Travelling through Western Europe can be an expensive exercise especially if your currency is a little weak at the time. Although the British pound and Euro are not going that well, the US dollar is weaker and this can make travelling in some Western European nations prohibitively expensive. (Read Scandinavia and Switzerland.)
One way you can turn the tables is to substitute Eastern European destinations that give a similar experience for a Western Europe equivalent. It will usually be cheaper and in some cases a better experience as well.
The Art Galleries of St Petersburg instead of the Art Galleries of Paris
On a trip to Paris everyone wants to visit the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa. Well how about substituting the Louvre for the Hermitage. St Petersburg was Russia’s first true European city designed by European architects in the early 1700’s.
The Hermitage was formerly the palace that the Russian Tsars ruled the country from and is full of paintings from European artists including Rembrandt, Rubens and Picasso. The gallery includes 5 main buildings and in the Winter Palace alone there are 1057 rooms and 117 staircases. (Thank You Lonely Planet for that fact).
There are also collections of Egyptian and Oriental art so the Hermitage is a bit like a cross between the Louvre and the British Museum.
As a bonus if you haven’t seen enough art St Petersburg is also the home of the Russian Museum that houses one of the best collections of Russian Art in the world.
Roaming the streets of St Petersburg you will see architecture the equal of Paris and in Paris everyone loves the Seine, in St Petersburg you get to see the beautiful canals. While St Petersburg is not a cheap place to visit it is certainly not more expensive than Paris so you can see one of the best collections of art in the world and not be too light in the pocket.
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