Founded by Peter the Great as a gateway to Europe and built on a swamp, it is known as Russia's cultural capital. St. Petersburg is Russia's second city and offers tourists a wealth of art and culture – as well as many other things.

St. Petersburg possesses one of the world’s most spectacular architectural panoramas. Almost every building is connected with people who profoundly influenced European politics, art and music.

The city also offers first-class opera and ballet.

Once home to the Imperial Opera and Ballet, the Mariinsky Theatre has once again established itself as one of the world’s very top troupes under the leadership of Valery Gergiev.

The Hermitage houses one of the most comprehensive and impressive collections of art in the world, from Egyptian mummies to Impressionist masterpieces. Its director Mikhail Piotrovsky has been credited with maintaining a dynamic museum display, despite its unwieldy collection. He is also a powerful voice in the city on all tourist matters.

“We don’t need cheap tourism. Look at the situation in Prague, where they had the whole city destroyed and they had to think how to get it back to normal. Cultural heritage is very fragile,” Piotrovsky says.

St. Petersburg appears to have everything necessary to make it into a top tourist destination.

The city of Tchaikovsky, Dostoyevsky and Diaghilev, St. Petersburg receives over three million foreign visitors a year.

That may seem a lot, but it is less than Prague and Amsterdam, not to mention Paris and London.

Well, St.Petersburg isn’t about to become the next cheap European stag-night capital anyway.

For most visitors the lodging options are outdated but over-priced Soviet-era hotels, or even more expensive Western chains. There is a shortage of rooms.

Also, the recent success of cities such as Prague and Tallinn is based largely on the visa-free regime within the EU and the resulting cheap flights. Most tourists need a visa to enter Russia, so there are few discount airlines operating out of its airports.

Marianna Ordzhonikidze, the head of the city’s tourist board, has a lengthy wish list.

“We need a new airport, we need more hotels, we need a better standard of service, and we need the people here to be more friendly to tourists,” Ordzhonikidze says.

But the solution may be more subtle. Despite the reservations of senior city figures, in order to make a breakthrough, St. Petersburg will probably have to attract a new type of tourist.

Nightclubbing in St. Pete

Based in a disused military bunker, Tunnel is one of Russia’s oldest dance music venues. People’s choice of tourist destinations depends largely on preconceptions and St. Petersburg is rarely portrayed like this.

Somewhere between the old stereotypes of dour, grey Soviet cities and the recent tales of Russian oligarchs, this edgy, accessible image of Russian culture has not found a place in the public consciousness.

To be successful this city needs to become trendier. Something it can influence, but not control.

If you add the city’s vibrant clubbing scene to its cultural heritage, it seems quite underrated as an international tourist destination.