The Hermitage and St Petersburg

St Petersburg, the imperial capital founded by Peter the Great on the Neva delta, is Russia's most beautiful and European city, a UNESCO World Heritage ensemble of canals, grand avenues, pastel palaces and golden domes. Its supreme treasure is the Hermitage, housed in the vast, sumptuous Winter Palace of the tsars, one of the largest and finest art museums in the world, its endless gilded halls holding masterpieces from ancient times to the Impressionists. Beyond it lie the golden spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the soaring St Isaac's Cathedral, the mosaic-clad Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood and the fountains of Peterhof, a city built to dazzle.

What you actually see

• The Hermitage - the vast art museum in the imperial Winter Palace.
• The canals and palaces - the pastel palaces and waterways of the centre.
• Church on Spilled Blood - the mosaic-covered onion-domed church.
• Peterhof - the tsars' palace of golden fountains near the city.

When to go

May to July, culminating in the famous White Nights when the sky scarcely darkens, is the loveliest time, with mild weather and the palaces and fountains at their best; winter is beautiful but harsh and dark. The long summer light is perfect for the canals and grand facades.

Honest expectations

The Hermitage is enormous and hugely popular, so its main halls can be crowded and a single visit only scratches its treasures, rewarding a focused route or more than one day. As one of the world's greatest museums within one of Europe's most beautiful cities, all pastel palaces, canals and golden domes, though, the Hermitage and St Petersburg are magnificent.

Nearby

Peterhof, Pushkin's Catherine Palace and the fortress on the Neva lie around the city.