Business Class Flights to Saint Petersburg, Russia

Russia’s second-largest city after Moscow, Saint Petersburg lies on the Neva River near the Baltic Sea coast. In addition to being an important port city, Saint Petersburg is also Russia’s cultural hub. It has been home to many of the country’s classical composers, musicians, ballet dancers, and artists. Today, Saint Petersburg is home to about 5.6 million people, making it one of the largest cities in Europe. More than 15 million tourists book tickets to Saint Petersburg each year. 

Many of the people who take flights to Saint Petersburg come to the city to experience its cultural offerings. These include the Winter Palace, the opulent Baroque-style former home of the Russian imperial Romanov family. The massive palace, which occupies an entire city block, is today open to the public as the State Hermitage Museum. The building still contains the Romanovs’ furniture and personal belongings, including the art collection of Catherine the Great, one of the largest collections of art in Europe.

Because of its great cultural significance, the entire city of Saint Petersburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Other popular cultural attractions in Saint Petersburg include the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church built on Hare Island in the Neva River in 1712 by Peter the Great. The Peterhof Palace, built by Peter the Great in 1709, is another historic site frequently visited by tourists who take flights to Saint Petersburg. Modeled after the Palace of Versailles in France, Peterhof Palace has sometimes been called the “Russian Versailles.” The palace features acres of formal gardens and several fountains, and it’s one of the more popular cultural sites evocative of Russia.

All together, Saint Petersburg is home to more than two-hundred museums, including the Saint Petersburg Museum of History; the Saints Peter and Paul Fortress, which served as a jail for political prisoners in the early 20th century; the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art; the Russian Railway Museum; and the fascinating V.V. Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil, located in the former home of Russian scientist Vasilli Vasil'evich Dokuchaev, a prominent soil scientist. The Central Museum of Soil contains soil samples from around the world.

Saint Petersburg is also home to the world-famous Bolshoi Ballet, a huge draw for many of the tourists who book tickets to Saint Petersburg. The city was home to renowned ballet dancers Mikhail Baryshnikov, Anna Pavlova; and Natalia Makarova among several others. 

Along with ballet, the city is also famous for its classical music heritage. The Saint Petersburg Conservatory, founded in 1862 by Russian composer Anton Rubinstein, has an impressive group of alumni including Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Igor Stravinsky. Many tourists who book flights to Saint Petersburg make a point of attending at least one classical concert at one of the city’s many venues.

Business travelers who book flights to Saint Petersburg often work in the shipping and logistics industry, as the city is a major northern European port and center for global trade. Saint Petersburg is also an important industrial and financial center. Heavy manufacturing at plants in and around the city produces goods such as raw materials for shipbuilding; tanks and other military equipment; heavy machinery; pharmaceuticals; medical devices; wind turbines, aircraft parts; textiles, clothing; and automobiles. 

The city is also known for producing vodka at a number of distilleries for a variety of brands. Breweries are also plentiful there, including the Baltika Brewery which is the second-largest beer company in Europe.

Ice hockey fans from other cities in Russia often take cheap flights to Saint Petersburg to watch games. The city is home to five professional teams including SKA Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg’s largest and most widely followed team. SKA Saint Petersburg plays its home games at the 12,300-seat Ice Palace, built in 2000. 

Basketball, rowing, football (soccer), chess, and yacht racing are also popular in the city.