St Petersburg, Russia — Travel Tips
Getting There By Air
Pulkovo II International Airport (LED)
Tel: (812) 704 3444.
Website: www.pulkovoairport.ru
Located around 17km (10.5 miles) southwest of St Petersburg, Pulkovo II was built in the 1950s as Leningrad Airport but upgraded and renamed in the mid 1990s. Pulkovo I (tel: (812) 704 3822), the domestic terminal, is situated within walking distance of Pulkovo II.
Approximate flight times to St Petersburg: From London is 3 hours 45 minutes; from New York is 12 hours 25 minutes; from Los Angeles is 16 hours 50 minutes; from Toronto is 12 hours and from Sydney is 28 hours.
Airport facilities: The airport was renovated in 2003, improving facilities for travelers. Both terminals offer Wi-Fi access (using a pre-paid card), ATMs and foreign exchange, and there are several cafes, bars and shops (including duty-free), plus a post office and information desk. The Pulkovo II terminal has car hire desks for Avis (website: www.avis-rentacar.ru), Hertz (website: www.hertz.ru) and Europcar (website: www.europcar.ru). A couple of business lounges offer the standard services to business travelers.
Transport to the city: Many of the better hotels offer a pick-up service. Official taxis waiting outside the terminal have their prices fixed by a cartel, but drivers routinely quote outrageous fares. Travelers with a command of the Russian-language should be able to haggle down the price of a ride into the city to about US$30, but the starting price can be US$200 or higher. Each additional piece of luggage will usually require a small additional fee. The cheapest option is to take bus 13 or marshrutnoye taxi 39 from the front of the terminal building to the Moskovskaya metro station (15 minutes) and continue to the center on the metro. Both services run every 20 minutes from 0530 to 2400. Alternatively, you can travel to Pushkinskaya metro station (via Moskovskaya metro station) on the Airport Express (tel: (812) 388 0055; website: www.airportexpress.ru); buses run every 20 minutes from 0900 to 2200.
Getting There By Road
Driving in Russia is best avoided. The roads are poorly maintained, petrol stations are few and far between and the fuel often contains impurities. Local drivers have a reputation for making reckless and risky maneuvers and accidents are common. With signs hidden, non-existent or in Cyrillic script, it is easy to unwittingly commit a traffic offense and the officers of the GIBDD (State Inspection on Safety of Road Traffic) are notorious for supplementing their salaries by fining foreign drivers for alleged traffic violations, even where no offense has occurred.
If you do decide to drive, you must carry your passport, an International Driving Permit and the license from your home country. The minimum driving age is 18 years, but many car hire companies will only rent to drivers over 21. It is possible to enter Russia overland from Europe with your own car, but you must carry your vehicle registration documents and make a customs declaration promising to take it out on departure (failure to do so can lead to serious consequences). You will need third-party insurance covering the whole of Russia, available at the border or in advance through Ingosstrakh (website: www.ingos.ru/en).
Traffic drives on the right, speed limits are 60kph (37mph) in the city, 110kph (68mph) in outlying areas and 120kph (72mph) on highways. It is illegal to turn left on many main thoroughfares. The wearing of seat belts is mandatory in the front and back of the vehicle.
Drink driving is a very serious offense likely to result in a prison sentence. In law, a blood alcohol ratio of 0.04% is permissible, however, in practice, drinking any alcohol and then driving is illegal.
Emergency breakdown services
UMA Autoclub: (tel: (812) 329 5777).
Routes to the city
The main roads into the city are the M10 from Helsinki to Moscow and the M11 from Berlin via Poland.
Coach services
The main bus terminal in St Petersburg is Avtovokzal 2 (Bus Terminal 2), naberezhnaya Obvodnogo Kanala 36 (tel: (812) 766 5777), near the Ligovsky Prospekt metro. Buses run regularly from here to Moscow, Novgorod and towns within the Leningrad region, though trains are more convenient. Eurolines (tel: (812) 438 2839; website: www.eurolines.ee) runs international bus services from Baltic Station (near Baltiyskaya metro) to Tallinn and Riga, while Ecolines (tel: (812) 325 2152; website: www.ecolines.ru) runs to Riga from Vitebsk Station (near Pushkinskaya metro). Sovavto (tel: (812) 740 3985; website: www.sovavto.ru/eng) has buses to Helsinki and Turku, departing from the Park Inn - Pulkovskava hotel, near Moskovskaya metro.
Getting There By Rail
The main rail operator in Russia is Russkiye Zheleznye Dorogi (RZD; website: www.rzd.ru), but information is only provided in Russian. A more useful source of information on train classes, ticketing and timetables is www.seat61.com. Travelers can also get up to date information and timetables by visiting the following stations:
Moskovsky vokzal (tel: (812) 768 4905; Nevsky Prospekt 85; Metro: Ploschad Vosstaniya) - for trains to Moscow and the north.
Baltiysky vokzal (tel: (812) 768 2732; naberezhnaya Obvodnogo Kanala 120; Metro: Baltiyskaya) - for trains to Poland and the Baltics.
Vitebsky vokzal (tel: (812) 768 5939; Zagorodny prospekt 52; Metro: Pushkinskaya) - for trains to Belarus, the Ukraine and southern cities such as Odessa.
Finlayandski vokzal (tel: (812) 768 7900; Ploschad Lenina 6; Metro: Ploschad Lenina) - for connections to Helsinki.
