Between Russian classes, homework, new friends, and sightseeing, you’ll have plenty to do in Saint Petersburg, but don’t forget to exercise! Besides helping you stay healthy, exercise is a great way to meet people, make local friends, practice your Russian no matter what your level is, and relieve stress. In this post, we’ll introduce you to some possibilities of where you can exercise in Saint Petersburg, and where you can look to find the club or activity that most appeals to you.
Between Russian classes, homework, new friends, and sightseeing, you’ll have plenty to do in Saint Petersburg, but don’t forget to exercise! Besides helping you stay healthy, sports are a great way to meet people, make local friends, practice your Russian no matter what your level is, and relieve stress. In this post, we’ll introduce you to some possibilities of where you can exercise in Saint Petersburg, and where you can look to find the club or activity that most appeals to you.
Центр физической культуры, спорта и здоровья
Each region in Saint Petersburg has a Центр физической культуры, спорта и здоровья (Center of Physical Culture, Sports and Health) where you can take sports classes for free. The closest one to Derzhavin Institute is the center for the Admiratelskaya Region, located at ул Можайская, д. 44-48, Лит. А. The addresses for the other centers can be found here. Information online about class offerings is rather limited, so you might have to call or visit to find out what classes are available.
Fitness Clubs
There are countless fitness centers in Saint Petersburg, from basic gyms to enormous sports centers with state-of-the-art facilities, equipment, classes and services. Many of them require a one-month or three-month membership (абонемент), but others let you pay by the visit. Check out Derzhavin’s sports and fitness page for some recommended fitness clubs or search for one in your neighborhood.
Running
Saint Petersburg’s many parks are very popular places to go running, even in the winter.
Runners looking to socialize should check out the Mint Running Club (Беговой клуб Mint), which regularly organizes free group runs around Saint Petersburg. For details of the runs, follow their VK page.
Run Piter organizes running tours of the city for a recommended donation of 600 rubles.
Inline Skating
The skating club Катающийся город offers regular free inline skating classes for adults on Saturday evenings and organizes regular Sunday skating excursions around town.
Rekil also offers inline skating courses .
Ice Skating
Ice skating is a popular Russian pastime, especially in the winter. There are many skating arenas in Saint Petersburg, both closed and open (only during the winter). For example at the “Ice Palace” (Ледовый дворец), home of Saint Petersburg’s hockey team, you can rent skates for 270 per hour, or pay 200 per hour to skate with your own skates. You can find other skating rinks here (under “Катки Петербурга”).
Walking
Flat, beautiful, and safe, Saint Petersburg is a great place to walk around! Many
Клуб скандинавской ходьбы «Пойдем ходить!» (Nordic Walking Club) offers free or inexpensive Nordic walking classes and excursions.
Yoga
Generation Yoga offers a wide variety of yoga classes daily for a voluntary donation. You can find the schedule and locations here.
Dance
There are many dance schools in Saint Petersburg, but a good place to start is Tequila Dance, which offers an enormous range of dance classes of different styles, from beginner to advanced, in locations across the city. You can take a trial class (200-400 rubles) before signing up for regular lessons.
If you already have a particular style of dance in mind, search for the name of it and “Санкт Петербугр” on Facebook or VKontakt and you’re likely to find a group that regularly organizes dances or classes.
Kayak and Stand Up Paddle
To see Saint Petersburg from a different perspective, take a river kayak tour around the city with Piter Kayak or Kayak SPB (only from May to September). Excursions are around 1500-4000 rubles.
Stand Up Paddle along the city’s many rivers and canals is also becoming more popular. One Wave offers SUP tours of the city for around 35 euros.
Biking
See our previous post about biking in Saint Petersburg,
Horseback riding
You can find outdoor horseback riding excursions or riding lessons around Saint Petersburg, for example here (one hour lesson for 1250 rubles).
For a more extensive list of what is available in Saint Petersburg, you can look here or search Google, Facebook or VKontake for your favorite sport!