Nearest metro: Chernishevskaya
The Austria Yard Hotel is located on a pretty boulevard in the northern part of St. Petersburg's city center, a few minutes' walk from the Neva River Embankment and around 15-20 minutes from Nevsky Prospekt.The nearest metro station, Chernyshevskaya, is only five minutes' walk from the hotel. From there it is only one stop to Ploshchad Vosstaniya Station (for Moskovsky Mainline Station), and two stops (with a change) to Gostiny Dvor, for the Hermitage, the State Russian Museum, Kazan Cathedral and many other major visitor attractions.
To reach Moskovsky Station by taxi will take 10-15 minutes. Vitebsky Station is around 20 minutes' drive away, and can also easily be reached by metro (three stops from Chernyshevskaya to Pushkinskaya). Ladozhsky Station is also about 20 minutes' drive away across the Neva River.
Pulkovo-2 International Airport is around 18km from the Austria Yard Mini-Hotel, and the taxi drive to/from the airport takes 40-60 minutes in reasonable traffic conditions. The domestic terminal, Pulkovo-1, is a further 2km out of the city.
Local Sightseeing
While St. Petersburg's main visitor attractions are located a few kilometers west of the Austria Yard Hotel, the area around Chernyshevskaya Metro Station is nonetheless steeped in history and well worth exploring, with several sights connected to the reign of Catherine the Great.Right next to the hotel is the entrance to the Tauride Gardens, one of the largest and most beautiful parks in central St. Petersburg. The park was originally laid out as the landscape gardens for the magnificent Palladian Tauride Palace, completed in 1789 for Catherine the Great's favourite Prince Grigory Potemkin and after his death bought by the empress herself as her summer residence in the city. The palace is unfortunately not open to the public, and is now used to house the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Community of Independent States. The park, however, is one of the best places in St. Petersburg for a stroll or a picnic during the summer.
At the opposite end of the park from the Austria Yard, the Alexander Suvorov Memorial Museum is a unique monument to one of Russia's greatest military commanders. Housed in a splendidly ornate building in the Russian Revival style, decorated with impressive mosaics depicting Suvorov's greatest feats in the Napoleonic Wars, the museum contains a wealth of personal memorabilia and military artifacts connected to the Marshal.
Just over 15 minutes' walk from the Austrian Yard, the Smolny Cathedral is one of the most beautiful churches in St. Petersburg. Located on the banks of the Neva River, this towering blue-and-white baroque masterpiece was designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, architect of the Winter Palace and the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoe Selo. Completed in 1761, the cathedral suffered various ravages during the Soviet period, and is now used primarily as a concert hall. Nonetheless, its exterior is one of the most spectacular sights in St. Petersburg.
