Customer Reviews

Eyewitness Travel Guide to St. Petersburg

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I studied at Novgorod State University, somewhat outside St. Petersburg, last summer and needed a really good guide to the city to map out where to go during my limited off-time (hmm... that would be what a travel guide is generally used for, eh?) I did a LOT of browsing in stores and was really enchanted with Eyewitness. Their guides are usually the best ones, but I especially enjoyed this one. Reading it before I left really excited and prepared me for what to expect, and is still interesting to look through.

One of the best features, in my opinion, is a "what to buy in St. Petersburg" section, which includes pictures and ideas of neat Russian stuff to buy and give as gifts (or keep for yourself). This was helpful to think of things ahead of time to give to people, or even let them choose themselves. Also a great feature is the section on Russian food, which includes pictures, so you know what the stuff actually looks like. There's naturally a detailed guide to the city and sections devoted to museums and shopping. It's very simple to navigate through, if you're looking for specific references, e.g. bookshops or anything pertaining to Tchaikovsky. There's notes on historical spots and significances, as well as a detailed street and metro map, accomodations and dining guides (with prices and directions), information and tips on traveling to other spots in Russia, day trip ideas, basic safety info (pictures of Russian police officers and cars, codes to street signs, etc), Russians terms and pronunciations, as well as any other pertinent information and "Stuff you'd never think of but really need to know" about travelling in a foreign country.

This guide probably costs a little more than most (I actually bought mine for full price in the store, I liked it so much) but it is TOTALLY worth it. This is the perfect companion to plan a dynamite trip in St. Petersburg.

I just returned from three months in St. Petersburg, and I found this book to be mostly useful. The maps and descriptions of museums and major historical sites are quite good. The sections on food, drink and gifts are well done, but very brief. The recommendations for travel outside of St. Petersburg are also good, Repina is particularly beautiful in the summer. As a student, one major problem I had with this book was the restaurant section. For the most part, the establishments recommended were either foreign run or clearly catering to foreigners, and rather pricy for a student on a budget. I could have found phoney western food on my own, I would have appreciated more native choices in town. I found it worthwhile to combine this book with the Lonely Planet travel guide, as that book gave more complete background information on more varied places, including better places to eat. In short, this is an excellent book for a casual traveler, but it needs a suppliment for a longer stay.

If I was taking just one guide, 'Eyewitness Travel Guide to St. Petersburg' would be my first choice. Although it is starting to age (published in 1998) it is a good visual and historic guide to St Petersburg, with enough color photographs to both inspire and guide you.

As other reviewers have noted, this book is ideal to use to review with a tour guide the sights and areas that you want to see because of its diagrams, pictures and suggested itineraries.

It is also ideal for the cruise ship visitors who will be in St. Petersburg for less than three days, as the photos give a good appreciation to the visitor of what there is to see, especially in a limited amount of time.

The history and art sections are reasonably good for a guide book.

The restaurant and hotel suggestions are a bit stale, and the pricing is out of date (although the range of pricing is still reasonably accurate).

Just returned from nine days in St. Petersburg. Utilized three guide books while there. This book was by the far the most useful. Given the significant language barrier, the maps and pictures were a tremendous help. The cross-referencing very worthwhile.

I have not utilized this publisher for guide books in the past, but certainly will again. Highly recommended!

This guidebook is great for it's wonderful photos, and as other reviewers have noted, it is great to use with a local tour guide. It certainly helps you to figure out what you are interested in seeing, particularly if you have limited time. If you're exploring on your own, however, the organization of the book can be a detriment as well as an asset. The book divides the city into 5 sections, each of which is graced with a detailed map. What is missing, however, is a detailed map of the city as a whole.

The compact and concise guidebook has all of the information that you may need, but not necessarily where you think it might be. We found the book difficult to use when we needed information "on the fly". For example, we were on our way to Tsarskoye Selo (Catherine I's palace) which is outside the city. The information on how to get there was located in a completely different section of the book than the description of site. This feature, while great if you're not the one responsible for transportation, makes navigating the train station more difficult.

