Things to see and do Northwest

In 2017, the world's largest planetarium opened its doors at SPB, dethroning the one in Nagoya City. The project is installed in the old gasometer (gas storage tank) of the old gas plant complex built in 1884. Spectacularly reinvented, the building now houses a 37-metre diameter dome with 40 projectors and a mini-museum with exhibitions on the infinite worlds of space. In winter, the outdoor area of the planetarium is transformed into a gigantic 1,500 m² ice rink.

IdeaGuide brings together a team of private French-speaking guides and offers a wide range of tours for individuals and mini-groups. This allows you to book only the services and levels of care you require: a specific thematic tour as well as a complete stay program of several days, but also your invitations for visas, transfers, purchase of train tickets, theater tickets... The French-speaking experts offer you an itinerary adapted to the countless faces of the Russian capital on the Baltic Sea.

One of the most experienced canal excursion companies, operating in St. Petersburg since 1994. The offer is vast between trips on the Neva River, cruises, dinner on the water, observation of bridge-raising, musical evenings, etc. Departures are regular, several times a day during the navigation season. Be sure to find out beforehand about the available cruises, schedules and landing stages served on the site, which can be consulted in English. Possibility to book a cruise online.

On the banks of the river Neglinka, it is a charming little wooden church in the cheerful colours built in 1878 in the memory of Catherine la Grande.

Petrozavodsk lends itself very well to strolling and you can walk for hours on the lake shore and in the many parks. The shores of Lake Onega are a favourite place for locals and are often very lively, both in summer and winter. You can soak your feet on the small beach in front of the Karelia Hotel, walk or bike along the arranged front while sipping a local kvas or berry juice, or listen to improvised sonatas played on the public piano under a kiosk. It is also from there that one takes the boat to Kiji.

A quarter of an hour from the centre, this lake overlooks Murmansk and offers a superb panorama of the city and the port. In the park near the lake you will see a memorial and a gigantic concrete statue of a soldier of the Second World War; it is called "Alyosha" and it watches over Murmansk. The walk between the rocks from the main road to the statue is not to be missed, to soak up a bit of arctic nature even while staying in town!

The large national park extends around the Przhevalskoye resort, named after the great Polish-Russian explorer and naturalist Nikolai Przewalski, born near Smolensk in 1839. It is a haven where you can go for long walks and camp by the lakes or in the forest. It is about 60 kilometres north of Smolensk. To get there, it is best to ask at the tourist office in Smolensk, as some agencies organize excursions.

This museum is entirely dedicated to the sculptor Sergey Konenkov (1874-1971) who lived at Smolensk. In a beautiful house decorated with stucco stucco, you will see 80 of his works carved on stone, metal and wood.

This church is one of the oldest in Russia since it dates back to the th century. Built in brick, it was thought to be part of a princely residence because, at that time, the city extended only on the left bank of the Dnieper.

The great Russian baritone Fedor Shalyapin (1873-1938) lived in this building in a residential area north of the Peter and Paul Fortress before the revolution forced him into exile in Paris. In 1922, he took advantage of a tour of Europe and France to disappear and settle in France where he lived until the end of his days. During the latter, he also fell in love with the Basque Country, spending much of his time in a beautiful villa on the hill of Sainte-Barbe, in Saint-Jean-de-Luz (the neighbouring Biarritz welcomed many exiled Russians in the early years of the Revolution). However, he had not taken everything with him to France. As proof, the museum, which was set up in 1975 in the artist's former apartment, to the sound of Boris Godounov's brilliant interpretation, has done so much to promote Russian lyric art. His interpretation of Salieri in Mozart and Rimsky-Korsakov's Salieri will remain forever engraved in opera history. Visitors will evolve in the environment of the great singer before his Parisian exile, accompanied by his sound recordings, among his furniture, his personal belongings, photos, scores and other objects dear to his heart. Fascinating and particularly touching for those interested in lyric art. It is not uncommon to attend performances, readings, and other performances. Consult the website for programming.

This beautiful classical building was built between 1764 and 1788, during the reign of Catherine II. The Academy trained state-commissioned artists and censored works deemed subversive. The children entered at the age of 6 and graduated at the age of 21, looking for a rich patron of the arts. The collection of some 600 copies of a rare delicacy of masterpieces of sculpture, painting and drawing alone is worth a small visit. We will also see the studio of Taras Shevchenko, the famous Ukrainian poet, who worked here during the last years of his life. The work of today's students is exhibited each year in September in the large parade hall. The Academy also administers several museums in the city:

Museum-apartment of the painter Isaac Brodsky. Ploschad' iskusstv, 3. open from Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 7 pm (300 RUB)

Museum-ownership Les Pénates d'Ilya Repine. Poselok repina, Primorskoe shosse, 411. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10.30am to 5pm in summer and 10.30am to 4pm in winter, from 15 September to 15 May (350 RUB).

