Getting Around

By Public Transportation

The St. Petersburg Metro is a fast, cheap, and extraordinarily deep subway system that every visitor should try out at least once. Station entrances are marked with a big blue letter M. The four-line system is easy to follow, with each line color-coded and transfers clearly marked -- though usually in Russian only. This is where it's highly useful to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. Trains run from 5:45am to 12:15am. Each train car has a metro map inside to consult, though it's a good idea to carry one with you (they're available free at all ticket counters). The trains run quite frequently but the system is insufficient for the size of the city and doesn't serve many of the key tourist attractions. It can also be crowded at any time of day, and you can find yourself in a waddling mass squeezing onto the fast, steep escalators. Most platforms are enclosed and resemble a long hall full of elevator-like doors. You can't see the train as it approaches, but you hear a tone and suddenly the doors open -- and there's a train on the other side.

One ride costs the same no matter how far you're going. The city is phasing out metro tokens, replacing them with paper cards using a magnetic strip. For the time being, every metro station sells tokens, which cost 14 rubles (about 50¢/25p), or they sell cards for 5 or 10 trips that get cheaper the more you buy.

The blue plastic tokens are dropped into machines with marked slots. The cards are slid into machines with slots on the side and pulled out on the other end before you can cross.

Trams are a pleasant way to see the city, but only a few lines are convenient for hotels and tourist sights. Two lines worth trying are the no. 14, which runs from the Mariinsky Theater up through the center of town and across the Neva, and the no. 1, which runs through Vasilevsky Island, including a stop just outside the Vasileostrovskaya metro station. Trolley buses run along Nevsky Prospekt and some other large avenues.

Tickets for trams and trolley buses cost 15 rubles (55¢/£28p) and are available from the driver or sometimes from a conductor who roams the vehicle selling them. Passengers must punch their own tickets in the little red contraptions posted throughout the vehicle (watch other passengers and imitate). Failure to do so makes your ticket worthless, and you risk earning a fine. Maps are posted inside the vehicles, and routes are often listed at the stops, but in Russian only.

By Taxi

Reliable companies to try are the official Petersburg Taxi (tel. 068 -- that's right, just 3 digits) or Taxi Park (tel. 812/265-1333).

By Car

Some rental companies to try are these:

Hertz/Travel Rent: Pulkovo Airport-1 and -2, arrivals halls. tel. 812/324-3242. www.hertz.com. Rents cars with or without drivers.

Biracs: Pulkovo Airport-1 and -2, arrivals halls, or 8 Boytsova Pereulok. tel. 812/310-5356. www.biracs.ru. Rents without drivers.

Europcar: Pulkovo -2, arrivals halls. tel. 812/271-62-10. www.europcar.com. Rents with or without drivers.

Rolf-Neva: 17/10 Vitebsky Prospekt. tel. 812/327-0660. Rents with or without drivers.