St. Petersburg-Russia

St. Petersburg is a magically beautiful city dotted with stunning palaces and bisected by romantic canals. The best time to go is during the "white nights" of summer when the whole city revels in the near-constant light.

• Contrasting architectures and wide open spaces are the hallmarks of this extraordinary plaza, which has witnessed historic events like Bloody Sunday and the storming of the Winter Palace and is now the rallying place for every imaginable political demonstration.

• This famous Russian street that cuts through the center of St. Petersburg is a hub for shopping, nightlife and entertainment, and is lined with historic and picturesque buildings and churches.

• One of the most famous art museums in the world, this museum is housed in the Winter Palace, and contains over 2.7 million exhibits including some of the world's greatest works of art.

• The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood (known locally as Spas na Kravi) is a beautiful gold-draped onion-domed church on Griboedova Canal, one of the many waterways in the old Russian capital.

• Once a formal garden built for Peter the Great, this popular park still has more than 80 of the original marble statues and sculptures and houses Peter's Summer Palace, a simply designed two-story building that now displays many of the ruler's own artifacts.

• The stage of this internationally renowned theater was graced by Russia's most celebrated classical performers in pre-Revolution days, and is today best known for its famous Kirov Ballet.