Saint Petersburg is the second biggest city in Russia and cultural capital of Russia. Its population is about 5 000 000 people. The city was founded in 1703 and celebrated its 300 anniversary on the 27th of May 2003.

 

Saint Petersburg is one of the youngest cities with huge amount of culture, art, traditions. But it's one of the "oldest" cities in Russia - about 35% of people are older than 60 years.

 

Another name of Saint Petersburg - is North Venice. The city has more than 400 bridges.

 

River Neva is 74 kms long. The main street of the city Nevskiy prospekt got this name from the river. Nevskiy prospekt is the heart of Saint Petersburg, where there are hundreds of bars, shops, restaurants, cafes, casinos, clubs etc.

 

Museums:

           State Russian museum
           Hours 10am-5pm Wed-Sun, 10am-4pm Mon.
           This museum has got a broad representation of monumental icon art of

 

 

 

Restaurants and bars. There are a lot of restaurants, bars, cafes in Saint Petersburg. We describe only few of them:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foreigner prices. At some theatres and museums foreigners are required to pay 5-10 much more than what Russians pay. These institutions insist that Russian tickets are subsidised and that foreigners pay the "real price"

 

Money. The national currency is the ruble (Rbl.) Banknotes come in denominations of 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 and these are 1, 2 and 5 Rbl. coins. There are 100 kopecks in one ruble.  

Officially it's illegal to pay in dollars or euros. But prices are sometimes written in Cyrillic "y.e.", especially in places with a lot of foreigners.

 

Electricity. The electrical current in Russia is 110 volts AC, 50 Hz. Most sockets are standard European size with double round-pin plugs.

 

Prices. Last year St.Petersburg was ranked the third most expensive city in the world. While the cost of living isn't high compared to Europe, you will pay high prices for Western-standard accommodation and exclusive restaurants.

 

Health. It's wise to have medical insurance if you decide to come to Russia. Russian hospitals will treat you in an emergency, but the standards and style of medical treatment are quite different to the West. The city has a number of private medical and dental clinics with modern facilities.