St. Petersburg

Founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 16, 1703 as a “window to Europe”, St. Petersburg served as the capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years.

St. Petersburg ceased being the capital when the capital was moved to Moscow after the Russian Revolution of 1917. With about 4.8 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, Saint Petersburg is Russia’s second-largest city, Europe’s eleventh largest metropolitan area, a major European cultural center, and the most important Russian port on the Baltic.

The city has a total area of 1439 square km, which makes it the second biggest city in terms of area among cities with over a million inhabitants in Europe, after London.

Among cities of the world having populations of over one million people, Saint Petersburg is the northernmost. The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Russia’s political and cultural center for 200 years, the city is impressive even today, and is sometimes referred to in Russia as “the Northern Capital”. It is the administrative center of Leningrad Oblast (itself a separate region) and of the Northwestern Federal District.

During the bus city tour you will pass a lot of celebrated sights including Smolny convent, Summer Garden, Winter palace, the Spire of the Basil, Bronze Horseman, St.Isaac´s cathedral, Nevsky prospekt. You will visit the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Peter and Paul Cathedral which served as a royal burial-vault, be ready for a visit to the State Hermitage Museum, the most important and famous Russian museum, installed in the former Winter Palace of the tsars. Join us for an optional tour of the superb Pushkin Palace and Park, the summer residence of the Russian imperial family, and glorious Peterhof - the famous «Russian Versailles» sparkling with golden fountains in manicured gardens.