St. Petersburg

Hotels in St. Petersburg are notoriously expensive, but a good, much cheaper option is to arrange a homestay. I stayed in an apartment overlooking Nevsky Prospekt. I used a company called "White Nights" to book the trip (can't find their web address, but you can find it in Lonely Planet's Russia book).

I never felt unsafe in St. Petersburg, but there are definately some rough neighborhoods... these are located far from the areas of touristic interest.

Don't miss the Russian Museum, which contains artwork by Russians, on Russian subject matter. Very unique!

Russia is a fascinating country, but its also one of the few in Europe where I would recommend using a good travel agency. There's simply too much hidden red-tape for entering and exiting the country that you'd best leave it to the professionals to arrange your visit.

Amen on the Russian Museum! After the Hermitage you may be "arted out" :) But make some time for it, the art is every bit as acular.

"arted out"... Yeah, that about describes how I felt after the Hermitage! The Russian Museum left me with the opposite effect- I wanted to see more!

Oh, and another cost-saving tip: if you want to see an opera or ballet, but don't want to pay the full charge for the Mariinsky (which is still cheap by western European standards), try the Mussorgsky theater located near the Russian Museum by the statue of Pushkin.

Hi Karen & John,
Thanks so much for your reply! We are now on to Red October to set up our tour. I also really appreciated looking @ your itinerary & pics.

Hi Karen & John,
Thanks so much for your reply! We are now on to Red October to set up our tour. I also really appreciated looking @ your itinerary & pics.