Saint Petersburg: Maps , pictures and information.

[dolfans0704]

It's on our short list for the Fall , but we have not been there yet. Also Moscow , Kronstat , Russian Museum , Tikhvin Cemetery and a visit to a country Dascha with lunch. These are first time events.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Your upcoming visit sounds amazing! I hope you will be able to share a photo review of that trip as well! ;) Best of luck in your planning. :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

[scubacruiserx2]

Next to the Field of Mars , fronting the Neva River is the Summer Garden. Peter the Great, in 1704, built the garden and filled it with 250 Italian statutes from the 17th and 18th centuries.

 

 

 

 

It's a nice place for a break or a lunch if you have one with you.

 

 

 

As you cross the Trotsky Most ( bridge) to the Peter and Paul Fortress , you see this view across the river.

 

 

 

 

 

The Peter and Paul Fortress is home to the Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul. After Peter's death it became the last resting place of the Tsars. All of the Tsars are buried here except Ivan the VI and Peter II.

 

 

 

This is Peter the Great's sarcophagus on the right

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

All of the sarcophagi are made of the same white Carrara marble except those of Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna his wife. Their tombs are made of Altai jasper and Ural rhodonite. They took 17 years to carve and polish !

 

 

 

 

This strange statue of Peter the Great sits in the courtyard. Most people didn't know that Peter was bald and wore wigs.

 

 

If you are in the fortress at noon you will hear a single cannon shot.

 

 

 

 

On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays Baltic Air offers flights over St Petersburg from the fortress.

 

 

 

They also offer flights over Peterhof.

[scubacruiserx2]

The red building behind the helicopter is the Artillery Museum.

 

 

 

 

We were there on Victory Day in 2009 and so there was free admission. It was interesting to hear the WW II music being played and seeing the kids having fun on the cannons.

 

 

 

At 10 pm we joined a crowd for fireworks.

 

 

 

 

[dodie sinclair]

Five of us are going on a Baltic cruise leaving Edinburgh on the 31st May I we were wondering about how you go about arranging private tours of St Petersburg? Any ideas, thanks

[scubacruiserx2]

Five of us are going on a Baltic cruise leaving Edinburgh on the 31st May I we were wondering about how you go about arranging private tours of St Petersburg? Any ideas, thanks

 

Hello Dodie welcome to Cruise Critic ! We have some good friends from the Isle of Man that we will be cruising with to Norway in September this year The following is a link to a number of private tours.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g298507-Activities-St_Petersburg_Northwestern_District.html

 

Our personel experience and recommendation is with DenRus

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g298507-Activities-St_Petersburg_Northwestern_District.html

 

We wanted a small group of 4 so we booked a custom tour with specific stops. Another couple on our cruise booked this tour and no one else did - so they got a private tour for a very good price. We have used DenRus on 3 trips and another guide who charges us only $25/Hr. for the two of us. He is excellent also. http://www.guide-petersburg.com/

 

Happy shopping and I hope this helps.

[scubacruiserx2]

So how about a Metro ride ?

 

St. Petersburg has the deepest subway in the world. To reach the trains you must use the escalator in this video.

 

 

 

Here comes our train @ Dostoyevskaya. Note that the stops are bilinqual.

 

 

 

 

Avtovo was being repaired when we were there

 

 

 

 

Kirovsky Zarod is a large factory that makes tractors and tanks. A true

"peoples palace".

 

 

 

 

Rush hour

 

[dolfans0704]

We are looking forward to our subway visit while we are there in June. Being from Miami, we don't have an underground transportation system so very curious to see how it is! Sounds silly, I know, but we are excited anyway! :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

[scubacruiserx2]

We are looking forward to our subway visit while we are there in June. Being from Miami, we don't have an underground transportation system so very curious to see how it is! Sounds silly, I know, but we are excited anyway! :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

 

It really doesn't sound silly at all. Being born and raised in Miami I get it- the traffic that is.

