Train Travel in St. Petersburg

Train Travel

St. Petersburg has several train stations, the most important of which are Baltic Station (Baltiysky Vokzal), for trains to the Baltic countries; Ladozhsky Station (Ladozhsky Vokzal), for trains to Finland; Moscow Station (Moskovsky Vokzal), at Ploshchad Vosstania, off Nevsky prospekt, for trains to Moscow and points east; and Vitebsk Station (Vitebsky Vokzal), for trains to Ukraine and points south. Only suburban trains depart from Finland Station (Finlandsky Vokzal). All the major train stations have a connecting metro stop, so they're easily reached by public transportation.

For information on train arrival and departure schedules, call the train-information number below. Train tickets may be purchased through the tourist bureau in your hotel or at the Central Railway Agency Office (Tsentralnoye Zheleznodorozhnoye Agenstvo) off Nevsky prospekt, adjacent to the Kazan Cathedral. The agency is open 8-8 Monday through Saturday and 8-4 on Sunday. The office has three information points that can point you in the direction of the correct desks. Even better is the Central Airline Ticket Agency on Nevsky, which has two train-ticket desks and is a far quieter option. It's possible to buy tickets at the stations themselves, but this is best attempted only by the brave or bilingual.

Fares & Schedules

Several trains run daily between Moscow and St. Petersburg, the most popular of which is the Krasnaya Strela (Red Arrow), a night train that departs from one end at 11:55 PM and arrives at the other at 8:25 AM the next day. Its new rival, Nikolayevsky Express, departs the city at 11:24 AM and gets to Moscow at 7:10 PM. Designed to resemble a typical early-20th-century train and named after Russia's last tsar, Nicholas II, this romantic train has staff dressed in turn-of-the-twentieth-century costumes, oak settings in its restaurant, and brass details in compartments. You pay less than $100 round-trip for a berth in a four-person compartment. The most sumptuous way to travel between the two cities is the Grand Express: the most luxurious cabin has an LCD-TV, DVD-player, air-conditioning, toilet and shower, and bathrobe and slippers (12,500R [$440 per person, one-way).

During the day travelers can choose between the Avrora, which makes the trip in less than six hours, or the high-speed ER-200 trains, which leave twice a day and take a lightning-quick 4 hours and 45 minutes. There are two trains daily to and from Helsinki from Ladozhsky station; the trip takes 6 1/2 hours.

Train Information

Central Airline Ticket Agency (7/9 Nevsky pr., City Center. Metro: Nevsky prospekt). Central Railway Agency Office (24 Kanal Griboyedova, City Center. 812/201. Metro: Nevsky prospekt). Train information (812/768-3344).