It looks like being the birthday bash
of the year. The city of St Petersburg lights its 300th candle
in 2003, and its gift from the Russian government has been a
big sack of roubles to celebrate the anniversary in style, and
to bankroll the wholesale renovation of its museums, palaces
and squares. Quite right too — after all, President Vladimir
Putin is a St Petersburg native.
The city has splashed out £250m on a fresh coat of white
and gold paint for the Hermitage Museum; an elegant repaving
of Palace Square; rejuvenation of the 600-tonne Alexander
Column; and more. Putin is spending another £125m to
reconstruct the ruined Konstantin Palace in Strelna, and the
city’s main street, Nevskiy prospekt, has also had a big
revamp.
For visitors, it all adds up to making 2003 the best time
to see the city in more than a century. The world’s VIPs will
jet in on May 24 for a week of fireworks and feasting, but
smart travellers are beating them to it. Go before then and
you’ll get a sneak preview of this newly minted masterpiece
while the prices are low and the people are still pleased to
see you.
What’s so great?
Peter and Catherine, for starters. St Petersburg has packed
an eventful history and assorted interesting name changes into
its 300 years, and while few early monuments survive, Peter
the Great’s brick-and-stucco summer palace from 1710 still
stands beside the River Neva (Letniy Sad; £1.50). If the
four-poster bed seems short for a 6ft 6in emperor, it’s
because royalty traditionally slept propped up by pillows.
The city is ringed by rambling imperial palaces built by
the tsars and tsarinas. In winter, the Catherine Palace is
best, a stunning rococo creation with a newly refreshed
blue-and-white facade. More popular in summer is Peterhof,
with its cascading fountains and views out to the Gulf of
Finland. The romantic way to get there is by boat from the
city.
Bookworms will love wriggling into St Petersburg’s secret
places — Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Bulgakov and Akhmatova
all lived and wrote here. Walk along the Griboedov canal and
you’ll reach the site of the old Haymarket, the setting for
much of Crime and Punishment; Dostoevsky lived round the
corner at Kaznechskaya ulitsa 7, and Bolshaya Morskaya ulitsa
47 is the childhood home of Lolita author Vladimir Nabokov —
now a museum, with personal ephemera and family photographs.
And those museums?
The Hermitage (open Tuesday-Sunday, £5.95) is one of the
finest in the world, and the kind that requires a pair of
comfortable shoes. Its inexhaustible stockpile of masterpieces
was gathered by Peter and Catherine, who cleverly sidestepped
accusations of poor taste by buying other people’s collections
and shipping them back to Russia.
Notable additions include private collections
“nationalised” after the revolution, and art seized first from
Jewish collectors by the Nazis, then by the Soviets. Prepare
to be amazed by room after room of Gauguins, Picassos and
Matisses.
In your headlong rush for the steps of the Hermitage, don’t
neglect the State Russian Museum (Mikhailovsky Palace; open
Wednesday-Monday). Its array of art embraces Socialist
realism, icons by Andrey Rublyov and everything in between.
The most popular postcards in its shop are propaganda pieces:
red flags, workers with arms outstretched and texts exhorting
the people to toil harder.
Where do I find real life?
The city’s defining street is the two-mile Nevskiy
prospekt, old and long enough to contain palaces, theatres,
cathedrals and canal bridges — not to mention exclusive
department stores and endless bootleg CD shops.
You’ll find a complete cross-section of St Petersburg
society here: while the rich are indoors buying caviar, the
poor are outside begging for kopeks. Top sights are
Yeliseyev’s at No 58, with its beautiful art- nouveau
interior, and the famous but overpriced literary cafe at No
18, where Pushkin and Dostoevsky once supped.
If you think shopping in St Petersburg will offer nothing
but Russian dolls, cheap vodka and amber from the Caucasus,
you’re in for a surprise (though all three are for sale at Red
October; Blokhina ulitsa 8). At the city’s markets you’ll find
produce from across the old Russian empire and beyond: from
Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Turkey. Kuznechniy rynok
(Kuznechniy pereulok 3) is good for herbs and spices; marvel
at its red and black caviar, and Siberian honey for £3 a jar.
