A city of bridges, St Petersburg is absolutely magical during the night time in summer. One of the reasons for that is opening of bridges that is always a magnificent show.

In total, there are 12 bridges in St Petersburg that are raised. Whereas nine of them open up on a regular basis, the other three are raised only on special occasions.

Although some might think that bridges are opened for entertaining purposes, the actual main aim of this process is to allow through cargo ships that go along the Neva river to the Gulf of Finland and in the opposite direction.

Since the bridges are opened for navigation, they operate on the regulated schedule and can close earlier than planned if all ships go through ahead of the timetable.

Several bridges are raised twice during the night, so to allows cars go from one side to another. Pay attention when planning your evening walk and return to the hotel.

Opening bridges in St Petersburg

Raising Bridges Schedule

  • Palace Bridge 1:10 – 2:50, 3:10 – 4:55
  • Troitskiy bridge 1:20 – 4:50
  • Blagoveshchenskiy bridge 1:25 – 2:45, 3:10 – 5:00
  • Liteynyy bridge 1:40 – 4:45
  • Birzhevoy bridge 2:00 – 4:55
  • Tuchkov bridge 2:00 – 2:55, 3:35 – 4:55
  • Volodarsky bridge 2:00 – 3:45, 4:15 – 5:45
  • Alexander Nevsky Bridge 2:20 – 5:10
  • Bolsheohtinskiy bridge 2:00 – 5:00

Kantemirovskiy, Grenaderskiy and Sampsonievskiy bridges are raised on special requests.

Singing Bridges 2019

The most known among tourists are two drawbridges in the center of Saint Petersburg – The Palace bridge and Troitskiy bridge.

By the way, from May 28 to September 8 you can watch a beautiful music show on the Palace bridge starting at 1:10 am. You’ll hear the masterpieces of Shostakovich, Tschaikovskiy, Musorgskiy, Borodin and other famous Russian composers. The music will accompany the raising bridge, so the sound show will be a great event to see.

The first opening of the bridge with music took place in 2016, and people loved it a lot, so it was decided to make Singing Bridges a tradition!

The best way to witness the show is during a night boat tour. So feel free to book a tour or contact me directly!