Best tips for traveling and visiting Saint Petersburg (Russia)

If there is a European city that I have been wanting to visit for a long time, it is San Petersburgo, riding a Russia.

I already knew that Hermitage museum is great tourist attraction of Saint Petersburg, and also had references to its palaces, but after traveling to this Russian city on the banks of the Baltic SeaI can tell you that I even liked it much more than I expected.

We are talking about a large city, the second in population in Russia with 5,3 million inhabitants, which was founded in 1703 by the Tsar Peter I the Great to become the capital of the Russian Empire.

From a tourist point of view, it is a cultural city where European and Russian culture coexist.

In fact it was founded to become the “Russia's window to the Western world“, and during your visit you will see that it is a European-style city, different from Moscow and other Russian cities.

San Petersburgo It receives 3,9 million international tourists every year, of which about 70.000 are Spanish, although in the past Football World In 2018 it was visited by about 100.000 Spaniards.

It has been awarded several times as the Best Cultural Destination in the World, and by tripAdvisor such as Best Destination in Russia.

Regarding its cultural character, the fact that it currently houses some 250 museos.

The names of the city of Petersburg

In its little more than 300 years of history Saint Petersburg has had several names.

To begin with, its initial and current name is not in honor of the Tsar Peter the Great, but of San Pedro.

Later, in 1914 it was renamed Petrograd due to the conflict with Germany in the World War I, for in 1924, after the death of Lenin, be baptized as Leningrad.

In 1991, after the fall of soviet regime, a referendum between the population and the city returned to its original name of San Petersburgo, although in the region it was decided to keep the name of Leningrad,

History of Saint Petersburg

Known as the Venice of the North, with its 300 canals and 600 bridges, the impression when you visit San Petersburgo is that you find yourself in a mix of Paris and Amsterdam.

In fact, the Dutch capital was one of the cities that inspired Peter I to build his new capital of the empire, since he wanted to transfer European customs to Russia.

With 40 islands, one of them is home to the neighborhood known as Little Holland, which was initially dedicated to housing firewood warehouses, and is currently a cultural and leisure area.

Siege of Saint Petersburg

Perhaps the historical event that has most marked the life of San Petersburgo It was the site of the city by German troops during the Second World War.

There were 862 days, from September 1941 to January 27, 1944, in which the city was heavily bombed by artillery and aviation.

Hitler He did not want to occupy it, but rather destroy it, and during the siege 1,2 million people died, most of them from hunger.

The liberation of the city finally came after the siege was broken in 1943, and after several failed attempts carried out by parachute battalions.

For this reason, now when you visit the palaces and historical buildings you should know that they had to be almost completely rebuilt due to the damage they suffered.

The buildings you will see in the St. Petersburg center represent the rise of Russian empire, and you will practically not see buildings from the Soviet era, which are located in the outer neighborhoods of the city.

In the center you will not see any modern skyscrapers either, and in fact the great skyscraper Lakta Center, currently the tallest tower in Europe, was built in a neighborhood far from the center.

Tips for visiting Saint Petersburg

Below you have a series of tips for your visit to this great monumental city in Russia, and in this article you can consult the best things to see and do in Saint Petersburg.

Do you need a visa to travel to Saint Petersburg?

For travel to Russia, if you are Spanish you are going to encounter some inconveniences that are not common in the case of other countries when obtaining the visa.

How to apply for a visa to travel to Saint Petersburg

It is a process that must be carried out through the Russian Visa Office, which is based in Madrid y Barcelona.

If you do not live in these cities, the process is more complicated as you will have to do it by mail, so the advice is that you start the procedures several weeks before your trip.

Among the documentation they request is a “formal invitation” to travel to Saint Petersburg, as well as a certificate of the travel insurance that you must have contracted.

Here you can consult all the information to request the visa to travel to Russia from Spain.

Of course, if you are a citizen of the majority of the Latin American countries You will not need a visa.

72 hours to visit Saint Petersburg without a visa

In the specific case of travel to Saint Petersburg You have the possibility of taking advantage of the authorization granted to cruise passengers to visit the city for 72 hours without needing to apply for a visa.

All tourists who arrive in a country take advantage of this advantage. cruise through Baltic Sea, in which there is usually a stay of two days in Saint PetersburgAs well as ferry passengers.

Therefore an option for travel to Saint Petersburg es fly to Helsinki and from there cross by boat to the Russian city, and vice versa.

Here you have all the information about the option 72 hours in St. Petersburg without a visa.

Best time to travel to Saint Petersburg

When travel to Saint Petersburg You must keep in mind that it is a city in which there are barely 30 days a year with clear skies,

It is located far north of Europe, the winters are harsh, its great Neva river It freezes and snowfalls are frequent.

