St Petersburg has been dubbed the Venice of the North for its palace-lined waterways. It managed to escape the architectural incursions of Stalinism and its grandiose relics of tsarist days are rather intact. Sculpted by islands and the sinuous Neva River, the city is a vista of geometric elegance.

Within this geometry is a dust-devil of influences and styles and a bewitching vortex of life's extremes. It's breathtakingly gorgeous, it's ruefully falling apart; it's viscerally sensual, it's crude and vulgar; its very essence gets under your skin, but remains forever outside your grasp. Remember! UK tourists require a visa to enter Russia.

When to go...
St Petersburg is a year-round destination. The city's northern latitude means long days in summer and long nights in winter - but in winter, hotels and tourist attractions are less crowded and there's a twinkling magic to the night sky. While the White Nights in mid-summer are undeniably beautiful, some people find them disconcerting.

Climate-wise, St Petersburg is much milder than its extreme northern latitude would suggest. January temperatures average -8°C (17°F); a really cold day will get down to -15°C (5°F). It's a windy city though and in some areas the wind chill is quite fierce, so bring a good warm hat and scarf. Summer is cool and takes a while to get going: snow in late April is not uncommon and the warm weather doesn't really start until the period between June and August, when temperatures reach 20°C (68°F). During these months the city is packed with foreign and Russian tourists. Content provided by Lonely Planet Guide