As a private guide, I am sharing a lot of interesting information about different sights and tourist attractions of Saint Petersburg, including the Hermitage, magical white nights, city suburbs like Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo. For this type of information, please visit WHAT TO SEE section. But today’s article will be about public restrooms in Saint Petersburg.

Obviously, walking along the city centre takes a lot of time, and it is quite useful to be aware of restrooms. Well, you know.

Generally public toilets are clean and properly taken care of. There could be some exceptions, but overall you won’t be disappointed. As a rule, they are marked with WC sign or a symbol depicting a man/ a woman.

Free public restrooms

Fast food restaurants, such as McDonald’s, Subway, Carl’s Junior, KFC, Burger King, are the first free option. Mostly there won’t be any need to purchase anything. However, some cafes’ toilets can be entered only with a special code that you are given on a bill.

Shopping malls are also good for such a purpose. The majority of WC are again free, but depending on the location of the mall, you might need to pay something like more or less 30 rubles.

Frankly speaking, the city government recommends all cafes and restaurants to let people enter toilets free. And companies tend to follow this suggestion. So, in case of need, go search for a close-by cafe.

Starting from 2020, toilets at all railway stations are free as well. Before, only visitors with train tickets could enter the place free of charge.

Obviously, restrooms in all the museums, palaces as well as at the Pulkovo airport are also free.

Stationary and temporary restrooms

Vodokal Company that provides Saint Petersburg residents with drinking water also takes care of public comfort. The organization manages stationary toilets that represent separate building on the streets of the city. You can check them on this interactive map (in Russian).

Pay attention that not all of the spots work all year round. To make sure on the regime, click on the place you are particularly interested in. Most of the restrooms operate from 10:00 to 21:00.

There are also temporary, or movable toilets in the city. They are also marked on the map. Some of them are established during a tourist season at some crowded places. For instance, close to the Palace Square. Quite often they are located close to metro stations. By the way, there are no public restrooms in Saint Petersburg underground.

The price of public WC in Saint Petersburg is 30 rubles.

I hope that was useful, and in case of any St Petersburg related questions feel free to contact me. Have an awesome stay in the Northern Venice!