rooms for 250 seats. Sauna. Hair salon. First medical aid office. Night Club. Variety show. Service Bureau. Currency Exchange. Post office. Room rates - from $140.

SOVETSKAYA * * *

Located on the Fontanka Embankment. Consists of 3 blocks: Rizhsky, Lermontovsky, Fontanka. Opened in 1968. Partially renovated. 5 km to Moskovsky railway station and 20 km to Pulkovo airport. 18 floors. All floors are accessible by elevator. 1052 rooms: 553 singles, 451 doubles, 40 suites. All rooms feature private bathroom, satellite TV, radio, telephone. 2 restaurants. Pizzeria. Pub. Bars and coffee shops. Business center. 3 conference rooms for 150, 40 and 15 seats. Sauna. Beauty shop. First medical aid office. Service Bureau. Currency Exchange. Airline ticket office. Towncar service. On-site parking. Room rates - from $140.

MOSKVA * * *

Located in the historical center of the city, near Nevsky Prospect. Nice view of the Neva river and Alexandr Nevsky Monastery. Opened in 1976. Partially renovated. 1.5 km to Moskovsky railway station and 22 km to Pulkovo airport. 7 floors. All floors are accessible by elevator. 770 rooms: 125 singles, 595 doubles, 40 suites, 10 apartment suites. All rooms feature private bathroom, TV, radio, telephone. Upgraded rooms on the 3rd floor are additionally equipped with refrigerator, mini-bar, in-room safe. Restaurant for 1415 seats. Bars and coffee shops. 2 Banquet rooms. Night Club. Variety show. Sauna. Billiards room. Post office. Airline ticket office. Towncar service. On-site parking. Room rates - from $150.

OKHTINSKAYA HOTEL * * *

Located on the Neva embankment, not far from the city center. Recently renovated. 2 km to the railway station and 20 km to the airport. 294 rooms. All rooms feature private bathroom, air-conditioner, color TV, telephone, mini-bar. 2 restaurants (European and Russian Cuisine) for 240 seats. Bars and cafes. Business center. Translating and interpreting services. 2 conference rooms for 90 and 120 seats. Souvenir shops. Room rates - from $130.

St. Petersburg Museums

The State Hermitage Museum. Operating hours: 10:30am - 6pm, on Sunday 10:30am - 5pm, closed on Monday. The State Hermitage Museum is among the top four Art museums of the world. Its collection was started by Peter the Great, but the museum itself was founded by Catherine II. In 1852 the Hermitage was opened to the public, in 1918 the bulk of the exposition was transferred to the Winter Palace that had been the main residence of the Russian tsars until the 1917 revolution. The Museum's collection is displayed in 350 rooms, it consists of 2.7 million exhibits among which are 15,000 paintings, 12,000 sculptures, 600,000 graphic works, 1 million coins and medals, 224,000 works of applied art. Here you will find works by the great masters of the past - Titian, Michelangelo, El Greco, Rafael, Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso and many others. Even a week is not enough to see the whole collection of the Hermitage, it is recommended to pick a time period or an artistic school on which to focus and go see it first, otherwise you can be too tired by the time you get to it after several hours of walking the endless corridors.

The State Russian Museum. Operating hours: 10am-5pm, on Monday 10am-4pm, closed on Tuesday. The Museum contains the second largest collection of Russian art, after Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery. Opened in 1898 in Mikhailovsky Palace, it became the first public museum of Russian art and today it displays over 320,000 icons, paintings, graphic works, sculptures and works of applied art created by the best Russian artists.

St. Isaac's Cathedral. Operating hours: 11am-7pm, closed on Wednesday. The cathedral is a great example of late Classicism. It took 40 years to build it, 60 of the 440,000 construction workers died just of inhaling the mercury fumes while decora-ting the cathedral's dome with 100 kg. of pure gold. St. Isaac’s Cathedral is 101.5 m tall, it has 112 monolith columns about 114 tons each, 14,000 people can attend services held here on big religious holidays. From the dome of St. Isaac’s you can enjoy the best view of the city - the central streets, the Neva river, the Winter Palace.

