St Petersburg is flat, which makes it excellent cycling territory — and then the rules get in the way in ways a visitor never expects. Start with the biggest trap: the city's favourite cycling park does not let you in with a bicycle at weekends.
The Elagin Island rule
The official visiting rules of the Kirov Central Park on Elagin Island, approved in June 2024, ban entering the park with a bicycle and riding inside it on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The only exception is children under ten accompanied by an adult. On top of that, road bikes are banned at all times, cycling training sessions are banned, the speed limit is 10 km/h, and any electric vehicle is refused entry except wheelchairs. Riding on lawns and gravel paths is prohibited. The park does rent bicycles, but only children's and teen models — and teen and adult bikes are not issued at weekends at all.
Bike sharing: 5990 roubles for the season
The dockless sharing service in the city is SmartBike. You scan a QR code with the app and — this matters — you may only end the rental at one of the operator's marked parking points. Lock the bike anywhere else and the meter keeps running.
The headline tariff is a season pass for 5990 roubles: unlimited rides, with every trip up to 30 minutes included and 1 rouble per minute after that. You may take as many rides a day as you like, but you need a 15-minute gap between them. Registration is open from the age of 16 with a phone number and a card in your own name; no deposit, no documents. Maximum single rental is 24 hours. Note that the service does not publish the season's opening and closing dates anywhere on its site — ask support before buying a pass late in the year.
Penalties are published and steep: 500 roubles for parking outside a designated point, 1000 roubles for leaving the bike in breach of traffic rules, 30 000 roubles if the bike is lost. A damaged frame costs 10 000, a wheel or lock 5000. You are also forbidden to carry a shared bike in a car, a train or any other vehicle.
