By Rajesh Tiwari

St. Petersburg is one of the distinctive cities which offer amazing travel experiences round the year, and has exceptional two different seasons which attract travellers twice a year. While summer is well renowned for its White Nights, the winter in the city is entirely different, ​​relaxing among the snowy nature with a lot of winter-only activities for kids and travellers of all ages. City’s summer & winter has its own charm that you can’t afford to miss.

So if you are planning a visit, this is the real good time to travel across the country, or St. Petersburg when the city is eagerly awaiting to welcome travellers in a safe, fabulous, most happening with all good as usual atmosphere and galaxy of events lined-up to make your holiday experience exciting like never before.

Arriving in St. Petersburg was like a dream come true. Didn’t know, the real beauty of the city would be beyond my imagination. During my recent visit to St. Petersburg which was precisely aimed at seeing the current situation in Russia, especially in St. Petersburg, I came across a fabulous, pleasant and as usual real good atmosphere with smiling faces around me from all walks of life. Undoubtedly, you can travel hassle-free from one part of the country to other.

With lots of exciting and amazing activities to engage the travellers from across the globe especially from India, the City of St. Petersburg is eagerly awaiting 365 days of a year to make your holiday memories like never before. Certainly, the city is one of the must visit destinations in a lifetime for various reasons; some of them are listed below.

The Northern Capital of Russia, St. Petersburg is the second biggest city in the country and often called the ‘Venice of the North’ due to its network of rivers and canals floating through the whole city. After your landing at the Pulkovo Airport St. Petersburg, be prepared to ride around the city and admire the magnificent architecture, take beautiful pictures against the background of the cathedrals, squares, bridges and the Neva river.

The Hermitage

The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg that served as the ‘Official Residence of the Russian Emperor’ from 1732 to 1917, now houses the ‘Hermitage Museum’ would be your first destination to visit. If you are keen on art and history you can’t miss a visit to find yourself in the splendid cradle of Russian heritage. It will be quite amazing to know that The Hermitage is on the list of the top-20 most visited museums of the world, and is the most popular museum in Russia after the Peterhof.

You will be surprised to know that The Hermitage holdings include nearly three million items dating from the Stone Age to the present. Among them is one of the world’s richest collections of western European painting since the middle ages, including many masterpieces by Renaissance Italian and Baroque Dutch, Flemish, and French painters. The Hermitage is the only museum in Russia where you can see Leonardo Da Vince’s artworks. Precious vases, exquisite statues, ethnographic items, and famous paintings — you will cover as much as possible within a three-hour tour.

Once you complete The Hermitage tour, you can visit the waterway station, located at just 15 minutes walking distance. The boat trip is an amazing recreational option for St. Petersburg — seeing the shores of Neva River and feeling​​ the Finland Bay breeze might become your most fascinating vacation.

St. Isaac’s Cathedral

After your visit to Hermitage, you can walk around the architectural landmark of St. Petersburg – the St. Isaac’s Cathedral. This is the largest Orthodox Church and an outstanding monument that currently functions as a museum with occasional church services. The church is one of the symbols of St. Petersburg and one of the masterpieces of world architecture. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint.

The cathedral was built in 1818-1858 by the architect Auguste Montferrand, Emperor Nicholas First supervised the construction. The history of the church dates back to 1707 when near the Admiralty was built a small wooden church in honor of St. Isaac of Dalmatia.

The height of St. Isaac’s Cathedral is 101.5 m. An area of ​​4000 sq m of the cathedral can accommodate up to 12,000 people. St. Isaac’s Cathedral, as well as almost all Orthodox churches, is five-domed. On the porticoes of the drum of the dome are installed 72 solid granite columns weighing from 64 to 114 tons. Nowadays, many tourists climb to the colonnade of St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Here from the height of 43 meters, one can enjoy the panoramic view of the city.

