The Hitchhiker's Guide to St. Petersburg a.k.a. SPb (updated 2024)

This is my micro-guide for foreign tourists visiting St. Petersburg (last updated in 2024 – see the end of the page).

Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments, and I’ll do my best to expand the guide.

Thank you for your feedback, which will be greatly appreciated.

Present exchange rate (Summer '2018): 
1€ ≈ 70₽ (Russian rubles)
1$ ≈ 62₽

1. Accommodation

Compared to most tourist cities in Europe, St. Petersburg offers a wide range of prices for tourist accommodation, from budget mini-hotels and apartments (15–20€ per day for a decent enough single or double room) to top luxury hotels like Angleterre or Grand Hotel Europe, which cost 300–500€ per day or more. Unlike in many other cities, prices here don’t usually depend on how far you are from the city center. In such a case, it’s best to choose from the many options close to the center or near subway stations to save time and transportation costs. Booking.com, Airbnb, and many other platforms can help.

2. Public transport and navigation

The subway is likely one of the cheapest and most convenient options. In St. Petersburg, it operates daily from 5:45 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. The price of a single token is 45 RUB (approx. 0.70€), but you can save more by using an RFID transport card called "Podorozhnik" (which means "waybread" in Russian). The card itself costs 60 RUB and can be recharged at any station ticket office, with each trip costing 36 RUB or less. One trip covers a single entry into the subway system, with no distance zones, restrictions on line transfers, or time limits until you exit to the city. A map of the St. Petersburg subway can be found online.
The city also offers a tourist pass with the same tariffs as Podorozhnik but with added functionality for museums and tours.

"Podorozhnik" recharge automat

Universal recharging option (fit for both subway and overland transport)

Uber is available here, making taxis safe and affordable to use. Plenty of affordable local taxi services are available too, but unfortunately, they operate only in Russian.

You can also rent a car or bicycle in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, the city still lacks enough bikeways, so you’ll need to ride on pedestrian pathways (road traffic is too heavy and dangerous for foreigners unfamiliar with local conditions).

Unfortunately, one of the best online city guides for many Russian cities — 2gis.ru (St. Petersburg branch here) — is available only in Russian. I recommend Citymapper (luckily, it’s available for St. Petersburg too). With Citymapper, you can easily use public transport like trams, trolleybuses, or buses. After entering the vehicle, tap your Podorozhnik card on the card reader:

When a green arrow appears on the screen, your trip is paid. A ticket controller may ask for your ticket; just show them your Podorozhnik card, and they’ll verify payment with a handheld RFID reader. The check won’t deduct any funds from your card:

Alternatively, you can pay with cash directly to the ticket controller. In such a case, make sure you’re given a paper ticket. The cost of a single trip on public transport within the city is usually about 32–40₽. Unlike the subway, the cost doesn’t depend on the payment method (cash or smart card).

3. Food

A city of almost seven million, St. Petersburg offers cuisines from around the world to satisfy even the most discerning gourmet. If you’re short on time or money, skip international fast food like McDonald’s, KFC, or Burger King — you can find those in your home country. Instead, I recommend the Russian fast-food chain Teremok, where you can try blini (Russian pancakes) with a variety of fillings, washed down with mors (a cranberry drink) or kvass (a fermented rye bread beverage that slightly resembles beer but is non-alcoholic). If you prefer a cafeteria-style meal, try a chain like Tarelka, where dinner for one costs between 250–400₽ (about 3.80–6.00€). In summer, you’ll definitely appreciate our national cold soup, okroshka, which we Russians love!

4. Drinks

A beer lover can find dozens of small craft beer bars throughout the city center. If you’re looking for some couleur locale, I recommend the old-fashioned, Soviet-style bar Tolstiy Fraer. Unfortunately, their website is only in Russian, so you’ll need to use Google Translate or brush up on your language skills.

Note: Drinking alcohol on the street is illegal, regardless of whether the bottle is hidden in a paper bag. In fact, there’s very little chance of being bothered by the police for a bottle of beer on a hot summer day — but I’d recommend avoiding any risk. By the way, the local police are much more tolerant of foreign tourists than of residents.

Smoking and vaping are also banned in many public places: indoor bars and restaurants, all public transport and its stops, state, educational, and medical facilities, apartment building elevators and stairways, railway stations, airports, hotels (unless they have designated smoker’s rooms), and more.

5. Night life and clubs

I have no idea, honestly. Sorry, I cannot offer any advice here since, in my late 40s, I prefer other kinds of entertainment. 😊

6. Personal safety

St. Petersburg is fairly safe; there are no specific “dangerous” areas to avoid. If you follow common-sense safety measures (like avoiding drunk people, shady individuals, and desolate industrial areas or suburbs late at night, etc.), you’ll be fine. Although St. Petersburg and other large cities have become more open-minded and tolerant in recent years, I’d recommend keeping in mind that Russia is an Orthodox country with strong traditional values. LGBTs are strongly advised not to display affection in public to avoid potential misunderstanding from locals.

7. Public toilets

Plenty of paid and free restrooms are available in the city center (signage: Ж for Female, M for Male — easy to remember). The average cost is 20–40₽ (0.30–0.60€). Most city malls and hypermarkets also have free restrooms inside, usually near the entrance (security guards can help you find one).

8. Telecommunications and internet. Local SIM card.

Due to the declining popularity of landline phone networks, I wouldn’t recommend relying on public payphones (local name — “taxophones”) anymore. It’s more convenient to use a local SIM card for affordable domestic calls and internet.

