Direct flights and Sapsan
From Moscow — up to 30 flights daily or the Sapsan in 4 hours. From Sochi, Kazan, Yekaterinburg — direct flights every day.
Not just a city. An open-air museum.
Best fares
Hotels Saint Petersburg, of Petersburg
The finest hotels — on Nevsky Prospekt and by St. Isaac's Cathedral. Blackout curtains in your room are a must for White Nights.
Districts, of Petersburg
When to go to Petersburg
May–August — White Nights and festivals. December — New Year on Palace Square. Winter is quiet and affordable.
Ready-made tours to Petersburg
What you need to know before you go
Transport
Podorozhnik card — metro, buses, trams. Buy at metro kiosks, 80 ₽. Yandex Go taxi.
White Nights
From late May to early July the sun barely sets. Blackout curtains in your hotel are essential.
Hermitage and Peterhof
Hermitage: online ticket 700 ₽ skip the line. Peterhof: train from Baltiysky Station 40 min.
Connectivity
All carriers work. Sales.Travel eSIM — 10 GB for 490 ₽. Free Wi-Fi on the metro.
Must-try experiences
Three million exhibits in 350 halls of the Winter Palace — from Rembrandt to Picasso. Book an online ticket: separate entrance, no queue. Every third Thursday — free admission.
May through November the Palace Bridge opens at 01:10, closes at 02:50. Best vantage points: the Hermitage embankment, the Spit of Vasilievsky Island or a night boat right under the bridge.
64 fountains and 255 gilded statues — Russia's Versailles 30 km from the city. Train from Baltiysky Station — 40 minutes. Fountains run May–October, weekdays are less crowded.
The lost 'eighth wonder of the world' re-created: 6 tons of amber in the Catherine Palace in Pushkin. Train from Vitebsky Station — 30 minutes. Tickets sell out a week ahead — book early.
250,000 works — the finest collection of Russian art from icon to avant-garde. Mikhailovsky Palace, Benois Wing, Rossi Wing. Queues exponentially shorter than the Hermitage.
River trams depart from Anichkov Bridge and Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. One hour — Moyka, Fontanka, Catherine Canal and the entire system of Petersburg bridges from the water.
Fourth-largest dome in the world — 101 metres. The cathedral colonnade — the city's finest 360° panorama. Weekdays: no queue, ascent takes 20 minutes.
An 18th-century man-made island — Petersburg's premier art quarter. Summer: open-air concerts, cinema under the stars, food court on the lawn. New Holland Arch — one of the city's most beautiful.
One of the world's five finest opera houses. The 1860 historic stage and ultra-modern Mariinsky II across the canal. World-class ballet and opera — tickets from 800 ₽.