Chistyakov House-Museum. Moskovskoye shosse, 23. open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 17h (150 RUB).

Museum-Apartment of Arkhip Kuindzhi. Birzhevoy pereulok, 1/10, app. 11. open on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., cash desks close 30 minutes before (150 RUB).

The memorial workshop of T. G. Shevchenko. Naberezhnaya University 17. (150 RUB)

Set up in 1709, by special decree of Peter the Great, under the high golden spire of the Admiralty (which cannot be visited), the Musée de la Marine has since moved into the neoclassical building of the former Stock Exchange, dating from the early 19th century, as have the famous rostral columns erected in front of the building. Already more than 300 years old, it is nevertheless the world's first museum complex devoted to the navy, and one of the largest on the planet. This is yet another example of the Tsar's deep curiosity about the maritime issue and the extremely proactive policy pursued by Peter the Great to ensure that Russia catches up with the rest of the world in this area. The museum has a rich collection of some 2,000 model ships (including the famous grandfather of the Russian Navy, the small ship built by Peter the Great), as well as 5,000 marine paintings, 7,000 pieces of armament and more than 3,000 flags and standards, all related to the maritime history of St. Petersburg and Russia. After the first grasp of the technical prowess of building the models, one will get tired of the endless parade of portraits of admirals, all engrossed in their costumes... The explanations, untranslated, will only suit Russian speakers and especially connoisseurs of naval history. Not to be missed, however: the majestic (and truly impressive) bows adorning the wide staircase leading to the upper floor.

A delicious and warmly recommended place for a walk in the greenery in the heart of the city. Founded in 1714 by order of Peter the Great, the botanical garden is particularly beautiful in spring and autumn. The greenhouses are interesting, but you will especially appreciate the park, with its paths and lawns where you can settle down. On 16 May (city festival), the gates are open in the evening for a night walk.

This aperitif-friendly museum, located in a historic building close to the Saint-Isaac cathedral, offers to educate you about invention, manufacturing secrets, history, traditional consumption patterns and the great producers of the national beverage. Imperial tasting services and bottles from the 19th century to the present day are on display. Guided tours are organized in English but you can opt for the audioguide in French.

The crates close one hour beforehand. Closed every last Monday of the month, January ¹, 2 and 7 and May 9.

The revolution did not wait two years to set up a museum. As early as 1919, the Museum of the Revolution set up its quarters in the Winter Palace, symbolizing the victory over the imperial regime. It was only with the de-Stalinisation in 1957 that it moved to a more anonymous but nevertheless aristocratic residence, the private mansion of the great ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska (1872-1971), built in 1904-1906 by the architect Alexandre Hohen and known as the "ballet star's castle". A place to see for people nostalgic for the red flags and the International sung in all languages. Otherwise the interest is still very limited. Since the fall of the Soviet regime, however, the museum has broadened the horizons of political culture and debate. It is a beautiful, modern and interactive museum with many, sometimes unexpected pieces, such as the famous cap of a great director Andrei Tarkovsky or the shirt of Andrei Sakharov, a famous nuclear physicist and one of the creators of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb.

Kshessinska Mansion: part of the museum is dedicated to the former owner of the building, the famous dancer who had to go into exile in 1920 in Paris and spent the rest of her life there until her death. She is buried in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.

This is where it all began for St. Petersburg. Indeed, it was from this initial "palace", near the Neva River, that Peter the Great liked to direct the construction of his capital. Built in 1703, the Peter's House is quite simply the first and oldest building in the imperial capital. Today, the Dutch-style wooden house, with its small garden, is protected by a stone wall. The rusticity of the place recalls a particular trait of the character: its simplicity. Pierre did not like pomp, and many foreign sailors were aghast to learn that the man in the holed-up shirt who had just offered them a drink was none other than the tsar. Some of the great ruler's personal belongings are on display inside, including his boxwood pipe (a gift from his great friend Menchikov), simple clothes and his cane covered with skate skin. A place full of symbols that the Peter's House, which saw the birth of Saint Petersburg, is full of... This humble building was therefore the first summer palace of Peter the Great, who spent the summer of 1703 there, monitoring the progress of the vast construction site next to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The very first imperial residence of the new capital, simply named Maisonnette de Pierre, was this wooden shed, whose construction, entrusted to soldiers on May 16, 1703, took just three days. One thus goes there as if on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of the creator of the city.

