HOW TO SEE ALL THE SIGHTS AND LANDMARKS? (Walks, bus tours, boat trips and helicopter tours)

PRIME WALKS AROUND THE CITY

The time you spend sightseeing in St. Petersburg will leave you with lots of good memories. Many visitors to St.
Petersburg say that the central part of the city is best
seen on foot. That is correct as long as you have enough
time for sightseeing in St. Petersburg and like walking.
Downtown St. Petersburg is a nice place to walk (weather
permitting). Just pray for good weather, put on sensible
shoes and beware of busy traffic, especially during
week-days. It's a large city after all!
Let us take the liberty to
suggest several walk routes for you.
Click here for
safety tips for walking around the city.
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SIGHTSEEING |
MUSEUMS |
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BUS TOURS

If you come to St.
Petersburg on a package tour you are unlikely to escape a
sightseeing tour of the city. It can be quite a treat, if
you are lucky to have both a good guide and good weather.
Such a tour will be a perfect introduction to this
magnificent city, your "St. Petersburg 101". Seeing
all the major sights in just two hours might be a little
tiring, but it is a perfect start to exploring a place as
large and multi-faceted as St. Petersburg. And it saves
you time to return to the places you liked the most.
You don't have to be
with a group to enjoy a sightseeing tour. Most decent
hotels will be more than pleased to arrange a tour for
you. Click here to see a list of hotels that
definitely arrange tours through their service desks.
If your Russian is very
good, you might choose to join one of the tours that
are designed for the Russian-speaking visitors to St.
Petersburg. These tours leave from several locations:
- the corner of Nevsky
Prospekt and Kanal Griboyedova, next to Kazan
Cathedral
- two little booths at
Palace Square, not far from the Admiralty (these
offer a variety of tours and schedules are
displayed)
- a booth at Dumskaya
Ulitsa, just off Nevsky Prospekt and near the
Gostiny Dvor department store
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RIVER RIDES AND TOURS

In this "Venice of the
North" one might expect to see many riverside sights.
And indeed, after you step on board a boat, you will see the
city in a different way. St. Petersburg was designed to
have the mighty Neva river as its "main street", so
many beautiful buildings and squares face the river and
some riverside views are truly breathtaking.
Neva River tours

The tour called 'The
City on the Neva River' leaves from the Hermitage
pier at Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya (Embankment). The tour,
which lasts about 1 hour, lets one understand why Peter
the Great wanted the Neva River to be "the main
street" of his beloved city. A comfortable two-deck
boat will take you down the river to St. Isaac's
Cathedral, the "Bronze Horseman", the Menshikov
Palace and the University. Then you will make a sharp
U-turn and sail up the river passing by the Strelka
of Vasilyevsky Island, the Winter Palace and the Peter
and Paul Fortress en route. Upon reaching the spectacular
Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge you will return to the Hermitage.
The boats leave according
to a schedule. Tickets can be purchased at the Hermitage
pier (opposite the Hermitage Museum) - the time of the
next tour is displayed in the booking office window.
Foreign visitors will pay
a full fare of 50 rubles / $8.20 per person.
Russian citizens are
entitled to a discount.
N.B. On a sunny day
the open top deck is a great place for having fun and
taking pictures.
The Rivers and
Canals tour
also includes the mighty Neva River
Hydrofoil rides to Peterhof

Hydrofoil rides to Peterhof and to the
island of Kronshtadt start in late May and continue all
through the summer and early autumn. Hydrofoils to
Peterhof, a magnificent out-of-town royal residence on
the Baltic Sea shore, leave about every hour from the
Hermitage pier, just opposite the Hermitage Museum. The
ride lasts a mere 45 minutes, making it the fastest way
to reach Peterhof. They sell one-way full-fare tickets for 40 rubles / $ 6.56 . Tickets for children (5-10 years old) cost 20 rubles / $ 3.28.
The Hermitage pier is just
opposite the Hermitage Museum (Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya
34)
'Rivers and Canals' tour

Boats leave from the Anichkov Bridge pier
just off Nevsky Prospekt. This tour is a local classic,
remaining largely unchanged for over 20 years. The
narration is usually very good, but so far it is only in
Russian.
Tours leave every 30
minutes on clear days and at irregular intervals on rainy
days. The time of the next tour is displayed in the
window of the ticket booth which stands next to the pier.
If you come with a large group they are likely to offer
you group rate (ask for it!) or even offer you a private
boat.
Tickets for 1 hour tour
cost 40 rubles / $6.56 .
Russians are entitled to
discounted tickets.
Private
river rides
A large number of private
boats are available for hire at several points throughout
the historical center of St. Petersburg. Normally the
boats are waiting for potential customers at:
- the Moika River
(corner of Nevsky Prospekt)
- the Fontanka River
(corner of Nevsky Prospekt) near the Anichkov
Bridge
- the Neva River near
the Zimniaya Kanavka canal (opposite the
Hermitage Theater)
- the Kanal Griboyedova
(off Nevsky Prospekt) opposite Tchaika
Restaurant
Boat captains offer custom
tours or suggest routes of their own. Prices are
negotiable. All payments are accepted in cash, per hour,
but not per person. Thus, hiring a boat is much cheaper
per person if you come with a group.
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HELICOPTER TOURS

Helicopter tours are very
new to St. Petersburg. The first tours were given only in
Summer 1996. Most locals have not yet flown above the
city. Now everyone has an opportunity to fly above one of
the world's most beautiful cities.
The flights take place
throughout the day every weekend. Choppers take
off from a green lawn just outside the Peter and Paul
Fortress. They fly up the Neva River to the Smolny
Cathedral, then down the river to the Winter
Palace/ Hermitage, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Stock
Exchange and back to the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The tour will cost you $
30 per person. Your Russian friends will get special
discounted tickets for 80 rubles ($ 13.11).
How to get there?
- From the Peter and
Paul Cathedral exit the fortress via the
North Gate and board the helicopter or wait for
the next ride.
- From the
Gorkovskaya metro station walk South through
the park, cross the bridge to the fortress, turn
right before entering the gate and walk 200 yards
along a narrow canal.
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