St Petersburg: Getting there & around

Orientation

St Petersburg was built on a grand scale, with palaces and boulevards designed to be viewed from afar, and bold symmetry embracing the whole. The city sprawls across and around the mouth of the Neva River, at the end of the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. The Neva splits the city into northern, eastern and southern sectors. The area spreading back from the Winter Palace and the Admiralty on the south bank is the city's heart, and Nevsky prospekt is its main artery. This central area is a pedestrian's dream, as the waterside walkways and elegant streetscapes are best seen on foot.

The north side of the city has three main areas. The westernmost is Vasilevsky Island, at the eastern end of which stand many of the city's fine early buildings. The middle area is Petrograd Side, a cluster of delta islands whose southern end is marked by the tall gold spire of the SS Peter & Paul Cathedral. This is where the city began. The third, eastern, area is Vyborg Side, divided from Petrograd Side by the Bolshaya Nevka channel and stretching east along the north bank of the Neva.

Getting There

• bus

  The city's main bus station is Avtovokzal No 2, a recently remodelled building a little out of the city centre. From here there are buses to towns throughout European Russia and to the Baltic capitals. There are buses from here to Moscow, but all are en route elsewhere. You'll be dropped off in the north Moscow suburb of Khimki. It's far nicer (and the same price) to take the train.

• ferry

  Passenger ferries leave from the Morskoy Vokzal. To get here more easily, as it's a long way from the metro, take either bus No 7 or trolley bus No 10 from outside the Hermitage.

  From here St Petersburg is regularly connected with Helsinki in Finland. Less frequent are connections to the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad and Rostok in Germany. You can buy tickets direct from the ferry companies at the sea port or, a far easier choice, at the central Paromny Tsentr.

• train

  Moscow Station handles trains to and from Moscow, the far north, Crimea, the Caucasus, Georgia and Central Asia; Vitebsk Station deals with Smolensk, Belarus Prague, Kiev, Odessa and Moldova; and Warsaw Station covers the Baltic republics and eastern Europe. Baltic Station, just along the road from the Warsaw Station, is mainly for suburban trains.

• plane

  St Petersburg has direct air links with most major European capitals and airlines, many offering several connections each week. Domestically, you can fly just about anywhere you want, but only a few times a week in some cases. Air service is best between St Petersburg and Moscow.

  Pulkova-1 and -2, respectively the domestic and international airports that serve St Petersburg, are 17km (10mi) south of the city centre, about a half-hour taxi ride and about an hour by public transport (metro plus bus).

• road

  On the down side, driving in Russia is truly an unfiltered Russian experience. Poor roads, inadequate signposting (except in St Petersburg's centre) and keen highway patrollers can lead to frustration and dismay. Motorbikes will undergo vigorous scrutiny by border officials and highway police.

Back to top ^

Getting Around

• bus

  The marshrutka (a Russian diminutive form of marshrutnoye taxi ) is king in St Petersburg. These minibuses function like buses, only passengers are free to request a stop anywhere along the route and because of their size they zip through the traffic far faster than normal city buses.

  The sheer number of routes is staggering - they connect the city to the suburbs, and far-flung residential neighbourhoods to metro stations, and are often the only public transport serving some parts of the centre (particularly the Mariinsky and Smolny neighbourhoods, where metro stations are almost nonexistent). A marshrutka can be a lifesaver if you want to get from one end of Nevsky to the other for next to nothing.

  Using a marshrutka can be intimidating at first: watch and observe the locals before trying it yourself. Hold out your arm to flag down the marshrutka you want. If in doubt state your destination to the driver before getting in: he'll either shake his head and drive off or nod you in. Taking a seat, pass the fare to the driver (if you aren't nearby, pass it to other passengers who will pass it to him). The fare is displayed inside the bus and varies depending on the route, although the average is around Rbl18.00 - significantly more expensive than a city bus.

  When you reach the place you want to be (again, if you don't know the city this makes using marshrutkas tricky, but other passengers will always help if you ask), you need to call out to the driver to stop. The standard phrase is 'ostanavityes pozhalsta!' ('stop please!'). Although if you don't dare shout this out, 'stop please' in English is likely to suffice, as long as it's loud enough.

• taxi

  One of Russia's most enduring post-soviet traditions is that of 'catching a car'. The shadow economy is thriving and numerous people drive the city streets specifically looking to give people paid lifts in their 1970s Zhigulis and Ladas. They're unmetered, so establishing a fare is a matter of negotiation. It helps to know local prices and to let the driver drive on if you think you're about to get ripped off.

  Nearly all official taxis are unmetered, so if you do flag one you'll have to go through a similar process of negotiation to that involved in catching a car, only the driver will want more money for being 'official'.

• road

  Driving a car or motorcycle is definitely not wise - roads are gnarled, road rules are strange, and the traffic cops are empowered to stop you and fine you on the spot. Oh yeah, they can also shoot at your vehicle if you don't heed their command to pull over.

• underground rail

  You'll rarely wait more than three minutes for a train, and the clock at the end of the platform shows time elapsed since the last train departed. Taking the metro is the quickest and cheapest way around the wider city.

• Disabled Travellers

  Disabled travellers are not well catered for in Russia. There's a lack of access ramps and lifts for wheelchairs. However, attitudes are enlightened and things are slowly changing. Major museums such as the Hermitage and Russian Museum offer good disabled access.

Back to top ^