There are two hop-on-hop-off companies in Saint Petersburg operating two different but very much similar routes. The routes, if compared with the ones in major European destinations, are rather short, though enough to see all of the city’s main sights. A typical red double-decker on a 2-hour (if without getting off) tour will take you to the Hermitage, the Peter and Paul fortress, along the Nevsky avenue with an audio guide in 10+ languages (see the list at the end of the article).
The information on the page has been updated in July 2020.
Operators Of City Tours
The names of the operating companies are:
1. St. Petersburg’s City Tour:
http://citytourspb.ru/en/ (established and owned by the city government).
Phone: +7 961 8000-755 or +7 812 648 12 28
Adult ticket in 2020 for a non-CIS resident: 2000 roubles / one day; 2200 roubles / two days.
2. City Sightseeing:
http://www.city-sightseeing.com/tours/russia/st-petersburg.htm (privately owned)
Phone: +7 812 989-55-33
Email: spb@HopOnHopOff.ru
Adult ticket in 2020: 1200 roubles for two routes / one day.
Below in the post you’ll find our route advice, prices, boarding points, and a list of the languages available.
We have tested the services and found both a useful instrument for getting a general overview of St. Petersburg. What’s especially good with it, an audio guide provides not only main facts about the places being passed by but also some interesting and often funny stories, for example, about elephants drinking vodka, passengers falling out of trains and other curious things.
The main difference between the two services: City Sightseeing is running two routes, while the City Tour only one. But these two routes of City Sightseeing cover the same places as the only route of the City Tour. So, basically, the two services are similar.
Time-tables are rather convenient. In summer days, buses depart every 25-40 minutes, in winter every 1-2 hours depending on the day and season (the City Sightseeing company claims departure every 15 to 40 minutes regardless of the season).
Another important note about the St. Petersburg city tours. We recommend you be on board for the most part of the trip and get off only where it’s really necessary (see below).
List Of Stopovers Of The St. Peterburg’s City Tour Buses
The boarding point of the City Tour company is at the Ostrovsky square, at the very joint with Nevsky avenue. It’s easy to find the place by the monument to Catherine (Ekaterina) the Great (see photo below).
The point is on the right side of the monument, you’ll find the bus easily.
Try to remember this photo below too, it’s an information desk to mark the bus stops.
The route of the City Tour company covers 15 strategic spots, but stops to hop off are only 9. We think it makes sense to get off only at the Dvortsovaya square (depending on the current weather), cruiser Aurora, the Peter and Paul fortress, and the Spit of the Vasilievsky island. Nevsky avenue and the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and the Summer Garden located nearby can (and better) be visited when walking around the city center.
First departure in the period of May-October: 09:00
Last departure in the period of May-October: 21:30
First departure in the period of November — April: 10:00
Last departure in the period of November — April: 18:00 (on weekends and holidays 19.00)
Duration: two hours
The list of stops:
1. Ostrovsky square (boarding point)
2. Vladimirsky avenue (conjunction with Nevsky avenue, 49)
3. Vosstaniya square (Nevsky avenue, 110)
4. Mikhailovskaya street (Nevsky avenue, 38)
5. Bolshaya Konyushennaya street (Nevsky avenue, 20)
6. Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square
Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square
On a sunny or at least warm day, it’s advisable to hop off here to admire the beauty of the square and the Winter Palace which hosts the Hermitage museum. The square itself is a piece of the world’s architecture collection, and it’s added by the column of Monferran (Alexander’s pillar) and the building of the Russian army western division’s headquarter. The arc of the headquarter’s building can often be seen on iconic St. Petersburg photos. Without visiting the Hermitage half an hour is enough here.
On a windy or rainy day, the square is hardly worth getting off and close observation. After all, it’s located at the beginning of the Nevsky avenue, so you can walk here when strolling through the city center.
7. Church Of The Savior On Spilled Blood
Church Of The Savior On Spilled Blood
The Cathedral was built at the place where the Russian Emperor Alexander II known for its large-scale reforms was killed in 1881. It is «a la Russe» style building erected in the way in which the architect Alfred Parland and Russian emperor Alexander III understood this style. One of the most unusual landmarks of St. Petersburg due to its dissimilitude and onion doms. Should you get off here? If only for the Cathedral, then we think you shouldn’t. Observation is possible from a deck of the bus, getting inside will hardly give you much if you are not deeply concerned with Russian religious painting and mosaic. And should you want to visit it you can do it during your walking along the Nevsky avenue since the Cathedral is just 200 meters from the avenue. If you do get off here then you can visit the Summer Garden (next item of the list).
8. The Summer Garden
This landscaped garden is located just near the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, nice sculptures, monuments, well-conditioned paths, lawns, trees – all the benefits of a formal park. Many residents are coming from their sleeping districts to spend here a few hours on their weekends. Hopping off to visit the garden can be a nice idea on a sunny day.
9. Troitskaya Square
One of the first squares of St. Petersburg with the biggest mosque in the European part of Russia. Non-Moslems are allowed to enter the mosque only on an excursion, free admission only for Moslems. There is nothing worth exploring on the square, better to observe from the bus.
10. Aurora Cruiser
Aurora Cruiser
An iconic cruiser of the Russian navy, a historical ship due to its role in the 1917 Russian Revolution (in Russia it’s called The Great October Socialist Revolution) which converted then-Empire into the Soviet Union. The legend has it that Aurora’s cannon took a shot that gave a signal for the Bolsheviks to storm the Winter Palace, the residence of the Provisional government. Before the 1917 Revolution, the cruiser had served in the Russian navy and after it, during WWII, it was relocated to a town of Lomonosov near St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) to be part of its antiaircraft defense. Now it serves as a museum being a part of the Russian navy. It’s worth spending an hour or two on the ship built in 1900.