Even prepaid cell service in Russia isn’t anonymous, meaning buying a SIM requires signing a contract with a mobile operator. Alternatively, tourists can buy a SIM from unlicensed vendors near almost any subway station or street market. This is technically illegal, but the only issue might be the SIM getting terminated after a few weeks or months. On the other hand, it’s not a big deal if you don’t plan to use the SIM for more than a week or two.

Most tariffs include a prepaid service package — several gigabytes of internet, 50–100-200 minutes of local calls, a few dozen SMS, etc. — for an average monthly fee of around 4–10€. International calls are generally expensive, so I recommend using internet messengers, social networks, or VoIP instead.

There are four major Russian cell operators (Beeline, Megafon, Tele2 and MTS — all websites are in Russian only). All of them offer good, stable 4G coverage within St. Petersburg; tariffs don’t differ drastically, so the choice is a matter of personal preference. I use Megafon — it may not be the cheapest, but it offers the best coverage in the areas I frequent, except subway.

Megafon. Speedtest.

9. Money and exchange.

I strongly recommend using only official currency exchange offices and banks to stay on the safe side. Before exchanging, make sure the commission (if applicable) isn’t excessive. The best exchange rate I’ve found for USD/EUR/RUB, with no commission and a minimal margin, is at the exchange office near Nevskiy Grand Hotel (10 Bolshaya Konushennaya St.). For those exchanging more than 1000€ at a time and needing special discounts or security measures, Bank Avangard (2 Ligovskiy Lane) is a good option. Please let me know if you find a better option—I’d appreciate it.

In fact, St. Petersburg is a modern, developed city, and you won’t need much cash: Visa and MasterCard are accepted almost everywhere, except at street markets, some small older shops, Russian Post offices, and public restrooms. If your card supports contactless payment, you can even use it to enter the subway (though I wouldn’t recommend doing so regularly, as the entrance fee will be 45₽ instead of 36₽ with a Podorozhnik smart card).

10. Seasonality of Visiting

The "high tourist season" in St. Petersburg traditionally coincides with the period of "white nights" (polar nights), which is from May to July. On the other hand, the summer months are also the time of school and student holidays, so, in my personal opinion, the best times to visit the city are May or September. That said, winter has its own charm too, but if you’re planning a winter trip to the city, keep in mind: the sun rises very late, sets early, and shines dimly. Rainy late autumn and early winter are perhaps the most depressing times, but hotel prices can be lower. If you’re mainly interested in cultural experiences (museums, theaters) or a more psychodelic scene (bars, clubs), autumn can also be a good option.

11. Sightseeing

(to be continued = strongly depends on each person’s interests and likes)

UPDATE-2024

Present exchange rate (Summer '2024): 
1€ ≈ 94₽
1$ ≈ 86₽

Despite military actions in the south of our country and widespread Western sanctions, little has changed in the daily life of St. Petersburg, and e-visas are still available for those who want to come see Russia dying of hunger. Both officials and locals show no resentment toward foreigners, even those from NATO countries. Tourists can even bring their own cars (with EU license plates) and leave them unattended anywhere in the city — the chances of them being vandalized are very low, even for cars with Ukrainian plates (yes, you can see those here too.)

residential districts

Booking.com and AirBNB no longer operate here, but local services have replaced them: sutochno.com, bronevik.com/en, onetwotrip.com/en-gb/hotels, eng.hotels.ru, and many others are available in both English and Russian.

McDonald's and KFC abandoned us too, but the restaurants remained the same, and now they offer absolutely the same food under different brand names — "Vkusno i Tochka" and "Rostic's" respectively. Meantime, Burger King is still with us; nothing has changed.

Mastercard and VISA have also left Russia, but you can easily exchange US dollars or euros and use cash. If you prefer the convenience of a plastic card, you can order a local one online for free (many banks offer this for non-residents) and use it conveniently. Want to pay with your Android smartphone? Install the MirPay app (somewhat similar to Google Pay, but designed for Russia’s own payment card service, Mir) from the AppGallery or RuStore repository and add your card to it.

Cards added to "MIR" 

The LGBTQRSTUVW movement is still not officially supported and is barely tolerated here. 

Yes, you may do whatever you like with your adult partner by mutual consent — it’s not a crime as long as you keep it private and don’t promote it publicly. And please don’t do anything of the kind with kids or teens (under 16 years old) — it will result in a lengthy prison sentence here. 

Immigrants: Yes, we have some — estimated at approximately 5–10% of the city’s population. Most originate from Central Asian countries and former Soviet republics (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan). Some locals are afraid of or dislike them, considering them suspicious or dangerous, but I’ve lived in St. Petersburg for over seven years and have never had any conflict with immigrants. Perhaps that’s because they come to Russia not to live on welfare (which isn’t available to non-residents here), but to work as taxi drivers, waiters, salespeople, dishwashers, janitors, road workers, and so on. Most of them just have no spare time for hooliganism...

Secularism is explicitly stated in our Constitution (Paragraph 14). On the one hand, this ensures freedom of belief. On the other hand, offending the religious feelings of believers is punishable by law (Clause 282). 

Russia is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country (with Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and many others), but any attempts to incite hatred between them are strictly punished. To summarize: you’re free to practice your beliefs, but don’t hurt or mock others, and everything will be fine.