Taxi from LED to city centre
 

I was wondering how much an airport taxi from LED (Pulkovo) Airport to the centre of St Petersburg costs these days. I'll be staying just off Nevsky Prospekt.

The hotel can provide a shuttle bus service from the airport to the hotel for 3200 RUB (which is around 32 GBP) but this seems very expensive and has a lot of restriction in terms of waiting time, plus it appears to be a people carrier so not really a shuttle bus.

The hotel is the new(ish) Hotel Indigo Tchaikovskogo St Petersburg.

3200 for an airport transfer in SPb is a rip-off. According to the aiport's website, the official taxi charges 900 roubles to the city center, which is IMHO a reasonable fare.
You can save a hundred or two by prebooking from one of the cheaper operators or negotiating with the drivers on-site.

Many thanks Temedar. I've not had much luck with transportation in either Moscow or SPB in recent years. I've been Royally ripped-off every time. This time I will not let it happen!

Last year the IC Moscow booked a cab for the morning for us to get to the airport. Unbeknown to us, the driver had covered the meter with a piece of card quite cleverly - to the point where we never even noticed the meter. We had had a wonderful time in Moscow so didn't really check anything with the driver - we had just asked the hotel the night before and they said around 1400 to 1600 RUB. The driver wanted 6,000 RUB when we arrived at DME.

Sadly these things happen (mostly with foreigners, of course). I can only recommend to negotiate the price beforehand - most taxi operators in Moscow have fixed fares to the airports, and I think it's the case for many other Russian cities.

Indeed this happens in most cities that I've travelled to. The funny thing is that I even get ripped off in the UK where I live!

Should be a flat 900 or 1000 Rubles. After exiting immigration and customs, stop by the official Taxi Pulkovo booth, prepay your flat fare, you'll get a receipt with your taxi's make, model, and license plate number, exit, turn right, find your assigned taxi, and off you go. Piece of cake and hassle free. Just did it myself last month.

http://www.pulkovoairport.ru/en/transport/taxi/

On the way back to the airport, booking with Taxi 777 the day before is a good option. They respond to booking requests via email promptly in English, will also quote you a flat fee, and can arrange a specific pick-up time at your hotel. I paid 700 Rubles to get back to the airport from the St. Isaac's area. Again, no rip offs and very easy.

http://www.777taxi.ru/english.html#cont

Also, uberX is available for 1000rub

Thanks for this info.

Taxi from LED to city centre hotel was 900 RUB when booked at the official taxi office just as you exit customs at the arrivals hall. The system worked really well so a big thank you for the advice received in this thread.

Booked with 777 Taxi yesterday for a pickup today. Really great service via email initially. The operator actually called my UK mobile phone to confirm and clarify things and answer any questions I had.

I got two prices from a city centre hotel to Pulkovo Airport: 640 RUB for a basic car or 770 RUB for a 'comfort class' car. I opted for the comfort class car (which turned out to be VW Jetta - well-maintained and clean).

Then today, 10 minutes before the scheduled taxi pickup time, the operator called again and gave me the details of the cab which was waiting outside (colour of vehicle, make, model, and registration number).

Driver was very good - a careful, considerate driver and we reached Pulkovo with no dramas. I just told him to keep the change from a 1,000 RUB note as we were very happy with the service.

So, if you need transportation in St Petersburg then 777 Taxis are highly recommended.

Our hosts in St Petersburg used a more local taxi company for our shorter taxi journeys that was extremely cheap but I think that was more for the locals than tourists as you had to communicate in Russian with that company. 777 operators speak good English.

i also used the official taxi booth. i had to literally push another driver out of the way to get to it. The unofficial drivers can be very insistent. The cost was 900 rubles. You have to give your hotel's address to the dispatcher, who speaks some English, and he prints it out on the official ticket for your ride. That way, even if you have a language barrier with your driver, he still knows where you're going.

Last summer, we had reasonably good service from http://taxovichkof.com - 700-800 rubles from the airport to the downtown when you book online. They text message you the booking confirmation right away, and the car description and license plate shortly before it arrives. I have no idea how good their English might be though.

Hint: their "comfort" class fleet is Skoda Octavia hatchbacks - they can swallow large suitcases easily. On the way back, we booked a "business" class vehicle - I don't remember what it was, but we had a hard time packing 3 people and a 30" Samsonite in the car.

If you need a cheaper ride from the airport, take the airport bus No. 39 or minivan K39 (works like a shared big taxi) to Mokovskaja St. on the main metro line towards the city center; from there you take the metro. The busses and vans are to your left when you exit the terminal. Very easy, even if you don't speak a word of Russian like I do. I believe the fare is around 50-60 rubles + metro token.

What I very often do is get an Uber from my home to Moskovskaya station (around 200-300RUB) than get the 39 bus to the airport. Cheaper than 1000RUB flat rate and not much slower.

Also the airport buses now accept credit/debit cards,there is one device (yellow coloured,located next to the second door) that accepts swipe/chip cards and prints you a ticket out and if you have MS Paywave (but not Visa Paypass) you can swipe it on any of the contactless orange readers.

AFAIK,marsrutkas only accept the MS Paywave,but not the swipe/chip cards.

Update re:Uber.

Uber no longer charges a fixed rate to/from airports in LED/MOW,the new rates are as follows:

Zone 1 Moskovsky/Krasnoselsky/Kirovsky/Pushkinskiy/Frunzensky
Zone 2 Tsentralniy (Central)/Admiralteyskiy/Vasileostrovsky/Krasnogvardeysky/Nevsky/Petrodvordthsoviy/Kolpinsky
Zone 3 Primorsky/Vyborgsky/Kalininsky/Petrogradsky districs
Zone 4 Kurortniy/Kronshtadsky districs

Zone-Uber X-Uber Black
1-400-1300
2-700-1800
3-1000-2300
4-1300-2800