Tourist discount Card has been finally issued in St. Petersburg. The card is on sale in tourist info centers of the city. As Tourist Cards in other European cities as London, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Barcelona, Rome, Budapest and many others, it gives a possibility to pay for public transport, entry tickets to the museums, enjoy discounts renting cars, in some hotels at big shopping malls and cinemas as well. Moreover, Tourist Card provides two free guided excursions and free entry to 9 state museums queue-less.

Free guided tour services are sightseeing excursion called City Tour by double-deck bus and Northern Venice boat tour along the rivers and channels of St. Petersburg. Among the museums the cardholder can visit free of charge are Petropoavlovskaya Fortress, St. Isaac (Isaakievsky) Cathedral , The State Russian Museum and The Church of the Savior on Blood. Petropavlovskaya fortress appeared with the city and later was a political prison.

St. Issak Cathedral was the major cathedral of Russia, when St. Petersburg was a Russian capital. It took its creators 40 years, 400 kilograms (881,85 pounds) of gold and 16 tons of malachite to build this impressive construction. Ten thousand people can fit inside of it. Probably the most attractive possibility about visiting the Cathedral is that you can walk on top of its peak opening a bird's-eye view of the city. Collection of State Russian Museum includes over 400 thousand exhibits, featuring all the major schools of Russian fine arts, with all its types and genres from the 10th to the 20th century. Church of the Savior on blood (Russian: Khram Spasa na Krovi) is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg , Russia . This Church was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 and was dedicated in his memory. This church is build using motifs of medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism . It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow .

The boat tour doesn't need special introduction. St. Petersburg channels make a real labyrinth. Boat excursion is a way to look at the city from outside without leaving it.

Returning to the Guest card, it is available in all the tourist centers of the city. It costs 1100 rubles and is active for 5 days from the first use. Buying the card, you will be provided with information, which hotels, cinemas, restaurants and shops provide 10% discounts to cardholders. It is planned to sell cards at the railway stations and in the airport as well.

The card is supposed to make St. Peters burg more attractive for tourists, and especially for foreigners from EU. No doubt, European-level service is necessary in St. Petersburg. But among factors, limiting tourist flow are high prices in hotels and Russian visa regime.

More about St. Petersburg and some hints

www.tourinfo.ru
www.rg.ru
www.tour-discount.spb.ru