Nearest metro: Admiralteyskaya
The Arkadia Hotel enjoys a very central location in a courtyard off the embankment of the Moyka River, one of St. Petersburg's most beautiful central waterways. The hotel is within comfortable walking distance of many of the city's most popular visitor attractions, including St. Isaac's Cathedral (5 mins), the Hermitage (15 mins) and the Mariinsky Theatre (15-20 mins).The hotel is not particularly convenient for public transport, although 15 minutes' walk will bring guests to Sennaya Ploshchad, which is the site of three connected metro stations - Sadovaya, Sennaya Ploshchad, and Spasskaya, on the orange, blue, and purple lines respectively - putting virtually every corner of St. Petersburg within fairly easy reach.
Moskovsky Railway Station is around 3km from the Arkadia, and a taxi ride to/from the station will take 15-25 minutes depending on traffic. Vitebsky Station is closer, about 2km or 10-15 minutes' drive away. Ladozhsky Station is in the eastern part of St. Petersburg, and guests should allow at least 40 minutes for the drive.
Pulkovo-2 International Airport is around 17km from the Arkadia Hotel. Depending on traffic conditions, the drive to/from the airport can take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. Pulkovo-1, for domestic flights, is a further 2km out of the city.
Local Sightseeing
The majority of St. Petersburg's major sights and attractions are within walking distance of the Arkadia Hotel, and the immediate area around the Arkadia is packed with historical buildings and monuments.The closest major attraction to the hotel is St. Isaac's Cathedral, only five minutes' walk away. St. Petersburg's largest and most lavishly decorated church, it was designed by the hitherto unknown French architect August de Montferrand and took forty years to complete, finally consecrated in 1858. Behind the cathedral monumental neoclassical facades lie lofty interiors decorated with seemingly half the mineral wealth of Russia. The colonnade is also one of the best spots to catch a bird's-eye view of the historic centre.
Opposite the cathedral across St. Isaac's Square (Isakeevskiy Ploshchad) stands the Mariinsky Palace, which now acts as St. Petersburg's city hall. The last neoclassical palace to be built in St. Petersburg, it was commissioned by Nicholas I for his daughter, Maria Nikolaevna - hence the name - and completed in 1844 to a design by court architect Andreiy Stackensneider. Since 1884 it has served a wide variety of government functions.
Between the Palace and the Cathedral runs the Blue Bridge across the Moyka River. The widest bridge in St. Petersburg at 97.3m, it seems more like a continuation of St. Isaac's Square, until one notices the elegant sky-blue railings at either end. On the square itself stands an impressive equestrian statue of Nicholas I. Also designed by August de Montferrand along with several prominent sculptors, the statue was innovative in its day as the horse balances on only two legs, while it also boasts a remarkably ornate pedestal.
