Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a cultural centre in the most literal sense. Built on water, threaded by rivers and canals and crossed by countless bridges, it reads like a grand Venice of the north: palaces along the embankments, facades mirrored in the water, an architecture that keeps calling Venice to mind while remaining entirely its own.

What stays with you is the people. Cultured, well-read, quick to turn a conversation towards books, music and ideas, in a city that takes its theatres, museums and libraries seriously.