Friendly disclaimer! We want to be as accurate as possible, but given these challenging times, we urge you to recheck that the venues are open when you decide to visit.
Saint Petersburg has earned its name as a majestic and truly tourist-friendly city. While soaking in its rich history that manifests itself throughout the urban facades, St Petersburg is a treat for the culture vultures. Breathe in the northern crispy air while contemplating by the shores of the scenic Neva River. The city keeps growing as new infrastructure and event venues are born every day, making St Petersburg an exciting destination to witness cutting-edge technologies and innovations.
Palace Square
Palace Square is considered to be the city’s main square and serves as an excellent example of how different architectural styles can be combined in a most elaborate and aesthetically pleasing way. It was the setting of many events of worldwide significance, including the Bloody Sunday 1905 and the October Revolution of 1917. The Palace Square is simply breathtaking.
Useful Info:
- Location: Dvortsovaya Square, Saint Petersburg
- How to reach: Nevsky Prospekt Metro Station
Yusupov Palace
A beautiful yellow palace that was once home to the wealthy and respected Yusupov family stands by the Moika River. It was also the site of Grigori Rasputin’s murder in 1916, a dark episode in Russia’s history. Guide yourself through the palace and unravel the story behind the murder of Rasputin.
Useful Info:
- Location: 94, nab. Reki Moiki, Saint Petersburg
- Website: www.yusupov-palace.ru/en
- Timings: 11 am to 5 pm
- How to reach: Sadovaya Metro Station
The State Museum of the History of Religion
The State Museum of the History of Religion is one of the world’s few museums and the only one of its kind in Russia with its permanent exhibition featuring the origin and development of religion. With a collection of around 200,000 exhibits, it houses a wide range of historical and cultural artefacts from various countries, ages, and people.
Useful Info:
- Location: 14, Pochtamtskaya ul., Saint Petersburg
- Website: www.gmir.ru/eng/
- Timings: Thursday – Monday 10 am to 6 pm, Tuesday 1 pm to 9 pm, closed on Wednesdays
- How to reach: Admiralteyskaya Metro Station
St.Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music Art
St Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music Art is located in the building of the former Imperial Theatres Management, built in the first half of the 19th century by the great architect Carlo Rossi. This building remains one of the principal exhibits of the museum.
Useful Info:
- Location: 6, Ostrovskogo pl., Saint Petersburg
- Website: www.theatremuseum.ru/english.html
- Timings: 11 am to 6 pm, and on Wednesday, 1 pm to 7 pm. Closed on Tuesday and the last Friday of the month.
- How to reach: Gostiny Dvor Metro Station
The Dostoevsky Museum
The Literary-Memorial Museum of Dostoevsky was opened on the 150th anniversary of his birthday in 1971. This house was his last apartment. The Brothers Karamazov novel was written in this house. Dostoevsky’s apartment was recreated for the most part from the memoirs of his wife Anna and of his contemporaries.
The Dostoevsky Museum contains a theatre for viewing performances and movies based on Dostoevsky’s works, and for literary gatherings. Exhibits by modern artists are always on display in the exhibition rooms. The museum has become an inseparable part of cultural life in St Petersburg today.
Useful Info:
- Location: 5/2, Kuznechny Pereulok, Saint Petersburg
- Website: www.eng.md.spb.ru/
- Timings: Tuesday, Thursday – Sunday 11 am to 6 pm. Wednesday 1 pm to 8 pm. Closed on Monday and official holidays.
- How to reach: Vladimirskaya Metro Station
The Pushkin Apartment Museum
The Pushkin Apartment Museum is the only memorial Pushkin museum in the city that tells about the last period of the poet’s life and work. Here, Pushkin who was mortally wounded at the duel died on January 29, 1837. One can also see at this museum some of the belongings of Pushkin and his family.
Useful Info:
- Location: 12, nab. Reki Moiki, Saint Petersburg
- Website: www.museumpushkin.ru/eng/
- Timings: 10.30 am to 6 pm. Closed on Tuesdays and the last Friday of the month.
- How to reach: Admiralteiskaya Metro Station
The Summer Garden
The Summer Garden is one of the places where one can feel the atmosphere of Peter’s time. The garden is home to a collection of sculptures and the Summer Palace, which was the first Emperor’s residence. Together, they constitute a single museum complex.
