Things to Do in Saint Petersburg in December
December weather, activities, events & insider tips
December Weather in Saint Petersburg
Is December Right for You?
Advantages
- Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum are genuinely less crowded in December - you'll actually get close to the Rembrandts without elbowing through tour groups. The main halls that are shoulder-to-shoulder in summer feel almost intimate, though weekends still get busy between 11am-2pm.
- The city transforms into something from a Dostoevsky novel with proper Russian winter aesthetics - snow-covered canals, steaming breath in Palace Square, Christmas markets along Nevsky Prospekt. December 2026 marks the restored Winter Festival running December 15-31, which brings ice sculptures to the Summer Garden and traditional Russian winter foods to market stalls.
- Hotel prices drop 40-60% compared to White Nights season in June. A room at properties near the Hermitage that costs $300 in summer runs $120-180 in December, and you'll have leverage to negotiate breakfast inclusion or late checkout. Book by October 2026 for best selection, though prices stay reasonable even in November.
- The short daylight hours (6 hours from roughly 10am-4pm) actually work in your favor - museums and palaces are open during all usable daylight, forcing you into a natural rhythm of indoor cultural activities during the day and atmospheric restaurant/theater evenings. You're not missing beach time or outdoor activities because, honestly, there aren't any worth doing at 25°F (-4°C).
Considerations
- The darkness is real and affects people differently. With sunset around 3:45pm and full darkness by 4:30pm, you're looking at 18 hours of night. If seasonal affective disorder hits you hard, or if you need daylight to feel human, December Saint Petersburg might leave you exhausted. The locals compensate with excessive tea drinking and those brutal bright fluorescent lights everywhere.
- Proper winter gear is non-negotiable, and if you're coming from warmer climates, you likely don't own what you actually need. That -5°C (23°F) low feels closer to 14°F (-10°C) with the wind coming off the Neva River. Budget $150-300 for decent boots, thermal layers, and a real winter coat if you don't already have them - trying to make do with a regular jacket and sneakers will make you miserable by day two.
- About half the suburban palace complexes either close completely or run extremely limited schedules in December. Peterhof's fountains are shut down and wrapped for winter (they only run May-October), and while you can visit the palace interior, you're missing the main attraction. Catherine Palace in Pushkin stays open but requires advance booking, and getting there in snow involves a 30-40 minute marshrutka ride that tourists often find confusing.
Best Activities in December
Hermitage Museum Extended Visits
December is actually the ideal month to properly experience the Hermitage without the summer cruise ship crowds. The museum stays open until 6pm most days, and with sunset at 3:45pm, you can arrive around 2pm when day-trippers are leaving, explore in relative peace, then exit into atmospheric winter darkness. The Italian Renaissance rooms and Gold Room (requires separate ticket, about 500-700 rubles) are particularly uncrowded weekday afternoons. The building itself is heated to around 68°F (20°C), making it a comfortable escape from outdoor cold.
Traditional Russian Banya Experience
December is peak banya season when locals use it as both social activity and survival mechanism for dark winter months. The contrast between 200°F (95°C) steam rooms and rolling in snow outside or jumping in cold plunge pools is intense but genuinely part of Russian winter culture. Most banyas offer 2-3 hour sessions with multiple steam cycles, tea drinking, and the option for venik treatments (being whacked with birch branches, which sounds weird but increases circulation). The communal experience is very different from spa culture - expect naked strangers and zero pretense.
Mariinsky Theatre Ballet and Opera Performances
The Mariinsky runs its full winter season in December with performances nearly every evening, and tickets are more available than during festival periods. The historic theater is kept at around 70°F (21°C) and watching Swan Lake or The Nutcracker (which runs throughout December) in an actual Russian imperial theater is the exact experience you're imagining. The New Mariinsky stage has better sightlines and acoustics, but the historic building has the atmosphere. Performances typically start 7pm or 7:30pm, running 2.5-3.5 hours with intermissions.
Neva River and Canal Walking Routes
Counterintuitively, December is excellent for photographing Saint Petersburg's canals and bridges because the low winter light (when it exists) creates dramatic shadows and the occasional snow cover makes everything look like a film set. The key is timing walks for the 11am-2pm window when you get maximum daylight. The route from Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood along Griboedov Canal to the Moyka River covers the most photogenic territory in about 2.5 km (1.6 miles). The canals sometimes freeze partially, creating interesting ice formations, though full freeze solid enough to walk on is rare in recent years.
Russian Winter Food Market Tours
December brings traditional Russian winter foods that you won't find other times of year - proper shchi (cabbage soup), pelmeni (dumplings) made fresh, smoked fish, pickled everything, and holiday-specific items like kutya (wheat berry pudding). Kuznechny Market near Vladimirskaya metro is the most accessible for tourists with vendors who expect foreigners. The markets are partially heated but still cold - think 45-50°F (7-10°C) indoors. Going with someone who speaks Russian transforms the experience from looking at unfamiliar foods to actually understanding what you're buying.
Yusupov Palace and Rasputin Exhibition
This is one of the few major palaces that actually benefits from winter visiting - the Rasputin murder exhibition in the basement where he was actually killed feels appropriately atmospheric in December darkness. The palace is smaller than Catherine Palace or Peterhof, making it manageable in a 90-minute visit, and it's located centrally on the Moyka River so you're not dealing with suburban transit. The interiors are well-preserved and less crowded than Hermitage. Tours run in Russian with audio guides available in English, and the building is properly heated.
December Events & Festivals
Saint Petersburg Winter Festival 2026
Running December 15-31, this is a restored version of the traditional Russian winter celebration with ice sculpture installations in the Summer Garden, traditional food markets on Nevsky Prospekt, and evening light shows on Palace Square. The festival includes outdoor ice skating rinks (properly maintained, unlike the sketchy temporary ones), traditional Russian winter games, and food stalls selling hot sbiten (honey drink) and roasted chestnuts. This is a local event that happens to welcome tourists, not a tourist event pretending to be local.
New Year Preparation Markets
The last two weeks of December bring New Year markets that are more significant than Christmas markets since Russians traditionally celebrate New Year more elaborately than Christmas (which is January 7 on Orthodox calendar). Markets appear along Nevsky Prospekt and in front of Kazan Cathedral selling decorations, gifts, and winter foods. These are working markets where locals actually shop, not purely tourist attractions. Expect crowds on evenings and weekends December 20-30.