Founded in 1744, Lomonosov is one of the oldest porcelain
makers in Europe. The blue, white and gold tea sets, inspired
by those of Catherine the Great, make wonderful gifts to take
home; a 22-piece set costs £100, including shipping.
Lomonosov’s factory shop is at 151 Obukhovskoy Oborony.
What about on the plates?
Restaurants have improved immeasurably in the past decade —
though their prices reflect this, too. All three of the places
recommended here have menus in English, and take credit cards.
For a kitsch version of Russian cuisine try Na Zdorov’e!
(00 7-812 232 4039). The interior is like something a Russian
Walt Disney might have cooked up, with bright patchwork
cushions, snowy-village murals and tables decked with
matrioshka dolls. The food is traditional and delicious:
dumplings with sour cream, vinegar and horseradish (£3); and
fried duck stuffed with noodles (£6).
Also very Russian is the Old Customs House (812 327 8980),
where you’ll be greeted by a doorman dressed as an old tsarist
official. The food is sophisticated, and a meal for two will
set you back about £90 with wine. For lunch, try Stroganoff
Yard (812 315 2315), in the courtyard of the refurbished
Stroganoff Palace; £10 for two.
How do I sample some culture?
Still better known in the West as the Kirov, the Mariinsky
Theatre (1 Teatralnaya Square; 812 114 1211) stages
world-class ballet and opera throughout most of the year
(£30-£90). Easier to obtain are tickets to the Mussorgsky
Theatre of Opera and Ballet, also known as the Maliy
(Mikhailovskaya Ploshchad 1; 314 3758). Ask the concierge of
your hotel what’s playing, or visit www.ticketsofrussia.ru.
Travel brief
Getting there: the only direct flights
from the UK or Ireland are from London: with British Airways
(0845 773 3377, www.britishairways.com )
from Heathrow, from £198; and with Aeroflot (020 7355 2233, www.aeroflot.co.uk )
from Gatwick and Heathrow, from £218. Travelselect (www.travelselect.co.uk )
has fares from Birmingham and Manchester from £210, with
CSA Czech Airlines via Prague. Or try Trailfinders (020 7937
1234) or The Airline Network (0870 241 0011, www.netflights.com ).
Gohop (01 241 2389, www.gohop.com ) has
fares from Dublin with CSA Czech Airlines via Prague, from
€440.
Tour operators: Crystal Cities (0870 160
9030, www.crystalcities.co.uk )
offers three-night breaks from £709pp at the four-star Hotel
Angleterre, including B&B, flights from Heathrow and
arrival transfer. Or try Thomson (0870 606 1476, www.thomson.co.uk ),
Time Off (0870 584 6363), or Bridge Travel (0870 191 7270, www.bridgetravel.co.uk ).
Red tape: allow at least a month for your
visa to be processed. Fees vary, rising from £23.50 for those
who attend the consulate in person (though this is not
recommended). Contact the Asla Travel Group on 01480 433783
for more information.
When to go: until March 31, most hotels
are offering value packages under the “White Days” banner.
Prices will then gradually rise, and during a two- or
three-week period around the 300th celebrations, you’ll
struggle to obtain either a visa or accommodation.
Where to stay: the luxurious Rocco
Forte-owned Astoria (00 7-812 313 5757; doubles £263) and the
Grand Hotel Europe (812 329 6000; doubles from £276) set the
St Petersburg standard. Also good are the four-star Angleterre
(812 313 5666; £146) and the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel on
Nevskiy prospekt (812 322 5000; from £188). Budget options
include the Soviet-style Moskva (770 rooms; through Crystal
Cities) and the even bigger Pulkovskaya (through Thomson
Cities).
Further information: the best guidebook is
the Rough Guide to St Petersburg (£9.99). The English-language
St Petersburg Times, published on the web and twice weekly in
the city, is a good source of listings. For the latest update
on the 300th birthday celebrations, visit www.spb300.com/english .
Tom Otley travelled as a guest of Crystal
Cities