The visit to the apartments of the great prince Constantin Constantinovich (the poet K. R.) is subject to a charge and can only be done in a group. Situated in a street parallel to the Palace Quay, a majestic backyard lined with Baroque palaces where the Petersburg aristocracy resided, the Marble Palace was built for Count Orlov from 1768 to 1785 by the architect A. Rinaldi, on a commission from the very generous Catherine II. It bears his name well, if it is declined in the plural, since its facade is covered with 30 kinds of marble. The Soviet regime will make a marble sarcophagus for Lenin, whose palace will house the local museum from 1937. In 1991, the building will also be assigned to the Russian Museum and, on the occasion of the exhibition devoted to official Russian portraits, will return to its past of luxury and pomp. A sculptural foretaste is given with the monument to Alexander III, by P. Troubetskoy, which stands in the square adjoining the palace. The emperor's disproportionate size compared to that of his horse made the sculptor himself (who had only conformed to the tsar's expectations) laugh. In 1937, the Soviets took the statue down into the basement of the palace, and it did not come out again until 1994. Architecturally, the palace is a mixture of the Baroque style favoured by Catherine II and the neoclassicism that Alexander I loved

Built in the mid-18th century, the Sheremetiev Palace stretches its baroque façade along the Fontanka canal. The museum will delight music lovers of all stripes. It is indeed dedicated to musical instruments (some 3,000 pieces on display!) and retraces the musical culture of Saint Petersburg from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. Concerts are regularly given in the restored rooms.

On the ground floor, a large part of the instruments are on display. Dating back several centuries, they are often strange and amusing, to say the least. Glass harmonica, pocket violins, lyre-shaped guitars... you sometimes observe some of them for a long time before understanding how they work. You will notice the set of 18th century horns, each of which produces only one sound, audible at more than 7 km !

Upstairs, you will pass through a string of beautifully restored rooms decorated with musical instruments. At the end of the row are a few pianos, "working tools" and personal effects that belonged to great composers such as Shostakovich, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rubinstein. Some rooms display the magnificent stage costumes, which belonged to the legendary Fedor Shalyapin, the most famous Russian opera singer, and photos of famous Russian female singers. There are also works on the theme of music and the performing arts by great names in the pictorial arts such as Casimir Malevich and Ilia Repin.

Completed in 1783, the church bears witness to the importance of a community that had its gable on the street when the former capital was courting the West. It has an attractive pastel yellow baroque facade with an arch resting on free columns, due to Vallin de la Mothe and Rinaldi. It is here that the last King of Poland, Stanislas Poniatowski, a favourite of the Great Catherine and General Moreau, who died in 1813, has been buried here since 1798. Mickiewicz, Honoré de Balzac, Dumas Sr., Liszt prayed there

Anna Akhmatova lived in this outbuilding of the Sheremetyev Palace between 1924 and 1952. It was a princely setting that she would not abandon until the Second World War. This beautiful apartment became a communal one during the Soviet era, and Akhmatova was relegated to a small room. Hunted by microphones, watched over by guards posted every morning under her windows, she nevertheless continues to write. When she receives her friends, she gives them her poems while conducting a most harmless conversation. As soon as they have learned them by heart, she burns her verses in an ashtray that you can still see, so that there is no trace of them. She lived in this apartment with two of her three husbands, the poet Shileiko and the painter Pounin.

In 1989, this museum-apartment opened, and today you can visit the poetess' bedroom and study, which have been completely reconstructed. Numerous objects from her daily life, family albums, portraits are on display, as well as a collection of rare books gathered by the bibliophile M. Lesman, and the poet Brodski's library. One room contains photographs of Russian intellectuals who were victims of the Stalinist period. Exile or death often form their tragic destiny.

Don't miss the documentary on the ground floor. Even if you don't understand Russian, you will remember the very inspired reading of her poems and the moving images of her funeral, attended by thousands of people.

The complex includes a landscaped park of almost 200 hectares near the Alexander Palace, with elegantly curved ponds, a huge forest plot (the former animal reserve where the Tsar hunted at ^{XVIIIe siècle}), the new garden, on a regular plan, the territory of the Chinese village and finally the orangeries. All of this is especially interesting for long walks, especially during "sleepless nights". The people of St. Petersburg also like to go there with their families on weekends. It was in this park that Pushkin walked during his studies and discovered romantic melancholy.

