Great getaways: St Petersburg cruise stop, twin-centre Italy, five-star Tenerife and Kenya beach break

Russian revelation

The best way to circumvent Russia's complicated and expensive visa rules is to visit as part of a cruise which calls at St Petersburg – a loophole which gets you in without the red tape. One possibility departs from Southampton on 25 May. Celebrity Cruises' 14-day "Scandinavia and Russia" trip aboard the Eclipse takes in the Russian city, plus Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn and Copenhagen for £1,399 per person (celebritycruises.co.uk).

Ultimate Italy

If you've made it to the British Museum's blockbuster exhibition, Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, you might be tempted to see the real thing. Citalia has a twin-centre trip that spends three nights in Sorrento, on the Bay of Naples, at the Grand Hotel Vesuvio with half-board, before a taxi transfer to the Amalfi Coast for four nights at the Hotel Marina Riviera with breakfast. The nine-night trip costs £999 per person, based on an 8 May departure from Gatwick with easyJet flights to Naples (citalia.com).

Canary call

Sovereign Luxury Travel is offering a week at the five-star Sheraton La Caleta Resort and Spa in Tenerife for £665 per person, for a departure on 3 July. The price includes Monarch flights from Birmingham, airport lounge access and transfers, with B&B in a Superior Room and spa access (sovereign.com).

Coastal Kenya

Hayes and Jarvis has a week-long beach break in Kenya for £599 per person, departing on 7 May. The package includes half board at the four-star Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa, just north of Mombasa, with Thomson flights from Gatwick and transfers included (hayesandjarvis.co.uk).