Faberge Museum

Yes, it houses the world famous Faberge eggs. It's worth a visit if you are interested in Romanov art and history or just opulent decorative arts in general.

I went last summer, thought it was great. Have guided and unguided tours, we opted for unguided but overheard a few things. More than just the eggs there, many decorative pieces. Guessing we spent an hour there and there was of course a nice gift shop. Unguided was inexpensive as I recall. Easily walkable from the Hermitage.

Thanks dkdjph and dovetraveler for your responses. I'm also glad to know it is walkable from the Hermitage. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Recommend the restaurant Pelmenya at the corner of Nevsky Prospect and the Fontankya River embankment. It’s close to the Faberge Museum. The restaurant is casual, but excellent. It has a varity of dumplings that you can mix and match. We ended up going there twice.

Thank you so much for your restaurant recommendation, Becky! I am writing it down and will definitely try it out. Just as an aside, did they take credit cards?

I didn't find any places in Russia that didn't take credit cards, esp. MC and Visa. AmEx was 50-50.

Thanks for the tip Dovetravler. I have read in these forums so many times of issues with one's credit cards, so I am always asking. We have never had issues with our credit cards anywhere we traveled, but we have never been to Russia, so I just want to make sure I won't be stranded.

Yes, they definitely take credit cards. Do you use downloaded Google maps? We had one for St. Petersburg that we marked places we might go. It really helped since it’s not always easy to read the Cyrillic name quickly. When are you going and for how long?

Becky, we will be going in October 2019-St Peter Line-visa free, so we won't be there very long.

What do you mean downloaded Google maps? I have RS book on St. Petersburg, Helsinki & Tallinn (my son lives in Tallinn, so we will be going to all of those places) and as I learn about places that I want to go and restaurants I want to try, I look them up on Google maps and mark them on RS maps in the book.

Again, I cannot thank you enough for your help!

You make sure the google maps for where you are going are downloaded offline. You can also mark places you see on a google map with a star or heart. Then when you’re out and about, you can look at a downloaded map on you smartphone or tablet to see what you have marked. It will show you they way, also. We used the same RS book for site and restaurant recommendations. It was great.

YAY, Becky! Thanks for yet another tip of downloading maps and saving various places I want to visit. I just figured out how to do that and it is awesome. That is going to make things so much easier for me. You are a God Send! Thank you every so much!!!!

You’re very welcome! Have a wonderful trip. We went to St. Petersburg twice and would love to go again.

Becky, another question: Is there any way to separate the lists on Google Maps? I downloaded a map of St. Petersburg and one of Estonia and starred the places I wanted to go. When I looked at the list, it had all the places I starred from both St. Petersburg and Estonia, no matter which map I looked at.

Guys, the best guide is a local resident, try to find one next time, and your trip will be much cooler!

Hi, we went there last time we visited St. Petersburg. It's really nicely done. I have a new-found admiration for the craftsmanship used. For us, it was part of our private 2-day tour that we had booked via Anastasia Tours. So we had a knowledgeable local guide with us. I am sure you can also do it on your own, but I would highly recommend getting a guide or even audio. In my opinion, they really enhanced the experience and will make it so much more memorable. And please look closely at the eggs, so detailed and opulent.
The palace is very beautiful also and the museum part is not very big, I think you will need about 1 - 1.5 hours.

Faberge is a must see in St. Petersburg. I definitely recommend spending at least 2 hours there and get ready to be blown away from all the little details. We went there with a tour we booked with Anastasia Travel, it was art of our 2 full days excursion. Since we were a group of 8 we didn't have to wait in the long queue, our guide was persistent we get inside fast.

I strongly recommend booking a tour, since the guide is the one that explains everything about it. If you think you know Russian history, then you can DIY.

But we loved our guide and how knowledgeable she was.

Have fun!

The museum has some 4,000 exhibits, displayed in 12 beautifully restored rooms according to type and history. The display allows the visitor a strong feeling of the opulence and artistry of the time. The Blue Room, fittingly the central hall of the Shuvalov Palace, contains the Imperial Easter Eggs by Fabergé. Each one is a unique masterpiece of jewellery and artistry, as well as a uniquely Russian artefact of the reign and personal life of the last of the Romanovs.

In the collection is the first egg that Fabergé created for Tsar Alexander III in 1885. The Tsar’s commission, a gift for his wife Empress Maria Fedorovna, was for an Easter egg. Known as the Hen Egg, the first Fabergé egg is cocooned inside a white enamel shell which opens to reveal a gold yolk. Much like the Russian Matryoshka doll this opens giving another surprise in the form of a multicoloured gold hen. Finally the hen opened and gave up its secret – a minute replica in diamond of the imperial crown from which was hung a ruby. Sadly these parts were lost.

Location: 21, Naberezhnaya Reki Fontanki
Metro: Gostiny Dvor / Nevsky Prospekt, Mayakovskaya
Telephone: +7 (812) 333-2655
Open: Daily from 10am to 9pm (Guided tours from 10am to 6pm). Closed on Fridays.
Admission: RUB 450 (Guided tours RUB 600)
Photo and video: Non-flash still photography is permitted. No video.
Accessibility note: Wheelchair accessible.