[scubacruiserx2]

Our favorite interactive map is Google. This shows the Metro lines in the central area. If you put your cursor on the satellite icon it brings up photos, transit and traffic in real time.

 

 

 

 

One of our favorite Metro stations is Narvskaya

 

 

 

On the #1 (red) line

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a detail of the Soviet influence

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Google map in this view shows how to walk to the nearest Metro station. Or you can click on transit (bus) or drive (cab).

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Saint Petersburg is a city of rivers , canals and bridges. Wikipedia lists 342 bridges.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_in_Saint_Petersburg

 

We will look at 5 of them in the central area:

 

The first is Palace Bridge that crosses the Neva in front of the Winter Palace.

 

 

 

It has a great view of the central area.

 

 

On the river Moyka at St. Issac's Square is the widest bridge in the world -The Blue Bridge. It is so wide that most people think they are standing on a parking lot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also on the Moyka River at the junction of Nevsky Prospect is the Anichkov Bridge. It has 4 horse tamer statutes, all different on it's corners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Griboedov Canal near Kazan Cathedral is the Bank bridge with its gilded griffons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little further along the canal is the Lion bridge.

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Correction !

 

The Belozersky Palace pictured with Anichkov bridge is actually on the Fontanka River - not the Moyka as posted earlier.

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Some of our favorite sites in St. Peterburg are it's churches and cathedrals. This is Kazan Cathedral with it's semicircular colonnade of 96 Corinthian columns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Smolniy Cathedral is located near the Governor's office

 

 

 

 

 

This is the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. You may see it when you drive from the cruise port to the city.

 

 

 

 

This is the St. Nicholas Cathedral also known as the "Sailor's Church".

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is St. Issac's Cathedral . It took 40 years to construct and is the 3rd largest dome in the world. It is covered in 220 pounds of pure gold.

 

 

 

 

It has lapis lazuli and malchite columns which frame the iconstasis. About 35,000 pound of malachite decorate the cathedral.

 

 

 

[Quilting_Cruiser]

 

 

 

A visit to their fantasic website to preplan your favorite stops is the way to go before you go. Their photography is professional grade.

 

 

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/00/hm0_2.html

 

First, thank you so much for this thread. I so enjoyed looking through your pictures and hearing your descriptions. It shows so clearly that you have a great love for this beautiful city. My DD and I will be there the end of June and can't wait to see it. This is the port my girl is most looking forward to.

 

I'm curious about your comment above. Were you able to tour the Hermitage on your own? Did your guide go around with you? We've reserved our two-day tour with Alla and are very much looking forward to it. :D

 

Thank you!

[scubacruiserx2]

We are glad that you enjoy the thread and we can help.Congratulations on your Baltic trip it was one of our favorite cruises. On that trip our guide showed us the Gold room and the some of the highlights and gave us some free time to walk around . We met her later at a point in time. We have stayed with visa and we could have done it ourselves- but have always used a guide to speed us on to what we wanted to see. We plan on visiting the Hermitage on our own in September after a cruise to Norway on the Legend. We hope to move at our own pace and spend time taking photos because the Hermitage has so much to see.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

We are glad that you enjoy the thread and we can help.Congratulations on your Baltic trip it was one of our favorite cruises. On that trip our guide showed us the Gold room and the some of the highlights and gave us some free time to walk around . We met her later at a point in time. We have stayed with visa and we could have done it ourselves- but have always used a guide to speed us on to what we wanted to see. We plan on visiting the Hermitage on our own in September after a cruise to Norway on the Legend. We hope to move at our own pace and spend time taking photos because the Hermitage has so much to see.

 

 

Thanks for all the information. I'll have to ask our tour guide if we'll be right with her the entire time or if we'll be able to wander on our own. I'm sure there will be specific things we'll want to see so I'll make sure to take a look at your link before we go.

 

Thank you!

[dolfans0704]

This thread has become the highlight of my day, scubacruiser! Thanks so much, again, for sharing your journey with us! :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

[scubacruiserx2]

This thread has become the highlight of my day, scubacruiser! Thanks so much, again, for sharing your journey with us! :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

 

Reading comments like yours is a highlight of our day.

