Hotels in Saint-Petersburg

The stretch from the Admiralty to Nevsky Prospekt is postcard Saint Petersburg: the Hermitage, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood stand so close together that you simply don't need the metro — every museum is a few minutes' walk away. The grand hotels on these blocks are built around exactly that: windows look out onto the Moyka, St. Isaac's or Palace Square, and the evening stroll starts at the front door. This is the pick for anyone coming to the city for a museum marathon who doesn't want to lose time getting anywhere. During the White Nights rooms here are taken two to three months ahead, so book early.

The alternative to a large chain hotel is a 19th-century mansion on Liteyny Prospekt or in the Admiralteysky district, converted into a hotel of twenty or thirty rooms. The grand staircases and stucco mouldings are still there, breakfast is served in a shared drawing room, and Nevsky Prospekt, the Summer Garden or St. Michael's Castle are five to ten minutes on foot. The format suits travellers who value intimacy and the character of the building more than the amenities of a chain.

The blocks around Vosstaniya Square, Liteyny and Suvorovsky prospekts are the compromise between price and location: the Hermitage is farther away than it is from Palace Square, but Moskovsky station, the metro and the Tauride Garden are right there, and Nevsky Prospekt begins around the corner. Handy if you arrive by train from Moscow or plan trips out to the suburbs — stations and metro entrances are within walking distance. A good choice for a first visit, when you want to be in the thick of the city without paying for a view of St. Isaac's.

Staying in the historic centre of Saint Petersburg without spending much is entirely realistic: mini-hotels and furnished rooms occupy whole floors of pre-revolutionary apartment buildings on Nevsky Prospekt, along the Fontanka and in the lanes near Gostiny Dvor. There are only a handful of rooms, but the address is the same as that of the grand hotels next door, and you set off on foot straight from the entrance. A good option for a weekend trip, when the room is only for sleeping and the whole day goes to the streets and the museums.

One bridge — Palace Bridge — separates the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island from the Winter Palace, and the Exchange Bridge does the same from the Petrogradskaya Side, so the Hermitage, the Kunstkamera and the Peter and Paul Fortress stay within walking distance, while the mood here is noticeably calmer than the crush on Nevsky. The lines of Vasilyevsky and Bolshoy Prospekt on the Petrograd side mean courtyards, coffee shops and embankments without tour buses. Take this option if you're settling into the city rather than galloping through in two days; just remember the drawbridge schedule and plan to be back before night.

Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo are usually visited as a day trip, and that is precisely why the Grand Cascade and the Catherine Palace collect queues of coach groups by the middle of the day. A night in the suburbs turns the picture around: you enter the park at opening, when the fountains are already running and the tourists are still on the road. The palace suburbs stretch 25–30 km from the city, so the format works best for those coming to Saint Petersburg a second time who want to see the parks without rushing.

The resort district runs thirty kilometres north of the city along the gulf: Lisy Nos, Sestroretsk, Repino, Solnechnoye, Zelenogorsk — pines, dunes and water instead of granite embankments. Spa hotels and thermal complexes stand right on the shore, and the centre is still under an hour away by car, so you can combine the two: a couple of days of museums, a couple of days of quiet. The option is especially good in the velvet season and in winter, when long walks around the city don't quite work and a sauna and pool rescue the evening.

Pulkovo sits 17 km south of the centre, and the morning taxi ride from Nevsky Prospekt easily stretches to forty minutes in traffic — with a six a.m. departure that's one more reason not to go to bed at all. The hotels along Pulkovskoye Shosse and near Victory Square solve the problem: a shuttle to the terminal, late check-in and breakfast from an early hour. The logical choice for a transit night, a business trip or the last day of a visit, when the suitcases are already packed.