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Tours in St Petersburg |
The rail service is operated by divisions within the Ministry of Railroads (website: www.eng.mps.ru), however, it is difficult to obtain rail information from any one source. The Central Railroad Ticket Office (tel: (812) 762 4455; website: www.ehi.com/travel/ehi/russia/stpets.htm) provides some times and fare information, otherwise, travellers should contact the individual stations (Russian is spoken) or visit the stations to view the schedules. St Petersburg's principal stations include Finlayandski vokzal, located at ploschad Lenina, for connections to Helsinki and Moskovsky vokzal, on Nevsky prospekt, ploschad Vosstania, for trains coming in from the north and Moscow. Varshavsky vokzal, at naberezhnaya Obvodnogo Kanala, usually serves Poland and the Baltics. Vitebsky vokzal, Zagorodny prospect 52, for the most part, serves trains arriving from and departing for Belarus, the Ukraine and southern cities such as Odessa. Facilities are basic to non-existent.
Trains in Russia are, for the most part, safe and reliable, although the interiors will never win any design awards. Travellers should always bring their own toilet paper, drinking water and a light snack. Overnight trains, however, particularly between St Petersburg and Moscow, have become quite pleasant - with fresh linens, hot tea and a packaged breakfast included with the price of a ticket. On overnight trains, travellers should purchase a kupe (a four-bed compartment) or lyuks (a two-bed compartment) ticket rather than the platzkart option, which is for a six-bed compartment, often with no door. Do note that compartments on overnight trains are not divided by sex.
Rail services: It is possible to travel to St Petersburg from most European capitals via Warsaw, Berlin, Helsinki or Moscow. There are daily services to Moscow (journey time - 8 hours), Berlin (journey time - 36 hours) and Warsaw (journey time - 26 hours). The Finnish VR passenger services (tel: (358) 307 23703, in Finland; website: www.vr.fi/heo/english/ita/ita.htm) operates services to and from Helsinki (journey time - 7 hours). There is a stop at the Russian border of three to four hours, while the wheels are exchanged to fit the narrower gauge of European railways.
Trains in Russia are, for the most part, safe and reliable, although the interiors will never win any design awards. Travellers should always bring their own toilet paper, drinking water and a light snack. Overnight trains, however, particularly between St Petersburg and Moscow, have become quite pleasant - with fresh linens, hot tea and a packaged breakfast included with the price of a ticket. On overnight trains, travellers should purchase a kupe (a four-bed compartment) or lyuks (a two-bed compartment) ticket rather than the platzkart option, which is for a six-bed compartment, often with no door. Do note that compartments on overnight trains are not divided by sex.
Rail services: It is possible to travel to St Petersburg from most European capitals via Warsaw, Berlin, Helsinki or Moscow. There are daily services to Moscow (journey time - 8 hours), Berlin (journey time - 36 hours) and Warsaw (journey time - 26 hours). The Finnish VR passenger services (tel: (358) 307 23703, in Finland; website: www.vr.fi/heo/english/ita/ita.htm) operates services to and from Helsinki (journey time - 7 hours). There is a stop at the Russian border of three to four hours, while the wheels are exchanged to fit the narrower gauge of European railways.
View Our Airport Guides for St Petersburg:
(St Petersburg) Pulkovo Airport
