Vasilyevsky Island, St. Petersburg

Located directly across the river from the city center and the Winter Palace and connected to the mainland by two bridges and a metro line, this small island is home to many attractions and beautiful gardens, including the Museum of Electric Transport, the Peter I Bridge and the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography; The Old St. Petersburg Stock Exchange and the Baroque Menshikov Palace, which serves as a branch of the Heritage Museum and contains mostly 17th-century Russian art.
The Russian Academy of Sciences has several branches on the island, and visitors can especially appreciate a visit to the Institute of Russian Literature, which houses original manuscripts of some of Russia's most famous writers, including the beloved poet Alexander Pushkin.