Saint Petersburg Tourist Trap Tips by Oksana-StPetersburg

Taxies from airport are probably a universal headache, but made worse in St. Petersburg by the metro not reaching the airport and some strong arm influence that keeps the taxi market closed to a few. We call them "mafia taxi" which is just an ugly way of saying they have fixed prices far higher than what any ordinary traveller should pay.

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At Least Do This: 4 options:

1) There are countless websites that offer airport transfers. Some of the prices are as ridiculous as the taxies, but you can probably find it for $25 by searching. Plus you get the pleasantness of seeing your name on a sign and get to feel important as you walk to your limo.... err... Lada outside.

2) Public transportation. Just outside the terminal there will be a sign for a mini-van stop. We call the Marshrutkas. This van runs a regular route. You can take it to the nearest metro stop (Moskovskaya on the blue line: http://www.oksanas.net/Maps.asp)
for 15 rubles (about 50 cents) or you can take it all the way to the main train station downtown right on Nevsky Prospect for 25 rubles. If your luggage takes up a seat, they will ask you for an extra fare. Late at night, the van will only go to the metro. The metro in St. Petersburg is great, though I'm not sure you'll want to do it with a lot of luggage.
Alternative: continued....

3) Figure out a way to make a phone call from the airport, whether a friend does it for you, you beg somebody to let you use their mobile, you figure out the cryptic payphone system or whatever. Locally dial "068" This is a taxi company, and they will send a taxi within 10 minutes. They claim to speak English, but if you know no Russian, this may be difficult. The taxi will run on a meter. It's 35 rubles (a little over a dollar) for the call, and 15 rubles per kilometer. There is also waiting time factored in, so if there is heavy traffic, the rate may go up. Generally, it will cost about $15, though you will need rubles to pay.

4) Try your luck. Russians (and tourists) engage in "gypsy taxies" all the time. It's just paid hitchhiking. Unfortunately, the main road at the airport is too far to walk to for most people, but if you are landing during the day, wander a hundred meters down to the Departure terminal at the international terminal, or just to the parking lot in the Domestic and look for cars dropping off passengers. Extend you are in directly in front of you, palm down about stomach high. Interested cars will stop. Offer 300 rubles for a ride into the city. You can probably get it for less (he's going back anyways), but this is almost a sure price to get a ride. This is roughly $10. Beats the $40 - $75 the "official" taxies are charing at the airport. It would be good to have your destination written in cyrillic because theres about a 80% chance the driver won't speak any English.

Goodluck!