Top choice in St Petersburg
This treasure trove of Soviet ephemera, pre-revolutionary antiques, WWII artefacts and bonkers kitsch from all eras is truly worth travelling for. Exit the metro station to the right and follow the crowds across the train tracks. Continue beyond the large permanent market, which is of very little interest, until you come to a huge area of independent stalls, all varying in quality and content.
The sheer size of the place means you’ll really have to comb it to find the gems.
5.49 MILES
The Hermitage fully lives up to its sterling reputation. You can be absorbed by its treasures for days and still come out wanting more. The enormous…
16.92 MILES
The Grand Palace is an imposing building, although with just 30-something rooms, it is not nearly as large as your typical tsarist palace. From the start…
5.7 MILES
The east wing of this magnificent building, wrapping around the south of Dvortsovaya pl and designed by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s, marries restored…
16.99 MILES
One of the greatest attractions outside of St Petersburg is the jaw-dropping collection of gilded fountains, statue-lined lanes and picturesque canals…
6.39 MILES
This spectacular palace on the Moyka River has some of the best 19th-century interiors in the city, in addition to a fascinating and gruesome history. The…
21.29 MILES
The centrepiece of Tsarskoe Selo, created under Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great between 1744 and 1796, is the vast baroque Catherine Palace,…
6.63 MILES
The Mariinsky Theatre has played a pivotal role in Russian ballet ever since it was built in 1859 and remains one of Russia's most loved and respected…
21.4 MILES
Around the Catherine Palace extends the lovely Catherine Park. The main entrance is on Sadovaya ul, next to the Palace Chapel. The park extends around the…
1.84 MILES
Russia’s poetic genius, Alexander Pushkin, was fatally wounded in a duel here with the Frenchman Georges d’Anthès on 8 February 1837. A granite monument…
2.86 MILES
Catherine the Great built the big, classical Kamennoostrovsky Palace for her son. Today it's a government building that remains closed to the public.
2.89 MILES
Century-old dacha (country cottages) and mansions, inhabited by very wealthy locals, line the wooded lanes that twist their way around Kamenny (Stone)…
2.92 MILES
Guided tours of the Hermitage’s state-of-the-art restoration and storage facility are highly recommended. This is not a formal exhibition as such, but the…
3.22 MILES
The Yelagin Palace was built for his mother by Tsar Alexander I, who had architect Carlo Rossi landscape the entire island while he was at it. The palace,…
3.24 MILES
Another in the city's collection of grand religious buildings is this beautiful functioning datsan (temple) where respectful visitors are welcome. The…
3.24 MILES
Opera buffs will want to visit this house–museum where the great singer Fyodor Chaliapin (1873–1938) lived before fleeing the Soviet Union in 1922. The…