11. The Peter And Paul Fortress
The Peter and Paul fortress
It’s the site where St. Petersburg was born. The city’s birthday, May 27, 1703, is the day when the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the heart of the fortress, was established. We recommend you get off here and spend 2 to 3 hours visiting the establishment which now serves as a collection of different exhibitions and a big event spot. Let along the fortification itself which is a unique construction.
12. Spit Of Vasilievsky Island
View of the rostral column
A great picturesque site which offers maybe the best panoramic view in the city. On a sunny or at least warm day this place, albeit not a very spacious anyway, provides nice decorations for photos: the rostral columns which served as a lighthouse when the Spit was a port, the building of the former exchange, view on the Peter and Paul fortress, the Winter Palace (the Hermitage) and the Neva river. It’s worth spending an hour here or at least 30 minutes. Our recommendation is to come here in the evening (no matter by the City Tour bus or not). Near, just 100 meters, there is the Kunstkamera and Zoo museum.
Advice: If we were you, we would end our City Tour trip here, and after spending 0,5-1 hour on the Spit then would go on foot through the Dvortsovy bridge to the stops number 13 and 14, they are only 1 km away.
13 and 14. Bronze Horseman And The St. Isaac’s Cathedral
We put it into one article on the list since the monument to Peter the Great (Bronze Horseman) and the cathedral are located at the same place. No matter if you come here on foot or by bus, staying here for an hour certainly makes sense. If you needn’t return to the boarding point (the next station is Gostiny Dvor, just near the Ostrovsky square, the final point of the trip), end your trip here. The area around the St. Isaac’s Cathedral, including the Senat square (where the Bronze Horseman stands) and Isaac’s square is a very nice spot for walking or looking through your iPad when lying on the grass.
List Of Languages Available On City Tour Company Bus
1. English
2. German
3. Spanish
4. French
5. Chinese
6. Finnish
7. Swedish
8. Russian
9. Italian
10. Japanese
11. Dutch
12. Korean
13. Arabic
14. Swedish
List Of Stopovers Of The St. Peterburg’s City Sightseeing
The boarding point of the City Sightseeing company is at the St. Isaac’s square opposite the entrance to Isaac’s Cathedral (see picture below).
First departure in the period of May-October: 10:00
Last departure in the period of May-October: 19:00
First departure in the period of November — April: 10:00
Last departure in the period of November — April: 18:00
Duration: 1 — 1,5 hours depending on the route.
The route No.1 includes 17 places of interest and basically is the same as of its competitor.The number of stops seemingly exceeds that of the City Tour, but in fact not. There is a trick here. For example, the City Sightseeng contains Liteyny avenue as a place of interest, but in reality there’s nothing interesting there and the City Tour crosses this avenue too. Or another point, the Kazan Cathedral. The City Tour goes here too (it’s located along Nevsky avenue which both buses cover), just it stops at the Gostiny dvor which is just a few hundred meters from the Kazan Cathedral.
All the places that are situated along the Nevsky we recommend to see on foot while strolling the main city’s avenue.
1. St. Isaac’s Cathedral
2. Admiralty
Originally designed as a shipbuilding complex, now it serves as a headquarter of the Russian navy. Hopping makes no sense as it’s located just near the Isaac’s square and your next stop which is the Palace square. We’ advise to get off at the Dvostsovaya and cover the square and the Admiralty during one walk.
3. Dvortsovaya (Palace) square
See the description above.
4. The Kazan Cathedral (located along Nevsky avenue)
The Kazan Cathedral
5. Gostiny Dvor (Shopping mall, located along Nevsky avenue)
6. Anichkov palace and Anichkov bridge (located along Nevsky avenue)
The bridge is adorned by four sculptures of horses and men by Klodt.
7. Liteyny avenue (the bus crosses it when going along Nevsky avenue)
8. Moscow train station
9. Vosstaniya square
10. Liteyny avenue (in the return direction)
11. Brothers Eliseev’s shop (located along Nevsky avenue)
A nice place, looks like a museum inside but is a shop, there is a coffee shop. Reminds something of Belle Epoque.
12. House of Book shop (located along Nevsky avenue)
The most beautiful book shop in the city with rich interior dating back to early the XXth century.
13. Arts square
14. Circus on the Fontanka river
15. Summer Garden
See the description above.
16. The Palace square
17. The Palace embankment
18. The Admiralty embankment
19. The Bronze Horseman
The monument to the Peter the Great (Bronze Horseman)
See the description above.
The route No.2 includes seven points.
1. St. Isaac’s Cathedral
2. the Sphinx scultupe
3. Spit of the Vasilievsky island
4. The Peter and Paul fortress
5. Cruiser Aurora
6. The Dvortsovaya embankment
7. The Admiralteyskaya embankment
As you can see, both routes start at the same place, from the St. Isaac’s Cathedral, so you don’t have to bother to calculate where to interchange.
List Of Languages Available On City Sightseeing Company Bus
The route №1:
1. English
2. German
3. Spanish
4. French
5. Chinese
6. Korean
7. Japanese
8. Italian
9. Russian
10. Arabic
11. Portuguese
12. Farsi
The route №2:
1. English
2. German
3. Spanish
4. French
5. Chinese
6. Italian
7. Russian
8. Arabic
You can easily book excursions online through an international aggregator which secures your payment in your currency and a seat and ensures a safe deal:
