5 interesting day trips around Saint Petersburg

5 interesting day trips around Saint Petersburg
03 October 2017

Sometimes we all have to take a break from fast-paced life in the city, even if it is just for one day. If you are living in St. Petersburg, It doesn’t really matter whether you’re living here for a long period or just staying for a few days as a tourist. With the following tips you’ll be able to make your short breaks more adventurous and of course, relaxing.

Novgorod

This city is located about 180 km away from Saint Petersburg which is a three and a half hour drive by car, but you can also get there by train. To get there by train it costs about 1500 roubles, you leave from “Moskovsky Voksal”, which is the biggest railway station in SPB, and from there it takes you about 3 hours to get there. The city offers lots of sights and interesting places like the museum of Novgorod and the Sophien Cathedral.

Golden castle

Peterhof was the summer residence of the Russian Tsars, located 29 km west of St. Petersburg and is one of the Seven Miracles of Russia. The magnificent Grand Palace, with elegant parks and impressive water gardens, is one of the most beautiful Baroque ensembles in the world. Peterhof is considered as the fountain capital of Russia and is on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage. The best way to get there is by boat, on the Neva River. Normally tickets costs about 1500 roubles but you have to pay for the entrance fee too. For Students it is 450 and for adults 750 roubles.

Beach time

The Finnish Gulf (Finnish: Suomenlahti and Russian: Финский залив) is a bay in the Baltic Sea, which stretches west-easterly to the mouth of the Neva. The bay is mainly salt water and the maximum width is 130 km. One of the most beautiful points, which you definitely have to visit, is the Golden Beach in Zelenogorsk. This is a spacious beach where you can play volleyball, football or just relax and enjoy the landscape. It takes you about 50 minutes by car and by train about 30 minutes but you have to change 3 times.

Time to defend

If you like the idea of walking through one the most traditional naval bases of Russia, you have to go to Kronstadt (Russian: Кронштадт). The island is located in the middle of the Finnish Gulf and its main duty was to protect the harbour of Saint Petersburg and also the city itself. There are two long bridges connecting Kronstadt with the main-land and small islands dispersed among the bridges, together representing some sort of defensive line. Krohnstadt is 30 kilometres away from SPB and reachable by bus or by car. The journey will take you about an hour.

The lake

Lake “Ladoga” is the biggest fresh water lake in Europe and it is located 40 kilometres away from SPB. In summer, many of the city’s residents go there for a relaxing day out or for a little swim. The beaches are very large, so you don’t have to worry about a crowded beach as is sometimes the case in Italy or Spain. You can get there by train or by car and either way it will take you between half an hour and an hour. The water in the lake is very clean, not like the Neva where pollution is far greater due to the wastewater.

Whether you have an exhausting job or you’re a tourist, it doesn’t matter because everybody needs some kind of time out, dedicated to escaping a busy city. Leave all your troubles behind for a day and explore the beautiful outskirts of SPB. Do you know any other places to relax outside the city? Just write your comments below or give us your feedback on Facebook.

 

Posted by Philip Forstinger

Hello! I'm Philip, the new Austrian intern of Liden & Denz. The next few weeks I'll provide you some cool facts about Saint Petersburg and Russia itself. I hope you'll enjoy my blogs.

One response to “5 interesting day trips around Saint Petersburg”

  1. Andrew says:

    It’s a good idea to escape a busy city and spend time in Repino or Solnechnoye (Kurortny District).

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