From the airport to the city centre Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Unless you are arriving on a Baltic or Volga cruise from Moscow, the best and fastest way to get to St. Petersburg is by plane. Especially if you come on a short time, a big weekend or a week. The Pulkovo airport, is about 30 minutes away from the center (20 km from the SPB center), when there are no traffic jams. You can reach the city centre by metro: get off at Moskovskaya station (line 2) and then take a bus or a marshrutka. At the airport, the bus stop is located in front of the exit of the arrivals gate.
Bus 39 is also very convenient. They can be taken out of the arrivals terminal and drop you off at the Moskovskaya railway station in the city centre. Express bus No. 39 runs between 5:25 and 00:20 (2 or 3 runs per hour). Journey time: 50 RUB, 20 min. Bus No. 39 runs between 5:30 and 1:30 a.m. (3 to 5 stops per hour). Journey: 50 RUB, 30-35 min.
You can opt for a collective taxi (marshrutka) that takes the same route and is called marshrutka nº K39. It runs between 7 am and 11.30 pm and passes every 5-10 min). Route: 50 RUB, count 30-45 min (depending on the stops of the passengers on the way).
A taxi called via the Uber or Yandex application will cost you between 1,000 and 1,200 RUB. Allow 30 min. for the journey.
Arrival by train Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
The train is the Russians' favourite means of locomotion and, cause or consequence, is extremely cheap. There are 5 railway stations in St. Petersburg: Moscow station (Moskovskiy vokzal), Finlandskiy vokzal, Ladoga station (Ladozhsky vokzal), Baltic station (Baltiysky vokzal) and Vitebsk station (Vitebskiy vokzal).
Long-distance trains, with seats, make journeys of 3 to 4 hours maximum. They are convenient for daytime travel, such as the Sapsan train, which connects Moscow and St. Petersburg in only 4 hours (be careful when ordering, as Sapsan also offers night travel). The Allegro train runs between St. Petersburg and Helsinki and stops in Vyborg and some Finnish cities along the way.
The best night trains to St. Petersburg are the Red Arrow (11.55 p.m. to 7.55 a.m.), the Express (11.30 p.m. to 8.30 a.m.), the Grand Express (11.40 p.m. to 8.36 a.m.) and the Nikolaievsky Express (10.50 p.m. to 6.46 a.m.). From Saint Petersburg, you can reach by train the cities of the former Soviet Union (today capitals of independent states): Rīga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Kiev, Almaty... Suburban trains, called elektritchki, serve the splendid suburbs of Saint Petersburg: Oranienbaum, Peterhof, Pavlovsk, Tsarskoye Selo, Gatchina..
Tickets are on sale at ticket counters (including automatic machines) in stations, at the Central Railway Agency, on the dedicated websites www.tutu.ru or www.rzd.ru (both available in English) and on the website www.russiantrain.com/fr (this site is part of the government project VisitRussia, is entirely available in French, but only concerns long journeys).
Ticket pre-sales begin 45 days before departure dates. On the other hand, if you take a suburban train, tickets are not on sale on the Internet but only on the spot. Be careful, it is rare to find someone who speaks foreign languages in the stations. If you don't speak Russian at all and don't feel able to explain yourself, you can contact the French travel agencies that offer these services for booking and buying train tickets in Russia (Russie Autrement or Tsar Voyages).
Arrival by boat Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Bathed by the Baltic Sea, the city has several seaports from which cruise ships, ferries, motorboats, cruise ships and cruise ships depart, and the ferry terminal welcomes cruises and tourist ships.
From several piers on the Neva River, motorboats can take cruises on the Gulf of Finland and guided tours on the rivers and canals of Saint Petersburg to appreciate its palaces, bridges, quays, gardens and parks. There are, for example, piers on the Neva River near the Summer Garden, near the Bronze Knight statue and near the Nevsky Gates of the Peter and Paul Fortress. During the Sleepless Night period, the last boat leaves at 11.30 pm (times may change depending on the time of year).
Beware! Before boarding, check the weather forecast, otherwise you may not see much.
Public transport Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
A very convenient means of transport (although the stations are often very far from each other and not necessarily close to places of tourist interest), the metro in St. Petersburg is quite young (the first stations date back to 1955). It is also the deepest in the world as evidenced by the endless escalators. Without being as grandiose as the one in Moscow, it remains very aesthetic. The poetic Pushkinskaya station or the splendid and pompous hall of the Avtovo station bear witness to this. Created in the 1950s, these stations reflect the architectural style of the time. The Ligovskaya station, airy and bright, dazzles with its beautiful marble stairs. The Ploshchad' Muzhestva (Courage Square) station, decorated with torches resembling chalices where eternal fire burns, is simple and reserved as the memory of the war and the blockade. In other words, a visit to the subway is a must for foreign tourists. However, be careful during rush hour: the metro turns into a real jungle with a hallucinating crowd that doesn't hesitate to elbow its way through the entrance of the stations. It's an experience you'll never have to experience again to never criticize the Parisian metro! In the streets, the stations are marked by a big M. The metro is open from 5:45 am (some stations open at 6:30 or 7 am) to midnight (some at 00:52 am). Connections close at 00:15. Validated with metro tokens or magnetic cards.
Tariff. The price of a metro ride is 55 RUB (since 1 January 2020).
Magnetic card or token? Although the use of magnetic cards has become widespread, tokens are still used. These are valid for one journey and are inserted into the slot in the device (to the right of the entrance). Do not hurry when passing through the turnstile: you risk receiving a blow from the slow and irascible device which will not have had time to record the token introduced. Coupons and tokens can be purchased at special counters located in the stations, which can be recognised by the tails that form.
