You can get to Veliky Novgorod (or Novgorod the Great) from St Petersburg (only 194 km) in three ways: by bus, by a commercial minibus taxi, and by a suburban train.
St Petersburg – Veliky Novgorod Charter Minibus
This transport mode is the most convenient. The route operated by a private transport company Novgorod-Avto which uses minivans accommodating up to 20 persons and coaches. It’s fast, cheap and with a convenient location of a starting point in St. Petersburg.
The starting point can be found easily, it’s near Moskovskaya subway station, at the junction of the Aviatsionnaya street and the Moskovsky avenue.
Important: before coming to Aviatsionnaya, the minibus goes to Pulkovo airport where it picks up passengers, so you can get to Novgorod directly from the airport.
How to find the minibus stop if you there go by subway.
Moskovskaya station has two exits: one leads to the bus bound to the Pulkovo airport and the other doesn’t. You need the second, which “doesn’t”. How you find the right one? Upon leaving a subway’s carriage (before ascending the elevator), find this sign on the wall:
Exit the subway station in the direction of the Aviatsionnaya street (on this sign, it’s to the left, to Улица Типанова, Московский проспект, Ленинский проспект, etc). Upon leaving the subway, you see the monument to Vladimir Lenin, this one:
Turn your back to the monument and see the sign of the VTB Bank on the Moskovsky avenue (it reads ВТБ in Russian, on the photo below). Go straight toward it about 100 meters to the bus stop on the corner of the Aviatsionnaya street and the Moskovsky avenue.
You will see a minibus like that with the sign reading «Новгород-Авто» (Novgorod-Avto)
Note: one can’t just come, pay, board a minibus and ride to Veliky Novgorod. Tickets must be pre-ordered. The best time for ordering tickets is 2-3 days before the trip or even earlier if you want to travel on Friday night or Saturday.
The fare is 450 rubles (and 550 rubles if you board at Pulkovo airport), and you should pay it when boarding (except Pulkovo, you must buy tickets online). If you order round trip tickets, they will cost 850 rubles. Call +7 921 950 05 01 to book tickets (in Russian). Also, they can be booked online on the website of the transport company http://www.novgorod-avto.ru (in Russian only, contact us if you need assistance).
The shuttle minibus runs daily from 7.00 to 02.00 almost every hour. The schedule can be found here.
Because of the strengthened control over the movement of citizens between regions of the Russian Federation, a passport is required to buy tickets!
Luggage. Each passenger has a right to take aboard:
— One handbag of up to 5 kg and up to 45x20x20 cm (length, width, height)
— And one suit of up to 20 kg and up to 70x40x30 cm.
There is no special luggage room in minivans, but luggage of the kind mentioned above can be transported.
In case, you are travelling aboard of a 49-seat bus, you can take larger luggage.
The average time en route is 2.5-3 hours. Only one stop is made – in the Chudovo village (10 minutes).
Overall, the Novgorod-Avto company has rather comfortable buses with comfortable seats and free Wi-Fi and friendly drivers.
The bus arrives to the train and bus stations (they are in the same place) in the center of the city. At the request of passengers other stops can be made on the way to the destination.
The railway station in Novgorod is situated on the same square as the bus station and a McDonald’s restaurant. The square is close to the most popular sights – the Novgorod Kremlin and Yaroslav’s court – just a 20 minute walk.
Sometimes, when the demand is high, instead of a minibus, a comfortable coach is provided passengers for the same price. You can learn the information about the bus when booking tickets by phone.
St Petersburg — Veliky Novgorod Coach
A bus to Novgorod leaves from the St. Petersburg’s Central coach station (36, Obvodny Canal embankment, Obvodny Canal subway station).
Exit from Obvodny Canal subway station, cross the Ligovsky avenue and go straight along the Obvodny Canal towards the American bridge, which can be seen to the left far away.
The bus station is approximately 500 meters away from the subway station.
The bus trip will take 3.5 — 4 hours. Buses depart from 06:00 to 21:30 every hour. A full bus schedule is available on http://www.avokzal.ru (in Russian).