Ladozhskaya vokzal (tel: (812) 768 900; Zanevsky prospect; Metro: Ladozhskaya) - for trains to Siberia and the far north and east of Russia.
Facilities at trains stations are basic - kiosks and canteens sell cheap snacks for passengers, but be wary of elevated prices in cafe-bars inside the main station buildings. Most stations offer token-operated left luggage lockers.
Trains in Russia are, for the most part, safe and reliable, although the carriage interiors can seem a little dated. Dining cars are found on most long-distance trains, but hours are erratic so bring your own drinking water and a light snack, as well as toilet paper. Overnight travel is becoming increasingly comfortable, particularly on the popular St Petersburg-Moscow route, with fresh bed-linen, morning tea and a packaged breakfast included in the ticket price. Travelers should purchase a kupe (a four-bed compartment) or lyuks (a two-bed compartment) ticket rather than the platzkart option, which is for a six-bed compartment, often with no door. Note that compartments on overnight trains are not divided by sex - lone female travelers are best off traveling with a companion. Daytime trains may offer tickets for seats (sid) rather than sleeping berths.
Rail Services
It is possible to travel to St Petersburg from most European capitals via Warsaw, Berlin, Helsinki or Moscow. There are daily trains to Helsinki (6 hours), Riga (13 hours) and Vilnius (20 hours) and several trains a week to Berlin (36 hours), Prague (40 hours) and Warsaw (27 hours). Within the former Soviet Union, there are daily trains to Kalingrad (26 hours), Kyiv (24 hours), Minsk (14 hours) and Odessa (35 hours). Finland's VR passenger services (tel: (358) 9 2319 2902, in Finland; website: www.vr.fi/heo/eng/index.html) operates comfortable daily passenger trains to and from Helsinki (journey time - 7 hours), with connections on to Moscow. For domestic travel, there are at least eight daily trains to Moscow (8 hours), most traveling overnight, plus longhaul and short-haul services to towns across Russia.
Getting Around in St Petersburg, Russia
Public Transport
St Petersburg is well served by trams, conventional buses, trolley buses, metro trains and marshrutnoye taxis (minivans, also known as marushrutka). All public transport operates 0600-0100, with the exception of the metro, which runs 0600-2400. Although vehicles may be rather run-down, the system is cheap and effective. If time is of the essence, use the metro.
Buses and marshrutka mainly operate between the suburbs and metro stations. However, there are several useful routes which connect the islands of St Petersburg with Nevsky prospekt in the center. Stops are indicated by bus shelters or a blue and white sign depicting a bus mounted on the building closest to the stop. It's usually simpler to look for the crowd of people waiting expectantly by the curb. For conventional buses, you should buy a ticket (talon) from a kiosk or the driver and validate it in the machine when you board. Marshrutka charge a fixed fare which should be handed to the driver when you embark.
Trams and trolley buses run on similar routes to conventional buses. Stops are marked with signs on lampposts, or sometimes with a 'T' hanging from the electric lines. The tickets are the same as those used on the buses.
The metro or St Petersburg Metropoliten (tel: (812) 301 9700; website: www.metro.spb.ru) with four lines and 58 stations, is fast and efficient, though stations are widely spaced out. Station ticket booths sell single-journey tokens (zheton) and 10-journey magnetic cards, which should be deposited or swiped at the machines at the top of the escalators. All the names in the metro system are in Cyrillic, so a metro map with English translations is essential. There are no travel passes available to non-residents. Stations are identified by large blue 'M' signs, which light up at night. The metro tunnels are buried deep underground so expect long, time-consuming walks and escalator rides at interchange stations, which will have a different name on each line.
Taxis
St Petersburg's aging fleet of Volga and Lada taxis (marked with the letter 'T') can be flagged down in the center or booked through Petersburgkoye Taxi (tel: 068 or (812) 324 7777; website: www.taxi068.spb.ru) or Taxi Million (tel (821) 700 0000). However, meters are unreliable and fares are generally agreed by negotiation before departure. For this reason, tipping is not required. Predictably, prices are inflated for foreigners - it takes some bargaining to reach a reasonable fare.
Many local car-owners supplement their income by acting as informal taxi drivers, but it is almost impossible to negotiate a fare or destination if you are not fluent in Russian. For safety reasons, you should never get into a vehicle that contains anyone other than the driver.
Driving in the City
Potholes and appalling road surfaces, drivers with no apparent road sense and the dreaded traffic police all serve as a serious deterrent to driving in St Petersburg. Indeed, self-drive car hire is rarely available, though it is possible to hire a car with an English-speaking driver.
Street-side parking is generally free, but it is banned along Nevsky prospekt, though you wouldn't know this from the erratically parked cars of local drivers. Keep an eye out for signs indicating other restricted areas. Outside posher shops, hotels and restaurants, uniformed attendants will watch your vehicle for a small fee.
Car Hire
Almost all hire cars come with a driver. The main providers are Astoria Service (tel: (812) 712 1583; website www.astoriaservice.ru), Avis (tel: (812) 600 1213; website: www.avis-rentacar.ru), Hertz (tel: (812) 324 3242; website: www.hertz.ru) and Europcar (tel: (812) 644 4418; website: www.europcar.ru).
Bicycle Hire
Bicycles are available for hire from several cycle tour companies, but the heavy traffic, poor road surfaces and high incidence of theft mean that hiring a bicycle is not really recommended.
