My first days in Russia: Amazing Places You Must See in Saint Petersburg!

My first days in Russia: Amazing Places You Must See in Saint Petersburg!

Welcome to my very first video here from Russia. 
We are in the city that is often called the most beautiful city of Russia and it is also known 
as Russia’s cultural heart and the window to the west. Welcome to Saint Petersburg! One 
of our first major stops is St Isaac’s Cathedral. It’s this massive complex here behind me. I’m not 
sure if you can actually see how huge it really is in the camera but it’s incredible. I think if you 
compare the size of the people to the building you can probably estimate the dimension of this church 
a little bit. Nowadays it serves as an museum. And I’ve heard that from up there you can get some of 
the greatest views over St. Petersburg. Apparently there is no elevator so we have to climb up the 
stairs to get all the way up there. But it’s fine to do a little bit of a workout because we 
will be rewarded with amazing views I think. There’s a countdown that counts down the 
stairs that are still missing to get up. And well, the number gets smaller and smaller 
which is a little bit motivating. It’s not too hard though. Literally anybody can 
do this. And the views from up here are spectacular! They don’t disappoint that’s for 
sure. So for 300 rubles that I paid to get up here this is absolutely worth it to get a great 
overview of the city of St Petersburg. From up here we also have a great overview 
over several sights of St Petersburg. We can back there see the Winter Palace that we 
are of course also going to visit later on. It’s one of the most impactful 
and most impressive sights and very symbolic for the city. There’s the 
river front here that we can see from up here which is also stunning. 
The views seriously are absolutely epic. St Petersburg was known by many names 
over the years. At first it was called Petrograd in order to honor that Tsar Peter the 
Great. It basically means the city of Pedro. But it was known as Petrograd during World War I. 
And later on, after Lenin’s death the city was renamed to Leningrad in order to honor the founder 
of the Soviet state. In 1991 it was renamed again back to St Petersburg to remember the origin of 
the city, its history and its original culture. By then the Soviet Union has collapsed and 
therefore the city came back to its roots. Basically all of the buildings you can see in the 
city are incredibly impressive. They are beautiful. They are colorful. There are many ornates and 
details on the buildings and it seems like every building must be something special. It 
is the style of the city in general. It has a lot of neoclassical elements and it is a quite 
unique city and super opulent. From up there we’ve seen the opulent architecture of 
St. Petersburg. It is super impressive and the history of the city is very interesting as well. 
It actually explains the opulent architecture and the style of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg was 
founded by the Tsar Peter the Great. Tsars by the way were Russian emperors or supreme Russian 
rulers before Russia became a republic. And the Tsar Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg in 
order to create some window to the western world. He wanted to modernize the city and he wanted 
to make it the capital of Russia. And with that St. Petersburg became the capital and also a 
major European city in between 1712 and 1918. But with the Bolshevik Revolution starting and 
also with World War I starting the location of St Petersburg became a little bit dangerous 
for being a capital. It is located right in front of the sea and therefore they decided to 
relocate the capital of Russia back to Moscow. Just in front of the cathedral St. Isaac 
there’s this Marinsky Palace here. It was an imperial residency and it was completed in 1844. Nowadays it serves as the seat of 
the parliament of St Petersburg. We are now hopping on a little canel boat tour. St. 
Petersburg is actually also known as the Venice of the North. There are lots of canels here and 
we want to explore the city from the waterfront. We got a very special price. Usually you would be 
paying 1,500 rubles for this tour per person. We paid only 1,000 which is the children’s price. But 
I believe this is only possible nowadays due to the difficulties that tourists face. International 
tourists that want to travel to Russia. If you’ve seen my very first video of how to visit Russia 
already you know of all these difficulties due to the sanctions and the war going on still. There 
aren’t many tourists here at least not many international tourists. You do see some Chinese 
people but very little. And most of the people we see are actually from Russia itself. This tour 
is going to last 1 hour as far as I understood it and we are going to see important landmarks of St 
Petersburg. You will get panoramic views even from outside. There’s an inside part which has 
glass everywhere. So you can get beautiful views from there as well. And then there’s this upper 
part here where you get even better views. And there’s also a toilet by the way just in case you 
need it. There is a tour that is in Russian. I don’t understand a word but luckily I am self educated 
and I can also tell you that here behind me we can see one of the most important landmarks which is 
the winter palace. We’re going to visit this later on as well. On this side is one of the very first 
structures that was built here in St Petersburg by the Peter the Great. The Peter and Paul fortress 
was founded on May 16th, 1703. The first priority was to engineer a fort to protect the settlement. 
One of the most significant parts is the Peter and Paul Cathedral where most of the Russian Imperial 
family members are buried including Peter the Great himself. The fortress also historically 
served as a prison for highranking political figures. The views from the water are absolutely  spectacular. I’m really enjoying this tour. It gives you a different view over the city. There are many ways how you can explore St. 
