St. Petersburg, Russia

Situated at the confluence of the Gulf of Finland and the mighty Neva River, this former imperial capital fascinates visitors with its strong European influences, grand residences, world-renown museums and extraordinary monuments to a glittering past gone by. With its elegant palace-lined waterways, gilded and domed skyline, and grand boulevards where Czars once traveled in golden carriages, the majestic city of St. Petersburg well-deserves its nickname as the "Empress of the Baltic."