St. Petersburg extends its condolences to Paris after Notre Dame fire: people brought flowers and photos to Institut français, the Hermitage Museum lowered its flag, a street artist portrayed the cathedral on a city's wall.   If you still feel low about the future of Notre Dame, please, don't. The history knows many examples of brilliant reconstruction works completed after destructions. For ...

Great news: Peterhof fountains will start working on April 27!  You can visit Peterhof before this date as well, by booking Peterhof tour on our site:  https://www.stpeteprivatetours.com/tours/peterhoftour/ To make this tour even more remarkable there's an option of coming back by hydrofoil! If you like the idea, please email to [email protected] before the tour. 

1.       Russian Dolls (Les poupées russes, France-UK, 2005) No, it has nothing in common with Netflix’s series! The title comes from an analogy offered by the film’s protagonist (Romain Duris), saying that all the girls he ever dated are “a bunch of Russian dolls”, so he wonders who’ll be the last. A French is moving from Paris to London and to St. Petersburg to find his love. The last part of th...

1.       GoldenEye (UK-USA, 1995) Pierce Brosnan in a Russian T-54 tank hurtles through the streets of St. Petersburg, crashing everything on his way. Did this really happen? Of course not. In this scene, the footage where you can see Brosnan and all kind of architectural destruction (buildings, a statue) was shot in the studio at Leavesden, England. But when the tank passes by the columns of St. ...

Three films, four Oscar-winning actors. Have you seen them? Check it out! 1.       Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia ( Una matta, matta, matta corsa in Russia , Italy-USSR, 1974) Wanna get closer with a Russian person? Say that you’ve watched this film (only if you really have!) It’s a popular adventurous comedy with chases, stunts, explosions, jokes and a little romance. A group of It...

It’s been 5 years that Chinese New Year is celebrated in St. Petersburg. On this occasion, every year during the Chinese holidays the Palace bridge illumination turns red! This time it will be lightened red until 19 February.   You can see this bridge on our walking and driving tours . It may seem clear that the bridge is called so as is stands close to a palace, but did you know that the pal...

-15 °C (5 °F), snowdrifts, ice-covered roads and icicles hanging from the rooftops… Why ever coming here in winter? Here’re the 9 reasons:   Snow Usually, the first snow falls in Petersburg in November. When was the last time you’ve seen the snow? Have you ever seen it at all? The city under snow is amazing, it’s magic by itself, under the sun- or streetlights.  The palaces and park...

January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day is also commemorated in Russia. There’re families here, whose parents or relatives passed through those events; many of them are still alive and may tell their stories. Many come from St. Petersburg; and for our city, this date is doubly important, as it’s also End Day of Leningrad Siege (the name of St. Petersburg in 1924-1991) During 872 days i...

  A way to push your body’s boundaries is to dip in cold water. A lot of people in Russia practice it, especially on Epiphany day, that’s celebrated on January 19. St. Petersburg citizens are not an exception, so, there’re holes bored in water sources (already covered by ice) in the city on this occasion. One of the main places – is the beach of Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress . There’re emergen...