5 lines. Currently, the St. Petersburg metro has 5 lines. If you are in a hurry, take the connection at the end of the platform and not in the middle. Note that Nevsky Prospect - Gostiny Dvor on the one hand and Vosstania-Mayakovskaia on the other are actually two names of the same station.
Podorozhnik electronic map (podorozhnik.spb.ru). This is the transport pass that allows you to use all types of public transport, from a 90-minute trip to an unlimited number of trips for a month or even several years, depending on your needs. The card can be bought and recharged at metro ticket offices. There is an official website (with fares), but today only the home page is available in English.
Attention photographers. Attention, it is not theoretically forbidden to take pictures in the subway, but without professional equipment and flash. However, it is advisable to photograph discreetly. The law of authorization or prohibition is not very clear even for local people. And you might as well not give the police any bad ideas.
Signage. More and more signs indicating station names or directions are being transcribed in Latin letters. Familiarizing yourself with the Cyrillic alphabet before you leave is nevertheless highly recommended and will inevitably be useful during your trip!
Free Wi-fi on all lines. Passengers can now use a public wi-fi connection on all lines. To be able to take advantage of this advantage, it is nevertheless necessary to have a sim card from a Russian operator. To access it from your smartphone, connect to the MT_FREE network in your wi-fi access settings, then open a web page from your usual mobile browser. You will be automatically redirected to the identification page where you will enter your phone number in the free field. You will then receive an SMS with a connection activation code. The handling is standard and the Internet access is very practical to find your way around during the journey.
Buses, trams and trolley buses. To foreigners, the tramway is a relic (given its exotic appearance and speed), but the inhabitants of the city remain very attached to these ancient machines, the first of which, with their English carriages, appeared in 1907. From 6 a.m. to midnight, more than 767 routes are served by buses, trolley buses and trams. Tickets can be purchased from the ticket inspector (50 RUB since 1 January 2020). No need to rush, he or she will come to see you. When there are too many people, change and tickets pass from hand to hand without anyone coming up with the idea of taking a small commission on the way. Frequenting on public transport is generally frowned upon. In narrow streets, bus stops are often marked by small, greyish-yellow placards attached to the facades of houses.
Consider using the Google Maps application on site to consult bus numbers and stop/time information, this application works pretty well on the ground.
Tour of the centre by public bus. Any visitor wishing to tour the city centre should be aware that buses Nos. 22, 24, 27, 3, etc. and trolley buses Nos. 1, 10 and 22 run on Nevski Prospect. However, as everywhere else, the traffic route can be changed, so it is advisable to consult the reference sites (such as: wikiroutes.info/spb and transport.orgp.spb.ru, available in English).
Bike, scooters & co Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
The bicycle is not always the most suitable means of transport, especially when the cold winter weather arrives, but it is developing more and more. Private rental shops have multiplied in recent years. And the municipality has launched its Velib' type service. A project called VeloGorod (www.spb.velogorod.org), it now has about 100 rental locations in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, the application is not very practical, the site is sometimes out of order and the condition of some bikes leaves something to be desired.
Collective bike rides (veloprobeg) organized by the amateur group VeloPiter crosses the main arteries of the city several times a year. This initiative, similar to what is practiced in Paris in particular, is meeting with increasing success. In any case, make sure you have a good map, as it is easy to get lost and avoid as far as possible the main roads, where motorists are not used to riding bicycles. It is best to stay on the pavements, which are generally wide enough to allow this. Finally, distances are long in St. Petersburg, and even if the terrain is flat, you'll get tired quickly.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, it depends!), St. Petersburg has not yet been affected by the phenomenon of open-access scooters.
With a driver Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Official taxis. Recognizable by their terminal on the roof, as in France. These taxis work for private companies and mainly do ordered errands, but they are also allowed to take customers in the street. The fare is usually negotiated, but many have a meter now. When ordering, you usually pay the cost of the order plus the 30 min flat rate ride, what is above that is charged by the minute. The airport has fixed prices (usually RUB 1,200 for the city centre) if you order the taxi at the official counters at the airport. Check the transfer prices on the Pulkovo website: www.pulkovoairport.ru/en/transport/taxi
Private taxis or Chastnik (частник). This is any driver who has a little time to lose and a little money to make and stops when you raise your hand at the side of the road. They are of course less reliable than taxis that work with private companies. Today, we advise against using this kind of service to avoid all kinds of scams and misunderstandings. If you are obliged to take a taxi on the street, give preference to those with a bollard on the roof and make sure you agree on the price before boarding and starting the journey (especially if there is no meter). In general, a race in the city centre costs between 300 and 500 RUB. However, you have been warned: if you don't speak a minimum of Russian and don't know the city, you are putting all the chances on your side to be abused..
Tourist traps Saint-Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Taxis. If you don't speak Russian, and in order to avoid long distance or meter scams, we would advise you to use taxi booking applications such as YandexTaxi, Uber or Gett. They will allow you to travel safely, with a fixed price and a controlled itinerary, whatever your command of Russian: www.uber.com (available in French), www.taxi.yandex.ru (available in English), www.gett.com (available in English).
Boats. From the beginning of the navigation season, on each dock you can see travel agency employees with loudspeakers attracting tourists and passers-by to the river boats. The quality of these excursions as well as the quality of the ships are not always the same and it is not easy to choose the agency in advance because very few websites are translated into foreign languages. We therefore advise you to go through a local French-speaking agency which will be able to direct you to the right company, book the route and take you to the right pier on the D-day.
