Within St Petersburg's geometry is a dust-devil of influences and styles and a bewitching vortex of life's extremes. It's breathtakingly gorgeous, it's ruefully falling apart; it's viscerally sensual, it's crude and vulgar; its very essence gets under your skin, but remains forever outside your grasp.
ST. PETERSBURG
● When To Go
St Petersburg is a year-round destination. The city's northern latitude
means long days in summer and long nights in winter - but in winter, hotels
and tourist attractions are less crowded and there's a twinkling magic to
the night sky. While the White Nights in mid-summer are undeniably
beautiful, some people find them disconcerting.
Climate-wise, St Petersburg is much milder than its extreme northern
latitude would suggest. January temperatures average -8°C (17°F); a really
cold day will get down to -15°C (5°F). It's a windy city though and in some
areas the wind chill is quite fierce, so bring a good warm hat and scarf.
Summer is cool and takes a while to get going: snow in late April is not
uncommon and the warm weather doesn't really start until the period between
June and August, when temperatures reach 20°C (68°F). During these months
the city is packed with foreign and Russian tourists.