Saint Petersburg Travel Forum

Hi VTers

My friend and I will be in St Petersburg for a week in December. We are part of a tour for a few days which will take in the main sites (including Peter and Paul Fortress, St Isaac's Cathedral, Hermitage and a trip to Peterhof).

For the rest of the time we are not really sure what to do. Can anybody please give some ideas for places to visit, restaurants/bars to hang out in etc? Ideally we'd like a few easy days hanging out eating and drinking and another few days sightseeing.

Also, we will be staying at Karelia Hotel. Anyone stayed there? Is it easy to get around from there and are there any decent restaurants/bars nearby?

Also - any ideas on what to do New Year's Eve will be much appreciated!!

Thanks :o)

Most large hotels and restaurants will have some new year party dinners but they tend to be expensive and the main focus is often drinking. But free for new year's eve there is always a big concert on Palace Square in front of the Hermitage. Dress very warm, step around bottles on the ground and hear the music and festivities on the square. In 2007 a new tradition to have an ice skating rink around Alexander's column for new year was started and they say it will be there in the future.

We can recommend many of the view restaurants in our VT tips as a nice place in Winter to see some lights at night, and night is the norm this time of year :)

The Karelia Business Hotel is at 27 Tukhachevskogo, near Lenin Square Metro Station that you can reach by bus number T320. It is not near Nevsky, so you'll have to use transport to walk in the main central district. The front desk of the hotel will have English speaking staff with the best method to go. Generall, it should cost about $1 to catch a bus and metro and get to the center and you should plan about one hour. Taxi of course can be used for 200-400 rubles and be faster except at rush hour.

We like to walk across the bridges and around Peter and Paul Fortress in Winter. It can be breezy and cold! There is a 50-50 chance the rivers will be frozen and snow on the ground which makes it very pretty in the dim winter days. The main city streets will have decorative lights and you must walk the portion of Nevsky Prospekt between from Palace Square to Gostiniy Dvor (old shoopping center, metro there) or if you are really hardy, all the way the Alexander Nevsky Square. (metro there too). The Duma tower by Gostinniy Dvor plays musical bells in the evening and after the 2007 renovation is very pretty.

Thanks but I've already been ;o) And I actually stayed at the Karelia! You could get a couple of the marshrutkas (no. 29 from memory) from right outside which took you straight in to Moscow Station. Twas fab.