St. Petersburg – Dalí Museum, pelicans and beaches

St. Petersburg is like a grab bag, there is more to discover than you think. It starts with the name. I automatically associate it with the Russian tsarist city and not a sun-drenched place on the Gulf of Mexico. The city actually owes its name to a Russian who was instrumental in the construction of the railway and named a stop after his hometown. And now, what highlights are hidden in this grab bag? I’ll reveal the secret and would like to introduce you to my three favorites.

Salvador Dalí Museum:

According to the plans of the architectural firm HOK, a futuristic new building has been built south of the city centre, which houses the largest collection of Dalí works outside Europe. The exhibition rooms are all located on one floor and there are large oil paintings as well as many small watercolors, photographs and sculptures. In the garden, you can also marvel at real stones from Dalí’s home town of Cadaqués. Personally, I found the building itself more impressive than the art collection that was actually at stake – but to each ;) his own.

The cheapest way to reach the museum is on foot (depending on the starting point) or with the super great trolley downtown loop, which costs 50 cents (also such a surprise bag surprise).

Entrance fee: $21/adult

St. Pete Pier und Bay Shore:

The striking pier (and if you’re imagining a typical wooden pier, you’re wrong) juts out 800 m into Tampa Bay. In the end, it has a rather unusual building, in which there are souvenir shops, restaurants and an aquarium. It is worth taking the elevator to the roof terrace and enjoying the view of Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg from there. Afterwards, you can stroll through the parks along the Bay Shore and, if you’re feeling peckish, make a stop at Fresco’s Waterfront Bistro – one of the few restaurants right on the water.

Passe-a-Grille und St. Pete Beach:

Right next to the pier or along the adjacent Central Avenue, you can board the Central Avenue Trolley towards the Gulf Coast. This great “beach-to-beach” service takes you from downtown St. Petersburg to the great beaches of the offshore Gulf islands in about an hour and for 2 dollars. It’s worth staying all the way to the southern tip of St. Pete Beach and then getting off at Passe-a-Grille Street. There are pretty cottages, fishermen and many pelicans to discover. Afterwards you can walk practically endlessly along the white sandy beach of St. Pete Beach northwards towards the sunset. Perfect, right?