Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
By Train
St. Petersburg has four main train stations: Trains to
Helsinki
leave from Finlyandsky
Vokzal (Финляндский Вокзал, Finland Station, Metro: Ploshchad Lenina); trains to
Mo-
scow
leave from Moskovsky Vokzal (Московский Вокзал, Moscow Station, Metro:
Ploshchad Vosstaniya); suburban trains to Detskoye Selo (for Catherine's Palace at
Tsar-
skoyeSelo
), as well as trains to the Baltic states, leave from Vitebsky Vokzal (Витебский
Вокзал, Vitebsk Station, Metro: Pushkinskaya); and suburban trains to Peterhof leave from
Baltiisky Vokzal (Балтийский Вокзал, Baltic Station, Metro: Baltiiskaya)—but it's better
to go to Peterhof by bus or hydrofoil.
Day-trippers can buy tickets for suburban trains at the station before departure, either
from ticket windows or Russian-only automatic machines.
To Helsinki:
The four daily trains to Finland rarely sell out. You can buy tickets online
at
www.vr.fi
. If you prefer to buy them in person, the best place is at the station (Finlyand-
sky Vokzal). Face the station facade, then go around the left side of the building and all
the way to the end, where you'll find a modern hall and ticket office, open 24 hours (little
English spoken).
ToMoscow:
If you're planning on traveling domestically to Moscow, you have several
options, none of them convenient. Keep in mind that the fast Sapsan trains to Moscow,
which take only four hours, generally sell out several days in advance. Probably the most
user-friendly option is to go through a travel agency, either in St. Petersburg or abroad,
which will purchase tickets for you for a service fee. Look for ticket help from Real Rus-
sia (
www.realrussia.co.uk
)
, which can arrange etickets for you, or Sindbad Travel, Russia's
youth travel agency (email them at
trains@sindbad.ru
)
. Tickets are also available online
from the Russian railways site (
www.rzd.ru
)
, but only in Russian; even if you get a Russian
speaker to help, the system may not accept your non-Russian credit card. The automated
ticket machines in stations are also an option—but these, too, are in Russian only and for-
midable to use. Finally, right in the center, there's the Soviet-era Central Railway Booking
Office (Железнодорожные Кассы) at Kanal Griboyedova 24, but prepare for a long wait
and little or no English spoken. It's across the canal from the Kazan Cathedral and just a
few doors from Nevsky Prospekt—look for the green-and-yellow Кассы sign with a train
(Mon-Sat 8:00-20:00, Sun 8:00-18:00).
By Bus
Bus is the best way to reach
Tallinn,
with almost a dozen daily departures on Lux Express
(7-hour trip) and easy online ticket purchases (
www.luxexpress.eu
). Buses leave from
Baltiisky Vokzal (Балтийский Вокзал, Baltic Station, at Nab. Obvodnogo Kanala 120,
Metro: Baltiiskaya). Note that these buses don't use the “official” St. Petersburg bus sta-
tion (at Nab. Obvodnogo Kanala 36, near the Obvodny Kanal Metro station).
There are also buses to
Helsinki
(some listed at
www.matkahuolto.fi
)
, but the train is
much quicker and more user-friendly (though more expensive).
