Checkout is at noon, the train leaves at ten in the evening, and in between you have ten hours and a suitcase. Museums in St Petersburg will not take large luggage in the cloakroom, so the bag has to go somewhere before you start sightseeing. Here is what it actually costs.

Lockers at the railway terminals

All five terminals have automatic lockers, open 24 hours. At Moskovsky, Ladozhsky, Vitebsky and Baltiysky the tariff is identical: a standard locker (600 × 500 × 800 mm) costs 200 roubles for one hour, 500 for one to three hours, 800 for three to six, 950 for six to eight, 1,100 for eight to twelve and 1,200 roubles for a full day. A medium locker runs from 300 roubles an hour to 1,800 a day, and a large one, 1,800 mm tall, from 450 to 2,500.

Finlyandsky station is cheaper than the rest, which almost nobody knows: 150 roubles an hour and 900 roubles a day for the standard size, 1,200 for medium, 1,500 for the largest. If your day runs through the northern half of the centre, leave the bag there.

Locations differ, and signage is thin. Moskovsky keeps its lockers on the basement level, Ladozhsky in the long-distance concourse, Vitebsky on the second floor, Baltiysky on the first floor in the light hall, Finlyandsky in the central light hall.

The fifteen-minute rule

This one catches everyone. For the first fifteen minutes after payment you may open the locker as often as you like. After that, opening the door counts as ending the rental — you must take your things out and pay again. Move everything you will need during the day into a daypack before you shut the door. Overstaying is charged per started hour; forcing a locker open costs 500 roubles; abandoned luggage is stored at 820 roubles per calendar day.

Pulkovo airport

The left-luggage office sits on the first floor of the terminal and works around the clock, operated by Aeroservice. One item of luggage, a garment bag or items on a hanger costs 1,100 roubles for the first calendar day and 500 roubles for each following day; a safe box is 1,500 and then 800. Sealing a bag with a numbered tag costs 200 roubles.

Read "calendar day" literally: it runs from 00:00 to 23:59, not for 24 hours. Drop a bag at 11 p.m. and collect it at 8 a.m. and you pay for two days — 1,600 roubles for nine hours.

Cheaper options

Ask your hotel to keep the bags after checkout; most will do it for free, but arrange it the day before, because small hotels have no storage room. Otherwise go straight to the terminal you are departing from, leave the luggage and travel back into the city unencumbered — six hours in a locker costs 950 roubles, twelve costs 1,100, so waiting does not save money. Porters are available at the terminals for 400 roubles per item by day and 600 at night.

Photo: Florstein / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0