How to Get to Saint Petersburg: Pulkovo Airport, Trains and Metro

As Russia's principal north-western transport hub on the Baltic coast, Saint Petersburg is served by a unified international airport terminal south of the city, five historic mainline railway terminals radiating from the central avenues, and one of the deepest metro systems in the world.

Arriving at Pulkovo Airport (LED)

Located 23 kilometres south of Palace Square off the Pulkovskoye Highway, Pulkovo Airport (IATA code LED) handles all domestic and international commercial flights through a single unified passenger terminal opened in December 2013 and designed by Grimshaw Architects, whose folded geometric golden roof echoes the spires and bridges of the city. Because no rail line currently runs to the terminal, the most reliable public transport connection is city bus 39 or express bus 39Ex, which depart every few minutes from the arrivals kerbside and reach Moskovskaya Metro Station on Line 2 (the blue Moskovsko-Petrogradskaya Line). From Moskovskaya Station, direct underground trains reach Nevsky Prospekt Station along Line 2, while official airport taxis can be booked at desks inside the arrivals hall.

Moskovsky Terminal and Suburban Railway Stations

Saint Petersburg has no single central railway station; instead, five terminus stations handle trains according to geographic direction:

• Moskovsky Railway Terminal (Vosstaniya Square): Opened in 1851 to a Renaissance Revival design by Konstantin Thon (twin to Leningradsky Station in Moscow), this terminal at the bend of Nevsky Prospekt receives high-speed Sapsan electric trains (completing the 650-kilometre journey from Moscow in under four hours) as well as overnight sleeper trains such as the Red Arrow (Krasnaya Strela).
• Vitebsky Railway Terminal (Zagorodny Prospekt): Opened on Russia's first railway route in 1837 and rebuilt in 1904 in Art Nouveau style with wrought-iron arches and stained glass, Vitebsky Station serves suburban electric trains to Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin) and Pavlovsk.
• Baltiysky, Finlyandsky and Ladozhsky Terminals: Baltiysky Station (on Metro Line 1) dispatches suburban trains to Novy Petergof (Peterhof) and Oranienbaum, Finlyandsky Station north of the Neva serves coastal resorts along the Karelian Isthmus such as Zelenogorsk and Repino, and modern Ladozhsky Station handles long-distance northern and eastern routes.

Navigating the Deep Saint Petersburg Metro

Inaugurated on 15 November 1955 along the red Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line (Line 1), the Saint Petersburg Metro operates six colour-coded lines, the newest of which, Line 6, opened in December 2025, a year after Gorny Institut station opened on Line 4. Because the tunnels had to be bored through deep Cambrian clay beneath the waterlogged Neva delta and marshes, it is one of the deepest metro systems on Earth: Admiralteyskaya Station on purple Line 5 (convenient for the Hermitage and Saint Isaac's Cathedral) descends 86 metres underground via two long escalators, while historic 1955 stations on Line 1 such as Avtovo, Narvskaya, and Kirovsky Zavod feature ornamental moulded glass columns, marble halls, and bronze chandeliers.

Podorozhnik Smart Cards, Trams and Hydrofoils

Purchase a rechargeable green-and-white Podorozhnik electronic transport card at any Metro station ticket window or automated vending machine to pay reduced fares across the underground Metro, municipal buses, trolleybuses, and trams. Along Nevsky Prospekt (served by frequent municipal buses and trolleybuses) and Liteyny Prospekt, dedicated surface transit lanes save long underground escalator rides for short three-stop hops, while seasonal Meteor hydrofoils depart from the Admiralty and Hermitage piers between May and October for Peterhof on the Gulf of Finland and the historic naval island of Kronstadt.