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St. Petersburg - Transportation |
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The "Red Arrow" (Courtesy of David Lucs)
Many thanks to Tell The Truth Traveler Bob93_2 for this write-up of his trip!
Metro
The metro is efficient, clean and CHEAP. However, it does not have a lot of stations in the historic
area. I only used it once to travel to the other side of the Neva River and then I still had to walk
about a mile to my destination. You will have to familiarize yourself with the Russia alphabet since
the station names are in Russian!
Bus
The city buses are cheap too. There is a ticket seller on the bus and the fare is 6 roubles (about 20
cents). Some guide books tell what buses to use to get to various sites, the Lonely Planet Guide is
the one we used and it gives pretty good directions.
Taxis
Taxis are probably the fastest and expensive way to get around. I read that you should not pay more
than 100 rouples for a taxi. I tried to dicker over the price but only twice could I get the price
under 200 rouples (around $7). Once the driver heard my American accent all bets were off on a cheap
fare, they always said ten dollars to begin with and that is where the bargaining began. I walked away
from more than one taxi because they would not move off that price. I guess they would rather get one
$10 fare in an hour than several $6 or $7 dollar fares.
Walking
Walking, though tiring, is a good way to see St. Petersburg.
