Guidebooks written for the white nights tell you to leave home at three in the morning to catch a Saint Petersburg sunrise. From October onwards that advice is simply wrong: in this city the cold season turns dawn into a comfortable, late, almost civilised event.
When the sun actually rises
Astronomical sunrise times for the city centre: 20 September — 06:36; 1 October — 07:02; 15 October — 07:35; 1 November — 08:18; 15 November — 08:53; 1 December — 09:30; 21 December — 09:56, with the sky already brightening from 09:02 and sunset at 15:56; 1 January — 09:57, the latest sunrise of the year; 31 January — 09:12. For comparison, on 21 June the sun rises at 03:31. The difference between June and January is six and a half hours.
The sun does not rise where you expect
Around the equinox in late September the sun comes up almost due east, at an azimuth of roughly 90 degrees. By mid-October it is about 108 degrees, by mid-November about 129, and on 21 December about 140 degrees — the south-east. So viewpoints that work in September may fail in December, when you need an open south-eastern horizon.
Where to stand
The Spit of Vasilyevsky Island at Birzhevaya Square gives you the Neva running east towards the Trinity and Liteyny bridges — perfect in September. The Kutuzov Embankment opposite the Summer Garden, near the Prachechny Bridge, is sheltered from the wind. The Trinity Bridge puts you in the middle of the river with the Smolny Cathedral domes ahead. For December and January, choose the Smolny Cathedral area at Rastrelli Square 1 or the embankment by the Alexander Nevsky Bridge, where the river is at its widest and the south-eastern sky is open. The small beach under the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress is the most local option of all.
Avoid the western side: the 300th Anniversary Park, the Vasilyevsky Island reclaimed shore and Lakhta face the Gulf of Finland. They are sunset places, and at dawn the sun is behind your back.
