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Dunes
Feel like lounging on the beach with a fruity cocktail, catching some rays or playing some badminton? Then visit Dunes, St Petersburg's first beach bar, complete with sand, hammocks and beach chairs. That this outdoor café is located in a crumbling courtyard (with no sea in sight) only adds to the charm. The place is hard to find: go through the unmarked archway off Konyushennaya pl and proceed to the second courtyard.
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Experimental Sound Gallery (Gez-21)
You know that a place called 'experimental' is going to be out there, especially as it is part of the alternative art complex at Pushkinskaya 10. Music ranges from jazz to rock to undefinable, and there are also film screenings, readings and other expressions of creativity. The toilet contains quite an interesting gallery (of sorts).
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Feel Yourself Russian
Terrible title, but not a bad show of traditional Russian folk dancing and music. The two-hour show features four different folk groups, complete with accordion, balalaika and Cossack dancers. It is worth attending to get a look inside the spectacular Nikolaevsky Palace, if nothing else.
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Fidel
If you are up for a night of bar-hopping, you can't do better than Dumskaya ul. Fidel is crammed into a crumbling, classical façade, along with three other hot spots for drinking and music. This funky place is a sort of musical and alcoholic tribute to the ruler who 'outlived six presidents of America and six leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia'.
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Fish Fabrique
You don't get any more scruffy than this museum of local boho life. Here, in the dark underbelly of Pushkinskaya 10, artists, musicians and wannabes of all ages meet to drink beer and listen to music. Playing table football is also something of a rite of passage for anyone wanting to join the local arts scene. DJs or bands play in the evenings, making this one of the best places to hear punk and other alternative music.
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Glinka Capella House
This historic hall was constructed for the city's oldest professional choir, the Emperor Court Choir Capella, which was founded in 1473. Originally based in Moscow, it was transferred to St Petersburg upon the order of Peter the Great in 1703. These days, performances focus on choral and organ music.
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Grand Concert Hall
This massive complex near pl Vosstaniya still often goes by its former name, Oktyabrsky. Seating almost 4000 people, this is the venue for Russian 'stars' with a national following, whether they are pop singers or ballet dancers.
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Griboedov
Griboedov is hands-down the longest-standing and most respected music club in the city. Another club in a bomb shelter, this one was founded by the blokes from the local ska band Dva Samolyota. It's a low-key bar in the early evening, gradually morphing into a rowdy club later in the night. Excellent music acts run the gamut from russky rock to reggae to electronica to trance. Upstairs, Griboedov Hill functions as a cool café by day with occasional concerts by night.
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Havana Club
Enduringly popular, Havana is the only club that plays a consistent mix of salsa, merengue and Latin-infused jazz. There is usually live music on at least one of the three dance floors. So put your dancing shoes on (no trainers allowed!) and let loose your inner Ricky Ricardo. Wednesday night is free for 'real Latinos' so bring your passport if you hail from a Spanish-speaking country.
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Hermitage Theatre
This austere neoclassical theatre - once the private theatre of the imperial family - stands on the site of the original Winter Palace of Peter I. At the behest of Catherine the Great, Giacomo Quarenghi designed the theatre to resemble an amphitheatre, with statues of Apollo and the Muses occupying the niches. During the Soviet period, this hall was used more often for lectures and such, but it reopened as a theatre in the 1980s.
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Island
The Island club is on a rather hard-to-reach embankment location on Vasilevsky Island. It is professionally run and aimed at a well-off, fashionable crowd without being pointlessly elitist. There are some superb shows on the revolving dance floors. Music is mainly pop and techno, although big-name DJs occasionally visit.
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Jam Hall On Leninsky
The second of two Jam Halls, come here to partake in a luxury cinema-going experience - in Russian.
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Jam Hall On Petrogradsky
Now this is the kind of place that could never have existed in 20th-century Russia. An old palace of culture has been transformed into a luxury cinema-going experience. With plush sofa-style seating, tables for your drinks and a well-stocked bar on site, this is the future - and we like it. Pity it mainly shows Hollywood blockbusters dubbed into Russian.
