Saint Petersburg Flights

Just wanted to put up a note for people about St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport....
Allow yourself plenty of time when leaving the city. When i left, i got to the airport about two and a half hours before my flight... but still only just got through to the gate in time to board my flight.... i just seemed to queue everywhere! Security check, then check in, then again at passport control.... and then at the final gate security check!!!
Obviously, this may have just been one of those days, and it may not happen all the time, but i just think it is worth giving it a mention.

St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport is notorious for its dollar-thirsty cheating taxi drivers, demanding exorbitant prices for a ride to the city.

Local public bus # 13 costs next to nothing, and the bus stop is only a few dozen meters behind the taxi line. It runs regularly every few minutes, and will take you to Moskovskaya Station in the southern end of the city.

Admittedly, from there it's still quite some distance to the city center, but the Metro (subway) is just there, and so are lots of other bus lines, and even a taxi from there to your hotel will be much more reasonable.

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I flew to from St. Petersburg to Moscow and back with Rossiya Airlines. And it was interesting, saying that it that way would be diplomatic. In my life in all the flying I have done around the world I have never prayed so much to return back to earth in one peace. The aircraft was an old Tupolev that was in the worst state an aircraft could be.
Hence take air travel with caution, since I would never jump on a Russian airline in a hurry again any time soon!

Flying there from Switzerland nonstop can only be done once a week with Pulkovo International airlines. The problem is that they only fly in summer.

Otherwise, there are lots of airlines flying to St. Petersburg including Lufthansa, Austrian, SAS, Finnish, BA , Air Baltic etc.

To get to the airport with lugguage, it's best to order a taxi. I always used Taxi Blues, phone 271 88 88, which were quite reliable. Get someone to call for you in Russian. You need to tell them your exact address and where you want to go and they tell you the price. Also you need to give them your phone number as they call you back around 15 minutes before and tell you the number part of the car license plate (so you know which is your taxi). Then go and find your taxi on the street. At the end of the journey you pay the driver what you were quoted on the phone. If this is too complicated for you, you may want to book a transfer with a tour company.

Train is a much more preferable way to travel between Peterburg and Moscow than airplane. First, airports are a far from both cities, while train stations are located in their centers and are easily accessed by subway. Secondly, the TU-134 jets can be uncomfortably cramped for anyone above average height.
The flight takes over an hour, but the time needed to travel to and from the airports (and the fact that you have to arrive early to the airport) will negate the time advantage. Take the train!

So my trip to Saint Petersburg started at the airport of Schiphol near Amsterdam, Holland.

So it was an early wake-up (3 P.M.), and then a trip by car towards the Dutch National Airport (300 km - 3 hours by car).

It was a rather short flight, only 2.15 h.

Do not forget, that there is a difference of time, in St Petersburg it is 2 hours later then in Holland.

I paid 400 euros for this flight (taxes included).

So I missed my flight back to the U.K. because of the brunette. Luckily my visa was valid for a few more days and so I went to travel agents around Peter to try and get a cheapish return flight. Why doesn't easyJet fly here?

I came across an unusual travel agency, called 'Attica Holidays'. Far be it for me to comment on someone else's sexual persuasion, but the owner of the joint seemed to be the campest Russian I had ever met.

He had obviously travelled quite a bit around the world and wore gold ear-rings, had masses of gold rings on his fingers, had dyed blonde hair, and wore a kind of Egyptian style white kaftan.

Anyhow, the service was great and he happily rang up the airlines on my behalf. I can recommend the agency for that without reservation. Unfortunately the flights he quoted were a bit pricey so I went elsewhere, but anyhow, it was an experience.

Direct flights from London Gatwick with BA arrive to St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport. When I flew out there I was offered Aeroflot as an alternative. Both prices were almost the same and BA had the better internal connection.

Pulkovo airport was much smaller than I had expected and there were limited facilities for purchase of duty free goods. It is arbout 6km out of the city centre and is accessible by bus. Taxis can be expensive (especially if you are a foreigner).