Savior on the Spilled Blood

The Cathedral of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood stands out for its complicated and picturesque outline, as well as rich and multicolored decoration on the background of the austere Petersburg church architecture. The rich mosaics that cover the walls of the cathedral both inside and outside are of a great value. The mosaic panels were made in Frolov’s workshop to the originals by outstanding Russian artists, including Vasnetsov, Nesterov, Riabushkin and others. The total area of the mosaic is an impressive 7,050 square meters. In the decor of interiors Italian marbles and Russian semi precious stones, such as jasper, topaz, rock crystal and others are used.

Kazan Cathedral

Kazan Cathedral or Kazanskiy Kafedralniy Sobor, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, is a cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg. It is dedicated to Our Lady of Kazan, one of the most venerated icons in Russia. The Kazan Cathedral was erected in honor of a miracle-working icon of Our Lady of Kazan, discovered in the city of Kazan in 1579. Until 1710 the icon was kept in Moscow, in Theotokos Monastery of Kazan.

Opera or Ballet

Your trip to St Petersburg would not be complete without seeing a cultural performance like Opera. It is totally worth visiting one of the city’s gorgeous theatres as the northern capital of Russia historically played an important role in the history of ballet and opera, with most of the shows seeing full houses. However, having a hearty meal before going to see an opera would be a nice idea as the play may last up to four hours. The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres.

Neva River

The Neva is the main river that shapes the overall layout of Saint Petersburg. Although it is one of the shortest rivers in Europe, it is a significant transportation route since it links Ladoga Lake and the Gulf of Finland. The Neva is a deep and wide river. Its maximum depth is 24 meters and the average width is measured around 400-600 meters which makes the river suitable for navigation and port construction—the river forms about 100 islands.

Gazprom Arena

Whether you are a great fan of football or not that doesn’t make much difference and resist you to fall in love with Gazprom Arena (Krestovsky Stadium) one of the largest and most visited football stadiums in Eastern Europe located in the western part of Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg. Opened in 2017 for the FIFA Confederations Cup, Gazprom Arena is a unique all-weather and high-tech stadium with a retractable roof stadium with a retractable pitch. It has a capacity of around 80 thousands seats.

Krestovsky Stadium is known as Gazprom Arena for sponsorship reasons. This stadium serves as home for ‘FC Zenit’ Saint Petersburg. At the Gazprom Arena stadium there are many services for visitors that make it possible to stay at the stadium as comfortable as possible, as well as turn a visit to the stadium into a new interesting leisure experience. This is a worthy visit and an added tourist attraction in the list of St. Petersburg. Don’t forget to carry your passport for security reasons.

Why Visit Russia in Winter

If you feel like St. Petersburg is a destination to visit during summers only then surely you need to think once again. The winter in the city has its own charm and lots of winter-only activities that will make you fall in love with the city’s picturesque backdrop. Latest trends suggest that winter travel has become increasingly popular in Russia.

As we all are aware, snow is ​the real wonder that makes St. Petersburg one of the best destinations where you can feel the real winter. In December, the temperature remains around -3 °C  to -10°C so you need to be prepared with winter clothes such as jackets, scarves, gloves, woolen socks and high ankle shoes to enjoy the winter at its best.

Christmas Celebration

Christmas, which is being celebrated on January 07th makes St. Petersburg extremely exciting and the most happening place around this time. Spending holidays during Christmas festivities at a beautiful place, relaxing among the snowy nature, seeing the amazing attractions in winter dresses would be just perfect vacation.

Apart from that you may have a traditional Troika Sleigh, Dog Sledding, Reindeer Ride, Vodka Degustation and Snowballs in the parks or Skating on numerous skating rinks are just the beginning of the list of incredible winter activities to experience unforgettable winter adventure.

Dog Sledding

Husky sledding is exciting and thrilling amusement when you drive dogs while sitting in warm comfortable sled enjoying picturesque scenes of fairy snowy forest. Lovely husky, gorgeous horses and amazing reindeer are the best companions to discover incredible Russian landscapes and parks, and this way of entertainment will amuse you and leave the best memories about the wonderful Russian winter.

Troika Riding

Imagine yourself dashing through a thick layer of crystal white snow in a richly decorated carriage with amazing strong horses upfront and majestic palaces in the background. You can have this experience through Troika Riding. The beautiful tradition of riding a horse-drawn carriage dates back to the early years of the Russian Empire. You can choose from different locations from Yelagin Island in the heart of St. Petersburg to the more secluded but not less magnificent imperial estates surrounding the city, namely Pavlovsk, Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo.

