48 hours in St Petersburg
Why waste time with guidebooks and duff advice when weekending in Europe when this concise 48-hour guide covers everything you’ll need for a weekend of culture, and clubbing, in St Petersburg
FRIDAY
09.55 BA0878 to St Petersburg (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com).
17.30 Check into Hotel Astoria. A gorgeous historic building in a prime location. Gwyneth Paltrow, Tony Blair, Liv Tyler and Jack Nicholson love it.
18.30 An anti-jetlag back, neck and shoulder massage (£27) is 30 minutes of heaven in the hotel's Clarins spa.
20.00 Supper at Davidov, which serves the city's best beef stroganoff. Avoid the filthy Soviet "champagne".
22.30 Off to Café Club Che (3 Poltavskaya Ul, +7 812 277 7600), a cosy red-walled bar, for White Russian cocktails and live jazz.
24.00 Clubbing. 1. The throbbing Jet Set nightclub (58 Furshtatskaya Ul, +7 812 972 2598) with its slogan "Thank God I'm a VIP". 2. The sumptuous, intimate Onegin (11 Sadovaya Ul, +7 812 117 8384). 3. The Moroccan-style, chilled-out Magrib (84 Nevsky Prospect, +7 812 275 1255).
06.00 The locals will still be queuing to get into clubs but take a taxi to the hotel. It is common practice to wave down any car and get in. It is safe, but if you are nervous, order a cab from the club. You should never pay more than 150 roubles (around £3).
If you want to push on, try Griboyedov (2a Voronezhskaya Ul, +7 812 164 4355), a cool nightclub-cumbomb shelter which attracts an avant-garde crowd of hipsters.
There's a DJ until 7am.
SATURDAY
9.30 Climb the dome of St Isaac's cathedral for the view.
10.00 Stroll down to the river, past the golden spire of the Admiralty, to the Winter Palace. Catherine the Great's former palace is now home to The Hermitage (Dvortsovaya Pl, +7 812 311 8446) and the art collection she began, which includes da Vincis. There are more than 350 exquisitely restored rooms and six miles of corridors open to the public.
10.30 The Hermitage - Russia's answer to the Louvre - opens. Allow two hours to see just 20 per cent of the art on display. Take plenty of camera film. The palace itself is as impressive as the treasures.
13.00 Lunch at Aprikosov (40 Nevsky Prospect), a 19th-century literary café on the city's main shopping street, with some of the tastiest cakes and coffees in town.
14.00 Wander over to the oniondomed Church of the Spilled Blood, which, amazingly was not damaged during the Second World War. It is now a museum.
14.15 Haggle at the market behind the church, one of the best places to buy matrioshka (Russian nesting dolls), local malachite jewellery and other obligatory touristy tat.
15.00 Shop on Nevsky Prospect. Try the Art Nouveau Yeliseyevsky Deli (56 Nevsky Prospect) for caviar; Tatyana Perfionova (51 Nevsky Prospect) for couture and accessories; Irina Tantsurina (Grand Hotel Europe, 44 Nevsky Propect), Russia's hottest fashion designer; Ananov Jewellery Salon (31 Nevsky Prospect) for classical Russian pieces; or Cosmos Zoloto (22 Nevsky Prospect) for the kind of glitzy jewellery worn by New Russians.
17.00 Time for tea at the Grand Hotel Europe. Now owned by the Orient Express Group, this elegant coffee house has the best views over Nevsky Prospect.
19.00 Off to the Mariinsky Theatre of Ballet and Opera to see the outstanding Mariinksy Ballet (1 Teatralnaya Pl, +7 812 114 4343, www.mariinsky.ru), and prima ballerina Uliana Lopatkina. The gregarious director, Valery Gergiev, is always changing the programme, so it's possible to see two different ballets in a weekend.
22.30 Supper at Borsalino (Hotel Angleterre). The modern Italian restaurant/bar is popular with celebs, oligarchs and politicians and the cosy booths are perfect for an intimate dinner.
24.00 A nightcap? Try the labyrinthine Taleon Club (Eliseyev Hotel, 00 7 812 315 7645, www.taleon.ru), where the women resemble Vogue models and seriously rich men loll in the walnutwalled cigar lounge - there's a casino and restaurant, too. The palatial Senat Bar (1 Galernaya, +7 812 131 9253) serves fantastic cocktails, while Decadence (12 Admiralteiskaia Naberezhenaia, +7 812 312 3944) is where the beautiful set go to pose.
02.00 To Metro (174 Ligovsky Prospect, +7 812 166 0204, www.metroclub.ru): this neon-rich club blasts out Eurotrash dance and Russian pop to two floors filled with successful young Russians. Don't mess with the all-female security.
SUNDAY
10.00 To Yusupov Palace (94 Moika, 00 7 812 314 6332), the beautiful bijou palace where Rasputin met his end. The building houses a tiny theatre - it's a must if you can get tickets.
11.30 Drive to see Catherine the Great's lavish Summer Palace in Pushkin. Rooms are panelled in amber, silver, mother of pearl, lapis lazuli and, of course, gold.
14.00 A traditional lunch of borsch, sausages, stroganoff and bear at Podvorje, the highly acclaimed wooden restaurant where Putin spent a recent birthday.
15.30 Head to the airport for the 17.10 BA0879 to London, arrives 17.40.
CULTURE
Cappella Courtyards (May-September ) Free open-air concerts at the main courtyard (+7 812 314 1153).
Mariinsky Theatre 16th International Festival Stars of the White Nights (May-July)
BLUFFER'S GUIDE TO ST PETERSBURG
When to go: winter is pretty but freezing and summer is mobbed. Try to visit in spring for sunny crowd-free days
What to buy: Russian dolls (£3-£15), vodka (around £5 for a good bottle), beluga caviar (£14 for 28g)
Useful words: hello – dóbriy den; please – pozháluysta; thank you –spasíbo; yes – da; no – net; caviar – irka; beer – pivo; vodka – vodka
Need to know: Russians drink vodka neat, there's no messing around with mixers; you can't be overdressed when you go out clubbing; while roubles are the official currency, taxis and markets will happily accept dollars, euros and even pounds.
Useful links
Russia Tourist Information
Added 2008/06/13 @ 17:50:22
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