Traveling to St. Petersburg from Moscow by private car for a few days is not a bad idea, especially if you have a family with children. Our correspondent went on such a trip and shares observations, tips and life hacks – where to stay, what to see with children in the first place, how to save and plan time and excursions if you have only three days.
BY CAR TO ST. PETERSBURG FROM MOSCOW: TWICE AS CHEAP
Our correspondent planned a family trip to St. Petersburg for the Moscow school holidays, which schools operating under the 5+1 modular system had in early April. The option of traveling by car was chosen for two reasons.
The first is independence and the absence of “transfers” (before and after the plane and train, you still need to go somewhere on something, overload your luggage).
The second is pure economyme. Tickets for the Sapsan for adults cost 6,7 – 7,2 thousand rubles round trip: that is, for a round trip with two children aged 7 and 11, taking into account discounts, we would need to spend 40-44 thousand rubles. Plane tickets for four with one piece of luggage would have cost a little cheaper – about 33 thousand rubles on Aeroflot, and about 2 thousand rubles more would have to be spent on a taxi.
What is the case with the car? We had to spend 8.6 thousand rubles for gasoline there and back (if we count all gas stations by checks in Moscow and St. Petersburg), 6.7 thousand rubles for the M11 toll highway and another 800 rubles for the section of the Western High–speed Diameter in St. Petersburg. For meals on the highway – 1200 rubles.
Highway M11 “Neva”. Photo: ATOR
In the dry balance: 17.3 thousand rubles, that is, half the price of an airplane and, of course, a Peregrine Falcon. Moreover, the costs would be even lower if we had a transponder working (which was, but, unfortunately, turned out to be faulty). In terms of time, the car is comparable to both a train and an airplane (if you take into account the road to and from train stations and airports). Together with the stops, from home to the hotel, the entire journey from one capital to another takes a little less than 8 hours. And this is in the “normal” mode, without being reckless.
The M11 Neva, even on weekends, is an excellent high–speed traffic-free highway, along which you can drive with really high and constant speed. Unfortunately, the route is incomplete – in the middle you need to move to the Tver bypass section, where the speed is lower, since you are passing through populated areas. But this is an excuse to stop and eat on the way from Moscow, just there, on the Southern bypass of Tver, there is an excellent “Chicken House” with a children’s room (you can build a route right to it).
There are enough recreation areas on the M11 highway, but there are only two full-fledged cafes on the road itself. Photo: ATOR
On the toll highway itself, there are enough gas stations with shops where you can buy coffee and a hot dog, but very few full-fledged food stations – only two MGrill cafes – one closer to Moscow, the other is already in the Novgorod region.
A lesson was learned from this: it would be quite reasonable to take food with you, especially since there are many recreation areas with gazebos.
WHICH HOTEL TO CHOOSE IN ST. PETERSBURG IF YOU NEED A BEAUTIFUL PANORAMA OF THE CITY
Everyone visited our family in St. Petersburg, except children (girls aged 7 and 11) – they were traveling for the first time, and the trip was largely for the sake of their impressions and new knowledge.
Therefore, we wanted three things from the hotel at once, in addition to the level of service: convenient location, necessarily – a beautiful view of the city from the windows and the availability of free Parking.
After consulting with senior colleagues in the tourism industry of the Northern capital, after going through several suggested options, we settled on the classics: the St. Petersburg Hotel on the Neva Embankment directly opposite the Aurora cruiser, at one time the main hotel of the city “for foreigners”. Based on the results of the trip, we can say that this choice turned out to be optimal for traveling with children.
Panorama of St. Petersburg at sunset from the windows of the St. Petersburg 4* hotel. Photo: ATOR
The hotel does have free parking, where the car was parked all the time of our short vacation (later we will tell you why it was parked).
St. Petersburg itself is located very close to the center (to Nevsky – 200-250 rubles by taxi or 2 metro stops), that is, it is very convenient to get to walking places. The hotel is more than worthy of its 4 stars, it looks solid both inside and out, it also has an indoor pool (though paid) with a SPA center. It is also useful that there is a Lenta store right in the same building, where you can buy something if you need something urgently.
And there are simply chic breakfasts – including “live” cooking of egg dishes with guests, “like in Turkey”. Tellingly, the very moody children in Moscow ate everything here.