Skiing/Snowballs

Snowballs in the parks or Skating on numerous skating rinks are a must do activitiry in snowy nature like St. Petersburg. Well-known activity such as Skiing may be enjoyed in the mountains in Sochi or North Caucasus (Dombay, Cheget, and Elbrus) where the brilliant ski resorts may be found or even in the suburbs of Saint Petersburg and Moscow where all the needed infrastructure is also ensured.

Stay at Dacha

Apart from that, staying at Dacha in the suburbs of St. Petersburg will be an amazing experience for Indian travellers. To know more about, Dacha is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. You may set sail to scenic beautiful destinations on an incredible cruise to Scandinavia and Russia as well.

Outdoor Weddings

Not only that, we have seen the increasing popularity of outdoor weddings nowadays, here as well the City of St. Petersburg has immense opportunities to make your wedding event the fabulous one. So if you are planning on those lines, there can’t be a better destination than St. Petersburg with a picturesque​​ backdrop and tranquility in the nature.

Shopping at Nevsky Prospekt

Nevsky Prospekt is St. Petersburg’s main avenue and one of the best-known streets. Apart from the numerous attractions such as Kazan Cathedral, the Dom Knigi ​b​ook ​store, Kanal Griboedova and picturesque Russian-style Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, Nevsky Prospekt is also the city’s central shopping street and the hub of the city’s entertainment and nightlife. Among many souvenir shops, wine shops, large shop stocking many varieties of goods, you will find the largest department store in the city – Gostiny Dvor and the Russian National Library here only. Don’t be surprised if you see people dancing and enjoying mesmerising street band performances on the streets of Nevsky Prospekt.

Eating Out

While travelling abroad food of choice is a great concern for Indian travellers. However, while in the city of St. Petersburg which receives thousands of travellers from India every year, you need not to worry about food as the city offers a great deal of choice in terms of different sorts of cuisines. The city is well aware and knows perfectly how to make Indians feel at home by creating the right atmosphere and delicious dishes in cafes and restaurants.

While having a chain of good Indian restaurants across the city, Tandoori Nights, Oh! Mumbai, Kashmir Café, Jai Hind etc. are the best and leading restaurants in St. Petersburg. Tandoori Nights will perfectly suit those who have chosen their accommodation near Saint Isaac Cathedral, W Hotel, Corinthia Hotel, Astoria Hotel and others.

Oh! Mumbai restaurant is famous for being quite adapted to European taste. However, many local Indians and tourists from India love it for the traditional tastes of curry, rice, naans, and meat or vegetarian dishes. The restaurant is combined with a pub where you can order cocktails and beer; there is also a hookah bar next door for a visit after.

Beyond that if you wish to tickle your taste buds you can try lots of delicious three course authentic meals and some of the local, European/Asian dishes available in the restaurants. Forno Bravo Centrale, Kuznya House, Schengen, Mr BO and Mansard (Chic top-floor European/Asian) restaurants are some of the ideal places to have your lunches and dinners.

Visa

Before entering in Russian Federation it is mandatory to have a valid Tourist Visa. It can be valid for up to 30 days and issued for single or double entry. Russian Tourist Visa is easily available and can be applied at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in India. Tourist Visa is ideal for a short-term trip to Russia. On average, tourist visa can be issued in two weeks time.

Reaching Here

Flight is the fastest and best way to travel to Russia from India. Both of the countries enjoy excellent​​ connectivity as there are numerous daily flights that fly to Russia from Mumbai and Delhi. Aerofloat operates direct flights to Russia while other operators have connecting flights. Once you land at Moscow (SVO) International Airport, there are many ways to reach St. Petersburg which is around 650kms from Moscow.

Travel time from New Delhi IGI Airport to Moscow (SVO) is around 06:30 minutes and from Moscow (SVO) to Pulkovo Airport (LED) St. Petersburg is around 01:30 minutes.  ​