The white tower:the white fortress, which looks like a knight's castle, is surrounded by four knights: an Englishman, a Frenchman, a German and a Russian, the first three representing the Allied States of the time. It was built by Emperor Nicholas I for his children - the great princes Alexander (the future Alexander II), Constantine, Nicholas and Michael. It was here that the young heirs received their general education and practiced their physical and military exercises. From here one can reach the observation point of the tower (only for a few people at a time) with a view of Tsarskoye Selo.

Museum of the First World War: the history of this unique museum in Russia is more than 100 years old. Completely renovated in 2011, it is a modern center dedicated to the Great War. The museum was inaugurated as a "War Chamber" in 1913 to display relics, weapons and souvenirs of the great victories of the Russian armies. After the First World War and the Revolution, the place was renamed and reassigned. It was affected during the Second World War by suffering many thefts and degradations of the Nazi occupiers during the terrible siege of St. Petersburg. Its collections were gradually reconstituted and the building renovated, so it reopened its doors in 2011.

The Chinese Theatre was built in 1778 according to the project of Antonio Rinaldi in the Far Eastern style popular at the time. The first Opera Theatre built in stone in Russia is now in ruins and awaits its turn to be rebuilt.

The chapel finally reopened in 2018 after restoration work. Built in the image of a Gothic chapel, it had been degraded by time. The building consists of two square towers connected by a vault, one of the two towers remained "semi-destroyed".

The "Junost" Sports Center is a museum located in Saint Petersburg.

It was in the greenery of the small island of Yelagin, then isolated in the far north of St. Petersburg, that the imperial family liked to retreat, in this neoclassical-style palace whose construction was entrusted to Carlo Rossi, one of the great architects of St. Petersburg, in the first third of the 19th century. Both near and far from the centre of the new capital, Yelagin Island was the ideal location for imperial receptions. They were held in the luxurious halls on the ground floor where you can admire today furniture and works of art dating from the first half of the 19th century. The museum's collections are also rich in porcelain, glassware, furniture, fabrics, goldsmith's and woodwork from the late 18th to early 20th centuries. Unfortunately today the aсcès in the Palace is impossible due to renovation work, but the whole park, which is listed as a UNESCO cultural heritage site, is still worth a detour. The Glass Museum (more than 700 glass and crystal works of art) as well as temporary exhibitions in the former stable hall do welcome visitors. As for the park itself, it is impeccably maintained. It is adorned with sublime golden colours in autumn. On sunny days, it is a spot that lends itself particularly well to small family or couple picnics, as well as walks with a taste for time travel.

This palace designed by the architect Ivan Starov in 1783 was built for one of Catherine II's many lovers, Grigori Potemkin, Prince of Tauride (the name given to the Crimea). It is one of the largest palaces in the city. After Potemkin's death, the palace became state property and was transformed into barracks. Restored at the beginning of the 20th century, it hosted the Duma as well as meetings of the provisional government and the first Council of Soviets. Today, the Palace is the seat of the non-parliamentary Assembly of Independent States. The simplicity of its façades contrasts with the splendour of its adjoining salons, perpendicular to the central façade. A rotunda decorated with mouldings leads to the White Hall. This large reception hall, the first in the history of Russian architecture to have white columns, was to become a model for many palaces and properties of the nobility. In the 18th century, a winter garden, located behind the colonnade of this room, overlooked the park. Some rooms, such as the painting gallery, the Chinese salon or the Gobelins room, have retained their original decor.

The charming garden of Tauride's palace, once adorned with a statue of Venus, was the scene of grandiose celebrations in honour of Catherine II. You can still see an artificial pond, canals with footbridges, hills and exotic plants. We advise you to organize a guided tour of the site via a French-speaking agency.

In 1971, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth, this museum dedicated to the great Russian writer was opened in the last of the many apartments where he lived in St. Petersburg. From 1878 until his death in 1881, Fedor Dostoyevsky lived at No. 5 of this alleyway, not far from the beautiful Church of the Icon of Vladimir, in the heart of a district where he set the scene for many of his novels. It was here that he wrote his Diary of a Writer and finished The Brothers Karamazov, amidst the few personal objects, books, manuscripts, trinkets collected in part by his descendants, which made it possible to reconstruct the modest and austere environment of the brilliant writer. The museum exhibits the writer's complete works, published during his lifetime, as well as books and photos bearing his dedications. It organizes international symposia and seminars dedicated to Dostoyevsky's work.

Yet it is not in this apartment that you will be able to find the most revealing clues to Dostoyevsky's personality; the author could not allow himself to be locked up in a museum, just as he could not allow himself to be locked up in the walls of an apartment during his lifetime. It is true that it is at this address that he ended his days, but isn't the only Dostoyevskian place, his real museum, rather the city of Saint Petersburg itself, whose hidden side he has worked hard to explore, far from the carelessness and splendour of the palaces?

