Excursions in Russia: St Petersburg City Tour

The city tour takes you to the main streets and squares of the city - names that stir the Russian heart - Nevsky Prospect, Palace Square, the Bronze Horseman, the Fontanka Embankment, The Neva River, and Vassilevsky Island.

The Hermitage

Outside the Hermitage, St PetersburgThe Hermitage, St PetersburgThe Hermitage, St PetersburgHermiatge wall of leaders, St PetersburgSt Petersburg, Russia

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The city tour takes you to the main streets and squares of the city - names that stir the Russian heart - Nevsky Prospect, Palace Square, the Bronze Horseman, the Fontanka Embankment, The Neva River, and Vassilevsky Island.

You see Peter and Paul's Fortress - set on an island in the Neva delta, the fortress was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, and is the oldest part of the city. In the years before 1917 the fortress was mainly used for holding illustrious political prisoners - Dostoevsky was held there, as well as Peter's own son, Alexei.

At the heart of the fortress is the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, burial place of the Romanovs - the family that ruled Russia for over three hundred years until the 1917 revolution. The Golden Spire of the cathedral is a familiar silhouette on the city skyline.

The afternoon is devoted to the Hermitage Museum, the world's largest repository of fine art and artefacts. A former winter palace of the Tsars, the Hermitage is an architectural wonder in its own right. The five buildings house more than two million exhibits over 1057 rooms - it has been calculated that simply to glance at each exhibit would take more than eight years . You will see the best of it! There is also a 'Gold Room' special collection, which requires a separate entrance ticket.