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Jazz Philharmonic Hall
Founded by legendary jazz violinist and composer David Goloshchokin, this venue represents the more traditional side of jazz. Two resident bands perform straight jazz and Dixieland in the big hall, which seats up to 200 people. The smaller Ellington Hall is used for occasional acoustic performances. Foreign guests also appear doing mainstream and modern jazz. Drinks and light snacks available.
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JFC Jazz Club
Very small and very New York, this cool club is the best place in the city to hear modern, innovative jazz music, as well as the occasional blues, bluegrass, funk, fusion and even folk. The space is tiny, so book a table if you want to sit down. Otherwise, you can always stand at the bar (which is less expensive). The menu is limited to drinks and snacks.
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Komissarzhevskaya Theatre
Now buried in Tikhvin Cemetery, Vera Fedorovna Kommisarzhevskaya was a great St Petersburg actress who gained her reputation as leading lady in Vsevolod Meyerhold performances. In the early years of the 20th century, Kommisarzhevskaya founded an acting troupe that performed in the Passage concert hall, staging plays by all of the famous playwrights of the day, including Mikhail Gorky and Anton Chekhov. Revived in the midst of the Siege, the theatre was renamed in honour of the great actress.
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Lensovet Theatre
The LenSovet is among the more versatile theatre companies in town, staging performances of classical favourites as well as bold new experiments. Director Vladislav Pazi has received excellent reviews for his renditions of - among others - A King, a Queen and a Jack, based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, and Lovely Sunday for a Picnic by Tennessee Williams.
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Maina
Maina is out there, geographically speaking. But that does not seem to stop hordes of music-lovers from showing up, feasting on modern, fusion fare and jamming to trendy tunes. Local bands and DJs are on the program, and the music runs the gamut, including some styles we've never heard of (intelligent lounge? femme-punk?). But it's a daring, innovative place, and the fact that it's out in the docklands makes it all the edgier.
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Maly Drama Theatre
Also called the Theatre of Europe, the Maly is St Petersburg's most internationally celebrated theatre. Its director Lev Dodin is famed for his long version of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Devils, which toured the world to great acclaim. He also got rave reviews for his version of Anton Chekhov's Play Without a Name, a superb mise en scène production that is sometimes subtitled in English for visitors during summer.
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Maly Zal
Hosts small ensembles of symphonic performances. The venue is also used for numerous music festivals, including the superb Early Music Festival
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Manhattan
In this raucous Fontanka-side basement there's always a sociable, arty/student crowd enjoying the boho atmosphere and the (often ear-splitting) live music. There are usually a couple of bands doing sets each evening and DJs keep the crowd happy the rest of the time. The food is surprisingly delicious here too, and there's internet access.
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Mariinsky Concert Hall
In April 2007, Mariinsky director Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra opened the new Mariinsky Concert Hall - just in time for the annual Stars of White Nights Festivals. The new building is a magnificent multifaceted creation. It preserves the historic brick façade of the set and scenery warehouse that previously stood on this spot facing ul Pisareva.
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Mariinsky Theatre
The most celebrated and most spectacular venue for ballet and opera in St Petersburg, the Mariinsky Theatre is an attraction in its own right, whether or not you manage to get tickets to see a performance. Known as the Kirov Ballet during the Soviet era, the dance company confusingly still tours the world under this name, as its Soviet-era association with Nureyev, Baryshnikov et al brings more ticket sales! Despite this odd tie to the past, the current general and artistic director Valery Gergiev has led the venue bravely into the modern world.
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Metro
St Petersburg's most popular spot for teenagers, Metro is a giant venue with three dance floors, featuring Russian and European music downstairs, techno and house on the 2nd floor, and the poppiest pop on the top floor. At four nights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday), male and female dancers clad in leather (at least at the beginning) put on an erotic show. Student nights - Monday and Wednesday - are packed.
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Mirage Univer-City
All the entertainment you ever need - under one roof. Come here to watch a film, eat sushi, play pool, hear live music (Thursday and Friday night) or surf the web. The films are generally the latest from Hollywood, but you are unlikely to see anything in English.