But the main feature of this hotel is the panoramic views of St. Petersburg and special windows. There are such rooms in many categories of the hotel, which in many ways became the criterion of choice (the specialists of the tour operator suggested this to us). Since the four of us were traveling, we did not save money and took a two-room suite, but there are exactly the same floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows in other cheaper hotel rooms, for example, Deluxe Neva.
The windows of the St. Petersburg Hotel offer a truly magnificent panorama and views of the historical center of the city. Photo: ATOR
What can be seen from the windows almost to the entire wall: the Neva, the parade embankments, the bridges over the Neva – Liteyny, Troitskiy, Dvortsovy, the panorama of the historical center with a dominant in the form of St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Admiralty spire, the Alexandrian column on Palace Square, the cruiser Aurora and the Summer Garden.
The daytime panorama is bright, but the sunsets and the illuminated Petersburg at night are even more beautiful. It is not for nothing that the hotel has been and is so much loved by foreigners: the place is simply unrealistically successful in terms of views.
The night panorama from the windows of St. Petersburg is also beautiful, the famous Aurora is perfectly visible from here. Photo: ATOR
Children (and parents too, let’s not hide it), at first it was simply impossible to tear them away from the huge windows. Of course, in front of them is a great city with a single picture, a single visual image – with the Neva, Isaac, bridges, Petropavlovsk, Aurora.
And this is the children’s first impression of St. Petersburg is priceless – we can say that we followed it. By the way, there is also a view restaurant on the top floor of the hotel – from there the panorama of the city is no less spectacular.
The night view from the hotel windows to St. Petersburg with backlight is also fascinating. Photo: ATOR
Of course, “St. Petersburg” is unique with just such a panorama and just such special windows. But let’s remind you that in the Northern capital there are also hotels with excellent views of the city – we made such a selection, and it is quite relevant.
WHY DO TOURISTS WITH CHILDREN NEED GROUP TOURS IN St. Petersburg AND WHERE TO GET THEM
With the exception of “on the road” days, we had three full days in St. Petersburg. It is clear that in such a time, even a historical center with a huge history with children will not be able to see the whole. But our task was to give them a first impression of him. So that they would like to come here again and again – with us or with friends.
Initially, we also planned to drive a car (we shouldn’t have come in it, of course), including visiting some suburb or even Vyborg. But on the very first day, which we devoted to walking along Nevsky Prospekt and around it, we abandoned this idea – the car was still parked at the hotel before departure.
The hotel’s free parking is adjacent directly to the waterfront. Photo: ATOR
Firstly, the center of St. Petersburg is designed in such a way that solid lines of historical houses and enclosed courtyards create difficulties with free parking (we did not want to park for a fee, and the few paid places were densely packed).
In the center of St. Petersburg, parking for personal cars is difficult. It is better to go on bus tours. Photo: ATOR
And in places where there is no paid parking yet, it is almost impossible outside the center. There are no places there either on weekends or on weekdays (we made sure by making a few laps around our hotel and trying to find at least some place for the car in the Moskovsky district on the way back). And our free parking at the hotel, which we observed from the window, was in such high demand that the entrances and exits to it were often simply blocked by other cars.
Therefore, we looked at the city on foot, by metro and by taxi. But a little tired of hiking in the center on the first day (who has two small children, knows how tired they are of walking, it’s not at all like walking for two adults), for a trip to the suburbs of St. Petersburg, we bought a group bus tour to Kronstadt.
Buses on excursions are convenient and comfortable. Photo: ATOR
Ordered it from a well-known local St. Petersburg tour operator, Nevsky Seasons. This company has a variety of bus and bus-walking tours, from which it is possible to form so–called “cyclic” tours – when excursions, for example, go on a weekly schedule, without repeating themselves. What is the convenience?
Depending on your arrival day, schedule and interests, you can buy a tour for at least one day (in fact, one excursion with a specific topic), for two, three or more – as desired. Since there are about a hundred such excursions at the Nevsky Seasons , there was plenty to choose from. We bought that day of the “cyclic tour” when the tour operator takes tourists to Kronstadt, but if we were interested in the temples of St. Petersburg, we could buy another day, and so on.
