I hope you know that Saint Petersburg is the most beautiful city in Russia. There are a lot of places of interest in the city and in the suburb. If you like Europe, then you will fell in love with St. Petersburg. We have been living in this city for more than 10 years. So we can help you to understand how much does it cost to travel to St. Petersburg in 2019.

How much does it cost to travel to St. Petersburg?

St. Petersburg was built by the first Russian Emperor Peter the Great. History of this beautiful city starts from May, 27th, 1703 on the lands conquered from Swedes. These lands were called Ingermanland. This place was not the best place for building the city and living, but you do not know Peter the Great. So now in St. Petersburg officially lives more than 5 Mln. people.

The old town of St. Petersburg is one of the biggest in Europe. Peter the Great liked Europe, so city was built by project of European architects. It looks like European city. You also may know St. Petersburg with names Leningrad and Petrograd.

How to get visa to Russia?

From October, 1st, 2019 foreigners from 53 countries can apply for E-visa to St. Petersburg and Leningrad region:

Austria, Andorra, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Vatican, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Qatar, Cyprus, China (including Taiwan), The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Philippines, Finland, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia, Japan.

Crossing points in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region:

Airports:

Saint Petersburg (Pulkovo)

By ferry/cruiseship:

Vysotsk
Big port of Saint Petersburg (Marine station section)
Passenger port Saint Petersburg

By railways:

PLEASE NOTE: entry and exit on an e-visa is currently unavailable.

By car:

Ivangorod
Torfyanovka
Brusnitchnoe
Svetogorsk

On foot:

Ivangorod

More about visa to Russia?

Flights to Saint Petersburg

In Saint Petersburg we have only one airport called Pulkovo. There are not too many flights as in Moscow’s airports, but this is the 4th busiest airport in Russia.

You can find the best deal for your flight here.

Weather in Saint Petersburg

Weather in Saint Petersburg is really unpredictable. So please check weather forecast. Also umbrella will not be a waste.

How to get the place from the airport

Public transport costs 40 Rubles per ride Taxi cost starts from 550 Rubles per ride

It’s not a news that in Russia not too many people speak in English. So it’s better to use Uber or Kiwi to get the place from Pulkovo airport. We think that Kiwi is the best option, because you can choose English speaking driver and other options and pay for transfer through the website.

If your hotel is situated close to metro station, so you can use public transport to reach the nearest metro station Moskovskaya by

city bus 39 – 40 Rubles per ride

You can catch city bus from 05:10 AM to 01:50 AM on weekdays and from 05:10 AM to 01:35 AM on weekend. Buses depart every 12–20 min.

*City bus 39 from Pulkovo airport to Moskovskaya metro station*

express city bus 39Ex – 40 Rubles per ride

You can catch express city bus from 5:25 AM to 0:06 AM. Buses depart every 25–30 min and arrive to Moskovskaya metro station without any stops.

marshrutka K39 – 40 Rubles per ride

It will be a real challenge. After a trip by marshrutka you can say that you were in Russia.

Bus stop situated in front of the Arrivals hall exit

Metro in St. Petersburg

45 Rubles per ride

Metro in St. Petersburg is not as big and as beautiful as in Moscow, but it’s the deepest metro system in the world. For example, the depth of Nevskiy prospekt metro station is 63 meter. It’s really difficult even imagine that you are in 63 m depth.

For better navigation in metro you can download Yandex.Metro App for Android and IOS.

You can reach any metro station just with one change of a train

If you would like to save money and time, then it’s better to buy card called Podorozhnik (in English it means Plantain) and put money there. You can easily pay for your ride in metro, bus, tram, trolley bus and even marshrutka. With this card cost of your ride will be cheaper a little bit.

Card for public transport in Saint Petersburg

In some marshrutkas you couldn’t pay by Podorozhnik. So it’s better to pay by cash

Price of accomodation in St. Petersburg

Price of accomodation in St. Petersburg strongly depends on season. High season is from May to August and New Year. This is the best time to see white nights and catch warm weather in city of rains.

So if you want to get the best deal for your stay in St. Petersburg, then it’s better to book an accomodation in advance. You can use Booking.com, Hostelworld or Airbnb.

For sure, it’s better to live in the city center of Saint Petersburg. So you can walk a lot, see all this beautiful buildings and fell the atmosphere of the city

Price for food in St. Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is the best place for gourmets. Here you can find many restaurants and cafes with cuisine from any part of the world and for any budget. We usually use TripAdvisor to find a better place to eat.

Prices for food in restaurants and cafes:

appetiser – 200 Rubles
salad – 250 Rubles
soup – 250 Rubles
hot meal – 300 Rubles
garnish – 150 Rubles
pasta – 290 Rubles
pizza – 400 Rubles
dessert – 200 Rubles
tea – 150 Rubles
coffee – 250 Rubles
wine – 290 Rubles

Price for food in Saint Petersburg — *Pasta “Homemade maccheroni” with Neapolitan tomatoes and ricotta, 350 g, restaurant Italy*

If you would like to save time and money, then it’s better to look for cafes and restaurants with business lunch. Price starts from 200 Rubles

As you can see it is not too expensive to eat in cafes and restaurants in St. Petersburg.

But if you would like to save more then it’s better to book an apartment with kitchen, buy food in shop/supermarkets and cook by yourself.

Prices for food in shops and supermarkets:

bread – 40 Rubles
butter (100 g.) – 150 Rubles
milk – 50 Rubles
Russian cheese (100 g.) – 150 Rubles
eggs (10 pcs.) – 65 Rubles
tomato (1 kg) – 100 Rubles (depend on season)
Curtis tea (20 bags) – 70 Rubles
chicken (1 kg) – 300 Rubles
oil (1 l) – 100 Rubles

Excursion

700 Rubles per person

Saint Petersburg keeps a lot of facts from Russian history. To know more, it’s better to book excursions in advance. Thanks God, that we have online service called Sputnik8 (means Satellite in English). This is the best guided tour service where you can find and book tours from local guides.