300 years and counting...
Written: Aug 20 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Beautiful!
Cons: Parts are falling apart
The Bottom Line: St. Petersburg is a beautiful city, arriving quickly at its previous glory.
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| locafairy's Full Review: St Petersburg |
This is the perfect time to visit St. Petersburg. The country is pouring money into it because its 300 year anniversary is in 2003. I just got back from spending several days there, and I will never forget it.
Before going, I heard horror stories about dirty hotel rooms and disgusting food. Neither were true. I'm sure there are dirty hotels, but ours was not very expensive and was cleaner than many US hotels. The food in many places was not wonderful, but it was definitely edible and it was very cheap.
The buildings are beautiful. It was very interesting to go now because many of the buildings have the plaster stripped off to be redone. It is easy to see how grand the city used to be and will soon be again. The churches and palaces are amazing. Huge amounts of rare stones, marble, and gold were used everywhere.
St. Petersburg itself is amazing. It was originally over 100 islands, and now it is about 40 islands connected by bridges. Many of the bridges are so large that you can be on them without realizing you aren't on solid land. Since the city is built on water, the subways (which are a very useful way to get around) are extremely deep. Everything in the city is so different!
One of our concerns involved language, since Russian is a very hard language to learn. However, many Russian people know at least some English. The younger people are the best to ask because many learned it in school. We actually used a tour group for the majority of the trip, so our guide helped a lot. However, we did go around the city without her at times with very little problem.
There are dozens of palaces and museums to visit that are all very interesting, but I don't remember enough about each to tell you about them. Any travel agent can let you know which are best.
Overall, St. Petersburg was wonderful. We were advised that 2003 may not be the best year to visit because it will be VERY busy. Also, the winter has better airfare and hotel prices. Many people don't realize that winter in St. Petersburg is pretty mild compared to the rest of Russia.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
locafairy
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Reviews written: 50
Trusted by: 18 members
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