The steel Wish Tree in Kronstadt was created recently, but has already become a real popular attraction. Look at how everyone is happily trying to throw a coin inside it. Photo: ATOR
Personally convinced: such excursions, firstly, are inexpensive (the whole trip to Kronstadt cost us 4800 rubles for four people). Secondly, they are interesting, and thirdly, they are not tedious. Children are not as tired as they are on long walks.
The tour operator’s buses are modern. The place and time of the start are convenient: they depart around 10-11 am from the Oktyabrskaya hotel, in the center, right next to the metro and Moskovsky train station. It took two metro stops from our hotel or 25 minutes in the morning by taxi. You manage to get enough sleep, have breakfast slowly and hit the road.
This thing with the earphone makes you “not tied” to the guide. Photo: ATOR
I am glad that now everything is arranged “for a person” and in no way resembles the “Soviet” group excursions with “keep up, get on the bus quickly, you have five minutes”, which we once visited in our childhood.
For example, tourists now have radio sets. Simply put, a receiver box with headphones hanging around your neck. This means that you can hear what the guide is saying at a sufficiently large distance (about 30 m), which means that tourists do not need to “huddle” around him all the time.
With a radio kit, you can safely lag behind the group – for example, in order to take a good photo from the right angle or show the child something more substantive.
KRONSTADT: A STUNNING MUSEUM OF FORTS
In Kronstadt with an excursion we did not go in vain. The city itself is not striking: here, contrary to the stereotypes of Muscovites, there is no fortress (and that’s why – the guide on the bus will tell you very interestingly, and from the story it becomes clear a lot about the current realities).
Warships in perpetual parking in Kronstadt. Photo: ATOR
But here you can show your child real warships, try to throw a coin into the steel “wish tree” – an attraction that captivated the whole group from young to old, look at The Maritime Cathedral and, if there is time, take a walk in the park “Island of Forts”.
The Naval Cathedral of Kronstadt is not only a church, but a monument to thousands of dead sailors whose names are stamped on its walls. Photo: ATOR
But for us, the most interesting thing in the whole tour turned out to be the interactive museum-layout of the forts of Kronstadt. We recommend it to both children and adults. Tickets to it (500 rubles) you do not need to buy: they are already included in the price of the tour.
In the museum-layout of the forts of Kronstadt. Photo: ATOR
In fact, the museum hosts a kind of “cinema tour” lasting about 40 minutes. In the course of a colorful film about the forts of Kronstadt, which is on the screen, a voiceover invites you to watch one or another layout of the fort in question, and the audience approaches them.
In the museum-layout of the forts of Kronstadt. Photo: ATOR
In the dark, amazingly artfully made models of forts flash with beautiful illumination, ships begin to move in them, batteries rotate, guns shoot.
In the museum-layout of the forts of Kronstadt. Photo: ATOR
It is interesting that not only children still have one of the most vivid impressions of the trip, but also us adults: there simply were no such museums in our childhood.
In the museum-layout of the forts of Kronstadt. Photo: ATOR
WHAT YOU CAN SEE IN ST. PETERSBURG WITH CHILDREN IN TWO DAYS
We had two full days in St. Petersburg itself. This is, of course, very little. But for the first acquaintance, the purpose of which is to give emotions, you can have time to watch the most important thing with the children, in general it is enough. We recommend interspersing history and architecture with interactive content. That’s what tourists with two children can do in two days, in our experience:
- Take a walk along Nevsky Prospekt with its amazing architecture and along the streets nearby.
Houses on Nevsky Prospekt are a separate reason to walk with your head held high. Photo: ATOR
Kazan Cathedral is impressive in any weather. Photo: ATOR
- Walk to the arch of the General Staff, seeWinter Palace and Palace Square.
View from the arch of the General Staff to the Palace Square and the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Photo: ATOR.jpg
Be sure to log in to Hermitage for two hours. By the way, the Hermitage is also one of the most affordable family museums in St. Petersburg: only here children are allowed for free.
Winter decoration is always very striking – for both children and adults. Photo: ATOR
Younger schoolchildren are really interested there, if they do not focus on painting (for this, too, the time will come), but on the imperial palace interiors themselves.
Interiors of the Winter Palace. Photo: ATOR
The famous “Peacock Clock” became a hit there personally, as well as the halls of ancient history, which the eldest daughter had already passed. Two hours in the Hermitage is enough to give the first performance and not let emotions get mixed up.
