St. Petersburg

St Petersburg is the second city of Russia but is definitely seen as its cultural capital, with a treasure trove of architectural styles, the largest art museum in the world, no less than 221 museums in total, 2000 libraries, and world-famous theatres and ballets.

Originally named after Saint Peter rather than Peter the Great, who built the city from 1703, it was named Petrograd in 1914 in his honour, but changed again to Leningrad in 1924. It is said that many of the city’s treasures remained intact during the communist years because of its second city status. Most of the prestigious projects and were reserved for Moscow where nothing was sacred, and even Christ the Saviour Cathedral was dynamited by Stalin.

As second cities go, Saint Petersburg is still a giant city, with a greater population of over 5 million people. It still feels like a village compared to Moscow, however, with many of the sights actually reachable on foot if you are that way inclined. The St. Petersburg Metro is as worth seeing as that of Moscow despite its more modest proportions so try and use it if you can.

As the northernmost major city in the world, you really need to choose your time to visit carefully. May and June are the best months, and September is good too. July and August tend to be much quieter so you would miss the buzz of the city working at its peak during those months. Don’t even consider visiting from November to February if you like sightseeing, it’s just too cold to enjoy. It’s a really good idea to combine your visit to St Petersburg with a visit to Moscow. Three or four days at each city works well, but remember you need a whole day to see the Hermitage properly.

If you have culture as your reason to visit Saint Petersburg, then you’ll want to stay for at least a week. With its multitude of museums and places of interest it would be impossible to cover all of it. You can visit the homes of famous dead residents like Dostoyevsky, Pushkin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Brodsky, take time to see St. Isaac’s Cathedral, admire the magnificent cityscapes from the River Neva, and indulge yourself with the Hermitage.

You’ll never meet a visitor of St. Petersburg who said it wasn’t worthwhile going.

Reaching St. Petersburg
British Airways has a direct flight from London Heathrow Terminal 5, as it does from Manchester. Swiss offer a cheap fare from both these airports but you should also try Austrian Airlines. Both are indirect. If you want to use a regional airport, KLM should be able to sort you out. Don’t rule out flying direct with Aeroflot, as it is now one of the world’s most profitable airlines, with a new fleet, so don’t let anyone scare you off.

For those of you who would like some more adventure, you can reach St Petersburg by train or by ferry. There used to be a sleeper train from Berlin to St Petersburg, which has now been withdrawn, so you have to go via Moscow which will take you 4 days each way. The other option is to get to Stockholm from where you can catch a St Peter Line ferry right into the port of St Petersburg, a spectacular way to arrive in such a magnificent city!

Arriving in St Petersburg
Most visitors opt to fly to St. P, in which case you’ll arrive at Pulkovo Airport. Pulkovo is now run by an international consortium which has invested considerably in the facilities and passengers’ areas. If you haven’t booked a car in advance you can get a taxi, but for those on a budget a bus transfer on the number 39 take you to Moskovskaya Station about 20 minutes from where you can continue by Metro. The cost is 21 Roubles, which is next to nothing. If your arriving to the city by train you’ll also come in to Moskovskaya, from Moscow. The Metro will not present much of a challenge to travellers already experienced in the Moscow Metro.

Currency Conversion rate – at the time of writing £1 = 48 Roubles, $1 = 29 Roubles. 1 Euro = 39 Roubles.