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 somebody 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)

Usually on New Year Eve there are fireworks somewhere in the central part of the city in the big Russian cities (never been in StP on NY, so i don't know where it is). besides the hotel, i am sure, has the NY eve programm or so, i think you'll be not boring in any way. at last, you may go to the restaurant party or in club :-)
I've never stayed in this part of the city because it seems to me quite far from the center. you may checked by yourself, as well as, maybe you've already use it, i give a link to the hotel site and you may read how to get there. Moreover there is good city map on google, so you may check the point where you'll stay and to see where the Hermitage and so on.
you may have day-trips but in winter, will it be interesting. Most of the famous surroundings such as Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo, Pavlovsk have the palaces but in my opinion there are wonderful parks. Peterhof has fountains but of course they will be closed in winter time.
for sightseeings in the city, hmm, maybe Mikhailovsky Palace (Russian Fine Art museum), Mikhailovky Castle (the residence of Pavel I Emperor) as well as performances in MAriinsky Theatre (ballet or opera) will be interesting. I think it mostly depends on your interests. For me, just to walk around the city is enjoyable :))

http://www.karelia.spb.ru/english/catalog.php?catID=1.1.1&PHPSESSID=71213c072429c0b71e983385ab658b62
forgot to add the link :-))

Great - thanks bugulma! I tried to google the hotel's website but couldn't seem to find it! I was worried that it would be a bit out of town which is a shame.

Could you please tell me whether the bridges stay up later on New Year's Eve? The last time I was in St Petersburg we were told to be aware of the bridge times otherwise we'd get stuck in the city!

don't worry, in winter times the bridges are closed because the river is frozen and ships can't go there. so don't worry (they're open from the end of April/the beginning of MAy till October)
you can't find the hotel site? www.karelia.spb.ru and then turn to English and to info "how to find us".

Sorry - I found it now because you gave me the website, but I couldn't find it before!

Oh yes - silly me! The last time I was in St Petersburg it was summer so I wasn't thinking about the river being frozen!

oh yes, December could cold here. Although last year it wasn't very cold and even there were problems with snow :-))

A couple of links for the Mariinsky Theatre : http://www.mariinsky.ru/en, & http://www.tickets.mariinsky.ru/index.php. For the second link, just click on the English flag for language conversion. The Ballet company of the Mariinsky, was known to westerners formerly as the Kirov Ballet. There are also theatre tours available I believe. Gary

Oh dear! Lev - thank you very much for this piece of information, that is very helpful! I am sorry to be annoying, but can you recommend any decent places to spend on New Year's Eve? I honestly have no idea where to go!

I have just found out that supposedly there is a New Year's Eve (free?) concert at Palace Square but I can't seem to find any information on it?