Saint Petersburg Canal Cruises

The city was laid out on islands in the Neva delta with canals cut through it, and the water is still the best way to understand the plan - the standard hour-long route runs the Moyka, the Fontanka and the Griboyedov, out onto the Neva and back, passing the backs of palaces that were built to be approached from the water rather than the street. There are more than three hundred bridges in the city, and many of the canal ones are so low that passengers are asked to duck or sit down as the boat goes under; the Bank Bridge with its griffins, the Lion Bridge and the Egyptian bridge with its sphinxes are all crossed on foot elsewhere but read differently from below. Boats range from open launches to covered vessels with commentary; evening trips in summer coincide with the white nights, and some run out to watch the Neva bridges open. The season is short, roughly late April to October, since the canals ice.

What you actually see

• The palace backs - buildings designed to face the water rather than the street.
• The low bridges - clearances that require passengers to duck as boats pass under.
• The griffin and lion bridges - the small suspension footbridges seen from below.
• The Neva run - the open river section with the fortress and the embankments.

When to go

Late April to October; evenings in June for the white nights. One to two hours.

Honest expectations

The season is short and boats stop when the ice comes. Commentary on cheaper boats is Russian only. Open boats are cold and wet in poor weather. Pier touts on Nevsky sell inflated tickets; buying at the pier itself is cheaper.

Nearby

Nevsky Prospekt crosses all three canals; the Church on Spilled Blood stands on the Griboyedov.