What are the top things to do in Saint Petersburg?

Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace, Peter and Paul Fortress, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, Saint Isaac's Cathedral, and more. Paste your own list into Tripsapien and it checks each place's hours, closures, and booking pressure for your exact dates.

Which neighborhoods should I explore in Saint Petersburg?

Admiralteysky and Palace Square, Nevsky Prospekt and Gostiny Dvor, Petrograd Side, Vasilevsky Island. Tripsapien groups your places by neighborhood so each day stays in one or two areas instead of zig-zagging.

When is the best time to visit Saint Petersburg?

July, August, June balance comfortable temperatures with fewer rainy days. Pick your month below to see that month's events, public holidays, and seasonal timing.

Will the places on my list be open when I'm in Saint Petersburg?

Tripsapien checks each place against the exact dates you're in Saint Petersburg and flags closures, limited hours, and sell-outs before the trip.

Saint Petersburg Russia

Things to do in Saint Petersburg

By Tripsapien Research / Updated May 20, 2026

Saint Petersburg is the Neva delta city where imperial palaces, Baltic weather, canals, and drawbridges shape the map between the Admiralty, Nevsky Prospekt, Petrograd Side, and Vasilevsky Island. Since 2022, international access, payment cards, and visa logistics have required extra checking, but the core visitor geography remains the Hermitage, Palace Square, Neva embankments, Mariinsky Theatre, and White Nights streets.

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About Saint Petersburg

City overview

Food & drink

Saint Petersburg food includes borscht, pelmeni, blini, pirozhki, beef stroganoff, koryushka smelt in season, syrniki, and pyshki doughnuts. Kuznechny Market, Eliseyev Emporium, Nevsky Prospekt cafes, Vasilevsky Island restaurants, and the Kolomna-New Holland area are useful first stops.

Top sights

Ranked for suitability using weather, setting, ratings, and review volume.

Map of Saint Petersburg with pinned top attractions (1 through 10)

1
Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace
4.8★ · 58,766
Bartolomeo Rastrelli built the Baroque Winter Palace from 1754 to 1762 for Empress Elizabeth, and Catherine the Great began the Hermitage collection soon after. The museum fills palace rooms around Palace Square with European paintings, antiquities, imperial interiors, and Neva views.
Large galleries and security lines make timed entry and a focused route more useful than trying to see every room.
2
Peter and Paul Fortress
4.8★ · 45,087
Peter the Great founded the fortress in 1703 on Zayachy Island, making it the symbolic start of the city. The cathedral holds Romanov tombs, and the ramparts give broad views across the Neva toward the Hermitage.
Wikipedia
3
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
4.8★ · 36,830
The church was built from 1883 to 1907 on the site where Alexander II was assassinated beside the Griboedov Canal. Its onion domes, mosaic interior, and canal setting sit a short walk from Nevsky Prospekt and the Russian Museum.
Wikipedia

Show 7 more sights

4Saint Isaac's Cathedral
5Kazan Cathedral
6Mariinsky Theatre
7Nevsky Prospekt
8State Russian Museum
9Yusupov Palace on the Moika
10Faberge Museum

Neighborhoods

1
Admiralteysky and Palace Square
The imperial center is formal and monumental, with the Hermitage, Admiralty, Saint Isaac's, Senate Square, Bronze Horseman, canals, and river embankments.
2
Nevsky Prospekt and Gostiny Dvor
Nevsky is busy and practical, with metro stops, Kazan Cathedral, department stores, cafes, theaters, bookstores, and constant foot traffic.
3
Petrograd Side
The island side feels older and quieter, with Peter and Paul Fortress, Art Nouveau houses, Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, small museums, and Neva views.
4
Vasilevsky Island
Vasilevsky is academic and river-facing, with the Strelka, Kunstkamera, university buildings, wide lines, embankments, and sunset views back to the palace bank.
5
Kolomna and New Holland
This canal district is cultural and low-key, with Mariinsky Theatre, New Holland Island, Moika bridges, courtyards, bars, and 19th-century apartment blocks.
6
Sennaya and Dostoevsky side streets
The south-central side is dense and literary, with Sennaya Square, market energy, metro interchanges, courtyards, churches, and walking routes tied to Dostoevsky.

Day trips

30km / 45min by hydrofoil from Palace Embankment or about 1h by rail and bus
Peterhof
The Gulf of Finland palace ensemble has cascades, fountains, formal gardens, pavilions, and Baltic views from Peter the Great's showpiece estate.
25km / 30-45min by train from Vitebsky station to Pushkin plus local bus or taxi
Tsarskoe Selo and Catherine Palace
The palace and park are known for Rastrelli interiors, the Amber Room reconstruction, gardens, and imperial summer-residence scale.
50km / 1-1.5h by car or bus from central Saint Petersburg
Kronstadt
The naval town on Kotlin Island has the Naval Cathedral, harbor history, forts, and Gulf of Finland weather beyond the city canals.

Getting around

The Saint Petersburg Metro, buses, trams, trolleybuses, marshrutka routes, and the Podorozhnik card cover the city, with metro rides fastest between islands and rail stations. In White Nights season, check Neva bridge-opening times before crossing late at night, and confirm current card-payment and taxi-app availability before arrival.