Experience Christmas and New Year
in Saint-Petersburg!

Visit Saint Petersburg and feel the atmosphere of some of the most popular Christmas and New Year Fairs. 

 

Did you know that in Russia, first, we celebrate New Year and then Orthodox Christmas? Therefore, here in Saint-Petersburg the holidays only begin on December 31, however, they last until January 9th. Despite this, the festive atmosphere is almost palpable. Lights and decorations are hung in the streets and in squares and parks, fairs and festivities are organized for all to enjoy.

Fair in Konyushennaya Square & Malaya Morskaya Street

Walking along Nevsky Prospekt, you simply cannot miss this beautiful pedestrian streets. Here people sell small gifts and other trinkets and on New Year’s Eve, the streets become one of the most beautiful Christmas Markets in the city. This year under the fairy lights musicians and poets will perform to create a wonderful culture-filled experience both for walkers and ice skaters as the largest skate rink in the city center will be opened on Konyushennaya Square. By the way, a stone’s throw from this fair is Kazan Cathedral, Hermitage and the famous Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. Book one of the amazing 1-Day winter tours (A Winter day in Russia or Introduction to the City) with us and we will take you along Nevsky, around fairs to enjoy Christmas atmosphere, then visit a museum or cathedral. Our brilliant guides will give you all the invaluable information you will need. From choosing gifts to Russian traditions and history, you will be an expert in Russian festivities! 

Fair in Manezhnaya Square & Malaya Sadovaya Street

Another Christmas Fair will traditionally open its gates on Manezhnaya square. Directly opposite Alexandrinsky Theatre and two steps off of Nevsky Prospekt, this square has always been a place for celebration for the people of Saint Petersburg and their guests and will welcome many more from the 12th of December. Come buy handmade gifts, taste numerous sweets and confectionaries, or even meet Santa Claus after he, as per tradition, flies down Sadovaya and Nevsky and lights the main tree of Saint Petersburg. 

Not far from this fair are the Fabergé Museum, Eliseevsky Store, the Academy of Russian Ballet and Rossi street, often said to be one of the most beautiful streets in the world and built on the principle of “Golden Section”. It would be our pleasure to help you choose your perfect route, organise magical winter tours (from Winter walk to the delightful 3-Day Winter Package) and buy tickets to museums or theatres, whatever your heart desires and all within walking distance from each other. 

Fair and Skate Rink on New Holland Island

One more fair will open on December 10th and will last until January 10th while the skate rink remains open till the end of winter. Visitors will immediately be taken in by the festive atmosphere and wonderful world that is this new historical and creative complex on an island. Here you can learn about different traditions from many different countries, buy local designers` clothes and accessories,  as well as taste numerous delicatessen and drinks.  From souvenirs to mulled wine, grog and mead (traditional Slavic drink) everything you see is a potential Christmas gifts for friends and family. 

Book a wonderful 2-Day Winter Drive tour and learn more about traditional Russian Christmas and New Year celebrations or if it gets too cold topside, a tour of the Saint-Petersburg metro is a wonderful way to warm up. Come see the most beautiful stations, old and new, one of them, two steps from the square. 

You can pass through the fair on your way to Tsarskoe Celo or Pavlovsk. It would be our pleasure to organise an excursion to the Catherine Palace with its world-famous Amber Room or walk around Pavlovsk Park, known for its stunning views and unique landscapes as well as tobogganing for the children, or any daring adults during one of the invigorating Winter tours. Warm mittens and shawls will be a must!

Fair and Skate rink in Sevkabel Port

Is it ever possible to have too many celebrations? We in Saint-Petersburg certainly don’t think so! During the Christmas and New Year Holidays, there can never be too many places to have fun. A former industrial quarter, Sevkabel Port today is contemporary space which has become popular among the locals both in summer and winter. People come here to attend exhibitions, taste a variety of modern food, join musical concerts, therefore it is the perfect place to organise festivals and fairs. This year there will be a PopUP market with beautiful pavilions and delicious gingerbread, mulled wine or hot chocolate, traditional Russian souvenirs and much more, to taste or take home. Another special feature will be an Intellectual Flea Market for those who love hand-made and vintage, natural material and creative approach in art. Wonderful warm food, cheerful music and an altogether festive atmosphere, Sevkabel Port Christmas Fair is the perfect way to immerse yourself in the holiday spirit! 

 

Fair in the Central Park of Culture and Sport (15/12-29/01)

If you simply cannot wait until the end of December, no worries, a Christmas atmosphere is guaranteed from the 15th of December on Elagin Island. The setting of this fair in itself is beautiful. Elagin Island is also the Central Park of Culture and simply walking around the roman pavilions or looking out over the Finnish Gulf and the New Stadium makes for a wonderful day out. Here you will be able to taste gingerbread and hot mulled wine, just what one needs on a cold winter day! And if the food doesn’t warm you right up, here you will be able to buy warm hand knitted socks, take part in master classes in traditional Russian arts using glass, clay, metal and other fabrics and of course buy wonderful, unusual gifts to impress friends and family. 

There will be a great entertainment program for all ages as well a big ice rink. Lasting until the end of January, you simply cannot miss this fair.

Why not book a tour with us! We have a wide wariety of 100% Russian Winter tours: from a short 1-Day Introduction to the City to the Grand 3-Day Winter Package.  We will take you around the Hermitage (the main museum of the city) and then to Elagin Island. When the cold of the fair is too much, we will go to a wonderful local restaurant and if you still want more, there is a very interesting palace-museum on the island. 

Passage shopping gallery

Saint-Petersburg weather – a thing of great unpredictability. Being on the shores of the Baltic Sea and the Finnish Gulf means that the weather in the city changes from one second to the next. Thankfully this does not mean you should cancel your plans to explore the city. If the frost, snow or wind is too strong, come take shelter in one of Saint-Petersburg indoor fairs. “Passage” is an indoor shopping street with quaint, old-fashioned boutiques and beautiful glass ceilings; it is one of the oldest places in Saint-Petersburg and remains unchanged to this day. Here you can buy exclusive souvenirs made of gold and silver, handmade textiles as well as hand-painted Christmas glass baubles. Elegant interiors and exquisite gifts are what await you in this stunning shopping gallery. 

 

We would be delighted to take you to the Russian museum, highly praised as one of the most interesting museums in the city, a journey through Russian art, allowing you to learn and understand more about the culture and history of this country from its creation to present day. Just around the corner from the museum, walking down the beautiful Italianskaya street is “Passage”.

Hurry up and book, our perfectly planned Winter tours sell like lightning for Christmas and the New Year!