The St. Petersburg’s only airport Pulkovo is located south of the city, about 20km from the city center (Nevsky avenue, Dvortsovaya square) and 9km from the nearest metro station Moskovskaya, a point to which lead all public and commercial transport routes from the airport.
Transport To / From Pulkovo: In Short
There are three options of reaching the airport: by private car / taxi, by city bus and commercial minibus (marshrutka). There is no any rail or other mode of transport connection. The bus and minibus run between 6am-24pm. There are no any night transport services, at night you can use taxi only.
Bus №39 and minibus K-39 run every 10-15 minutes from Pulkovo to Moskovskaya, №39A (express) at a bit longer intervals.
See minibus K-39 on the photo below:
Travel time is about 20-25 minutes.
Fare:
for bus №39 is 30 rubles (and the same fare for luggage),
for minibus K-39 is 40 rubles (and the same fare for luggage),
taxi to the Moskovskaya metro station is about 600 rubles.
At the final point of №39 route you can take metro or other buses / minibuses bound to the city’s center and other districts.
Transport To / From Pulkovo: In Detail
1. How to get from the Pukovo airport to St. Petersburg
Pulkovo airport runs only one terminal that serves both domestic and international routes. After getting out of the arrivals hall (on the ground floor), you appear just at a bus stop from where buses №39, №39А (express, from Pulkovo to Moskovskaya without stops) and minibus K-39 depart to the city.
After a 20-25-minute travel you arrive at a bus stop just near the entrance to the Moskovskaya metro station.
At this stop you can take the following routes:
K-11 to the metro stations Lomonosovskaya, Ploterarskaya,
№3 (attention, not K-3!) to the Moskovsky (Moscow) railway station, Vosstanya square, Nevsky avenue,
K-3 and K-213 to Sennaya square,
K-350 to Vasilievsky island through Sennaya square
№180 to the town of Pushkin
Please, beware of the difference between №3 and K-3 routes. №3 is a public bus, and K-3 is a commercial line (a bit more expensive), their routes are different. For more information on the transport system of Saint Petersburg see our post here.
From the Moskovskaya square, that’s located 300 meters from Moskovskaya metro station in the direction to the city center, depart commercial buses to the towns of Pushkin, Pavlovsk and Gatchina.
Useful tips regarding travel from Pulkovo airport to St. Petersburg
If you have a lot of baggage you’d better take a public №39 bus since it provides more space for your things (as you can see on the photo above), and travel times of a public bus and a commercial minibus doesn’t differ that much.
You’re not permitted to pay in dollars or euro or any other currency except the Russian ruble, neither credit cards are being accepted, so it’s necessary to exchange money at the airport. You can do it at a VTB24 bank outlet at the ground floor.
In most cases your fastest way to your destination within the city is metro. More information on how metro in St. Petersburg works you can see here.
2. How to get to Pulkovo airport from the city
Buses №39, №39A (express) and minibus K-39 depart to the Pulkovo airport from Moskovskaya metro station. Please, beware that there are four exits from the station, and you need only one.
The stops of both routes are located near the building of McDonald’s between the buildings at the Moskovsky prospect №195 and №197 (see the map and the photo below).
The stops of both routes are located near the building of McDonald’s
You can see the mini-bus in front of the McDonald`s
Finding this, if you travel to Moskovskaya by metro, isn’t difficult, but you need some assistance, of course.
Once you’ve got out of the metro train, follow the arrow at the wall (see the picture below).
You have to choose the exit toward Tipanova street
Having got through the turnstiles, you go until the end of the tunnel and get right to the stop.
Useful tip. The road to Pulkovo is rarely being congested, but anyway you’d better start from Moskovskaya two hours before your departure given the necessity to pass through security and customs control.
3. Taxi To / From Pulkovo Airport
If you arrive, it’s highly recommended to book a taxi by phone and not to accept services of taxi drivers waiting for clients near the exits and at bus stops outside the terminal. They are likely to offer you inflated prices. Some of them can carry signs Official taxi. The airport Pulkovo does have its own taxi service, but the city of St. Petersburg doesn’t. There are no any “official”, “municipal”, “state”, “city” taxis, these are private companies only which operate in the city.
Fare from Pulkovo to Moskovskaya is about 600 rubles, to Nevsky avenue is 750 to 1200 rubles. Many taxis in St. Petersburg accept credit cards, but unfortunately few have English-speaking drivers. About taxi system in St. Petersburg read our article here. If you need a hotel near Pulkovo airport read this post.
An if you want to know about REAL taxi fares to / from Pulkovo airport you have to read this article.
If you need some assistance in booking a taxi in St. Petersburg, contact us, we’ll try to help.
