SIGHTSEEING TOURS IN ST. PETERSBURG

If you would like to visit St. Petersburg but know little about this magnificent city, and hardly have any time to learn about it, we suggest our city tours that will allow you and your travel companions to learn more about St. Petersburg.

The advantage of individual tours is that you can directly address the guide, thus allowing the guide to better understand what guests would like to hear and what might be omitted.

There want be any hustle, and you will take your time to take pictures of monuments or buildings you like.

We guarantee that during the individual tour you will see the most popular sights and places of the city such as the Winter Palace, the Anichkov Bridge, Savior on the Spilled Blood, to name a few.

Our guides will not only focus on the basis information about the city sights and cultural sites but also share interesting facts or stories related to them.

Your tour will begin with the city’s history. Next, you will visit the main attractions. The stop is planned at the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island where you can admire the world famous view – “Nevskaya Panorama”. You will see the Winter Palace, Peter and Paul Fortress, the Palace Bridge. You will be able to admire the décor of Rostral columns and the Exchange building nearby.

 

The tour will take place along the main thoroughfare of the city – Nevsky Prospekt, which is rich of unique mansions, palaces and temples. The Nevsky prospect starts from the Admiralty and ends at the Alexander Nevsky Square. Walking across the Moika River, you will see the Stroganov palace which was designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli in the Russian Baroque style for the Count Sergey Stroganov – famous collector and patron of art.

 

Next, you will see Kazan Cathedral – the principle Russian Orthodox Church in St.Petersburg. It is an outstanding monument both of Russian architecture and military glory. The history of the Kazan Cathedral is associated with the Patriotic War of 1812. In 1813 the field marshal Mikhail Kutuzov was buried here with full military honours. In front of the outstanding there are two monuments to the great commanders – Field Marshal Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly. Opposite the cathedral there is a Central book store. Its building was constructed for the Zinger Sewing Machine Company in the beginning of the 20th century. It was built of stone, metal, glass and was the first fireproof building in the city.

Anichkov Bridge is rightly considered to be the pearl of the Nevsky Prospekt. It is decorated with the four different equestrian statues, representing four stages of taming a horse, made by P.Klodt. The oldest building in Nevsky Prospekt is Anichkov Palace that was built to the order of Empress Elizabeth for one of her favourites – Count Razumovsky, and later belonged to the Romanovs.

Now it houses the Palace of Creativity for the children. Another palace on the other side of the Fontanka River is the Beloselsky-Belizersky’s Palace. At the end of the 19^th century it was owned by Alexander III’s brother, Grand Prince Sergey Alexandrovich. Now the Palace houses a business and cultural centre of the city

It’s difficult to imagine city tour without visiting the Art’s Square. It was designed by architect Carlo Rossi in the first half of the 19^th century. The ensemble of the square is grouped around the Mikhail Palace and Benois building, which now house the Russian museum.

To the left of the Benois building there is the Maly Opera and Ballet House, or the Mikhailovsky Theatre – the second largest after the Mariinsky theatre. The Museum of Ethnography has rich collections that tell interesting ethnographic information about the peoples of this country.

In the centre of the square there is the monument to Alexander Pushkin, sculptured by Anikushin in 1957 to the 120th anniversary of the poet’s death.

During the tour you will travel along the Champ de Mars with the Eternal Flame in its center. If the weather is fine, we recommend you to walk through the Summer Garden and have a wonderful view on the Neva River.

On your way you will see one of the most mysterious buildings of the city – St Michael’s Castle. His master, Paul the I, lived in constant fear to be assassinated and he commissioned this castle in the middle of St Petersburg. In 1801, after forty days of his residence, Paul was murdered in his bedchamber of St Michael’s Castle by two former favourites of Catherine II, the Zubov brothers. Until nowadays, the history of the castle is covered with a mass of secrets and legends…

 

The central element of the Griboedov channel’s ensemble is the unique mosaic museum under the open sky – St. Savior Church on the Spilt Blood or the Church of Resurrection. It stands on the spot where the Russian Emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded on 1^st March 1881. This event gave the Church its second more commonly used name the Savior on the Spilt Blood.