Leaving Pulkovo at night: last bus, last train, taxi and drawbridges

Landing at Pulkovo after midnight, you have three options: catch the last city bus to Moskovskaya metro, take a taxi, or stay in the terminal until morning. There is no night bus — St Petersburg suspended all night routes on 13 July 2020 and has not restored them.

The trap is the metro, not the bus. Bus 39 leaves the airport until 01:36, but the last northbound train from Moskovskaya towards the centre departs at 00:11. Daytime options are covered in getting from Pulkovo to the city centre.

Last buses, last trains

All three routes leave from level 1. Times are from the metro's official airport page:

• Bus 39 — Moskovskaya metro, all stops, about 35 minutes. From the airport 05:15 to 01:36.
• Bus 39E — Moskovskaya, non-stop, about 25 minutes. From the airport 06:00 to 01:40.
• Bus 82E — Prospekt Veteranov metro, non-stop, about 25 minutes. From the airport 06:05 to 01:41.

At Moskovskaya, vestibule 2 next to the bus stop stops admitting passengers at 00:41 and lets people out until 00:57. The last train towards the centre still goes at 00:11. Park Pobedy and Frunzenskaya on the same line are closed for reconstruction.

A ticket is 88 ₽ by bank card or cash to the conductor. The Podorozhnik card kiosk on the forecourt works 08:00–20:00, so at night a contactless card is your only option.

Taxi: the official desk and the surge

Yandex Go is the airport's official partner. Its desks are in the domestic baggage reclaim hall and right after the exit from international reclaim, open around the clock. The airport warns against drivers who approach passengers in the hall. Cars wait on a holding lot 100 metres away, so pickup at the first line takes a minute.

Yandex raises prices automatically when more people want a ride than there are free drivers nearby. The rise is either a multiplier (×1.4 turns 200 ₽ into 280 ₽) or a flat surcharge. Tap the rouble icon for the breakdown: pickup, base fare, surge, toll road. When several flights land at once, waiting 20 minutes inside usually beats the peak.

A night inside the terminal

The landside part of level 1, open without a boarding pass, keeps ROSTIC'S, a Shokoladnitsa coffee house and the Myasnik i More restaurant open 24 hours.

A capsule hotel sits in the waiting area on level 2 of the central terminal: 1 100 ₽ per hour, cash and cards, reception open 24 hours, phone +7 (921) 859-55-22. The bed is 140×200 cm and fits two adults. Six hours cost 6 600 ₽, so the capsule wins only on short nights — until the first train at 05:33.

Left luggage and a 14:00 check-in

Left luggage is on level 1 of the new terminal, open round the clock, passport required. One item up to 158 cm is 1 100 ₽ for the first calendar day and 500 ₽ for each next; a safe locker 1 500 ₽ then 800 ₽. A calendar day runs 00:00 to 23:59, so a bag left at 23:40 and collected at 11:00 costs two days.

If you land at 03:00 and check-in is at 14:00, book the previous night too, so the room is already yours. Early check-in is paid and must be confirmed in writing; if a guest is still in the room, money will not help. See where to stay in St Petersburg.

Drawbridges can strand you

Pulkovo is south of the city, so a taxi to the centre crosses no river. Vasilyevsky Island and the Petrogradskaya side are different. Navigation runs 10 April to 30 November. Closed to traffic: Blagoveshchensky 01:25–02:45 and 03:10–05:00; Palace Bridge 01:10–02:50 and 03:10–04:55; Birzhevoy and Tuchkov 02:00–02:55 and 03:35–04:55; Troitsky 01:20–04:50; Liteyny 01:40–04:45.

That leaves a 20-minute window near 02:45–03:10 to reach Vasilyevsky. The Western High-Speed Diameter toll road has no opening spans and works as a detour, but the toll lands in your fare. Details: St Petersburg bridge openings.

What to do first

Compare your landing time with 00:11, the last train to the centre, and 01:36, the last bus 39. Board before about 23:30 and the bus works; later it is a taxi or the terminal.

Cover photo: Stefan Krasowski · CC BY 2.0 · Викисклад