Petersburg. You do not have to take the boat tour if you don’t want to. There’s also walking 
tours. There are tours with horses and there are also tours with old Soviet cars or kind of buses 
small ones. So there are various options that you can take. I believe though that they are all 
in Russian because. Again, there aren’t that many international tourists here. But anyway, 
you are preparing yourself with this video so it’s really not that big of a deal. We are 
now walking down the Nevsky Prospect which is one of the main streets here in St. Petersburg. It is 
actually considered as one of the biggest avenue on earth. It is a bustling street full of shops, 
cafes and stores and there are very important landmarks here along the street such as this 
cathedral the Kazan Cathedral behind me which is an impressive structure. And to be honest when I 
first saw it I didn’t even notice it’s a cathedral. And then there’s also the Singer’s House which is 
also known as the House of Books. It is one of the most beautiful buildings of St. 
Petersburg and you can find it right in front of the Kazan Cathedral. Here on this avenue you 
don’t really feel the impact of any sanctions because it is a very busy street. There are lots 
of businesses here. I’m not sure though how much of an impact the sanctions have on the life of 
Russians currently. But I will figure that out in another video once we’ve spent a few more 
days here. So if you are interested in learning more about the impact of the sanctions on daily 
Russian life make sure to subscribe to the channel and we’ll figure that out together in one of my 
next videos. Make sure to definitely enter the Kazan Cathedral. It is a beautiful church with 
spectacular light. I really wasn’t expecting a place so special and since it’s a religious 
place it is also completely free to visit. Next up is another beautiful church. This here 
behind me is the church of the savior on spilled blood. It is a deeply beautiful church and 
also historically a very important spot. There is a dramatic history behind this church. Precisely 
on this point where the church has been built Tsar Alexander II has been assassinated. He got killed 
by a bomb that has been thrown into his carriage. It took 24 years in total to build this church 
due to its very complex construction and the many details in the architecture. We 
just arrived at the Palace Square which is a huge square and just the entrance here behind 
me is already super impressive. We walked through the arch and there are lots of details within 
the arch and on top of the arch. It is beautiful. And now at this square you will find one of the 
top five museums on earth. At least it is known as one of the top five. And that is the winter 
palace. It is also known as the Hermitage Museum. This palace served as the residence of the 
emperors in between 1732 and 1917. Nowadays you can enter it. There’s a museum inside and you can 
explore this beautiful palace from the inside as well. If you really want to visit the palace make 
sure to not plan this visit on a Monday because the palace unfortunately is closed on Mondays. 
So we are a little bit upset now and got a sweet. In front of the palace for 350 rubles. You can get 
this kind of cinnamon roll… It’s not a cinnamon roll. It has Nutella on it and it’s crusty. This 
is not really here from Russia just so you know. It is from Eastern European countries. 
You can find these kind of things in a lot of Eastern European countries. But 
it’s good though and highly recommend. There are many palaces in and around 
St Petersburg. It is impossible to show you all of them but there was one that I really wanted 
to visit and that is the Peterhof behind me. It is a palace that was started to build in 1719 
and it was meant to be the residence of the Tsar. It was built as a direct response to the palace 
of Versailles in France. It is a bit outside of St. Petersburg. It will take you a while to get here. 
You can either take an Uber or public transport to get here but I believe it is absolutely worth 
it. It’s not only the palace. It is the whole garden area that is in front of it that is absolutely 
stunning. There are lots of beautiful plants here, lots of things to discover and a 
lot of beautiful fountains. It is in general a very picturesque place. St. Petersburg 
definitely feels European. However, everything here is way bigger than in the rest of Europe. The 
buildings are larger. It is very extreme and very opulent. It’s a beautiful city and you can 
definitely tell why it is considered a cultural capital. St. Petersburg really is a city of sheer 
elegance and opulence. From its grand palaces to its museums and to its churches and cathedrals. I 
believe St. Petersburg should absolutely be on the list of anybody who wants to visit Russia. If you 
liked this video make sure to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel because this is 
only the beginning of my trip through Russia. So if you want to follow me along my 
adventures you are more than welcome to do so. Thank you so much for watching 
and I hope to see you in next week’s video!

Saint Petersburg is known to be the cultural heart of Russia and Russia’s most beautiful city. St. Petersburg is definitely a must-see for all Russia Travellers and I will show you how I spend my very first days in Russia in this stunning city.

Join me on a captivating travel vlog through Saint Petersburg, where we explore the iconic Nevsky Prospect and marvel at the stunning architecture of the Winter Palace St Petersburg. This cultural exploration includes visits to famous landmarks and a walk along the beautiful Neva River, Saint Petersburg’s most stunning landscapes, such as the Peterhof, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Kazan Cathedral and much more. All captured in breathtaking 4K video.

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