Search Hotels by Sokos in Vasilyevsky Island

Vasilyevsky Island is at the heart of St. Petersburg’s history. Most visitors will arrive on Vasilyevsky Island from one of St. Petersburg’s two iconic bridges: Palace Bridge and Blagoveshchensky Bridge. The Palace Bridge, from the Winter Palace and Winter Gardens delivers you to the eastern-most point of Vasilyevsky Island, and Blagoveshchensky Bridge leaves English Embankment on the mainland and takes you to University Embankment on the island. At the eastern end of Vasilyevsky Island, you’ll find some of the oldest buildings in St. Petersburg, including Strelka and Menshikov Palace.

Museums on Vasilyevsky Island

The main attractions of Vasilyevsky Island are the many museums. The Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art covers five floors and showcases around 2,000 Russian artworks as well as many temporary exhibits. Almost all the Russian art goes back no further than the 1950s, and there is a big emphasis on underground art from the Soviet Union. The Kunstkammer is also known as the Museum of Ethnology and Anthropology and was St. Petersburg’s first museum, founded in 1714. Artefacts collected by 19th-century Russian explorers make up the bulk of the exhibits, the most famous of which are specimens of deformed human foeti, body parts and mutated animals.

The island’s Menshikov Palace houses a branch of the State Hermitage Museum. While the bulk of the museum’s vast collection of Western European artworks is in the Winter Palace, the Menshikov Palace showcases Russian cultural artefacts from the early 1700s.

Vasilyevsky Island’s Hotels: Where to Stay in St. Petersburg

Hotels on Vasilyevsky Island are concentrated on the eastern tip, which is where you’ll also find the majority of sights and attractions. Though there are a couple of affordable three-star hotels in this area, the majority are luxury four and five-star establishments, catering to a upper upmarket clientele.

Almost all the hotels have an onsite restaurant and bar, so you won’t have to head to the mainland for evening entertainment. Most also cater for business guests, offering amenities such as meeting rooms and concierge services. St. Petersburg’s well-connected public transport network makes it easy to hop on to the mainland whenever you need to, though, and the Petrogradskay District is just a short bus ride away.