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Best experiences:

State Hermitage Museum

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Green and white museum with horse and carriage outside

Vast complex housing a jaw-dropping collection of Egyptian antiquities, European Renaissance Art, treasure galleries and Russian military history. Second largest art museum in the world.

Adult price: £5

Best for ages 13+

Catherine Palace

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Grand exterior of palace in daytime

A summer palace that’s a showcase for the grandeur of Imperial Russia, and a fascinating insight into the gilded lives of the Tsars.

Adult price: £10

Best for ages 13+

Russia’s Tsars & their legacy

St Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Statue of tsar in boulevard

Visiting St. Petersburg is a chance to discover the larger-than-life personalities who ruled the city: the powerful Romanov dynasty aka the Tsars.

Best for ages 18+

Tsar’s Village

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Blue pavilion building in woods

The extraordinary summer retreat of the Russian tsars, home to exquisitely restored Baroque palaces and formal gardens, including the Catherine Palace.

Adult price: £6

Best for ages 18+

Peterhof Palace

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Palace seen from fountain in gardens

Revel in the expansive grandeur of Imperial Russia at Peterhof, a staggering complex of palaces, gardens and follies, half an hour from central St. Petersburg.

Adult price: £6

Best for ages 13+

Faberge Museum

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Faberge Museum

Discover the art of Peter Carl Faberge, creator of the Imperial Easter Eggs, in the museum dedicated to his craft.

Adult price: £5

Best for ages 8+

Smolny Cathedral

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Blue and white painted cathedral rises between city buildings in square

An exquisite Baroque cathedral designed by St. Petersburg’s favourite architect, Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

Adult price: £3

Best for ages 18+

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on the Spilled Blood

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Large cathedral with domed towers by the canal

One of the city’s only traditional Russian churches, built on the spot of the assassination of Tsar Alexander II  1881, it is also the most beautiful, with jaw-dropping gold-leaf interiors.

Adult price: £5

Best for ages 14+

Ballet & Opera at the Mariinsky Theatre

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Colourful frontage of theatre

Enjoy an unforgettable evening of classical ballet or opera at the world-renowned Mariinsky Theatre. It was here that Tchaikovsky’s famous ballets, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake were first performed.

Adult price: £40

Best for ages 18+

Duration: 2+ hours

Russian Museum

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Grand museum seen from exterior

Russia’s rich tradition of visual arts is celebrated in the network of buildings and gardens of the State Russian Museum, housing 400,000 exhibits dating back to the 10th century.

Adult price: £5

Best for ages 18+

Peter & Paul Cathedral

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

Interior of cathedral with ornate pillars rising up to ceiling

The burial place of Russia’s Romanov tsars from Peter the Great to Nicholas II, the Cathedral was the first landmark to be built in the city, and is thus the oldest – dating back to 1733.

Adult price: £7

Best for ages 18+

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Walk Nevsky Prospekt

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Busy street with tram lines

Wander through history as you traverse St Petersburg’s main thoroughfare – a grand, 3-mile boulevard of elegant facades, imposing buildings, basilicas, monuments and theatres.

Best for ages 18+

Duration: 2

Boat tours of St Petersburg’s canals

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Canal between city buildings with boats

Discover St Petersburg’s spectacular architecture from the water, with a slow-paced cruise through the city’s rivers, waterways and canals.

Adult price: £7

Best for ages 4+

Duration: 1-2 hours

St Isaac’s Cathedral

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

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Bucket List Experience
Gold domed cathedral by day

Dominating the city’s skyline, St Isaacs is magnificently decorated with Orthodox icons and frescoes, and offers panoramic views from the alfresco colonnade.

Adult price: £3

Best for ages 18+

Yusupov Mansion

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

Yellow painted mansion on canal front

Visit the elegant mansion of the wealthy and colorful Yussupov family, the notorious site of the grisly murder of Grigory Rasputin in 1916.

Adult price: £8

Best for ages 18+

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Dostoevsky Museum

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

Single bed in small room

Dostoyevsky’s apartment/house museum, located in the Haymarket, is where much of ‘Crime and Punishment’ is set and offers fascinating insights into the writer’s life and work.

Adult price: £3

Best for ages 18+

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Kuntskamera

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

Kuntskamera

Founded by Peter the Great to house his collection of physical oddities and preserved ‘freaks’, this museum has a ghoulish lure; not for the faint-hearted, or children.

Adult price: £6

Best for ages 16+

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House of Academics

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

Wide yellow villa

One of the city’s oldest and most famous apartment blocks, home to scores of Russian Scientists since 1708; the facade of the building has nearly 30 memorial plaques honoring its past residents. You can g inside and visit the house-museum of its most famous resident, the great physiologist Ivan Pavlov.

Best for ages 18+

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Museum of Political History

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

Museum of Political History

This museum dedicated to Russia’s political history is housed in the exquisite art nouveau mansion gifted by Nicholas II to his mistress, a prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Adult price: £6

Best for ages 18+

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Alexander Palace

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

Sweeping yellow palace in front of pond

Built on the orders of Catherine the Great for her grandson, the future Alexander I, this extraordinary, neoclassical palace in the Tsars’ Village was also home to the last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family and is considered one of the greatest creations by the renowned architect Giacomo Quarenghi.

Adult price: £6

Best for ages 13+

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Kazan Cathedral

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

Cathedral with pillars and fountain

Looming over Nevsky Prospekt, the scale of Kazan is breathtaking. Modelled on St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the church took ten years to build between 1801-11 and is famous for its impressive stone colonnade.

Best for ages 18+

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Kuznechny Food Market

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

Stall with dried fruit in baskets

Kuznechny Market offers a chance to step off the sightseeing trail and visit the city’s largest farmers’ market, with fresh produce, meat and fish. Open daily except Monday.

Best for ages 13+

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Chesme Church

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

Chesme Church

Considered by some to be St. Petersburg’s most impressive single church, Chesme has a unique candystripe frontage, in pink and white, and an elegant, rose-hued interior.

Best for ages 18+

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Kronstadt Naval Cathedral

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

Gold domed white cathedral

A huge, Baroque confection, Kronstadt served as the main shrine for the Russian navy until the revolution in 1919. The Cathedral is actually two churches on separate floors, with opulent, gilded interiors.

Best for ages 18+

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Trinity Cathedral

St. Petersburg , Northwestern Region, Russia

blue domed cathedral in city centre

Instantly recognisable by its bright blue domes, Trinity was a former regimental church of the Russian Imperial Army, and is famous for its icons, dating back to the 18th century.

Best for ages 18+

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Literary Cafe

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

Pale yellow building on corner of street

St Petersburg’s oldest eatery is a favourite of Russia’s famous writers and an excellent place to sample traditional Russian food.

Best for ages 18+

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Philharmonic Hall

St. Petersburg, Northwestern Region, Russia

Large chandeliers in theatre

Enjoy a night of Russia’s outstanding classical music at the elegant Philharmonic Hall, right in the center of the city.

Adult price: £30

Best for ages 18+

Duration: 2+ hours

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