St Petersburg, Venice of the North, home to “White Nights” and cradle of Russia’s pre-Revolutionary aristocracy, is a city of beautiful 19th-century buildings, stately squares and lavish palaces. With a population of more than five million it is Russia’s second largest city and has retained a strong Western flavour despite its turbulent history.

For three weeks in June, St Petersburg sheds its icy grimness as daylight creeps towards the midnight hour and the city is transformed by festivals celebrating the arrival of White Nights. There is a diffusion of jazz and theatrical festivals to celebrate summer’s bloom and St Petersburgers and international visitors make the most of it as they party into the early hours of the morning, accompanied by a slight dusky haze.

Situated on the mouth of the Neva River on the Gulf of Finland, St Petersburg was the result of one man’s whim, Russian Tsar, Peter the Great. Built in 1703 on reclaimed marshland, Peter the Great declared his new city Russia’s capital and named it St Petersburg in honour of his patron, Saint Peter.

During World War I the name St Petersburg was changed to the more Russian-sounding Petrograd (the city of Peter). Three years later, following the 1917 October revolution its name was changed to Leningrad in honour of the revolution’s leader. In 1991 Leningrad reverted to its original name of St Petersburg.

St. Petersburg is synonymous with the Hermitage Museum, one of the three greatest museums in the world, along with the Vatican and the Louvre. Previously the residence of the Imperial family, the museum consists of three interlinked buildings — the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage and the Large Hermitage — and contains over three million exhibits and one of the best art collections in the world. The gallery is most famous for its European art and you can view works by Monet, Cezanne, Renoir, Picasso, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rubens and Rembrandt.

The Winter Palace borders the magnificent 19th-century Palace Square which is dominated by the red-granite Alexander Column, erected to commemorate Russia’s defeat of Napoleon in 1812. The square was also the site of the 1905 Bloody Sunday massacre.

Diagonally across the Neva River from the Hermitage, is the Peter-Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg’s founding building constructed by Peter the Great to provide protection from the Swedes. It was never used for this and became one of Russia’s most notorious prisons. Many famous revolutionaries like Leon Trotsky and Lenin’s elder brother, Alexander, were detained here. After looking at the gloomy prison cells, a must see is the Fortress Cathedral which houses the tombs of most of Russia’s Tsars and Tsarinas from the 18th century onwards, including Peter the Great.

Running off Palace Square is St Petersburg’s three-mile main street, Nevsky Prospekt which was laid out in the 1950’s. All the major stores and souvenir shops are located along this street as are the cafés, theatres and cinemas. If you are on a tight budget Nevsky Prospekt is probably your best bet for affordable food. About halfway down the street, is Carrolls, the Russian version of McDonalds which will give you a filling meal for around US$4.50. There is also a large sandwich shop a bit further down where you can get healthy-sized rolls. If on the look out for a taste of traditional Russian cuisine, expect to pay between US$15 and US$20 for a decent meal consisting of “bliny” (pancakes) and caviar or mushrooms in sour cream as a starter and sturgeon, beef or chicken kiev for the main course.

At the opposite end of Nevsky Prospekt, is the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Founded in 1713 by Peter the Great this still-working monastery is one of the most important in Russia. The Cathedral of the Trinity is open until 2pm and you can hear choir services on Sundays. Many of Russia’s writers and musicians, including Dostoyevsky and Tchaikovsky, are buried in the cemetery. Just up from Palace Square on Isaakievskiy Street is the grand St. Isaac’s Cathedral. The Cathedral, which can accommodate 14,000 worshippers, is overly spectacular with its lavishly decorated dome, its ornate iconostasis and full-length stained-glass window of Jesus Christ. Don’t leave without climbing the dome for a magnificent view over central St Petersburg. In front of St Isaac’s Cathedral is Senate Square, laid out in 1830 and dominated by a statue of Peter the Great, known as the “Bronze Horseman”.

The spectacular Peterhof Palace is on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, 18 miles from St Petersburg. To get there either take an organised excursion from St Petersburg, catch a train or take the hydrofoil which is probably your quickest route. Set in magnificent gardens, Peterhof is reminiscent of Versailles and was only used by royalty for State occasions. The Palace’s piece de resistance is the Great Cascade — a collection of gilded statues, fountains and waterfalls which tumble down to the Gulf of Finland. In the town of Pavlovsk, just outside St Petersburg, is the Palace of Mad Paul, Catherine the Great’s son, and in nearby Pushkin (named after the famous Russian poet who went to school here) is Catherine the Great’s palace which is a splendid mixture of Baroque and Classical styles. All three were nearly completely destroyed by the Nazis in World War II but have been restored to their full splendour.

For a truly Russian experience try a banya — a Russian bath. We visited one off Nevsky Prospekt, behind the Mayakovskaya underground stop. The standards differ so get one recommended by a Russian. At the one we visited, there was a choice of a 1500 roubles (US30c) bath or a 20,000 roubles (US$4) plunge. The essential features of a banya are the wet sauna (unlike the Swedish equivalent which is dry) and a bunch of birch twigs which is used to beat the body in order to stimulate circulation while sweating in the sauna and before diving into the very cold plunge pool — an educational experience not to be missed.

At night the Mariinskiy Theatre (previously the Kirov) has productions of famous ballets (such as Swan Lake) and operas. A good ticket should cost around US$45. It’s not hard to find philharmonic or jazz concerts, traditional Russian Folk singing or brilliant Cossack dancing.

For souvenirs, your best buy in St. Petersburg is some artwork from one of the street artists or markets. There is a particularly good souvenir market in front of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church on Nevsky Prospekt as well as one behind the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, built on the spot where Tsar Nicholas I was assassinated in 1881.