Dk Eyewitness Travel Guide: St Petersburg

As the most beautiful city I have ever visited (indeed, perhaps the most beautiful city in the world), many guidebooks do not do St. Petersburg justice. Instead they choose to focus on a country in economic and political turmoil and a city with decaying buildings from a former era. Whether you believe these judgements or not (personally, I think the buildings in central St. Petersburg are in excellent condition), they do not exactly fill you with excitement about seeing the city's wonders (of which there are many) and make you feel like it was worth shelling out all that money to come on holiday here.

This guide, however, is different. It refrains from this gloomy picture of the city and instead paints a St. Petersburg that is full of history, culture and wonder (which I believe to be true and which surely the average holidaymaker would rather hear). Detailed pictures and photographs of monuments and buildings are accompanied by fascinating historical facts. The pictures... Read more

Have just returned from a long weekend in St Petersburg and this book was constantly by our side. We chose it over the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide books, given their poor reviews, and were not disappointed. The map is helpful, it is well arranged by area and there are some interesting bits about the history of St Petersburg.

The best bit about the book were the restaurant recommendations, which were excellent, especially for the cheaper Georgian/Azeri/Armenian restaurants.

One minor criticism is the tram/bus/trolleybus map on the back cover. We used this a lot (a great way to get around the city) but it was out of date and only covered the centre of the city.

But otherwise a great guide: highly recommended.

I first picked up a DK Eyewitness to Paris and was amazed at how well ordered it was, with lavish photos and good maps and descriptions. The St. Petersburg guide is no exception, and as someone who knows the city well, I can wholly recommend this guide. Each of the main regions are broken down and discussed in detail, and there's a practical section at the back with hotel and restaurant details as well as useful information about St. Petersburg and Russia.

The only people this may not be of use to is the budget traveller - although you may wish to take this with you anyway for its history section and clear referencing. Buy!