slothis · English

Walking Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg

2016-09-05 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →

Around 5 PM, I started walking back to my accommodation. If there's one thing that has increased the most while traveling on a tight budget, it's definitely the time and distance I spend walking. I used the subway in Moscow, but in St. Petersburg, the tourist attractions are clustered together, so you can get to almost all of them on your own two feet. Averaging about 20,000 steps a day, I'm losing so much belly fat that I can visibly see the weight loss when I look in the mirror. Losing weight is great, but walking around also makes me feel much more familiar with the places I visit. When you rush around in buses or taxis, you see a lot, but somehow you don't feel attached. Walking, on the other hand, lets you uncover hidden, secret vibes one by one.

Several cruise ships sailing on the canal and antique buildings lined up on both sides
Yellow buildings lined up along the canal and a small boat passing on the water
Bronze statue of two horses standing with their front legs raised
Anichkov Bridge

The route from the park back to my accommodation was along St. Petersburg's most famous street, Nevsky Prospect. Looking left and right as I walked, an endless line of world-class buildings stretched out before me. With a slightly more Western European feel than Moscow, this street is more than half-filled with travelers like me, flag-following tour groups, and touts. In stark contrast to Moscow and Irkutsk, where the Russian locals always seemed inexplicably serious and stared at me, everyone here is a tourist, so nobody pays attention to anyone else. In a way, it's comfortable, but on the other hand, it makes me wonder if this is the real St. Petersburg.

Nevsky Prospect

A horse statue on a bridge and a red building behind it
Anichkov Bridge
A wide road with decorations in the colors of the Russian flag and people crossing a crosswalk
Victory Day was just the week before, so its lingering festive vibe still remains on Nevsky Prospect.
A statue of a person in front of a yellow building with several figure sculptures sitting below it
A statue of Catherine the Great, known for her many male lovers. The men depicted below are all the men she dated.
People passing in front of a large, ornate stone building decorated with figure sculptures on the corners
The monumental Dom Knigi (House of Books). It's also called the Singer Building because the Russian branch of the Singer sewing machine company was located here before the current building was erected (according to the "Easy Russia" guidebook). Unlike other buildings on Nevsky, it stands out with its striking statues.
A red building with a clock tower, cars driving on the road, and people walking on the sidewalk
An antique building with a glass dome roof under a cloudy sky and a wide road with driving cars
A view of antique buildings lined up on both sides of a canal and an ornate dome-roofed cathedral in the distance
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. It looks similar to St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, but its history and color palette give it a very dark, somber feel.
A band singing and playing guitar and bass on a tree-lined sidewalk, and people watching them
The Nevsky Band performing on Nevsky Prospect

Starting tomorrow, I plan to explore these buildings one by one. I don't know how long it will take, but this is a place where just taking a quick glance around is enough to make the sun go down.

Expenses

Total Expenses: 1000RUB

Total Trip Expenses: 525,936 KRW + 39,555 RUB + $152.26