Where to go in St. Petersburg in winter? 9 non-banal and very interesting places to visit

Winter is no reason to postpone traveling until the snow melts and temperatures are comfortably above freezing. Tourist places are beautiful in any weather, and snow and cold will add a touch of extreme. A plus will be the absence of a large number of people, you will be able to capture interesting objects in unusual angles.

St. Petersburg is ideal as a tourist center of Russia, which is worth visiting in winter. If in summer you want to wind kilometers, studying the attractive architecture of the city, go to Peterhof and admire the fountains, it is now that you can visit museums, theaters, art exhibitions.

Don’t be afraid to take a vacation or come to the Northern Capital for a weekend in winter. Upon your return, you will have something to tell your loved ones about live or share stories on social networks. Palaces and Manezh Square will not be in the selection. The list is based on the reviews of tourists who love authentic, unadvertised places permeated with the spirit and history of the city.

Vitebsk railway station

Information: suitable for photo shoots.

Location address: Zagorodny Prospekt, 52.

Working hours: round the clock.

One of the oldest railway stations in St. Petersburg is a favorite place for shooting historical films. Locals joke that it is used in this capacity more often than for its intended purpose. And there is a reason why. The interior of the station is authentic and preserved in the form in which it was built more than 100 years ago.

The object attracts with a wide marble staircase, broom tiles on the floor, high columns, stucco with gilding and an apron with a clock, which reminds platform 9 ¾ from “Harry Potter”.

Amateurs can take photos on their phones in the station building for free. But professional shooting is paid and will cost 1500 rubles.

Vitebsk railway station

Zoological Museum

Information: it is suitable not only for lovers of antiquities and fossils, but also for everyone who wants to see the skeleton of a blue whale in full size.

Location address: Universitetskaya Embankment, house 1.

Opening hours: from 11:00 to 18:00 daily, except Tuesday.

Ticket price:

• adults (without benefits) – 400 rubles;
• students, pensioners, children under 18 – 200 rubles;
• children from three to six years old – 100 rubles;
• group excursions – from 1500 rubles.

The building alone amazes with its size and architectural elements carefully preserved by restorers. And the history of the museum is long, the date of foundation – 1832. It was then that it separated from the Kunstkamera. All visitors are amazed by the huge skeleton of a blue whale on the first floor. This is where you can spend hours studying the structure of animals.

The museum will be interesting with skeletons of ancient mammoths, stuffed animals, exhibits of mollusks, tropical birds, various mammals. You can also see the skeleton of a steller’s cow and a giant anaconda, which was bought and brought to St. Petersburg by Emperor Peter the Great himself.

Zoological Museum

Bookstore “Subscription editions”

Information: you can listen to scientific lectures and enjoy the rustle of freshly printed books.

Location address: Liteiny Prospekt, 57.

Opening hours: from 10:00 to 22:00 daily.

Cost: free admission.

The extraordinary beauty of the bookstore has become a shelter for intellectuals of St. Petersburg, and for all those who come with an excursion to the city. Here you can find not only novelties of world and domestic trendy editions, but also attend lectures, jazz concerts, masterminds, creative meetings. For children there is a separate cultural program with its own book club.
All visitors will be able to plunge into the atmosphere of old St. Petersburg and read an interesting book over a cup of coffee.

Subscription Editions Bookstore

Castle Rock bookstore

Information: a must for King and Shout fans to see Gorshka’s legendary leather cape.

Location address: 47, Ligovsky Prospekt.

Opening hours: from 9:00 to 21:00 daily.

The cult store is interesting not only for things with attributes of informal subculture, but also for its exhibition items. Here you can buy T-shirts, kosuhi, raincoats or just look at the things in which the legends of Russian rock performed. There are finger casts of famous musicians. The basement where the store is located conveys the atmosphere and spirit of the 90s, where big parties used to gather.

Castle Rock store

Carl Bulla Museum and Photo Showroom

Information: interesting with the exhibition of old cameras and access to the observation deck, where you can see the view of Nevsky Prospekt.

Location address: Nevsky Prospekt, 54.

Opening hours: from 11:00 to 20:00 daily.

Cost:

• entrance ticket – 150 rubles;
• children under seven years old – free of charge;
• photo shooting – 100 rubles;
• professional shooting – 1500 rubles.

Atmospheric place attracts the history of a man with a unique ability to work. Photographer Carl Bulla was fond of photography since childhood and has never let go of the camera from his hands since then. In the museum you can see pictures of old St. Petersburg, famous political and scientific figures of the era. It is also fascinating to learn the history of cameras. But most of all, the observation deck of the museum attracts attention. It is called the most successful place from where you can see Nevsky Prospekt from a height.

Karl Bulla Museum and Photo Salon

Sevkabel port

Information: modern art space, which gathered in one place fashionable coffee houses, exhibitions, markets.

Location address: Kozhevnaya Liniya, 40d.

Opening hours: round the clock. Cafe – from 10:00 daily.

Traveler, artist and tattoo artist from Moscow

A great place to walk around with friends and enjoy the creative atmosphere. When I come to St. Petersburg, I make sure to visit the open-air skating rink by the sea in Sevkabel Port. I think the space is perfect for a date or meeting with friends. You can finish the evening nearby, in a restaurant or bar.

Sevkabel Port

Guided tours of the revenue houses, front rooms and communal apartments

Information: for those who like to explore what the walls and floors of communal apartments in the center of St. Petersburg hide under themselves.

Excursion cost: from 1500 rubles per person.

Meeting place: Liteiny Prospekt, 17.

The guides will tell not about the famous palaces and cathedrals of St. Petersburg, but about masterpieces of architecture – buildings in the area of Chernyshevskaya metro station. It will be possible to learn the history of profitable houses and how this neighborhood became one of the most expensive in the city. You will also be able to admire wide marble staircases, openwork wrought iron railings, stained glass windows. All buildings are more than 100 years old.

Aurora Cinema

Information: for fans of retrospectives.

Location address: 60 Nevsky Prospekt.

Opening hours: daily according to the poster schedule.

Ticket price: from 300 rubles.

An amazing place where the history of cinematography meets modernity. The building of the movie theater is more than a hundred years old. Everything here is permeated with the spirit of time: from the walls and tiles to the buffet. Plus you can see films that are not broadcast in modern cinemas.

Aurora Cinema

Erarta Museum of Modern Art

Information: an ideal place for lovers of fine art.

Location address: Vasilievsky Island, 29th line.

Opening hours: from 10:00 to 22:00 daily, except Tuesday.

Ticket price: from 1000 rubles.

Installations of glass balls, washing machines and unusual clothes – this is just a small list of exhibitions that take place in the museum. In the collection of Erarta there are more than 2.5 thousand paintings by contemporary Russian artists. Fans of modern art are also surprised in the restaurant of author’s cuisine. But now it is closed for reconstruction. You will have to have a snack in another equally colorful place on Vasilyevsky Island.

Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art