A Guide to Winter Trips from St. Petersburg

Into the suburbs

Let’s say you want to travel with no strings attached: no bookings, no tickets in advance, just something quick and budget-friendly. Luckily, the city’s suburbs are bursting with reputable destinations for one-day outings. The easiest way to reach them is by a suburban train, and let our detailed guide on this type of transport be your helping hand. If you have a hard time navigating the railway routes of St. Pete, some facts about the city’s railway stations will put you in the picture.

Here’s what we have on offer:

• The briefest yet picturesque trips lie through the royal palaces and parks of Pavlovsk, Pushkin, Gatchina, Peterhof, and Lomonosov as well as towns that grew around them through time.

• Looking for the Scandinavian spirit sprinkled with Russian culture? Immerse yourself into the cobblestoned streets and castle of Vyborg, a town by the Finnish border with Swedish ancestry.

• Just as close to another border lies Pskov, one of Russia's oldest cities. If kremlins, monasteries, and other traces of centuries-long Slavic history are your cup of tea, you’ll definitely like it there. 

• Exploring the city’s neighborhood doesn’t have to be all about buzzy towns: it’s just as easy to peacefully connect with nature by taking one of the eco-paths in and around St. Petersburg or heading to the waterfalls of Sablino.

The other capitals

Ready to put some more effort into your journey? Let’s go big! One of our articles features four cities, besides St. Petersburg, that could compete with Moscow for the title of the capital of Russia. Luckily enough, over the years, our editorial team has managed to visit and review all of them:

• Travel notes from Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, prove you can have multicultural experiences without feeling like a stranger;

• Nizhny Novgorod, the city at the confluence of the Volga and Oka rivers, will show Russia's best sunsets for those who're ready to climb the highlands;

• On the intersection of Europe and Asia, Yekaterinburg brings out Russia's dual nature and boasts unique constructivist architectural gems;

• Just a few hours away from where we are, Veliky Novgorod calls to travel back in time, both architecturally and gastronomically.

By the way, if you haven’t been to Moscow yet, winter is the right season to fix it. No matter how big St. Pete fans we are, there's one thing to admit: the capital’s festive decorations and the Red Square Christmas tree easily outmatch the local ones.

Winter wonderland

At this level, we’ve got real adventures that will put you out of your comfort zone toward the wonders of true Russian winter. Some of them require the warmest clothes, others – following sophisticated routes, but all of them provide a lifetime experience.

• In case you’re up to testing your survival skills and learning how to hammer a nail with a banana, pick one of the coldest places in Russia for your trip.

• Less extreme options include watching the Northern Lights, visiting caves, and admiring frozen lakes.