Things to do in St Petersburg: top sights and where to go

Things to do in St Petersburg

St Petersburg’s top sights are in the centre: Palace Square and the Hermitage, Nevsky Prospekt, St Isaac’s Cathedral, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and the Peter and Paul Fortress. Nearby are Vasilyevsky Island with the Kunstkamera and New Holland; outside the city, the palaces of Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo. Every place with its YesGo score is in the list above; the “Map” button shows them on a map.

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Rather not plan it yourself? The list above has ready itineraries for 1–3 days, with places in the order that saves the most walking.

St Petersburg nights, rainy days and kids

Ideas by occasion — for the White Nights, a rainy day, with kids or on a budget. Everything here is on the site with a YesGo score, time to allow and price.

• Bridge openings: Palace Bridge is the night’s big show — watch from the embankment by the Hermitage or from a boat, April to November.
• White Nights: walk Nevsky and the embankments, take a boat along the Griboyedov Canal and the rivers, see the Scarlet Sails show in June.
• Free: Palace Square, the Summer Garden, New Holland, Kazan Cathedral, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Sevkabel Port.
• With kids: the Zoological Museum, the Kunstkamera for older kids, the Aurora, the fountains of Peterhof, Krestovsky Island.
• Rainy day: the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, the Fabergé Museum, the Yusupov Palace, a performance at the Mariinsky.
• Views: the colonnade of St Isaac’s and the Lakhta Center observation deck.

Where to stay in St Petersburg

The easiest base is the centre between Nevsky Prospekt and Palace Square: the Hermitage, St Isaac’s and the canals are on foot. Mind the bridge openings: from the Petrograd Side or Vasilyevsky Island you may not get back to the centre until morning.

Pulkovo airport to the city centre

Pulkovo Airport (LED) is ≈ 20 km south of the centre. The cheapest way in is a bus to Moskovskaya metro, then the blue line to Nevsky Prospekt in 15 minutes. A taxi takes about 30–45 minutes without traffic.

The Sapsan train from Moscow (≈ 4 h) arrives at Moskovsky station, right on Nevsky Prospekt by Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro.

St Petersburg metro and transport

St Petersburg’s metro is one of the deepest in the world — the escalators take minutes. Pay with a Podorozhnik card, a contactless card that works in Russia, or a phone. The metro closes around midnight and the bridges open at night — plan your way back.

The metro runs from about 5:45 am to 12:45 am. During the White Nights the bridges open around 1 am, cutting off the islands until morning.

St Petersburg weather by month

The best time to visit St Petersburg is May to September, and the most magical is the White Nights in June. Summer is about 20–23 °C but changeable — rain can come any day. Autumn and winter are damp and dark, but the museums are quieter.

“Rain” counts days with precipitation. During the White Nights (late May to mid-July) it stays light almost around the clock.

What to eat in St Petersburg

St Petersburg is a city of bars and bistros: Rubinshteyna Street and the area around Vladimirskaya have dozens of places. Local classics are pyshki doughnuts, smelt in spring and Soviet-style canteens. Tipping is about 10%.

• Pyshki — sugar-dusted doughnuts with milky coffee in old-school pyshechnayas.
• Koryushka (smelt) — a small fish that smells of cucumber; season April–May.
• Rubinshteyna Street — the restaurant and bar street, liveliest in the evening.
• Markets & food halls — Kuznechny Market, New Holland, Sevkabel Port.
• Shaverma — what locals call shawarma; arguing about the name is part of the tradition.

St Petersburg ticket prices

Palace Square, the Summer Garden, the embankments and New Holland are free. You pay for the Hermitage, St Isaac’s, the Savior on Spilled Blood, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Russian Museum and the suburban palaces. Prices below come from each place’s page.

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Free — 12 places: Kazan Cathedral, Bronze Horseman, Palace Square, Nevsky Prospekt, Palace Bridge and the bridge openings, Kronstadt, New Holland Island, Alexander Nevsky Lavra and more.

Buy Hermitage and Catherine Palace tickets online for a set time. At Peterhof, the Lower Park and each palace are ticketed separately.

Day trips from St Petersburg

The favourite day trips are Peterhof with its fountains, Pushkin with the Catherine Palace and the Amber Room, Pavlovsk and Kronstadt. A little further are Vyborg, Gatchina and Veliky Novgorod.

• Peterhof — fountains and the Grand Palace; ≈ 40 min by Meteor hydrofoil from the Palace Embankment.
• Pushkin — the Catherine Palace and the Amber Room; ≈ 30 min by train.
• Pavlovsk — a palace and a vast landscape park next to Pushkin.
• Kronstadt — the Naval Cathedral and sea forts; ≈ 1 h.
• Oranienbaum — palaces and a park on the gulf; ≈ 1 h.
• Vyborg — a medieval castle; ≈ 1.5 h by Lastochka train.

Tips

• Visit the Hermitage at opening or on its late-opening evenings — shorter queues.
• Peterhof’s fountains run roughly May to October — in winter the park has none.
• If you stay on the islands, check the bridge schedule, or you may not get home until morning.
• St Isaac’s colonnade gives the best view of the centre for a small fee; in summer it opens at night too.

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