Useful Info:
- Location: Krasnaya Ulitsa, 8 корпус 2, St Petersburg
- Website: www.rusmuseum.ru/eng/home/
- Timings: 10 am to 10 pm. Closed on Tuesdays.
- How to reach: Gostiny dvor, Nevsky prospekt
Kunstkamera
Kunstkamera, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, was the first museum in Russia. It has a unique collection of antiques, revealing the history and way of life of many people. This museum, however, is also known for housing the collection of “freaks” with its anatomical curiosities and anomalies.
Useful Info:
- Location: 3, Universitetskaya nab., Saint Petersburg
- Website: www.kunstkamera.ru/en/
- Timings: 11 am to 7 pm. Closed on Mondays.
- How to reach: Admiralteiskaya Metro Station
Saint Petersburg Metro
Due to the city’s unique geology, the Saint Petersburg Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world (calculated by the average depth of all the stations). The system’s deepest station, Admiralteyskaya, is 86 metres below ground. Serving 2.15 million passengers daily, it is also the 16th busiest metro system in the world. Although every station has its own unique style, the most beautiful stations are on the red line (Avtovo, Kirovskiy zavod, Ploshad Vosstaniya).
Useful Info:
- Website: www.metro.spb.ru/
- Timings: 5:30 am till midnight. Check the opening hours here http://www.metro.spb.ru/rejimrabotystancii.html
Yelagin Island
Yelagin Island is a unique protected natural complex. It is the northernmost island in the Neva delta, flanked by Big Nevka in the north, Central Nevka in the south and south-east, and shooting out with the narrow cape into the Gulf of Finland. Once a royal residence, Yelagin Island passed into the possession of the state and became the Central Park of Culture and Recreation, and since then opened its doors to visitors.
Today Kirov Central Park is a dynamically developing cultural and recreational space, suitable for audiences of different age groups and interests.
Useful Info:
- Location: 4, Elagin Island (Kirov Central Park), Saint Petersburg
- Website: www.elaginpark.org/en
- Timings: 6 am to 12 am
- How to reach: Krestovsky Ostrov Metro Station
The Bronze Horseman
The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was created by the French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet. The name comes from an 1833 poem of the same name by Aleksander Pushkin, widely considered to be one of the most significant works of Russian literature. The statue is now one of the symbols of Saint Petersburg.
Useful Info:
- Location: Senate Square, Saint Petersburg
- How to reach: Admiralteyskaya Metro Station
Pavlovsk Park
Pavlovsk is the palace-and-park ensemble and summer residence of Grand Prince Pavel (who became later Emperor Pavel I). Pavlovsk Park was conceived by Cameron as a classic English landscape garden – an idealised landscape filled with picturesque pieces of classical architecture, designed to surprise and please the viewer. Pavlovsk Palace has staterooms designed by some of St. Petersburg’s most famous architects, including Quarenghi, Rossi and Voronikhin.
Useful Info:
- Location: 20, Sadovaya St., Saint Petersburg
- Timings: 10 am to 6 pm
- How to reach: Bus from Moskovskaya Metro Station
The Saint Petersburg Chamber Opera
The St Petersburg Chamber Opera was created by director Yuri Alexandrov in 1987. It was intended to be a creative laboratory and soon took a prominent place in the St Petersburg musical and drama sphere. The St Petersburg Chamber Opera performances are annually nominated to the most prestigious Russian awards, Golden Mask, and Golden Spotlight.
Useful Info:
- Location: 33, Galernaya ul., Saint Petersburg
- Website: www.spbopera.ru/
- How to reach: Admiralteyskaya Metro Station
The State Museum of Political History of Russia
The State Museum of the Political History of Russia is a successor of the State Museum of Revolution which was created on October 9, 1919, after the decree of Petrograd Soviet Workers and the Red Army Deputies. Presently the State Museum of Political History of Russia is one of the few museums which carry out documentation and expositional demonstration of processes taking place in the political, economic, and social life of Russian society in the 19th–21st centuries.
Useful Info:
- Location: 2-4, Kuibisheva ul., Saint Petersburg
- Website: www.en.polithistory.ru/
- Timings: 10 am to 6 pm. Closed on Thursdays and the last Monday of the month.
- How to reach: Gorkovskaya Metro Station