The State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg (Peter and Paul Fortress). Operating hours: 11am - 5pm, closed on Wednesday and last Tuesday of each month. Opened in 1918 inside Peter and Paul Fortress, the museum houses 840,000 exhibits among which are some rare maps, plans drawn by famous architects, unique engravings and paintings, archive documents. The exhibition also tells about the history of Peter and Paul Fortress that was originally built to protect the city but was rather used as a political prison. In the fortress grounds, at St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral you will find the graves of Russian tsars and Great Dukes. Peter the Great, the founder of St. Petersburg was the first to be buried here.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. Operating hours: 12noon - 5pm, closed on Wednesday and Sunday. The colossal edifice modeled after St. Peter’s in Rome was built in 1801-1811 by Russian masters. It is also known as a monument to the war of 1812 - here you will find the banners of the defeated regiments of Napoleon's army, the keys from the conquered cities and forts and even the remains of field-marshal Kutuzov, the commander of the Russian army in the war with Napoleon, are buried here. Since 1932 the cathedral is home to the Museum of the History of Religion with its 150,000-piece collection of icons, sculptures, paintings, works of applied art and archive documents.

Yusupov Palace. The museum is closed to the public and can be visited only by reservation. The Palace of the Yusupovs on the Moika river is one of the most luxurious in St. Petersburg. It used to surprise even the capital's aristocracy by the splendor of its interiors decorated with great taste. The Yusupovs were almost as rich as the tsar's family, besides this palace and the other three palaces in St. Petersburg, they owned 53 estates in different parts of Russia. It was in this palace that Felix Yusupov and his associates murdered Rasputin in 1916. A part of the museum has been restored to evoke the atmosphere of that night. The Palace Theater built before the Yusupovs bought the place still opens its doors for musical concerts and theatrical performances.

City Tour by bus, 3 hours

Nevsky Prospect. The main avenue of the city, was created in 1710 to connect the Admiralty and the Alexander Nevsky Monastery with the old road from Novgorod to Moscow. By the year 1715 the "Grand Nevsky Perspective" was built from the Admiralty to the city border at the Fontanka river and in 1718 another road linked the Monastery with the old Moscow road. In 1725 the two streets were connected and a great construction began along their sides. The buildings on Nevsky Prospect represent different architectural styles - from Baroque to Classicism, Eclecticism and Modern. The street is 4.5 km long. More than 100 shops, several theaters, concert halls, churches and cathedrals, banks and office buildings, restaurants and hotels, metro stations and the railway station make it the main street in St. Petersburg and the most popular promenade.

Palace Square. The Winter Palace built in 1754-1762 by architect Bartolommeo Rastrelli was the first structure on Dvortsovaya (Palace) Embankment that stretches from the Swan Canal to the Admiralty. The Palace with the splendid decor of its interiors and the outside walls was one of the last and indeed the best creations of the great master of Baroque. In 1764-1787 the Small and the Old Hermitage and the Hermitage Theater were built on Palace square. In 1837-1843 the building of the Guard Corps Headquarters appeared on the square and in 1842-1851 the New Hermitage was added to the square's ensemble. The General Staff building hugging the south end of Palace Square was constructed in 1819-1829, its facade is the longest in the world (580 meters). The Alexander Column in the center of Palace Square with the weight of 600 ton is the largest monolith in the world, it was placed here in 1834 to commemorate Russia's victory over Napoleon in 1812. On the west side of the square is the Admiralty whose golden spire is one of the most popular post card objects. It is from here that Peter the Great supervised the construction of the city and directed Russia's new shipyard and navy.

Senate Square. The Admiralty, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Senate and the Synod surround Senate (Decembrists) Square. In its center you will see the first monument to appear in St. Petersburg - the statue of Peter the Great on a rearing horse - the Bronze Horseman, another symbol of St. Petersburg.

Summer Gardens and Summer Palace of Peter I. In 1704 the city's first park - Summer Gardens - was created on the island formed by the Neva and Moika rivers and the Swan canal. The park with its regular alleys, beautiful fountains, sculptures and summerhouses was the center of St. Petersburg’s cultural life - most of the holiday celebrations, receptions and balls were held here by Peter the Great who at that time lived in the Summer Palace, but only the city's aristocracy were allowed on the Gardens territory. Today the Summer Garden and Palace is the most popular recreational area in the city.

Vasilievsky Island. The island lying between the Great and the Small Neva rivers is home to Russia's first museum - The Kunstkamera - created by Peter I and housing among others his collection of oddities. On this island you will find Menshikov Palace - the palace given by tsar Peter to his close friend and governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Menshikov. Today it is a museum displaying a "Russian Culture of Peter's Time" exhibition with fragments of original 18th century interiors and Dutch tiles.