Peacock clock. All the children in the Hermitage have a hit. Photo: ATOR
- Be sure to stop by (by taxi, public transport is inconvenient) at “Grand Layout Russia”. An amazing museum that captivates everyone – both children and adults. In fact, it is interactive (“generalized”) map of Russia – from the volcanoes of Kamchatka through Siberia and the Urals to the Volga, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kaliningrad….
Children in the “Grand Layout Russia” cannot be torn away from looking at interactive layouts. Photo: ATOR
Factories are operating on the models, trains, buses and cars are running, little men are sawing firewood and flying kites. There are a lot of animated sections – you need to press a button, and the factory will start working, or the train station will “come to life”, balloons will fly or there will be fireworks.
And this is the Sochi zone in the “Grand Layout of Russia”. Did you find out? Photo: ATOR
The time of day regularly changes in the halls: lights come on on cruise liners in Vladivostok and Sochi, windows in Ural factories, at Siberian stations and in high-rise buildings of megacities, fireworks are being fired over the Neva, and Kamchatka volcanoes are erupting.
The “Night” layout of Russia is also very impressive. Photo: ATOR
It is incredibly interesting for children here, they literally cannot be torn away from the layouts – and for girls too (and even more so for boys). However, all this really amazes parents too, because as a child we could only dream of such incredible toy cities and trains.
It is better to take binoculars at the entrance to examine everything (for a fee). Photo: ATOR
For all visits to the “Grand Layout” it is necessary to lay at least 2 hours – this is still the largest layout of Russia in the world. It is better to go in the morning so that you can see everything before lunch.
Life hack: right in the building of the museum itself there is a beautiful clean and inexpensive dining room with home cooking. Despite the fact that it is at the museum, it is cheaper here than in the city (surprisingly). About 1000 rubles for four people.
The Grand layout of Russia is very large, it takes at least 1.5-2 hours for a cursory inspection. Photo: ATOR
- Must See in St. Petersburg with children – the famous kotokafe. Perhaps, our emotions from St. Petersburg cats even somewhat overshadowed the rest. There are a lot of cats in St. Petersburg, but we chose the first city institution of this kind, “Republic of Cats”, it is just near Isaac.
Kotokafe “Republic of cats” in St. Petersburg. Photo: ATOR
Maine Coon Hemingway is a favorite of all children in the “Republic of Cats”. Photo: ATOR
Surrounded by fluffy children feel delight. Photo: ATOR
- Take a walk around the quarter near the Admiralty and St. Isaac’s Cathedral. And if the weather is good, go up to his observation deck and take another look at the city from a height.
St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg is a must see, of course. Photo: ATOR
- From here you can also walk to beautiful New Holland, or turn into another museum with models – “St. Petersburg Aquatoria”, it is also nearby. However, we got tired of the layouts and postponed it for the next visit.
New Holland is a new public space and park, the pride of St. Petersburg. Photo: ATOR
- Build the return path in parallel Nevsky, showing children other central streets of the city and canals.
In the center of St. Petersburg. Photo: ATOR
In the center of St. Petersburg, you can find not only expensive restaurants, but also clean and affordable canteens. Photo: ATOR
The channels of St. Petersburg are definitely worth a look too, but in summer, of course, they look better. Photo: ATOR.
It is also worth sitting in cozy St. Petersburg cafes or no less cozy canteens (a catering format that has practically disappeared in Moscow). Prices in the cafe for two adults and two children start from 2.5 – 3 thousand rubles. without alcohol. In the canteens, four people can have a great meal for 1000 – 1200 rubles for everyone.
We also recommend going to the Bakeries F.Volchek”: there is no such baking in Moscow. These chain bakeries are scattered all over the city, type this name on the online map.
- Visit the Aurora cruiser (look at the schedule, it does not work every day). It is interesting, by the way, for both children and adults. There is a pretty good museum inside and even a diorama of the storming of the Winter Palace in 1917.
On the cruiser Aurora. Photo: ATOR
- To buy a chocolate postcard as a gift to Moscow at the Nevsky bookstore.
Chocolate postcards from St. Petersburg are a hit with children and girls. Photo: ATOR
And on the way back to Moscow, I want to discuss what I saw with the children, tell them what else I can see in St. Petersburg, and start planning my next trip.
Dmitry Sereda