Pulkovo is St Petersburg's main airport, operating from the current terminal since 2014. For the city it is both a transport hub and the base for a few tourism points nearby.
✈ Behind-the-scenes tours
Pulkovo runs scheduled group tours — operations floor, airfield services, sometimes the control tower. Two hours; register through a form on the site.
📻 Civil Aviation Museum
A separate museum at the Civil Aviation Academy campus (not on the airport side). 30+ Soviet-era aircraft (Tu-104, Il-14, An-10), some of which you can enter.
🔭 Pulkovo Observatory
On the Pulkovo Heights — the 1839 observatory, Russia's oldest. Weekend tours by booking.
🚕 Getting there
Bus 39 or 39E from Moskovskaya. By car — Pulkovo Highway, 20 minutes from the centre. A fixed-rate RideClu transfer is simpler than hunting a taxi on flight day.
🛏 Where to stay
For an early flight, hotels by the airport. Apartments in the district are bookable on Tutkakdoma.
If this is your first time in St Petersburg, bear two things in mind. Distances between the main sights are short, but autumn daylight is brief and rain arrives on no schedule. Plan your route around the lit half of the day, allow half an hour of buffer between stops, and bring a thermos and gloves for the evening. At stations and the airport allow thirty minutes to find your way — the connections between buildings and terminals are longer than they look.
On the ground, walking is easiest between adjacent blocks, with short taxi hops when it gets dark or wet. If you are travelling as a group or with children, arrange the evening transfer back to your flat ahead of time — late-night fares spike. Flats in the centre go fast at weekends: book a week ahead for Nevsky, the Petrograd Side or Vasilievsky.
St Petersburg rewards half-day visits rather than one long marathon. Pick a theme — a single museum, a district, a walk — and give it time. After the active part, a warm cafe, a bookshop or a swimming pool is as much part of the ritual as the sights themselves, especially in November.
Verified against pulkovoairport.ru on 22 October 2026.
Cover photo: Фидель22, CC BY-SA 4.0, Викисклад
