Good morning
St Petersburg!

City of Tsars, Venice of the North, artistic haven … St Petersburg is without a doubt one of Europe’s grand cities.

Take a comfortable seat on your sofa and let us guide your through the city’s elegant canals. We’ve prepared sights, museum visits, delicous food, drinks and plenty of entertainment.

Ready to go?

MORNING

Rise and shine! St Petersburg is waking up and we’ve put together a mix of music and sightseeing to start your day off.

Play it DJ

Travel back in time to Imperial St Petersburg with a bit of music from the greatest Russian composers.

Listen here

Explore with one click

Explore some of St Petersburg’s most popular sights.

📍State Hermitage Museum
📍The Peterhof Palace
📍Nevsky Avenue
📍The Winter Palace
📍The Mariinsky Theatre
📍The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood

Start here

Helicopter ride

Take in St Petersburg’s opulence from the skies.

Watch video

AFTERNOON

Now that you’re in the St Petersburg mood, let’s get immersed in the local culture with a language lesson, a light lunch and a museum visit. Ready?

Talk like a local

Europe’s largest native language and the most widely spoken Slavic language, Russian is the 7th most spoken language in the world.

If learning a brand new alphabet has always been on your wish list, this is the time to do it. The Russian alphabet uses letters from the Cyrillic script.

Start the class here

Greetings

Hello (formal) – Здравствуйте (ZDRAstvuyte)
Hello (informal) – Привет (priVYET)
Good morning. – Доброе утро. (dObroye Utro)
Good afternoon. – Добрый день. (dObriy den’)
Good evening. – Добрый вечер. (dObriy VEcher)
How are you? – Как дела? (kak deLA?)
Goodbye. – До свидания. (do sviDAniya)
Good night. – Доброй ночи. (DObroi NOchi)
Until next time – До встречи (do VSTREchi)

Showing courtesy

Yes – Да (da)
No – Нет (nyet)
Please – Пожалуйста (poZHAlusta)
Thank you – Спасибо (spaSIbo)
You’re welcome. – Не за что. (ne za chto)
Enjoy (often used instead of “”you’re welcome”” for food) – на здоровье (na zdaROVye)
I’m sorry. – Прошу прощения. (proSHU proSHCHEniya)
Excuse me. – Извините. (izviNItye)

Eating out
Appetizer – Закуска (zaKUSka)
Salad – Салат (saLAt)
Soup – Суп (sup)
Chicken – Курица (KUritsa)
Beef – Говядина (goVYAdina)
Fish – Рыба (RIba)
Main course – Горячее Блюдо (goRYAchee BLUdo)
Dessert – Десерт (deSSERt)
Breakfast – Завтрак (ZAvtrak)
Lunch – Обед (oBED)
Dinner – Ужин (Uzhin)

Вешать лапшу на уши (Veshat’ lapshu na ushi) – Hang noodles on the ears

Meaning “lie” or “someone who is lying through their teeth”.

тянуть кота за хвост (tyanut’ kota za hvost) – Pulls a cat’s tail

Meaning “to procrastinate”.

Lunch Time

Take your lunch break with a local favourite … the Borscht soup. A mix of meat or bone stock, sautéed vegetables and beet sour, this reddish-purple soup is more filling than you would imagine. Dig in!

Find the recipe

Afternoon at the museum

The Hermitage Museum is an enormous treasure trove of art spanning everything from Egyptian antiquaties to 20th-century paintings. With over three million items, seeing it all might prove difficult. But we can definitely recommend spending a couple of hours in the company of some of the most mesmerising art pieces out there.

Visit the Hermitage

Fun Facts

Now that you’ve visited the Hermitage, you’ve noticed just how much there is to see. If you were to spend one minute per exhibit, it would take you around 10 years to see them all.

St Petersburg is a place of many names … well, three to be more exact: until 1914 – St Petersburg, from 1914 to 1924 – Petrograd, from 1924 to 1992 – Leningrad, and from 1992 on – again St Petersburg.

There are around 800 bridges connecting the various parts of the city. 12 of them are movable, and they are raised during early night. Once they’re up, moving between the Petrograd and Central districts becomes complicated.

St. Petersburg City Guide

Travelling with kids?

We’ve got you covered. Get them excited for their trip to St Petersburg with this fun colouring activity.

Download it here

EVENING

The day isn’t over yet. Drinks, dinner and cultural activities are on the menu.

Happy hour

Get in a cosy mood with a hot traditional Russian drink … the sbiten. This drink is based on on honey mixed with water, spices, and jam, and it can be both alcoholic or non-alcoholic. You can enjoy it cold during the summer months.

Here’s the recipe

Dinner

Beef Stroganoff originated in Russia in the 19th century, but many countries have adoted and re-adapted this dish.

Enjoy this dish named after the famous Stroganoffs and explore all the legends surrounding this dish.

Here’s the recipe

Cultural encounters

Russia, with its long history and artistic panache, has plenty to offer for the culture-hungry visitors. Here are our cultural recommendations for a memorable night.

Movie

An award-winning movie that tells the story of a hotheaded car mechanic who fights back when a corrupt mayor tries to expropriate the land of his ancestral home.

Binge-watching

Delve into a sci-fi story centering on one family who find themselves becoming owners of a cutting-edge android on the run from a corporation, homicide investigators and terrorists.

Books

One of the best novels of all time, this Russian classic tells a tale of mental anguish and moral dilemmas personified by an impoverished ex-student who plans to kill a crooked pawnbroker for her money.

Good morning St Petersburg!