Things to Do in Saint Petersburg

About Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg announces itself with the smell of wet stone and diesel exhaust, a scent that clings to the air over the Neva River and follows you down Nevsky Prospekt’s 4.5-kilometer sweep of imperial architecture. This is a city of unnatural, stubborn beauty—constructed by Peter the Great on a swamp at the cost of thousands of lives, designed to be a ‘window to Europe’ that ended up looking more like Europe than Europe itself. The 18th-century facades along the Griboyedov Canal are flawless pastel facsimiles, but step into the courtyard behind any of them and you’ll find Soviet-era concrete crumbling under laundry lines. The Hermitage, housed in the Winter Palace, is a museum so vast you could spend a week there and still miss rooms; a ticket costs ₽1,000 (about $11) and feels like stealing. The trade-off is the light—or lack of it. From November through January, the White Nights reverse into ‘Polar Nights,’ where the sun barely crests the horizon and a damp, bone-chilling gray settles over the city for weeks. Come in June, when midnight feels like 3 PM and the entire city stays out along the embankments, drinking cheap Baltika beer (₽120, or $1.30) and watching the bridges rise over the Neva to let ships pass. That’s when Petersburg feels less like a museum and more like a party that’s been waiting 300 years to start.

Travel Tips

Transportation: The metro here is an attraction in itself—Soviet-era stations like Avtovo are marble-clad palaces, and a single token costs ₽70 (about $0.75). Trains run every 2-3 minutes, but the system is deep; the escalator at Admiralteyskaya station is one of the longest in the world. For surface travel, download the Yandex Go app (Russia’s Uber) before you arrive; cash taxis will overcharge you wildly. A major pitfall: the historic center is walkable, but the sidewalks are often uneven and icy for half the year—pack shoes with serious grip. An insider trick: buy a ‘Podorozhnik’ transport card at any metro kiosk (₽50 deposit). It works on metros, buses, and trams, and saves you from queuing for tokens.

Money: Cash is still king for small purchases—street food, market stalls, and many older restaurants. ATMs are everywhere, but stick to those attached to major banks like Sberbank to avoid sketchy fees. Credit cards from international Visa/Mastercard networks are widely accepted in hotels and upscale restaurants, but smaller cafes and shops might only accept Russia’s ‘Mir’ system. A realistic daily budget for meals, transport, and a museum entry is around ₽3,000-₽4,000 ($33-$44). The biggest money trap? The upscale restaurants around Palace Square charging tourist prices for mediocre food. You’ll eat better and pay half as much by walking ten minutes into the side streets of the Vasileostrovsky district.

Cultural Respect: Russians have a reputation for sternness that’s mostly a public face—break it with a smile and you’ll often get one back. When visiting Orthodox churches like the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, women should cover their heads (a scarf works) and everyone needs covered shoulders and knees. Photography is usually allowed, but never during a service. A major etiquette point: if you’re invited to a local’s home, which is a rare honor, always bring a small gift—chocolates, good-quality sweets, or flowers (but never an even number, which is for funerals). The quickest way to cause offense is to loudly compare everything to Moscow; these cities have a fierce rivalry, and Petersburgers are deeply proud of their more European, intellectual identity.

Food Safety: Street food here is generally safe and superb. Look for the steaming ‘stolovayas’ (Soviet-style canteens) for a crash course in local comfort food—a plate of borscht, kotleti (meat patty), and kompot (fruit drink) will run about ₽350 ($3.80). For the real deal, find a ‘pelmeni’ spot like “Pelmeniya”; the dumplings are boiled fresh to order. Tap water is technically safe but heavily chlorinated; everyone drinks bottled. The main pitfall isn’t hygiene but heaviness—meals are meat, potato, and mayo-centric. The insider move is to seek out ‘Siberian’ pelmeni (smaller, with game meat) and ‘ponchiki’ (hot, sugar-dusted doughnuts) from a market stall like the ones at Kuznechny Market. They’re fresh, cheap (₽50 each), and a taste of pure, uncomplicated joy.

When to Visit

The city you get depends entirely on the month. June is the obvious star—the famous White Nights where dusk never becomes full dark, temperatures hover around 18-22°C (64-72°F), and the city vibrates with all-night festivals. Hotel prices reflect this, peaking at 60-80% above winter rates. July and August are warmer (20-25°C / 68-77°F) but bring mosquitos and the bulk of cruise ship crowds. September is a local secret: the summer crowds have thinned, the light is golden, and you can still sit outside at cafes. Temperatures dip to 10-15°C (50-59°F), and hotel prices start their slide. October through April is the long, dark season. January averages -6°C (21°F), with snow turning the canals into fairy-tale scenes, but daylight lasts only 6-7 hours. This is when you’ll find flight and hotel deals (often 40-50% off June peaks), and have the Hermitage’s gilded halls nearly to yourself. May is unpredictable—it can be a cool, damp extension of spring or an early preview of summer. For culture lovers on a budget, late April or early October offers the best balance of decent weather, manageable crowds, and reasonable costs. Families with kids should stick to the reliable warmth of July; solo travelers and photographers might actually prefer the stark, dramatic beauty of February.