The distance from Kirov to St. Petersburg is about 1380 kilometers. It is inconvenient to ride on the bus, since you need to travel the night sitting and there are no permanent flights, in fact. Consequently, there are options with train, plane and car.
Rail ride
From Kirov to St. Petersburg, the trip takes from 21 to 24 hours. Departure schedule is as follows:
- 07:18. Trains from Izhevsk and Chelyabinsk alternate.
- 10:56. There is a train from Chelyabinsk and a local from Kirov.
- 11:06 a.m. The company line-up from Yekaterinburg is the Demidovsky Express.
- 11:46 a.m. Trains from Tyumen and Novokuznetsk alternate, the second is branded.
All of them arrive at the Ladoga station. Their route passes through Bui, Vologda and Tikhvin.
The cost of a train ticket from Kirov to St. Petersburg depends on the type of car and seasonal fare, tentatively such rates:
- Sedentary. From 1200 rubles.
- Reserved seat. From 1400 rubles.
- The compartment. From 2000 rubles.
- Sleeping. From 6200 rubles.
The return train schedule from St. Petersburg to Kirov is as follows:
- 13:07, 13:15 or 13:33. Compositions to Petersburg and Izhevsk.
- 3:30 p.m. Branded compositions at Novokuznetsk and Tyumen.
- 16:02. The composition of Chelyabinsk.
- 17:09. Named train to Yekaterinburg.
By air
Flights from Kirov to St. Petersburg are operated by Pobeda Airlines. From Pobedilovo Airport, the flight departs at 12:50 and arrives at Pulkovo at 15:00. Flights are not every day, airfare is from 1600 rubles. Return to Kirov flight departs from Pulkovo at 10:05, two hours in flight.
By car
There is no direct high-quality route from Kirov to St. Petersburg, therefore it is inconvenient to get by car along the shortest route through the secondary roads of the Kostroma region. This route should be taken into account: Kirov - Kotelnich - Sharya - Bui - Prechistoe. Near the last settlement, you need to turn onto the M-8 and drive along it to Vologda, and then turn onto the A-114.
The A-114 highway leads to Novaya Ladoga, and from there on the E-105 you can easily and quickly get to St. Petersburg.
Another option is possible, more southern, if you look at the map. From Kirov, the R-176 highway leads to Kotelnich, and then sharply south to the city of Yaransk, where you need to turn west onto the R-159 highway to the city of Shakhunya in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
From Shakhunya, the R-159 highway leads to Nizhny Novgorod, and from the latter you need to go northwest along the R-152 highway along the Volga and move through the city of Zavolzhye to the Ivanovo Region. This route in the area of Rostov the Great is connected to the E-115, which means that you need to move to St. Petersburg on the M-8, A-114 and E-105, as indicated above.
If you want to drive through a more populated area and better roads, then you can get to St. Petersburg from Nizhny Novgorod via the M-7 and E-105 via Moscow.
Transfer trip in Moscow
It is easy to get from Kirov to Petersburg by night trains with a change in Moscow. In the capital it is quite possible to walk from morning to evening, see museums, monorail, parks and other interesting objects.
Named train of the local formation of Kirov - Moscow leaves at 20:30 and arrives in the capital at 09:43. A seat in a seated car costs 1,500 rubles, and a bit more expensive in a reserved seat.
Between Moscow and St. Petersburg there are enough evening and night trains that arrive in the northern capital in the morning. They depart from 21:20 (passing from Vladikavkaz) and until 01:15. A ticket to the reserved seat car costs from 970 rubles.
What to visit on the way to Petersburg?
If you go by the route Kirov-Saint Petersburg by car, then on the way it is worth stopping by some colorful old city:
- Tikhvin. There you can visit two monasteries and a museum.
- Nizhny Novgorod. Big and interesting city. Those who travel through it should take a cable car ride.
- Gorodets. You can call in from the Volga region. In a small town, a whole "museum quarter" is ready for tourists. Almost like Tula, with museums of gingerbread and samovar.
- Rostov the Great. With its small size, it contains many attractions, unusual museums of enamel and frogs, the Kremlin, a couple of monasteries.