One Day in St. Petersburg

St. Isaac, St. Peter and Paul, Spilled Blood, Peterhof(summer palace)

Wow, one day is tough! Being in St. Petersburg and not visiting the Hermitage is unthinkable (at least to me :)).

depending on the date of your visit, you might be able to fit in the Hermitage (about 3-4 hours) and if it's on a day when they have extended hours even better.

Opening Hours
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday:
10.30-18.00
Wednesday, Friday:
10.30-21.00
Closed: Mondays,
as well as January 1 and May 9

I love Peterhoff, but probably it's difficult to do with only one day in the city. If you do decide to go there, go first thing in the morning by using the Hydrofoil. Skip the palace! and just wander through the gardens enjoying the fountains and if possible visiitng the smaller Monplaisir palace, Peter’s summer villa.

Return to the city around 2pm, and head to the Hermitage. After, walk to the Church of Spilt Blood (if I remember correctly they have evening tours that you can join. Daily 10.30 am to 6 pm. Last admission is at 5.30 pm. Evening openings of the Cathedral in the summer only (May 1 - September 30): 6 pm to 10.30 pm.)

I also remember going to the top of St. Issac cathedral during the sunset, to get great views of the city, so that coudl be smething to do in the evening. And just walking along the Nevskii prospect.

Taking a canal boat ride is a great option for the evening OR night time. You can see the drawing of the bridges if you are visiting during summer months (i think April to November). The cruises don't start until after midnight though. So be prepared for a very late night! If you would rather not take teh boat tour, you can watch them being raised from the waterfront just outside the Hermitage for example.

Hope you have a great day in St. Petersburg!

Thank you all!

One day is very little. Here is the most effective guide to St. Petersburg that I have ever seen

https://journeyneverend.com/st-petersburg/what-to-see/

The above link provided by tichibud is actually quite good!

If you have only one day for Saint Petersburg, I would recommend going to the Hermitage, otherwise, you will run through all the sites and see nothing really

Yeah, being in St. Petersburg for a day only is just a tease. With a cruise line, you usually get two days, but that depends whether you have booked an excursion or not. Do you have a visa? Are you on a cruise?
We were in St.Petersburg for two days, and since the time was not enough(two days even), we decided to have an agency help us and make it easier for us. There are many tour operators for St. Petersburg, but we used Anastasia Travel. There is nothing better than having your time well organized, from the moment you leave the ship till the moment you get back on it. I definitely recommend booking an excursion for your short stay in St.Petersburg, otherwise, you will be rushing and running around and won't be able to see much or learn much.

If you just have 1 day in St. Petersburg and you want to visit as many places as you can, I recommend booking a tour with a local tour company. It can be hard and time-consuming to travel from one site to another without a private transfer. I'd recommend a visit to Peterhof, Hermitage, and Savior on the Spilled Blood. We booked a 1-day tour with Anastasia and we were able to make the most out of our limited time in St. Petersburg. Check them out if you are considering booking with a local tour company.

One day in St.Petersburg is too short but better than nothing :) My suggestions for tours are as follows:
1. TheWinter Palace and The Hermitage. It’s an absolute top priority.
I don’t think anyone will question that.
2. Church on Spilled Blood – it has stunning mosaics inside but even more importantly. It’s a very Russian church. One cannot see anything of this kind anywhere in Europe.
3. Peter and Paul Cathedral. It’s the heart of the city where its history started. Make sure to do a guided tour of the Fortress and its Cathedral.
You may miss the most exciting things if you go on your own.
4. Nevsky prospect – St.Petersburg highstreet – just go wandering looking around maybe have leisurely lunch at a street side café (if you’re lucky to have good weather, of course, but we were J )

We had 3 days in St.Petersburg, and wonderful days they were! On day1 and day2 we toured with a small group. The group was organized by a person from the cruise ship and had only 6 people.
We saw all places I just mentioned, and on top of that we visited
- Catherine the Great’s Palace and the magnificent Amber Room
- Peterhof – Russia’s counterpart of Versailles – spectacular fountains!
On day3 we booked a private tour to visit the Political History Museum and Lenin’s Museum (my husband is a history buff) and did an exciting walking tour Citizen’s View seeing local life – we had a metro tour (breathtaking!), went to a Russian Orthodox church and climbed to the roof of a residential building to get an overview of the city’s central part.

All tours we took were operated by Best Guides company. Best Guides really lived up to their name - both guides we had were excellent. Best Guides’
website is a wealth of information. If you have visas and plan DIY tours, make sure to check their website, you’ll find a lot of useful info there about St. Petersburg and its magnificent sites.