A visit to St. Petersburg would not be complete without a tour of the world-famous Hermitage Museum – the “Crown Jewel” on the museum list in St. Petersburg.

Founded in 1764 as a private museum of Catherine the Great to which only she and her closest courtiers had access, today it is Russia’s largest art museum that owns an astounding collection of about 3 million pieces of art.

The collection occupies four buildings: the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage and the New Hermitage.

According to a 19th century legend, enemy forces will never take St. Petersburg as long as the "Bronze Horseman" stands in the middle of the city. The Bronze Horseman is the most famous monument to the founder of St. Petersburg – Peter the Great.

From this square you can start your promenade along the Neva river embankment towards the main square of the city. You then approach the Palace Square, considered to be the main square of the city.

The Square of Arts is a remarkable architectural ensemble and, at the same time, has become one of the most important cultural centers of the city. Every single building facing the square is either a theater or a museum. 

Nevsky Prospect is lined with magnificent architectural ensembles and offers a wealth of cultural interests: palaces and beautiful mansions, libraries and museums, numerous theaters and movie houses, clubs, cafes and restaurants.

From the Trinity Bridge you can observe the Summer Garden, the oldest park in the city. Approach one of the main landmarks of St. Petersburg – the Church of Resurrection on Spilled Blood built on the site where Alexander the Second was assassinated on March 1, 1881.

The Yusupov Palace is an outstanding historic and architectural monument, which preserves the memory of its noble owners, the Yusupov Princes. The Yusupovs were great collectors of art, and their collection was known well beyond Russia.

After the revolution most of the collection was moved to the Hermitage, though traces of the incredible wealth that once kept this palace pulsating with life still remain: sitting rooms sumptuously decorated in various architectural styles, intricate chandeliers and candelabras, sculptures and paintings.

In Pushkin, former Tsarkoye Selo, you may tour the Catherine Palace, one of the masterpieces of world architecture, designed by architect Rastrelli in 1752 for Empress Elizabeth, who named it Catherine Palace in honour of her mother, Catherine I, who originally owned the estate.

Rastrelli used a hundred kilograms of pure gold for the exterior gilding and contemporary visitors did complain that the palace blinded their eyes on sunny days!

Of special interest is the Amber Room of the Catherine Palace, which was once considered to be the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. The amber wall panels were presented to Peter the Great in 1717 by King Friedrich Wilhelm. The Amber Room is a successful reconstruction as the panels were too heavy (800 kg) to dismantle and evacuate when the Second World War broke out. They were looted by the Nazi army, dispatched into Germany and never seen again. The restoration work is still ongoing in some rooms of the palace after the destructions of the Second World War.