Short answer: in November St Petersburg closes everything that depends on water and warm weather. Oreshek Fortress admits visitors until 31 October; from 1 November there is no ferry to the island. Peterhof's fountains still run — the paid season of the Lower Park ends on 18 October. The Catherine Park in Tsarskoye Selo becomes free from 19 October; Pavlovsk Park charges only by day until 1 November and its summer pavilions close on 18 October. Hydrofoils to Peterhof have stopped and Vodohod ended passenger navigation on 21 September, yet Neva cruises still sail in October.
Below are cards: object, last date, what to do instead. All dates come from official sites on 7 October 2026; where a museum has not published its winter schedule, we say so. What closes in October is in a separate list; what stays open is in our November guide.
Oreshek: until 31 October
The State Museum of St Petersburg History lists Oreshek open from 1 May to 31 October. October hours: Monday–Friday 10:00–17:00, Saturday–Sunday 10:00–18:00. From 1 November until navigation reopens the museum is closed, and the site stresses that the crossing to the island is impossible. Instead: the Peter and Paul Fortress of the same museum, though not on a Wednesday, when all its branches except Oreshek are closed. Our Shlisselburg route covers the last October weekends.
Navigation: hydrofoils over, cruise boats still running
Vodohod has announced that the Meteor hydrofoils to Peterhof finished the 2026 season and that its passenger fleet ended navigation on 21 September. In October it still runs Neva cruises on the electric vessel «Lomonosov» from the «Peter and Paul Fortress» pier (Dobrolyubova Avenue 2, 700 m from metro Gorkovskaya, blue line), including late sailings for the bridge openings. Astra Marine listed departures on 7 October from 16:30 to 00:50 from several piers including Tuchkov Bridge, with no closing date published. See how long canal cruises run.
Peterhof fountains: until 18 October
Peterhof's site gives the Lower Park seasonal schedule as 25 April to 18 October 2026: daily 09:00–20:00, desks until 19:30, fountains 10:00–19:45. Tickets from 900 ₽ for Russian and EAEU citizens on weekdays, 2 000 ₽ full price, 150 ₽ for children 7–14. The winter regime is announced separately; as of 7 October it has not been. How the water is switched off is in Peterhof in autumn.
Tsarskoye Selo: the park goes free on 19 October
The museum marks the Catherine Park «free entry from 19 October» — the opposite of a closure: in summer the park charges, from 19 October it does not. The only closure listed for the coming weeks is the «Catherine II. Private Space» exhibition in the Zubov Wing, shut from 12 to 16 October.
