Meet your guide in Ostrovsky Square in central St Petersburg, and then set off on your stroll to find out about the city’s countless myths and legends. As Russia’s Imperial capital for more than 200 years, St Petersburg attracted some interesting characters, who left many a story in their wake.

Start with a look at the monument to Catherine the Great, and hear about the feisty female who presided over the city during its late 18th-century golden age. Besides being a fearsome political force who overthrew the government in a coup, the empress was popular with the men of St Petersburg. Admire her statue and see some of her more notable sweethearts  Orlov, Potemkin and Suvorov  carved around her feet.

Continue to Mikhailovsky Castle while hearing tales of its history as you walk; built for Catherine the Great’s son (the elusive Tsar Paul I), the castle was only his home for a mere 40 days before he was mysteriously murdered in his bedroom. Today, his ghost is said to haunt the castle, so look out for spooky sights as you walk around the outside of the building.

Leave the castle and walk to the nearby Chizhyk-Pyzhik Monument, St Petersburg’s smallest statue. Measuring a mere 4.3 inches (11cm), the miniature masterpiece overlooks a fountain where crowds gather to toss coins in for luck. Amble through one of the city’s ‘well-yards,’ where cramped houses with windows stand just a few feet from each other, creating darkness inside, and then head into Manezhnaya Ploshchad.

Known as the ‘square of the architects,’ the open space contains the busts of the notable St Petersburgian architects such as Rastrelli and Rossi, whose work you will no doubt have seen around town. Your tour then finishes with a stroll down Nevsky Prospekt in the center of town.