SaraFato

Hi everybody,

I'm planning my next trip for June and St. Petersburg has always been on my mind. However, from what I've read, I'm wondering if it's a city of mostly museums and palaces. When I travel, I like visiting cities with atmosphere and beautiful historic centers with churches, cafés and shops rather than cities where all you do is visit museum after museum or palace after palace (for me, the life of a city isn't in its museums or palaces but in the streets, where locals really hang out). I know that I should just get a bookguide and find out myself whether it's my type of city or not, but do you think St. Petersburg is the right city for me?

I had originally planned visiting Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn (since they're small, I thought I'd visit the three of them) but now I'm wondering whether I'd better visit just one city with a lot to offer.

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply my, perhaps, silly question.

boom_boom

We spent 3 days in St. Petersburg in 2006 and loved it. Yes, there are musuems and palaces, but the churches were among the highlights for us. Seeing the line of the faithful waiting to kiss the icon or be blessed by the priest was moving. Lots of cafes, but didn't spend much time shopping so can't really speak to that. If you go, be sure you visit Peterhof, the grounds alone are worth the time to get outside the city for this place.
But, the city has become very commerce oriented so the "atmosphere" you have to find, in my experience, in places such as Peterhof, the Winter Palace, etc.
I'd go again in a heartbeat.

boom_boom

Hi - hit the wrong key and posted before I was done...

Tallin, the Old Town in particular, does have the kind of charm and atmosphere you say you like, so be sure to go there. It was one of our favorite cities. Also in that region really liked Helsinki. Enjoy.

trumps

St Petersburg is magical & if you like churches a must is the Church of the Savior on Spilt Blood it was erected on the place where Russian Emperor Alexander II was assassinated. The shopping is also very good.

annaguide

St.Petersburg is a living organism, people live in the old historical quarters, among these museums and palaces. You can find everything: a nightclub next to a palace and a regular school right next to the church. Now we even have a skating rink right in the Palace Square opposite the Hermitage museum. They arrange concerts on the spit of Vasilivsky Island and Jazz marathons at the walls of Peter and PAul Fortress. In a word - we all just live with these palaces and museums. Some of the locals are so used to seeing them everyday, that they don't regard them as something special.

Dukey

Well, St. Pete certainly has "atmosphere" but you must be prepared for a variety of things.

It is not, IMO, that almost picture-perfect setting one sees in Old Town Prague, for example, or the quaint medieval setting you see in Tallin.

There are a lot of rough edges here and there..plenty of dirt and grit, old not-so-great buildings..prettified the city is not.

BUT, the museums and the churches are spectacular..the Church on the Spilt Blood is mosaic central and the Hermitage rooms themselves are so decorated you almost forget about the three million works of art you suposedly came to see.

Go EVERYWHERE you can. You'll see lots of locals and a lot of everyday scenes. Just don't overlook the cultural wealth even if you don't particularly like going from museum to museum...to miss any of them would be a shame IMO.

alyssabc

I also just thought all the little canals and bridges were magical. For me, it was a lovely city to wander around. A boat cruise was fun too, as was this great evening event (check to see if they're still doing it) on summer weekends, where they timed a fountain in the middle of the Neva to lights and music - nice crowds of locals enjoying the evening, with drinks and snacks from little carts. Peterhof and the museums are great too, but there are plenty of "small" moments here.