Best Places to Swim near St Petersburg

Photo by Oleksandr Koval on Unsplash

Best Places to Swim near St Petersburg

A summer trip to St Petersburg doesn’t just confine you to the historical center. The many lakes and picturesque beaches within an hour’s journey of the city are a fantastic way to spend a blazing hot day. Whether you want a waterfront picnic and a paddle within the city limits, a day trip to a forest oasis, or a dip off the sandy shores of the Finnish Gulf, here are the best places to swim in St Petersburg.

Photo by Majuro, CC BY-SA 3.0, on Wikipedia

In the city

• Park 300 Years

This park on the Finnish Gulf was founded to celebrate the 300^th anniversary of St Petersburg. Aside from tree-lined paths, sports facilities and a seafront promenade, the park is home to a wide, sandy beach hugely popular with sunbathers. Here you can relax with an atmospheric view over the sea and of the Lakhta Centre, Europe’s tallest skyscraper. Officially, swimming here is banned as the water is quite dirty, although you will see plenty of people in the water on the hottest days of summer.

How to get there: 10 minute walk from Begovaya metro station

Photo by Petr Ivanov, CC0, on Wikipedia

• Suzdalskiye Lakes

In the north of St Petersburg is a chain of three lakes – the Suzdalskiye Lakes. The best for swimming is the Verkhneye (Upper) Lake, conveniently located just a few minutes’ walk from the metro. Aside from swimming or sunbathing on the sandy beach, you can explore the shores of the lake which have been extensively landscaped with new benches, swings, and boardwalks.

How to get there: 5 minute walk from Ozerki metro station

Bear in mind that swimming anywhere in St Petersburg is likely to be crowded and the water not overly clean. The waterfronts within the city are best for sunbathing or a picnic, and for swimming we’d generally recommend heading out of town. That said, if you are determined to take a dip somewhere in St Petersburg then these two places are your best bet.

Lakes

To get a taste of Russian nature, go wild swimming in one of the many lakes surrounding St Petersburg.

• Lake Ladoga

The largest freshwater lake in Europe, Lake Ladoga, is a truly beautiful place for wild swimming. The most convenient swimming spot is in the village of Ladozhskoye Ozero: a picturesque place with the 70-metre Osinovetsky Lighthouse in the background and the vast expanse of Lake Ladoga ahead of you. Here you’ll find a long stretch of sandy shore equipped with picnic areas, changing cabins, and a couple of decent restaurants and cafes. As the lake is huge and deep, the water can be quite cold even in the heights of summer.

How to get there: train to from Finlyandsky Station to Ladozhskoye Ozero station, 20 minute walk to the beach.

• Korkinskoye Lake

This is one of the closest swimming lakes to St Petersburg, set in a pine forest with sandy beaches on its northern and southern shores. Next to the northern beach is a restaurant, lakeside café, toilets and changing rooms, boat rental station, and a recreation center where visitors can rent waterfront gazebos equipped with tables, benches and barbecue grills. The water here is cleaner than other lakes as it is fed from a spring, but due to its proximity to the city Korkinskoye Lake can get pretty busy.

How to get there: an hour’s drive from central St Petersburg to the car park on the lake’s northern shore.

Photo by Petr Ivanov, CC0, on Wikipedia

• Sestroretsky Razliv

Sestroretsky Razliv is one of the oldest artificial lakes in the world. Although very close to the sea, this can be a better place to swim as it is warmer and less windy than the Finnish Gulf. The most popular beaches are: the large, sheltered Belaya Gora (White Mountain) beach on the south-west shore, the smaller and quieter Zelenaya Gora (Green Mountain) beach on the lake’s south-eastern tip (both with toilets and changing rooms but minimal other infrastructure); and the Officer Beach – small, but equipped with changing cabins, toilets, beach and sports equipment rental, and a café.

How to get there: train from Finlyansky Station to Razliv station (10 minute walk to White Mountain beach or 15 minute walk to Officer’s beach) or to Tarkhovka station (20 minute walk to Green Mountain beach).

• Shchuchye Lake

Its name translating as ‘Pike’ Lake, this fairly small lake has warm waters and is a pleasant place for a swim. Here you can get acquainted with the nature of the taiga, as the lake shore is surrounded by thick pine forests and carpeted with swamp grasses. The most popular sandy beach is located on the southern shore where Ozernaya Street meets the lake, but for some solitude you can walk further around the eastern shore and find somewhere to sit.

How to get there: train from Finlyandsky Station to Komarovo station, then a 4km walk along Ozernaya Street. Alternatively, a 1hr 15m drive from central St Petersburg to the beach on the southern shore of the lake.

Photo by © vlad.shagun on Tourister

Beaches

St Petersburg lies at the mouth of the Gulf of Findland, and the north-western coast between Sestroretsk and Zelenogorsk is dotted with resort villages which are easily accessible by train from Finlyansky Station. The expansive beaches and shallow waters of the Finnish Gulf are perfect for lovers of the outdoors to while away the sunny summer days.

• Dubkovsky Beach: a large sandy/pebbly beach known for its warm water. There is a playground, sports courts, toilet and changing cabins on the beach, and plenty of cafes and shops in Sestroretsk. Lies a 20 minute walk from Sestroretsk station. 

• Laskovy Beach: its name meaning ‘gentle’, Laskovy beach is extremely popular and busy in the summer. The wide beach is equipped with sun loungers and umbrellas, a fenced swimming area, toilets and changing rooms, sports facilities and a couple of shops and cafes nearby. Located a 25 minute walk from Solnechnoye station. 

• Chudny Beach: on the ‘wonderful’ beach you can find beach equipment and facilities, and a number of restaurants and shops close to the seafront and in the town of Repino. The beach near the town can be quite crowded, so it is a good idea to head eastwards along the seafront to a quieter spot. You can also combine your beach day with a visit to the house of artist Ilya Repin, located a stone’s throw from the beach. The beach is a 17 minute walk from Repino station. 

Photo by ©Enigmatik, on Tourister

• Komarovsky Beach: this beach of endless sand dunes stretches for more than 3km along the Finnish Gulf. Aside from a basic shop at the station and two cafes at the entrance to the beach, there is no infrastructure here – but it is a beautiful and peaceful place to relax, especially if you walk further along the coast from the main entrance. The beach is bounded by the Komarovsky Bereg, a nature reserve home to St Petersburg’s first eco-trail. Situated a 17 minute walk from Komarovo station.
  
  
• Zolotoy Beach: the aptly-named ‘golden’ beach is covered with dunes of soft sand. There are changing rooms, toilets and showers, and several cafes on the beach and in the adjacent Park of Culture and Recreation in the town of Zelenogorsk. However, the beach can be very crowded in summer and is wide but not very long, making it is hard to find an isolated spot in the busy summer months. Lies a 30 minute walk to Zelenogorsk station.