At other times of the year it is quite common for the sky to be cloudy for many days, and it also rains often.

La best time to travel to Saint PetersburgFrom a meteorological point of view, it is between May and September, a period of the year when it is not cold and the nights are long.

If it serves as a reference, on my recent trip in the month of May, during the five days of my stay it rained on a couple of them, and we had almost clear skies on the other two days.

June is the high season for tourists, coinciding with the natural phenomenon of White Nights, when during the night the sky does not get dark.

From a tourist point of view, in summer, during the cruise season, there are days when up to seven or eight ships coincide, which causes the museums and palaces to become overwhelmingly filled with tourists.

Therefore, if visiting these monumental and artistic corners is your main purpose to travel to Saint Petersburg, it is advisable that you consider the possibility of doing it at another time of the year, outside the peak tourist season.

How to fly to Saint Petersburg from Spain

Si vas a fly to Saint Petersburg from Spain, currently you only have direct flights from Barcelona, ​​so you will have to stopover in a European city.

In the case of my trip from Madrid, we stopped in Rome.

Of course, if you sign up for a trip organized by an agency, throughout the year you have charter flights from Madrid, Alicante and Malaga.

If you travel on your own, the information on transfers from the airport to your hotel in Saint Petersburg.

Tours and guided visits in Saint Petersburg

If you are not going to go to San Petersburgo On an already organized trip, you have the highly recommended option of signing up for some tour or guided visit de la ciudad.

If you are going to arrive aboard in a Baltic cruise, you have this 2-day tour of Saint Petersburg in which always accompanied by a guide in spanish You will get to know the most interesting corners of the city.

You can also sign up for this tour even if you do not arrive by cruise ship, as they will pick you up at your hotel.

Another alternative is the Complete tour of St. Petersburg, also with guide in spanish, with 8 and 12 hour options.

Or if you prefer, you can sign up for a Private walking tour of St. Petersburg, 3 or 6 hours, ideal for groups of family or friends.

Here you have more information about all the tours and activities in Saint Petersburg, including specific visits to palaces and museums.

New museums in St. Petersburg

The large cultural activity of Saint Petersburg It encourages new museums to be inaugurated every year and important cultural and leisure events to be held.

In the case of museums, it should be noted that in 2016 the Erarta museum of contemporary art , and in 2018 the Tin Soldiers Museum, the center of cultural activities and leisure Port Sevkabel, as well as the ceramic museum.

Festivals and cultural events in Saint Petersburg

Likewise, throughout the year there is an extensive program of cultural events, among which the White Nights Festival which takes place from May to the end of July, one of the most important classical music festivals in the world.

Also noteworthy is the Icebreaker Festival which is celebrated at the end of April, or the Baltic Yacht Week in July and August, events that show how San Petersburgo is maritime capital of Russia.

Or the Festival of Light in which the facades of historic buildings are illuminated in April and November.

Another type of event worth highlighting is the great celebration that takes place every year on May 9 in San Petersburgo occasion of victory day against the Nazis in Second World War, which coincided during my trip.

And to note that in the summer of 2020 the European Football Championship.

How to move aroundTransport around Saint Petersburg

Regarding your trip, if you are going to move around the city on your own, you should know that San Petersburgo has a subway network with five lines covering 117 kilometers with 67 stations.

This is the Metro that runs deeper into the world, but even if you don't need to use it, it is worth knowing about it, specifically its Red line, for the great decoration of its main marble-based stations, similar to that of the famous Moscow Metro.

El St. Petersburg Metro ticket price It is 35 rubles, and at the station ticket offices you must get a transportation card to use as a means of payment.

You also have a bus and tram network, whose ticket price is 40 rubles, and must be purchased at a vending machine at the stop.

St. Petersburg tourist card

It is also worth analyzing whether you are interested in purchasing a tourist card for your visit. Saint Petersburg Card.

With options from 2 to 7 days and with a price starting at 60 euros, it gives you free access to up to 79 museums, the city's tourist bus, as well as means of transport such as the aforementioned Metro or Hydrofoil that from the center of the city takes you to Peterhof palace.

You also have the option of St. Petersburg City Pass, a card that allows you to visit the 20 most notable attractions in the city for free and without waiting in lines, in addition to including a SIM card to use during your visit.

Here you have the details of what the coverage covers you. St. Petersburg City Pass.

Where to sleep in Saint Petersburg

The city of Saint Petersburg has a huge availability and variety of hotels and establishments of all kinds where you can stay, with prices similar to those of the main cities in Spain.

In this link you can Find a hotel for your trip to Saint Petersburg on the web of booking.com.