Hermitazh (Hermitage)
Designed by the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the glorious baroque Winter Palace of Empress Elizabeth is famous as the setting for Russia's finest collection of art and antiquities. The collection was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 and has since expanded to cover 3 million works, which are lavishly displayed in the galleries of the Winter Palace and the linked Small Hermitage and Large Hermitage. Highlights include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Gogh, Matisse, Gaugin, Rodin and many of the French Impressionists. The interior of the museum is extravagantly decorated with gilded ceilings, marble colonnades, elegant statuary, crystal chandeliers and intricate mosaic floors - the flamboyant styling reaches its zenith in the famous Jordan Staircase. It would take around 10 years to tour the Hermitage, spending just one minute at each exhibit, but the 90-minute guided tour of the highlights provides a convenient overview. Entry is free on the first Thursday of each month.

Naberezhnaya Dvortsovaya 34
Tel: (812) 571 3420.
Website: www.hermitagemuseum.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1030-1800, Sun 1030-1700; ticket offices close one hour before closing time.
Admission charge.

Isaakievsky sobor (St Isaac's Cathedral)
Commissioned by Tsar Alexander I to build a spectacular imperial cathedral, French-born architect Auguste Montferrand executed a masterpiece of engineering on the marshy ground. Completed in 1858, the gilded dome of St Isaac's Cathedral still dominates the skyline of St Petersburg, though Alexander and his successor were dead long before it was completed. The interiors are dazzling, with malachite and lapis lazuli columns, mosaic icons, painted ceilings and, in the sanctuary, the large stained-glass Resurrected Christ. The climb to the colonnade of the dome (accessible on a separate ticket) is rewarded by marvellous panoramic views over the city. The church became a museum of atheism during the Communist years, but church services are now held here on special occasions.

Isaakievskaya ploschad 1
Tel: (812) 315 9732.
Website: www.cathedral.ru
Opening hours: Thurs-Tues 1100-1900, last admission 1800 (Cathedral); Thurs-Tues 1100-1800, last admission 1700 (Colonnade).
Admission charge.

Petropavlovskaya krepost (Peter and Paul Fortress)
Peter the Great laid out the plans for the Peter and Paul Fortress on Zayachy Island in 1703 to defend the area from the Swedes, but it soon became a political prison. Among the famous prisoners to be held here were Dostoevsky, Gorky and Trotsky, as well as Peter's own son, Alexei. The bleak cells have been converted into a museum, along with the Commandant's House where prisoners were tried. The highlight of the fort is the imposing Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, whose soaring gold spire is visible from all over St Petersburg. For an additional fee, you can enter the cathedral to see the gorgeous baroque interior and the surprisingly modest tombs of Russia's pre-revolutionary leaders, from Peter the Great to Nicholas II. The bell tower can only be visited on an organised tour. You can also buy a ticket to walk along the fortress walls for stunning views over the Neva River towards the Admiralty and Hermitage.

Petropavlovskaya krepost
Tel: (812) 238 4550.
Website: www.spbmuseum.ru
Opening hours: Tues 1100-1600, Thurs-Mon 1100-1700; closed last Tues of month.
Free admission, charge for the cathedral, bell tower, museum and wall walk.

Muzyei-domik Petra I (Cabin of Peter the Great)
The first house built in the newly founded St Petersburg in 1703 was not a grand palace but a humble wooden cabin, from where Peter the Great supervised the construction of his grand imperial city. Now encased in a protective brick enclosure and furnished with period furniture, its spartan simplicity is a strange contrast to the grand cathedrals and palaces that surround it. Peter lived here between 1703 and 1708 and some of his belongings remain, including his boat, his compass and his icon of the Redeemer.

Naberezhnaya Petrovskaya 6
Tel: (812) 314 0374.
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1800; closed last Mon of month.
Admission charge.

Khram Spas-na-Krovi (Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood)
Modelled after the famous St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, the Church on Spilled Blood was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated, on 1 March 1881, by socialist radicals. The richly ornamented exterior of colourful enamelled domes, gilded mosaic panels, ceramic tiles, and stained-glass windows with intricately carved arches is matched by the gleaming marble and glittering mosaics of the interior, which has been stunningly restored to repair the neglect of the Soviet years.

Naberezhnaya Kanala Griboedova 2
Tel: (812) 315 1636.
Opening hours: Tues-Mon 1100-2000, closed Wed; ticket offices close one hour before closing time.
Admission charge.

Russkiy Muzyei (Russian Museum)
The State Russian Museum is often overshadowed by the grand Hermitage, but the sprawling galleries contain the world's finest collection of Russian painting, from thousand-year-old icons to old masters and modern legends like Malevich, Kandinsky and Chagall. The museum was established in 1895 in the Mikhailovsky Palace (another exquisite Carlo Rossi creation) but it has since expanded to cover the Benois Wing and the beautifully restored Marble Palace, Stroganov Palace and St Michael's Castle. Russian Impressionists are particularly well represented, as are the artists of the Revolution and the great propaganda artists of the Soviet era. There is an additional charge for the galleries outside the Mikhailovsky Palace and Benois Wing.

Inzhenernaya ulitsa 4/2
Tel: (812) 595 4248.
Website: www.rusmuseum.ru/eng
Opening hours: Wed-Sun 1000-1800, Mon 1000-1700, closed Tues.
Admission charge.