Saint Petersburg/Petrograd Side
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The Petrograd Side is a borough in Saint Petersburg consisting of the islands of the northern part of the Neva delta.
Mostly residential, it is also home to several smaller universities, stadiums of FC Zenit and the tallest structure of the city, 326 m high TV tower.
It includes the Peter and Paul Fortress and the site where Saint Petersburg was founded. In the beginning the city grew around Troitskaya Square, but within a few decades the city center shifted to the opposite bank of the Neva, and until the 1890s this borough, dominated by the fortifications of the Peter and Paul Fortress, remained peripheral. In the late 19th-early 20th century it was quickly built over, centering along Bolshoy Prospekt and Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt. The architecture of that period has remained mostly intact. The islands in the northwestern part of the borough, across the Malaya Nevka, have been a recreational area covered mostly by parks, mansions and sports facilities.
Get in
By metro
The borough is served by five Metro (subway) stations:
By bus
Buses (
Get around
Don't confuse Bolshoy Prospekt and Maly Prospekt with the streets of the same name on Vasilievsky Island.
See
Zayachy Island
Petrogradsky Island
By far the largest island, served by four of the five metro stations.Quarters of well-preserved and often beautiful houses from the 1890s-1910s along Bolshoy Prospekt and Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt are off the beaten path and worth exploring.
Aptekarsky Island
Home to the Botanical Garden, TV tower (inaccessible), the Electrotechnical University and medical research institutesKamenny Island
Its remarkable early 20th-century villas as well as some earlier buildings are well worth seeing.Yelagin Island
Krestovsky Island
Home to the stadium of FC Zenit (a host stadium during the 2018 FIFA World Cup), an amusement park, and recently built residential blocks. It's served to the east by the Krestovsky Ostrov metro station (line M5, purple, towards Komendantskiy Prospect) and to the west, closer to the stadium, by Novokrestovskaya (line M3, green, towards Begovaya).-
address: Futbol'naya Alleya 1At a cost of $1.1 billion at current exchange rates, it is considered one of the most expensive stadiums ever built.
Petrovsky Island
Old Stadium of FC Zenit
Do
Buy
Groceries, Supermarkets
Bookstores
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Knizhny Klub na Avstriyskoy Ploshchadi
address: Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt 13/2
Eat
Budget
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phone: +7 812 329-34-28address: Кamennoostrovski prospekt, 37-дPizza international chain.
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Mid-range
Splurge
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phone: +7 812 230-0369address: Iohann Alley (Иоанновский равелин), Peter & Paul FortressThis restaurant, offering a very European setting with mostly Russian high quality food, nabs a lot of tourists visiting the fortress. But nonetheless, the service and food remain phenomenal - while tourists are trapped here, it is no tourist trap. Off season, particularly during the snowy winter months it place can be almost magical, as you get the beautiful restaurant more or less to yourself.
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Drink
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Underground (ex-Tunnel)
address: Zverinskaya ulitsaReputedly Russia's first techno club and certainly its most legendary, Tunnel is back after an extended shutdown. This unused bomb shelter isn't exactly pretty and the crush and "face control" at the entrance when the doors open at midnight sharp are legendary, but the crowd and the DJs are worth it.
Sleep
Most travellers choose to stay at the Center. There are a few options available in the northern boroughs as well.
Stay safe
Don't wander anywhere near the stadium after matches of FC Zenit.