Saint Petersburg/Center

The Center of Saint Petersburg is the area of main interest to the traveler, home to most attractions of the metropolis. It's bound by the Neva river and the Obvodny Canal, on a set of islands formed by numerous rivers and channels.

By train
The Moscow and Vitebsk railway stations are in the center; if you arrive by train, you can begin your sightseeing directly from the station. Baltic Railway Station is located just outside the center, but it makes sense to take the metro : Baltiiskaya or shuttle bus to the more interesting places (e.g. Palace Square). Finland Station is within walking distance from the Liteiny Bridge, to other parts of the center it's better to get into : Ploschad Lenina (Площадь Ленина) metro station. From Ladozhsky station it's better to take the subway :Ladozhskaya (Ладожская), because it is farther from the center, and the frequent traffic jams on Zanevsky Avenue.

Get around
The area is served by autobuses,  trolleybuses,  trams and  marshrutkas

Walk
You can get everywhere on foot, and simply strolling the elegant streets is a delight. Although the district is divided by canals, they're narrow and don't constrain progress: the streets crisscross them and you don't have to factor in bridge closures or the like. (Crossing their social and real-estate divisions is another matter, especially over the Fontanka, as the Bolsheviks would furiously point out.) Tourist boats potter along the canals in summer but there are no public water-buses. To the north and east however the district is bounded by the broad channel of the River Neva, where you do have to consider which bridge to use.

By metro
All five branches of the Saint Petersburg metro pass through the center, forming several hubs.

The most central stations are:
 * [[Image:Spb metro line5.svg|20px]]Admiralteyskaya (Адмиралтейская) - a new and most central station with access to Malaya Morskaya Street (Station "Admiralteskaya-2", and their connection, are still under construction), the nearest station to the Winter Palace, St. Isaac Square, and the Admiralty.
 * [[Image:Spb metro line2.svg|20px]]Nevsky Prospekt (Невский проспект)/ [[Image:Spb metro line3.svg|20px]]Gostiny Dvor (Гостиный двор) - at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and Sadovaya Street, next to the Kazan Cathedral, the Ostrovsky and Arts Squares, Gostiny Dvor and Apraksin Dvor. They can be particularly crowded.
 * [[Image:Spb metro line2.svg|20px]]Sennaya Ploschad (Сенная площадь)/[[Image:Spb metro line4.svg|20px]]Spasskaya (Спасская) /[[Image:Spb metro line5.svg|20px]]Sadovaya (Садовая)- the only site where three subway stations meet in St. Petersburg, near the Sennaya ("Haymarket") Square. The proper place to engage in Dostoevskian literary tourism, and explore some less fashionable, but no less interesting places, such as St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Mariinsky Theater and the channels nearby;

The stations in the outer part of the Center, beyond the Fontanka canal: Just outside the city center to the south of the Obvodny Canal:
 * [[Image:Spb metro line1.svg|20px]] Ploschad Vosstanya (Площадь Восстания)/[[Image:Spb metro line3.svg|20px]]Mayakovskaya (Маяковская)- ​​Uprising Square, on the intersection of Nevsky and Ligovsky prospects, adjacent to the Moscow Station. Major transport hub in St. Petersburg.
 * [[Image:Spb metro line1.svg|20px]]Vladimirskaya (Владимирская)/[[Image:Spb metro line4.svg|20px]]Dostoevskaya (Достоевская)- at the Vladimirskaya Square, where Vladimirsky and Zagorodny Prospekts converge. Close to the Five Corners and Dostoevsky Museum;
 * [[Image:Spb metro line1.svg|20px]]Chernyshevskaya (Чернышевская) - located in a quiet and pleasant area near the Tauride Gardens, the closest station to Smolny (about 2 km).
 * [[Image:Spb metro line3.svg|20px]],[[Image:Spb metro line4.svg|20px]] Ploschad Aleksandra Nevskogo (Площадь Александра Невского-1) - at the end of Nevsky Prospekt near the Alexander Nevsky Monastery and the Alexander Nevsky bridge across the river;
 * [[Image:Spb metro line1.svg|20px]]Pushkinskaya and [[Image:Spb metro line5.svg|20px]] Zvenigorodskaya - in the middle of Zagorodny Prospekt at Vitebsk Station;
 * [[Image:Spb metro line4.svg|20px]]Ligovsky Prospekt (Лиговский проспект)- at the Ligovsky Avenue;
 * [[Image:Spb metro line1.svg|20px]],[[Image:Spb metro line2.svg|20px]] Tekhnologichesky Institut 1 and 2 (Технологический институт)- in the area of ​​Technology Institut;
 * [[Image:Spb metro line1.svg|20px]]Baltiyskaya (Балтийская)- at the Baltiysky Station, on the border of the city center;
 * [[Image:Spb metro line2.svg|20px]]Frunzenskaya(Фрунзенская) - at the intersection of Moskovsky Prospekt and Obvodny Canal - directly adjacent to the city center;
 * [[Image:Spb metro line5.svg|20px]]Obvodny Canal (Обводный канал)- at the intersection of Obvodny Canal and Ligovsky Prospekt.

