One-time Imperial city offers fabulous sights, wonderful museums and classic cuisine

Down by the river – St Petersburg from the Neva River

It felt strange to sit beneath the gilded ceilings of one of the finest buildings from the glory days of the old Imperial Russia – and ponder the thorny subject of what to order for breakfast.

It is reckoned that more than 620,000 people starved to death in the three-year siege of St Petersburg (then called Leningrad) as the Germans pursued their ultimately doomed invasion of Stalin’s Russia at the bitter climax of the Second World War.

That was nearly 70 years ago. Now, in a huge and spectacularly beautiful art nouveau dining room of the Grand Hotel Europe, I can eat as much as I like from the mouth-watering and substantial breakfast menu.

Should I try the caviar? Or possibly one of the seven varieties of fish, including salmon and sturgeon, 10 types of cheese, nine different sauces, and 15 varieties of jam and honey.

This splendid building, restored to former glories on Nevsky Prospekt among the city’s great architectural treasures, shows you at once why this city is a favourite stop (second only to New York) for Britain’s cruise enthusiasts.

Classic – Russian Orthodox church in St Petersburg

St Petersburg was actually the capital of Russia until 1919, although it became Petrograd when Russia and Germany went to war in 1914, because “Petersburg” sounded much too German.

In 1924, its name changed again to “Leningrad”, honouring the ruthless creator of the 1917 Russian Revolution. Then in 1991, under the more liberal Gorbachev regime, the population was offered the chance of another name change, and more than 70 per cent wanted to return to the original, although “Gorby” didn’t like the idea.

The hotel has a beautifully preserved neo-classical facade. The interior is sumptuous, indeed imperial, with sweeping staircases, thick carpets, marbled pillars and floors, high ceilings, and spacious rooms.

Orient Express Hotels, the international chain, has owned and managed the hotel since 2005. The staff, charming and helpful, communicate easily in English, with not a hint of loftiness you sometimes find in luxury hotels around the world.

Great names who have visited this august address since the mid-19th century include Tsar Nicholas II, Grigori Rasputin, Isadora Duncan and Johann Strauss.

Tchaikovsky checked in for a honeymoon in 1877 and more recent guests include Vladimir Putin, limbering up for yet another term as Russian President, leading politicos from Europe and the US and, unsurprisingly, stars from the world of stage, screen, music and theatre.

One night, in the dimly-lit, crimson-themed and marble-studded Caviar Bar, I tried “Bear Parmentier” – diced meat of hunted wild bear, in sauce, mashed potatoes, fresh garden leaves and herbs in a parmesan basket.

Bear meat has a pleasantly sweet taste and I could not help wondering what happened to the skin of the animal from which it had come. Probably it became a fur coat, to protect some affluent soul from another savage Russian winter.

St Petersburg has many fabulous sights and a weekend is hardly long enough to see everything. I was unable to get to the war museum, but covered the major sights.

We got the hotel’s box at the famous Mariinsky Theatre, for a production of the ballet Spartacus. The historic theatre dates back to the 19th century, and famous works by composers such as Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov received premieres there.

Next day, we headed for the Summer Palace of the tsars, about 30km from the city, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. This palace, known as Peterhof, was destroyed in the Second World War. It has been completely rebuilt, refurbished and redecorated exactly as it was in the imperial days.

Super style – the Grand Hotel Europe has been the destination of stars and tsars

On the following day, we visited what must surely be Russia’s greatest artistic treasure: the State Hermitage in the Winter Palace. Its collection of art and sculpture (more than three million items in all) is mind-blowing.

St Petersburg, like Venice, is built on water with the broad and deep Neva River flowing through.The heart of the city survived the war relatively intact, although the Germans razed the suburbs in their retreat.

One of the city’s magical features is the phenomenon of the “White Nights” in the summer, peaking in June and July. In a city so far to the north, the sun does not descend sufficiently low, so the sky never gets dark and night never comes.

When it is warm enough, the city’s navigation season begins. To allow large ships to pass along the Neva River at night, all the bridges are raised at a certain time. Bridge-raising, an international symbol of the “White Nights,”, is eagerly waited by tourists each night.

If you win the lottery, or any sort of windfall, head for St Petersburg and treat yourself to a grand suite at the Grand Hotel Europe.

By Tony Looch

Travel Guide

• Tony Looch was a guest of British Airways Holidays, which offers three nights’ B&B at the five-star Grand Hotel in St Petersburg from £809 (two sharing) during November, incl return BA flights ex-Heathrow.

• Regular departures include Manchester (from £904) and Glasgow £902), incl connecting flights into Heathrow.

• BA Holidays reservations: 0844 493 0758 and www.ba.com