The White Nights in St. Petersburg, Russia occurs the 2nd week of June through the first week in July. During this time the skies have a pearlescent glow that lasts all night. The midnight sky looks a lot like a Monet painting. Underneath, the streets are filled with travelers in awe as they walk amongst the baroque style buildings colored with pastel pinks, reds an oranges. During the day, residents tend to stay indoors because of the heat. However, at night the city comes alive with festivals and parties.
There are a variety of things to do during the White Night in St. Petersburg Russia.
St. Petersburg’s Summer Garden
This is the perfect place to go to enjoy the White Nights. Visitors can stroll along the avenues to see the white marble statues and fountains. A popular activity is to sunbathe in Neva. The locals tend to stand up while sunbathing instead of laying down in order to get a full body tan.
Lake Lagoda
If you are looking to beat the heat, visit Lake Lagoda and take a dip in the water. It’s a popular destination for not only swimming, but for canoeing and picnicking as well. You can easily spend the entire night here.
The White Nights Festival
The White Nights Festival features a variety of performers. Visitors can watch an opera, ballet or concert featuring both Russian and International artists. The White Nights Festival started in 1993 and has become quite well loved with both locals and tourists.
The Neva Bridge
One of the more popular activities, surprisingly, is to watch the rather large Neva River bridge open for boat traffic. The bridge stay open until 5 a.m. This means that you should be on the right side of the river so that you can get back to your hotel room or you will literally have to wait all night for the bridge to close so that you can cross it.
Other Things To Do
If you don’t want to actually make any plans and just want to see where the night takes you, you will be pleasantly surprised with the variety of things there is to do. Many restaurants stay open all night to accommodate diners. A popular choice is Terrassa, which is only open seasonally. For those that want to go to a nightclub, head over to Dumskaya Ul which has a variety of bars to choose from. If you are looking for a sweet treat, you have a couple of options. Morozhenoe, is sold at many of the ice-cream carts located around the city. It’s both creamy and delicious. Another popular treat is the arbus, or watermelon. They tend to be huge and made for sharing. You can easily find an arbus at one of the stalls that are open during the White Nights.
Browse Escorted Russia tours that you can book to see the White Nights in person.
