The Peterhof was the Nordic rival of Versailles, from which it took its inspiration and which it surpasses in the ingenuity and profusion of its fountains. Standing on top of a hill with its fabulous gardens on the Baltic, it seems like a vision in a dream. From June to September the Peterhof gardens are transformed into an aquatic extravaganza that is worth a trip to St. Petersburg just to see, with thousands of crystalline water jets gushing up, intersecting and falling back in iridescent sprays that highlight the splendour of the buildings.