Just off Nevsky Prospekt, you'll spot the bodyguards leaning against rows of waiting Mercedeses at the sleekly luxurious Grand Hotel Europe (329-6000; grand-hotel-europe.com doubles, $210-$410; w). Two other decent hotels are nearby, on Nevsky Prospekt: The Radisson SAS Royal (322-5000; radisson.com doubles, $179-$310; w). The Corinthia Nevsky Palace, an ex-Sheraton with a garishly contemporary entrance, has new owners who are elevating the rooms to luxury standards (380-2001; corinthiahotels.com doubles, $500). Near the Smolny complex, on an attractive street but rather far from the main points of interest, the Hotel Mercury is run by the city. Its 16 rooms are heavily booked, and favored by diplomats who don't have big expense accounts (325-6444, fax 276-1977; doubles, $75; v).

Dining

The service is impeccable and the rooms are loffely at the Nobles" Nest, and where else can you eat bear pelmeni (ravioli) al dente? It's pricey but as good as you will find anywhere (312-0911; entrées, $24-$39).

To rebalance your budget, eat plain food at Crocodile, popular among intellectuals (314-9437; entrées, $4-$8). Count Suvuroff serves refined old Russian dishes in a cozy environment (315-4328; entrées, $15-$48). Rub shoulders with New Russians at the creative Palkin, part of the Premier Casino (103-5370; entrées, $18-$40). For superb fusion food and a great panoramic view of the city from the riverfront, reserve at Akvarel, which is beside the Birzhevoy Bridge, on the Petrograd side (320-8600; entrées, $19-$25). For shashlik, try Bagrationi (272-7448; entrées, $10-$16).

In the former senate building, Senat is popular for business lunches (314-9253; entrées, $8-$30). For lunch near Pavloffsk, the tour buses make a beeline to the famous Podvorye. I favor the tiny, romantically decorated Staraya Bashnaya, in Pushkin town, which has decent food (466-6698; entrées, $7-$35).

The recently opened Morskoy, in the Upper Garden House at Peterhof, specializes in fish (427-5225; entrées, $10-$20). For drinks and light food, the café of the moment is Che (277-7600; entrées, $3-$6).

Nightlife

Rule number one in summer: Pay attention to the clock. Between April and November, when the rivers aren't frozen, the bridges go up at around 2 a.m. and stay up until about 5 a.m. If you're on the wrong side, there you will stay. Two night places give a glimpse of New Russian glitz. You have to know a lot of slangy Russian to get all the dirty jokes at the renowned Hulli Gulli, a striptease cabaret. Young St. Petersburg likes to hear rock at Moloko, or the latest group at Orlandina. A techno crowd packs into Tunnel, a former bomb shelter, when it opens at midnight. You can dance, eat, drink, talk, or play table soccer at Fish Fabrik, an intellectual haunt in a stylishly wrecked environment. Purga is the lively cellar that Santa Claus visits every night at midnight.

Shopping

Forget the Constructivist posters you think are a steal in the bookstores: Even if they weren't copies, you wouldn't be able to take them home without the enormous hassle and expense you have to go through with anything of real value. The best painted miniatures also cause a problem with customs.

You will, of course, not fall for caviar salesmen in the street, but you might be shocked at how cheap the delicacy seems in offer-the-counter food shops, including Yeliseev, a Jugendstil gem worth visiting, though not for the quality of the caviar (56 Nevsky Pr.).

Instead, and equally cheap by Western standards, try the salmon eggs at the Kuznechny Rinok (food market), which also sells smoked fish of all kinds, pickled vegetables that you never imagined would be pickled, and a dozen or so varieties of sour cream (3 Kuznechny Per.).

Vodkas with nice graphic labels in Cyrillic are dirt cheap in any liquor store. Amber jewelry is also interesting and well-priced.