[scubacruiserx2]

So how about a walk on Nevsky Prospect (Ave.) ? Nevsky is the most famous street in Russia and the main street in St. Petersburg. It begins at the Admirality, runs straight to the Moscow train station and jogs right to the Nevsky Monastery where many famous Russians are buried. The best way to see the street is to walk it and we will make a few stops along the way.

 

As we walk from the Admirality we stopped at a sign which says " Citizens! In the event of artillery fire , this side of the street is most dangerous !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

After you cross the Moyka river there is a nice street with a walkway down the middle, on the left. It's called Konyushennaya. It leads to the rear of the Spilled Blood Church and has many famous (and expensive) shops.

 

 

 

 

The next canal is the Griboedov. As you look down the canal (picture shot from the griffon bridge) you can see Kazan Cathedral and Kazan bridge which carries Nevsky Prospect across the canal. Spilled Blood is in the distance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The building across the street from Kazan is the Singer (sewing machines) building. The building is now known as Dom Knigi (house of books). Its where I got my map and some other books in english.

 

 

 

 

 

If you feet are tired from all the walking you may want to sit outside the Cathedral near the fountain where we shop this video clip.

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

As we continue our walk along Nevesky Prospect we come to the Metro station and find a great place for a photo (but I wouldn't do it).

 

 

 

 

A little further along is the only statue of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg .

 

 

 

 

 

Across the street is Yeliseyev's deli built in the Style Moderne style in 1902

 

 

 

 

 

On the corner of Nevsky and the Fontanka River is the Beloselskiy palace which is now a wax museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing a familiar sign (almost) we could't resist giving it a try.

 

 

 

 

 

We thought we were entering a fast food store- but it turned out to be a mall entrance. As we found the food court we found true, peaceful coexistence.

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

Please know before you go about WWII (Russians call it The Great Patriotic War). Leningrad (St. Petersburg) was blockaded by the **** army for 872 days in an effort to starve and destroy EVERYONE in the city. About 1,200,000 civilians died which is about 3 times the troop loss of the U.S. at 418,000. The **** army looted and destroyed Peterhof and Catherine's Palace so they were both rebuilt.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Leningrad

[dolfans0704]

So how about a walk on Nevsky Prospect (Ave.) ? Nevsky is the most famous street in Russia and the main street in St. Petersburg.

 

Very lovely photos, scubacruiser. I was wondering if you happened to pass across any dinner restaurants on Nevsky Prospect? Since we were visiting during "White Nights" we thought it would be nice to possibly plan a dinner and walk around a bit through an evening private tour. The ballet or folkloric show do not appeal to us much so we are exploring other options. Thank you for sharing your journey with us! :)

 

 

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

[scubacruiserx2]

Sure! If you want a quick grab and go Stolle has meat , fish and fruit pies. For Armenian sit down we like Kilikia. The most upscale we tried a Georgian restaurant- Tarragon very nice. Not too expensive.

 

 

 

The one that we ate at the most was Bogart's grand buffet . Fairly quick , reasonable , good english and Russian food. Just off Nevsky one street parallel to the pedestian walk toward Spilled Blood.

 

[dolfans0704]

Thank you for the info scubacruiser! Knew I could count on you for assistance! I am going to mention the restaurant Tarragon to Alla. She is setting us up on a private evening tour. :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

[scubacruiserx2]

Thank you for the info scubacruiser! Knew I could count on you for assistance! I am going to mention the restaurant Tarragon to Alla. She is setting us up on a private evening tour. :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

 

 

You're welcome ! We liked the Khachchapuri (Cheese bread- like pizza) , Kharcho ( Lamb stew with walnuts) and Shashlik (Kabobs). Tarkhun is the english phonetic for Russian word for Tarragon.

 

 

http://www.inyourpocket.com/russia/st-petersburg/Restaurants-in-St-Petersburg/caucasian/Tarkhun_53034v