Palace Square Ensemble and Hermitage



 * You can buy tickets online, and have a confirmation emailed to you. USUS$17.95 for one day; USUS$25.95 for 2 days (includes right to take photos & videos). The one-day price is similar to the local ticket, including photos. You just walk straight to the front of the queue. Hand your booking confirmation and passport to information desk. Your details will be checked and your tickets will be issued. The queues at the ticket office can be long, and purchasing your ticket online can help you bypass this queue first thing in the morning. The museum has a cafe and large shop near the entrance, and numerous small shops throughout the galleries. Audio guides are available in English, and most signs in the gallery are in English and Russian. Guide books are available for around ₽300.
 * You can buy tickets online, and have a confirmation emailed to you. USUS$17.95 for one day; USUS$25.95 for 2 days (includes right to take photos & videos). The one-day price is similar to the local ticket, including photos. You just walk straight to the front of the queue. Hand your booking confirmation and passport to information desk. Your details will be checked and your tickets will be issued. The queues at the ticket office can be long, and purchasing your ticket online can help you bypass this queue first thing in the morning. The museum has a cafe and large shop near the entrance, and numerous small shops throughout the galleries. Audio guides are available in English, and most signs in the gallery are in English and Russian. Guide books are available for around ₽300.



Opera and ballet
No trip to St. Petersburg is complete without seeing an opera or ballet performance. The Mariinsky is perhaps the most well-known institution, but it is by no means the only theater in the city. Tickets are sold throughout the city at kiosks and shops called Teatralnaya Kassa, which charge a nominal fee for "insurance," which is theoretically optional. The theater box offices themselves sell tickets directly, too, and usually for the same price. Sometimes blocks of tickets sell out at the kiosks but tickets are still available at the theater, or vice versa, so it is worth checking both places if you have your heart set on a particular performance. It is possible to take not-so-small children into some performances if you take a private box, although you will need to ask when you buy your tickets.



Concerts
The music scene in St. Petersburg is diverse, with several classical, jazz, and pop concerts to choose from each week. Tickets are available at the same Teatralnaya Kassa locations as ballet and opera tickets, although tickets to pop concerts - especially US and European stars on tour - sometimes use exclusive distributors. For pop and rock concerts, unless you buy tickets for the dance floor (tanzpol), you are expected to sit quietly in your seat as if you were at a ballet - ushers are vigilant about keeping the audience from standing up, dancing, or cheering (polite applause is allowed, but that's about all).

Several of the ballet and opera theaters above also offer orchestral and recital performances, so those are not repeated below. Also, don't forget the many small clubs where up and coming bands play.



Film


Most cinemas in St. Petersburg show Hollywood films dubbed in Russian. Art cinemas like Dom Kino often show independent American or British movies subtitled in Russian. DVDs of American/European films are also often dubbed. There have been crackdowns on sellers of bootleg DVDs, so it may be difficult or expensive to find DVDs in English these days. There are several DVD stores in the city - often near Metro stations - and it is worth asking about films in English.

Annual Message to Man international documentary, short, and animated films festival takes place in June or July, screening many films in English.



Canal boat tours
A tour of the canals by boat is a great way to see the city in the summer. The typical tour is through the Moika, out to the Neva to see the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Cruiser Aurora, then in through the Fontanka (sometimes as far as the Mariinsky Theater). Tours start at many points along the route and return to their starting point - hawkers for different boat companies abound - and the boats may or may not have a cafe and toilet on board. Almost all tours are in Russian. ₽400-600 seems to be the average price.



Walking around with locals
The alternative way to explore St Petersburg is to know it from inside walking and talking with locals and trying local activities. Those people who have lived here for years would like to tell you a plenty of stories, open some secret places (as roofs or courtyards, etc.) and treat you as a friend. Most of tours are for 1 to 5 people. As some tours are free you are welcome to try it. The other ones are pretty cheap (US$12-35).

You can book their such unusual tours like roof tours, or Russian food cooking classes or Russian language tours etc. Check sptn!k.

Buy
There are plenty of ATMs and legit currency exchange booths. ATM and big shops accepts usually following kind of card: Visa, Visa Electron, MasterCard, MasterCard Electronic and Maestro. Other card (e.g. American Express) accepted rarely. Do not exchange money on the street: the rate won't be any better, and you run a high risk of encountering any of numerous scams.



Drink
Dumskaya ulitsa ( Nevsky Prospekt (Невский проспект)) has several small crowded and rowdy venues including Datscha, BarBarA, Fidel, Belgrad. These bars have cheap beer, crazy dances, Balkan, ska, punk, disco or whatever the DJ has on his mind.

Sleep
With the exception of some high-end hotels, all hotels and hostels offer free WiFi and many have computer terminals. Almost all accept credit cards.

Connect
The following internet cafes offer computers with internet, gaming, and WiFi as noted.