St Petersburg
Facing an unsightly Soviet-era hotel across the street, the sleek modern Arbat Nord seems to be showing its neighbour how to run a good establishment. The 33 modern, carpeted rooms are decorated in warm hues, and even though the furniture is fairly cheap, there’s plenty of space. Efficient English-speaking staff are on hand and the welcome is warm.
Sunny top-floor rooms are set beneath the mansard roof. Kettles are available upon request.
1.3 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…
15.97 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…
1.21 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…
16.15 MILES
One of the greatest attractions outside of St Petersburg is the jaw-dropping collection of gilded fountains, statue-lined lanes and picturesque canals…
2.12 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…
15.69 MILES
The centrepiece of Tsarskoe Selo, created under Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great between 1744 and 1796, is the vast baroque Catherine Palace,…
2.28 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…
15.79 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. Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Saviour
0.08 MILES
The interior of this marvellous 1743 cathedral, which has been beautifully restored and repainted both outside and in, is one of the most gilded in the…
0.4 MILES
Opened in 2005, K-Gallery houses one of the largest private collections of Russian artwork in the city. The two-floor space features a changing array of…
0.42 MILES
The new epicentre of creativity on the Fontanka River is this mazelike complex of shops, bars, cafes, beauty salons, tattoo parlours, galleries and even a…
4. Museum of Decorative & Applied Arts
0.43 MILES
Also known as the Stieglitz Museum, this fascinating establishment is as beautiful as you would expect a decorative arts museum to be. An array of…
5. Museum of the Defence & Blockade of Leningrad
0.44 MILES
The grim but engrossing displays here contain donations from survivors, propaganda posters from the blockade period and many photos depicting life and…
0.45 MILES
Splendid wrought-iron gates facing the Fontanka River guard the entrance to the Sheremetyev Palace (built 1750–55), now a branch of the State Museum of…
0.47 MILES
Noi Trotsky’s monolithic design for the local KGB headquarters (and currently the St Petersburg headquarters of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, its…
8. Anna Akhmatova Museum at the Fountain House
0.47 MILES
Housed in the south wing of the Sheremetyev Palace, this touching and fascinating literary museum celebrates the life and work of Anna Akhmatova, St…