Travel Tips to St. Petersburg, Russia

About St. Petersburg City

St. Petersburg is one of most beautiful cities in Russia. The central area of St. Petersburg which was built according to one initial architectural design framework generally looks the same as it did 2 centuries ago. Italian and French architects planned the city, giving it the spacious, classical beauty that it has retained. The historical center of St. Petersburg is the eastern part of Basil (Vasilievsky) Island. The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The majestic appearance of St. Petersburg is achieved through a variety of architectural details including long, straight boulevards, vast spaces, gardens and parks, decorative wrought-iron fences, monuments and decorative sculptures.

St. Petersburg was founded May 27, 1703 by Russian tzar Peter-the-Great who sought an outlet to the sea and a port for trade through the Baltic. As the city became in 1712 a new capitol of enormous Russian Empire (about 1/6 of entire world territory), it flourished soon after its foundation as Russia "window on Europe". By the mid-19th century it was Russia leading seaport and a major center of commerce, industry, and culture.

St. Petersburg is home city for Russia largest museum collections, such as The Hermitage Museum (The Winter Palace), State Russian Museum of Art, numerous museums and palaces of former Royal Russia, granite embankments and pavements.

St. Petersburg is the city of famous White Nights (the period starts at the end of May and continues through mid July) when the sun scarcely goes below the horizon and twilight continues all nighttime long over the Neva river drawbridges.

The Neva River itself, together with its many canals and their granite embankments and bridges gives the city a unique and striking ambience. These bodies of water led to St. Petersburg being given the name of "Venice of the North".

St. Petersburg Location

Among cities of the world having population of over one million people (over 4.5 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area), Saint Petersburg is the northernmost. The city is 600 km northwest of Moscow and 300 km east of Helsinki; it is situated in latitude 60 North (59°56‘0"N, 30°20‘0"E), the same latitude as Stockholm, Oslo and Anchorage, Alaska.

St. Petersburg is located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, at the mouth of the Neva River and on over 40 islands in its delta. The nearest suburbs of St. Petersburg are situated on the plain adjacent to the Neva, and along the Gulf.

Summer days and White Nights in St. Petersburg, Russia

Thanks to its geographical position St. Petersburg is famous for its delightful White Nights which begin at the end of May and last for some 50 days. The shortest night is June 21/22 when the sun slightly disappears beyond the horizon, and even the brightest stars are not seen in the sky. The maximum length of a summer day is 18 hrs 45 min.

This celebrated phenomenon is known as the "white nights". The white nights are closely linked to another attraction - the eight drawbridges spanning the Neva. Tourists flock to see the bridges drawn and lowered again at night to allow shipping to pass up and down the river. Bridges open from May to late October according to a special schedule between approximately 2 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.

Local Time

St. Petersburg is located in the Moscow Standard Time Zone (MST), which differs from the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): Summer MST = GMT + 4 hours, Winter MST = GMT + 3 hours.