Mark Ford
I’m glad to have you here looking for St Petersburg travel tips. The city of St Petersburg lies around 400 miles west of Moscow, nestled on the Neva river it spreads out from its banks and across a series of islands.
With a wealth of extravagant palaces, breathtaking cathedrals and magnificent gardens St Petersburg is truly Russia’s imperial city. Its grandiose architecture and picturesque canals were born from glittering ambition of Peter the great, early in the 18th century.
St Petersburg was known as the Venice of the north, but the 21st century was unbelievably cruel to the city. Bombed, besieged and starved during world war II, St Petersburg was neglected during the Soviet-era and large parts of it fell under the control of organized crime.
But as Russia began a new chapter in the 1990’s what was once Leningrad became St Petersburg again. And the city wasted no time in returning to its former glory. The most cosmopolitan city in the country, St Petersburg is the perfect ambassadeur for Russia’s past, present and future.
St Petersburg is served by Pulkovo Airport which is located around 20 kilometers south of the city. It’s a reasonably modern airport, in fact some of the terminals are almost brand new. There’s two layers of security, when you come into the airport you have to go through an initial screening and then you have to go through a secondary screening after immigration. So leave enough time.
Once you’ve cleared immigration, grabbed your bags and are ready go you have some choices to make to get from the airport to the city. There is no direct train or metro service to and from the airport, but there are a number of buses. The 39 bus will take you to the city center in 35 minutes and costs around 45 rubles ($1).
St Petersburg Metro
Alternatively Uber is available from the airport and will cost between 500-900 rubles ($7-$14) depending on which part of the city you’re heading into.
Taxis can be booked from the service booth in the arrival hall and fares are fixed depending on the area of the city you’re traveling to. You’ll pay between 1000-1500 rubles ($15-$23) including booking fee.
When looking for St Petersburg travel tips one of the important things to get to know more about is of course the city’s public transport. We all have our own favourite way of getting around the city, some prefer trams and others enjoy buses. St Petersburg offers a wide variety of options on how to get around the city and I will share them with you right now.
Metro
St Petersburg’s metro is a destination in itself, it’s quite literally a work of art. And the system is cheap, efficient and functional. A great way to get around the city. Any trip on the metro regardless of the distance you’re travelling, costs 45 rubles ($1). You can get a 10 trip pass for 355 rubles ($5). You can grab one at the ticket machines in the station or from one of the ticket kiosks.
Due to the cities unique geology it’s actually the deepest metro system in the world. On average the stations are 85 meters below the surface and it makes for some long escalator rides from turnstile to trains, so plan for that.
St Petersburg Tram
Taxis
In Russia, every single car is a potential taxi. Flagging down a private vehicle and pain for a ride somewhere is perfectly normal in Russia. But it’s not recommended for a couple of reasons. Firstly language. While more people in St Petersburg speak english than any other city in Russia, it’s still not universally adopted.
So you may be able to get a taxi, but telling the person where you’re going that’s a different story. The second thing of course is safety. It’s never a good idea to get into a random person’s car in any city on earth.
So if you want to take a taxi take an official taxi. A couple of tips on that:
Otherwise it might turn out to be a very overpriced ride around the city.
Uber
The safest and easiest alternative is Uber that has extensive service throughout St Petersburg. Your driver may not speak english and you may not speak a word russian, but the app will of course provide you with everything you need when it comes to location and payment and it will get you from point A to point B without any hassle.
St Petersburg has a more european feel and look than Moscow, not surprisingly since it’s located only a couple of hours flight away from Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. Depending on what you are looking to experience in St Petersburg, here’s 3 different areas in the city
St Petersburg Traffic
that are great to stay in St Petersburg is very cheap compared to many big european cities and you can easily get a really great hotel stay in the city center for a significantly lower price than it would usually cost.
City center: Admiralteysky or Nevsky. If you want to immerse yourself in the city’s culture and stay central near restaurants and tourist attractions this is the place to book a room.
More quiet: Smolny. This is a bit outside the center and still close to the main tourist attractions, without the noise and with a much more relaxed experience.
Budget: Nevsky or Liteyny. For budget travellers this is the place to find cheap hotels.
When digging into St Petersburg travel tips, Russian food just like Russia itself has a rich and storied history. You can eat and drink and get around this city incredibly cheaply and it’s all excellent quality if you’re looking in the right places. When it comes to tipping 10% is more than enough in any restaurant and bar experience. Visa and mastercard is accepted everywhere and there are ATMs all over the city.
The 6 most popular dishes in St Petersburg
Fried Smelt
Fried smelt is fried tiny fish that is a very popular dish in St Petersburg. Try it at the restaurant the Ginza project.
Rassolik is a traditional Russian soup that can only be found in St Petersburg. It’s pickled cucumbers, meat, potatoes, carrots and onions. Try it at Restaurant Banshchiki.
Shawarma is a middle eastern food that came to Russia in the 1990’s. Flatbread served with meat, vegetables and sauce is a street food that is popular and served all around the city. The russian version is pronounced shaverma and consists of cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and garlic sauce. Cafe Shaverma is where you get the best ones.
Pirozhki are traditional St Petersburg pies served with meat, vegetables, egg, cheese and mushrooms. Try them at Khozyayaushka.
Pyshkas is a famous doughnut that is served and enjoyed with coffee in St Petersburg. Dusted with sugar it’s fried treat that you will really enjoy. Cafe Pyshechnaya has great ones.
Leningrad Cake Set. End the eating with a great set of sweets. Known as Lennabor this sweet consists of cream puff, an eclair, cream tube, sponge strips, patty shells with cream and fondant cubes. Try it at Café Sever-Metropol
Hermitage Museum
Cathedral of Resurrection
honor. It is located next to the Griboyedov Canal not far from the Nevsky main street prospect. It’s incredible architecture is stunning as it oozes of history and detail.
Peterhof
Nordic War. An incredible site that is well worth the visit with it’s beautiful buildings and parks.
Winter Palace
meters long. A large and majestic historical place that has to be experienced to believe it.
7. The Amber Room was a gift from the Prussian King Fredrik Vilhelm I to the Russian czar Peter the Great, handed in 1716. The gift was a room with walls of amber and several furnishings of amber. The room was designed according to drawings by Andreas Schlüter. The room was installed at the Berlin city castle but was moved to Russia after the Russian tsar showed his admiration for it. Located in the Katerina
Amber Room
Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.
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Travel Tips
Mark Ford – Founder of Plus1Travel.com