St Petersburg hotel & tips for a February visit?
 

Hello,

I will be travelling to St. Petersburg early February of next year. I know it will be cold - but we were looking forward to seeing the city in the snow & off season! Any tips on what to do or what to stay?

Thanks!

Hello Lacour,

We've stayed twice at a small hotel on Moika canal, the Pushka Inn. Very nice rooms, some are apartments with kitchen facilities, high speed internet, cute restaurant (breakfast was included). English spoken fluently. Less than two blocks from Palace Square, the Hermitage, Nevsky Prospect, three or four blocks from the beautiful cathedrals: Spilled Blood, Kazan, St. Issac's.

The Hermitage is a world treasure for art, but we equally enjoyed the State Museum of Russian Art at the Mikhailovsky Palace. The Mariinsky Theater of Opera and Ballet is the home of the former Kirov ballet. We have seen three ballets there and can't recommend it highly enough.

A new hotel I would like to stay it is the Hotel Moika 22, just around the corner from where we stayed before. It look lovely and internet prices for February 2006 are 135 euro/night. Can't beat the location for walking everywhere (even in the cold).

Worth the trip to Catharine's Palace in Pushkin, but not sure about winter hours.

Look for previous posts here by Marc David Miller for lots of helpful information.

Best wishes, SusanEva

It is going to be cold - incrdibly cold and windy.

Bring the warmest clothes - in layers that you have - esp waterproof booties.

By the way - you can;t wear you outer clothes indoors - you need to check them. It is considered very rude - an implication that the building is insufficiently heated and an insult to the host or government.

I have visited St Petersburg in early Feb -- well actually it was still called Leningrad back then.

But anyway it was incredibly cold - never got above -22 the whole five days. I don't know if that is typical though.

But even being so cold, one never got wet - no soggy boots or sloppy bottoms of slacks/coats. It was so cold the snow didn't melt or get sloshy. And as nytraveler says, you won't be wearing your outer clothes indoors - not only rude, but very warm and uncomfortable.

The main thing - be sure to take silk or synthetic long underwear, wool/warm socks, lined gloves, hats and wool scarves to cover your head and ears.

It was weird in a way - I have never been to the upper midwest or New England in the winter so had never experienced that sort of cold before. In both Leningrad/St Pete and Moscow I was able to walk around out of doors every day and even late at night w/o any problems. And I didn't even have an especially heavy coat - just a wool one w/o innerlining. But w/ the long underwear and layers/gloves/scarves etc. I was comfortable.

We used Pallidum to book a day trip to Catherine's palace with driver/guide and train/air tickets: [email protected]
highly recommend their services. I'd skip Peterhof in the cold. The gardens are what you want to see. The museums in St. Pete are fabulous.