For the remainder of my stay in Saint Petersburg, the weather lived up to its reputation and I got treated to some very persistent grey and wet clouds. Apparently, such weather is a common sight in Saint Petersburg for a large part of the year. The downside of the strategic location next to the Baltic Sea is a very moist climate. Being from the Netherlands, I am relatively used to this and thank myself for bringing a somewhat rainproof jacket.
Best time of year to visit?
Several people in Saint Petersburg said that March is the ideal time to visit museums and such and argued that I should definitely come back for the ‘White Nights’ in June, when the city is lit for almost 19 hours a day and the city and its many parks look way more appealing. I definitely hold them up to this, as I am happy to have another reason to go back to this city in the future. For now, I must say that I particularly enjoyed being in Saint Petersburg this time of year. I hardly saw any tourists and when visiting the Hermitage museum, I sometimes felt that I was the only one there or that I did not understand the closing announcement and that I was mistakenly locked up in the museum. Which is not so surprising if you know that his museum is humongous and can in size be compared to the Louvre in Paris.
European vibes
Albeit very Russian, Saint Petersburg also feels European. This vibe is generally created by the influence of Peter the Great, who was appealed by the European architecture and instructed several European architects to construct many buildings which are still in place today. Especially Italian architect Carlo Rossi left his mark on the city with the many light-yellow symmetrical buildings (such as the building which currently houses the Russian museum).
Not too big to handle
With 5,5 million inhabitants over 1,4 square kilometres, Saint-Petersburg is big, but still very much doable in a couple of days. The metro system allows you to travel easily and cheap to the more remote areas, but the city centre can definitely be explored by foot.
Affordable
Where I initially expected prices similar as in Europe, it was definitely cheaper. This is of course dependent on your lifestyle, because the Russians also do know how to spend their money. Particularly on food and drinks in the fancier establishments. Also visiting the theatre does not come cheap either.
Local experiences
Lyuba, a girl from Saint Petersburg who I met last year in Batumi (Georgia), introduced me to the services from AirBnB called ‘Experiences’. This allows you to get in contact with local guides who offer a very personal tour in small groups (generally up to a maximum of 4 people) to get a true sense of the city. Through these services I met Irina who showed me several beautiful (and deep!) metro stations after which we treated ourselves to some lovely doughnut like ПЫШКИ (pyshki) in a Sovjet-style café (pyshechnaya).
I also met Marina who gave some historical perspective on city highlights, but also took us off the beaten path and showed us a very Russian café concept, also called an anti-café. Here you don’t pay for your drinks or snacks but for the time spent. Upon arrival you can choose from an array of clocks and note the time of entry. The place we visited felt very homely and was filled with (young people) meeting up or working on their computers.
On this last tour I got the chance to meet a true Saint Petersburg couple who own an amazing antique shop. It is hard to have a full conversation with local people as the majority does not speak English, but thanks to some translation work from Marina they allowed me to take a picture from them, under the condition that I would send it to them. If you are ever in Saint Petersburg and wish to come home with an original memory of your trip it is definitely worthwhile to visit one of the many beautiful antique shops and treat yourself to a piece from the Soviet era, or even predating the revolution of 1917 when the Russian tsars still ruled Russia.
If you are ever planning to visit these cities, I would highly recommend looking for a tour via AirBnB or look via Couchsurfing and get in contact with young locals who will show you another side of the city.
I’ll be back
I must say that I really liked Saint Petersburg. It is a very liveable city with a good atmosphere. What I did not know is that the Saint Petersburgers are big music fanatics. At the end of the day musicians pop up everywhere giving mini shows at street corners and a lot of restaurants and shops have speakers on the façade playing music. There are plenty of nice coffee places to warm (and dry) up. I understood that people from Saint Petersburg are very proud of their city and keeping its authenticity. You hardly see any high or out-of-place new buildings in the city centre and many people in the metro are reading a book, rather than looking at their phones. In addition, the city has many parks. I can only imagine that these are very nice in the summer period. Definitely worthwhile to come back to 🙂
