Ice rinks in St Petersburg: mid-November openings, 450-rouble rental and a 6,000-rouble bill for broken skates

Every year someone books a St Petersburg trip for the first days of November, promises the kids a skate at New Holland Island — and finds grass where the rink should be. The rink is real, but it does not open on 1 November. Over the last four seasons the opening date has landed anywhere between 11 and 26 November, and it is announced only one or two weeks in advance.

When the season opened in past years

The reliable record is New Holland's own press office, which publishes an opening announcement every season:

• 2022/23 — announced 17 November 2022, opened 26 November.
• 2023/24 — announced 31 October 2023, opened 11 November.
• 2024/25 — announced 8 November 2024, opened 16 November.
• 2025/26 — announced 11 November 2025, opened 15 November.

A fifteen-day spread, with three of four seasons starting mid-month. Sevkabel Port followed a similar pattern: its "Rink by the Sea" ran 21 November 2025 to 15 March.

There are no official dates for the 2026/27 season yet. New Holland's rink page currently says only that the season is over and they will see you in autumn; Sevkabel's winter site says winter in the port has finished until next year. Any "exact 2026/27 opening dates" circulating now are guesses.

New Holland Island: the main city rink

The ice covers more than 2,000 square metres, laid over the big lawn where people sunbathe in summer. Ticket office, skate rental, lockers and a heated changing gallery sit in one pavilion, so nobody queues outdoors.

Numbers from the official rules for the 2025/26 season: skate rental 450 roubles (sizes 25 to 47), sharpening 400 roubles, and rental is not included in the admission ticket. There is no cash deposit for skates — instead the rules state a damage charge of 6,000 roubles for broken skates. You leave nothing at the desk, but you accept that bill.

Other rules worth knowing. No more than 250 people may be on site at once, staff included. Skating runs in one-hour sessions with a thirty-minute resurfacing break after each; entry opens fifteen minutes before a session and you must leave within fifteen minutes after. Skating aids are free, first come first served. Children under three are not allowed on the ice at all; children aged three to six only with an adult who has their own ticket and skates. Discounts apply to school pupils, students, pensioners, large families and combat veterans; entry is free for visitors with disabilities.

The ticketing trap: online tickets are sold only for the current date and two days ahead, and sales for a session close one hour before it starts. Buying New Year holiday sessions in October is impossible.

Sevkabel Port: skating by the water

The second large open-air rink sits on the Field at Sevkabel Port, where summer concerts happen. Its selling point is the view: the ice faces the gulf and the cable-stayed bridge. In 2025/26 it ran Monday to Thursday 11:00–21:00 and Friday to Sunday 11:00–22:30, with a heated lobby, lockers, heated benches, rental, skating aids and instructors on the ice. Discounts of 50% for pupils, students, pensioners and large families, plus 20% for buying online and paying via the Russian instant payment system.

The practical difference between the two rinks is wind, not price. New Holland is sheltered by buildings on three sides; Sevkabel is open to the sea.

Indoor arenas work differently

Yubileyny Sports Complex on Dobrolyubova Avenue, near Sportivnaya metro, is the largest covered rink in the centre — and it does not run drop-in public sessions. It sells one-hour skating slots on a schedule rebuilt every week, at 700 roubles per hour. Tickets are sold only through the website and the venue's mobile app, and they are non-refundable and non-exchangeable unless the venue itself cancels.

The detail that sends people home empty-handed: there is no skate rental. You bring your own. Entrances also differ by arena — door 1 for the main arena, 62 for the small arena, 55 for the training rink — and changing is only allowed in the ground-floor changing rooms.

Artificial ice, and why thaw closes a rink

City rinks are not frozen ponds. A refrigeration circuit runs under the surface, so the temperature is set by machinery, not weather: New Holland states officially that the rink works in above-zero temperatures and the ice does not melt up to +10 °C. That is also why there are half-hour breaks — an hour of skating shaves the top layer into shavings, and the surface has to be cut and re-flooded.

So why cancel sessions in a thaw? Because the problem is water on top, not melting underneath. Rain, wet snow and condensation pool on the surface; blades track unpredictably, falls get harder, and the crust that freezes overnight has to be shaved almost to the base. The official rules put it plainly: the rink's schedule may be changed by the administration without prior notice. Check the page before you cross the city on a wet day.

Natural ice: why the rivers are off limits

Every winter someone plans to skate on the Neva or the gulf. The city bans it: St Petersburg issues an annual decree setting the periods when walking onto the ice of the city's water bodies is prohibited, and the administration publishes the exact dates. Breaking it is an administrative offence with a real fine.

The reason is physical. The Neva has a strong current; ice stays thin near bridge piers and warm-water outfalls all winter, and on the gulf floes break off and drift away with people on them. Visual thickness tells you nothing — a solid patch can sit next to an open hole under snow. And the skating is bad anyway: lumpy, unswept, not worth the risk.

What to bring

Gloves are for falls, not warmth — hands get cut by other people's blades. One pair of firm but thin socks, not two: a foot swimming inside a rental boot is the main cause of blisters. Lace tight at the ankle, looser at the toes. Do not leave valuables in the lockers — the rules state the administration is not responsible for keys, phones, money or documents left there. Food and drink cannot be brought onto the rink, traffic on the ice runs anticlockwise, and hockey, tag and complicated figure elements are banned during public sessions.

In short: the ice season opens in November, but the date shifts by up to two weeks and has not been announced for 2026/27. Rental at New Holland costs 450 roubles with no deposit — but a broken pair costs you 6,000. The indoor Yubileyny is cheaper to enter, yet has no rental and runs strictly by schedule. And the natural ice of the rivers and the gulf is closed to you, for better reasons than the law.