What to See in St. Petersburg, Russia, St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg, apart from Moscow, is the most popular and believed to be the most beautiful city in Russia. Despite the fact that I liked it a lot, it was not my favorite in the country. St. Petersburg is what Paris is for France or London for the UK. The architecture has the distinctive, grand European style and sometimes you may get the impression that you're in the West (except for some extraordinary cathedrals and other buildings). Located so close to the European border, it's the easiest Russian city to get to. Read on to find out about our impressions on St. Petersburg, what to see there and why, contrary to other travelers' opinion, we actually preferred Moscow.

At first, right after arrival, St. Petersburg seems to appear as any other huge European city. As I mentioned above, the architecture resembles the typical, grand European architecture. I'm not a very big fan of huge, concrete cities such as London or Paris - I have found them a bit cold and soulless. I prefer smaller, more local and distinctive towns with a cozy atmosphere. I might irritate many of those who love such cities but this is only my subjective opinion - everyone likes something else. In no way I'm trying to say that St Petersburg is no impressive. It really is. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).