The zoological garden of St. Petersburg has been installed since 1865 in this small portion of Alexandrovski Park along the Kronwerski River. Its occupants are 1,500, with giraffes being the great pride of this zoo and polar bears. Indeed, they rarely reproduce in captivity, but the St. Petersburg Zoo managed to give birth to 16 small (December 1, 2015). It became such a brand that a beautiful polar bear now adorns the zoo logo. The institution is constantly seeking sponsors and patrons to ensure infrastructure development and improve animal welfare. To do this, the Guardianship Program allows donations and sponsorship of an animal. An excellent opportunity to do a good job for one or other of these animals, such as a small raccoon or a Steller Pygargue (majestic bird of prey from the Bering Sea, living up to 50 years old and whose couples remain faithful all their lives), depending on your means and your desires!

Set in 1830 on two natural terraces, it features a centuries-old promenade of oak trees, to which the Pierre fir competes. In the spring, the Rossignol song competes with the children's cries, which engage in echoes under the stone arch of the park.

A beautiful park, located on this northern island of St. Petersburg, with rides for children, boats and catamarans, mini zoo, tennis and badminton courts. Costumed balls are organised frequently for tourist groups and individual visitors. You can rent ski in winter for a small dip in its aisles. Also in this park, the palace (s.) offers a beautiful collection of decorative and applied art.

Created in 1945 on 115 ha of Krestovskiy Island, it is one of the largest green spaces in St. Petersburg. It is situated on a historically heavy site as it was used as a gigantic crematory furnace to burn the bodies of thousands of victims of the Leningrad blockade. It contains 4 bridges and the brand new Gazprom Arena, which was inaugurated for the 2018 World Cup. Today it is one of the most high-tech stadiums in the world and its construction will have cost more than a billion dollars.

The magnificent Orangery transported from Tsarskoye Selo was installed in the Tauride Garden in 1935. This lush island, as if in an eternal summer, is today one of the favourite cultural places of the locals. Equipped with numerous artistic spaces, the Orangery organizes concerts, a festival of ambient electronic music, Abstrasentsia (abstrasension.ru), as well as conferences. During the day, you can enjoy the peace and quiet of its charming Orangery café and flower shop.

These offices, which can be found in several places in the city, have long been the showcase of the total lack of consideration for foreign tourists. This has changed since the city's tercentenary and the World Cup. Now polyglot hostesses are handing out maps, leaflets and information. Other addresses: Sadovaya 37, Milionnaya 25, Ploshchad' Rastrelli 1A, Dvortsovaya ploshchad' 1A, Ligovskiy prospekt 1-k1, Peter and Paul Fortress, Pulkovo Airport.

Welcome to the paradise of grown-ups, geeks and nostalgic for the USSR! This playful museum is an Ali Baba's cave dedicated to Soviet arcade games created between 1974 and 1991. Some 50 different games are gathered together and made available to the visitors-players. The idea is that the visitor becomes a gamer and can therefore switch from one machine to another as in a large games room. Love at first sight guaranteed!

One of the city's most mystical buildings is located a stone's throw from the Chernishevskaya metro station. It is called "Yegipetskiy dom", or the "Egyptian House", by the people of St. Petersburg. Built in modern Russian style between 1911 and 1913, it is richly decorated with Masonic and Egyptian signs, symbols of the god Ra, multiple faces of the goddess of love Hathor, as well as two statues of Ra himself who guard the main entrance of the building. Despite its mysterious appearance, the story of the creation of this building is more prosaic. The wife of State Councillor Nezhinsky placed an order for an apartment building with the Polish architect Mikhail Sogailo, with the aim that its aesthetics should be totally unusual and never seen before. Sogailo certainly took this brief to the letter and probably went beyond the expectations of his extremely wealthy and eccentric client. Being deeply versed in mysticism, occultism and Freemasonry, his inclinations for these fields marked his creation with an unexpected impact. Rich in many details, frescoes of Egyptian pastoral and agrarian life, impassive gods, discs covered with hieroglyphs and strange signs, pilasters and columns carved on the facade where the Art Nouveau motifs join those of Ancient Egypt ... The result astonished the whole city. Perfectly preserved since its creation, it continues today to intrigue both locals and passing tourists.

Russia's first museum of architectural ceramics opened in October 2018 inside the famous Peter and Paul Fortress. It contains some 300 objects used for construction and interior decoration, from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. There will be beautiful fragments of facades of St. Petersburg buildings, rare Dutch tiles, old chimneys and other pieces of the city's history and architectural heritage.