Urban Historian
Author and journalist at Piter Pass. Shares travel tips, attraction guides, and insider knowledge about Saint Petersburg to help visitors make the most of their trip.
St Petersburg Water Parks: Piterland or Rodeo Drive
Two large indoor water parks, and the choice is a single trade-off: spectacle against queues. Piterland has a pirate frigate under a glass dome; Rodeo Drive has an eighty-metre tube and a quarter of the complaints about waiting.
St Petersburg Banyas: Men's, Women's and Mixed Days
In a public banya men and women bathe separately, and there are exactly three arrangements. The commonest mistake is arriving on the wrong day at a bathhouse that runs men's and women's days. Which is which, and where a mixed group can go.
St Petersburg by Tram: Routes 6 and 40 Instead of a Tour
The tram in St Petersburg is working transport with an extensive network, and the best way to see the city in the rain. Three routes with three different characters: across the Neva to Vasilievsky, right across the city, and the modern Chizhik line.
Tsarskoye Selo or Pavlovsk: Which to Choose
Tsarskoye Selo is about the palace and the Amber Room; Pavlovsk is about the park and the quiet. Which suits whom, how much time to allow, and why these two — unlike Peterhof — genuinely combine in one day.
One day in St Petersburg: a route for when time is short
A layover, a business trip or a cruise stop. One rule: pick a single big thing and spend the rest of the day walking. A working route through the centre, what to skip, and the White Nights caveat.
St Isaac Cathedral or the Savior on Spilled Blood: which to choose
St Petersburg two most photographed churches stand fifteen minutes apart. St Isaac is about scale and the colonnade view, the Savior is about mosaics. Which suits your weather, time and legs.
Hermitage or Russian Museum: which one to choose
St Petersburg two great museums stand ten minutes apart but talk about different things: the Hermitage is world art inside a palace, the Russian Museum is Russian art alone. Which suits your trip.
The Silver Necklace of Russia: how far every stop is from St Petersburg
The northern counterpart of the Golden Ring links 11 regions. What the route is, driving distances from St Petersburg to 24 of its stops — and the places no road reaches.
From Pulkovo Airport to St Petersburg City Centre: Bus, Metro and Taxi
No airport express: buses 39 and 39E take you to Moskovskaya metro for 88 ₽, then the blue line to Nevsky. Night options, timings and where not to take a taxi.
Alcohol in St Petersburg: Sale Hours, Age Limit and the Scarlet Sails Ban
The shop window is 11:00–22:00, shorter than Moscow’s. What to do at night, why retail stops completely on Scarlet Sails day, and the regional surprises beyond the city.
Valaam: The Monastery Archipelago on Lake Ladoga
Valaam is a monastery archipelago in northern Lake Ladoga, reached by hydrofoil from Sortavala or by ship from Saint Petersburg — granite, pine, hermitages, and a working monastic community.
Pskov: The Oldest Fortress City Within Reach of Saint Petersburg
Pskov is the overnight trip from Saint Petersburg: a frontier fortress at a river confluence, 12th-century frescoes at Mirozhsky, and Izborsk and Pechory within an hour.