You can buy tickets both at the coach station and online with a credit card on:
Prices are practically the same as for the Novgorod-Avto’s shuttle minibus: 450 — 550 rubles for an one way adult ticket, children are admitted at half-price, luggage fare — 50 rubles (it will be easier to pay the driver when boarding).
The bus makes a stop in Chudovo, which is about an hour’s drive from the city.
Lastochka Electric Train to Novgorod
Since February 2013, there appeared a good alternative to the coach and the minibus – a modern and comfortable train with a cute name “Lastochka” (Swallow), departing from the Moscow railway station in St. Petersburg (the nearest subway station to the railway station is Ploschad Vosstaniya).
This train is most attractive according to price \ quality \ time. A one-way ticket costs from 604 rubles for adults and 456 rubles for children; passengers with pets will have to pay another 139 rubles. Tickets can be purchased online, for example, on the website of Russian Railways (rzd.ru) or at the railway station.
The train departs daily from Moscovsky vokzal railway station at 07:26 and 19:32, arrives at 10:17 and 23:08 respectively.
A huge advantage of travelling by Lastochka is the absence of traffic jams!
Choosing this route, you can spend a couple of hours scrolling newsfeed or reading, because train Lastochka rides very quiet.
In addition to Lastochka, there are two “ordinary” electric trains, which depart from Moscovsky vokzal and Vitebsky vokzal railway stations in St Petersburg. Their schedules vary: some days, for example, there are no trains in the evening. Their time en route is 4 hours 19 minutes and 4 hours 43 minutes and the ticket fare is 481 and 559 rubles respectively. It is worth riding them only if you need not to Novgorod, but to one of the intermediate stations.
How to Get to St Petersburg from Veliky Novgorod
Again, you can choose from the minibus, coach or train.
Minibus from Veliky Novgorod to St Petersburg
You can use the Novgorod-Avto minibus to return to St Petersburg. It’s recommended that soon after arrival you visit the Novgorod-Avto office / ticket sales point, located on 12/24 Voskresensky Boulevard, on the left from the train station, and buy a return ticket or buy it when booking in St. Petersburg. Tickets are being sold out very quickly, so plan ahead.
The minibus departs from McDonald’s building located directly across the street from the office, or to the left from the train station. You need to be at the stop 20-25 minutes before its departure.
Note: you can get onboard the minibus on its way to the town exit at one of the stops in the streets of Novgorod. You can get more information about it in the Novgorod-Avto office or by phone +7 (8162) 700-501.
Due to the large number of passengers departing to St Petersburg on weekends, larger buses tend to serve the route instead of the usual minibuses.
Veliky Novgorod — St Petersburg Bus
The bus ticket price is 450 – 550 rubles in 2020 when buying at the Coach station. An hour after departure, it makes a stop at the filling station in Chudovo, where there are shops and a toilet.
Coaches depart from early morning to the evening, the last departure is about 18.30.
In St. Petersburg, the first stop of the bus from Novgorod is at Kupchino subway station. It takes two hours and a half to get from Novgorod to Kupchino (provided there are no traffic jams). If you don’t live near the Central coach station, you’d better take off here to ride further by subway to your location. It will save you a great amount of time.
Address of the Novgorod coach station: Oktyabr’skaya Ulitsa, 1 Veliky Novgorod Novgorodskaya oblast’ (opposite the railway station).
You can easily book transfer or excursions online through an international aggregator which secures your payment in your currency and a seat and ensures a safe deal:
Electric Train from Veliky Novgorod to St Petersburg
The Lastochka electric train departs from the Novgorod railway station (1, the Oktyabrskaya street) at 06:10 and 18:06 daily and arrives at the Moscovsky vokzal railway station in St. Petersburg at 09:38 and 20:55 respectively.
Also read our post Major Sightseeings Of Veliky Novgorod And Tips To See Them.
By Alexandra Ankudinova, Alexey Stupachenko