This is a great guidebook on one hand, but I sorely missed the "other" guidebook I had planned to take to St. Petersburg as well, but had forgotten in Moscow. I think next time, I'll opt for fewer pictures and more words.

Greetings,

As the founder of a company devoted to enriching cultural and business travel to Russia, we are always looking for a good, general guidebook for clients. We give St. Petersburg Eyewitness Travel Guide to all of our full-service clients going to St. Petersburg. It is a good visual and historic guide to St Petersburg,

We call "St. Petersburg Eyewitness Travel Guide" the "St. Petersburg for Dummies" as it is designed to be browsed. The thumbnail-sized color photographs will inspire you to read a bit more about the attractions, so it is ideal to review before the trip, as well as during the first meeting with a local tour guide ("Gee, this building looks interesting, how do I see it?"). Most of our clients read the book before going, and put Post-It notes on pages with interesting attractions to ask about.

"St. Petersburg Eyewitness Travel Guide" is also ideal for the cruise ship visitors who will be in St. Petersburg for less than three days, as the photos give a good appreciation to the visitor of what there is to see, especially in a limited amount of time.

The history and art sections are reasonably good for a guide book. The restaurant and hotel suggestions are accurate (as far as quality and general pricing range, although the pricing itself is not accurate)..

Note, however, that we always tell clients and other visitors to Russia that you should get the most current guidebook, as attractions, hotels, restaurants and transportation options do often change--AND THEN VERIFY THE INFORMATION! All in all, we recommend "St. Petersburg Eyewitness Travel Guide" as the first guidebook to purchase when planning on journey of Discovering Russia's second city, St. Petersburg.

Marc David Miller, Discovering Russia, New York

Eyewitness Travel Guides once again lives up to its motto: "The guides that show you what others only tell you." While other guides are long on talk about St. Petersburg, this guide adds hundreds of photos, detailed illustrations, diagrams, maps, and time-lines to bring the city and its surrounding areas to life. Paging through it is like vacationing in St. Petersburg without the cost of going there. Fortunately, the book also includes what you need to know and how to manage when you are there.

I travelled to St. Petersburg in November 2002 and found this guide to be of great assistance in planning what I wanted to see, getting background information and in follow-up reading after I returned. The pictures are beautiful, and the background information is extensive and helpful in understanding what you are going to see. There are extensive maps and diagrams to sites such as the Hermitage Museum and background information that was very helpful. For example, I read about the top sights in the Hermitage so I could be sure to look for them in my quick guided three hour tour. I also knew something about the murder of Rasputin before I toured the Yusupov Palace where the murder took place.

The one drawback is that the 1998 publication date makes this book not very useful in information on new hotels, restaurants or prices. For example, there was nothing about the relatively new "Vodka Museum" which is near St. Isaac's cathedral, where my friends and I had a fun visit.

Compare guidebooks and I think you will see that this one is by far the best for detail, pictures and general information.

Highly recommended.

This Eyewitness travel guide is everything a person needs to not only to survive, but to have fun and see a lot of the St. Petersburg fantastic sights. The city is divided into 5 main areas and there is detailed information about all of them in later chapters. The book has numerous photos and the map of the city is great. The books also has information about beautiful palaces scattered around SPB and how to get there.

A couple things that I think were missing. First most museums are closed on the last Tuesday of the month for maintenance (I came from SPB last week). The museums also charge more from foreigners (virtually everywhere entrance tickets cost 100 roubles for a Russian (or Russian-speaking) person and 300-350 roubles from everyone else). So learning a few words of Russian is advisable.

This book was very useful while exploring the city and is definetely worth buying.

Greetings,

This book has been replaced by a newer edition (published at a cheaper price!). Look up 0789497271. It is still a great guide for your journey of Discovering Russia.