Drawbridges of Saint Petersburg: 2026 schedules and how to see them on a night cruise

Saint Petersburg is the city of bridges. Every night, from 10 April to 30 November, twelve drawbridges rise over the Neva to let through the ships connecting the Volga with the Baltic. The show lasts a couple of hours, is completely free and, if you combine it with the White Nights, it becomes one of the most photogenic experiences in Russia. In this guide I tell you why they open, where to find the official 2026 schedules, what time each one rises and, above all, how to see them up close: on foot from the best riverbank or sailing literally underneath them on a night cruise along the Neva.

1. Why the bridges open (and no, it’s not for the tourists)

Let me clear up a common misconception first: the drawbridges of Saint Petersburg are not raised on a whim or for the tourists. They open because the river Neva is the last navigable stretch of the Volga-Baltic Waterway, a colossal piece of infrastructure built in Soviet times so that large ships can travel from the heart of Russia to the Baltic Sea and the European ports (or the other way around). Every night, in the middle of the navigation season, up to fifty large vessels pass under the bridges in the city centre.

The whole operation happens in the small hours so it doesn’t disrupt daytime traffic, which in Saint Petersburg is heavy. The rest of the day the bridges work like any other: cars, trams, pedestrians and bicycles cross them. And it’s quick: with modern hydraulics, raising or lowering a bridge takes between two and five minutes. The body in charge is Mostotrest, the city’s public agency that maintains 455 bridges along with roads and tunnels. The fact that tourism has crept into the middle of this industrial machinery is almost an accident: the image of the two leaves of the Palace Bridge lifted with the Peter and Paul Fortress in the background is today the most iconic postcard of the city.

2. When they open: the 2026 navigation calendar

The official navigation season runs from 10 April to 30 November. Outside those dates the Neva is frozen or in the process of freezing and the bridges simply don’t open: if you visit in winter, you miss the show. The really beautiful window is the White Nights, from late May to mid-July, when the sky never fully darkens and the openings are seen against a bluish twilight. That’s when the photos really come out.

Three things worth knowing before making plans:

• There are nights when the bridges don’t open. The most common ones: 1 May, 9 May (Victory Day), Saint Petersburg City Day (27 May) and the night of the Scarlet Sails (Alye Parusa) festival in late June. If you happen to be there on those nights, there’s no show.
• The second opening may be cancelled. Many bridges rise twice a night, but if all the expected ships have already passed, the second opening is dropped without warning. They can also close earlier than the scheduled time. That’s why it’s better to aim for the first opening.
• The Sampsonievsky, Grenaderskiy and Kantemirovsky bridges (the three over the Bolshaya Nevka, far from the centre) only open by prior request, with two days’ notice. In practice, you’ll almost never see them rise.

3. Official 2026 schedules: where to check them every night

The schedule is published by Mostotrest and it’s not exactly the same every night: there are nights when a bridge gets cancelled, delayed or modified for maintenance. That’s why it’s worth checking it on the same day of your visit.

You have three ways to do it:

1. Mostotrest official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/razvodka-mostov. At the top of the page there’s always a highlighted notice if there’s any modification for that particular night. There’s an English version and a Chinese one.
2. “Мосты Петербурга” mobile app (“Petersburg Bridges”), free for Android and iPhone. The official one from Mostotrest itself. It shows you in real time which bridges are currently open and which are closed, useful if the opening catches you on the wrong side of the city and you need to find an alternative route.
3. Social media accounts: Mostotrest posts last-minute updates (especially cancellations) on its VKontakte account.

This is the official schedule table for the 2026 season published by Mostotrest. The time shown is the stop of traffic (when the bridge closes to vehicles and starts rising) and the resumption of traffic (when the bridge is open to circulation again):

4. How to see the opening up close: on foot or by boat

It’s worth staying up late and seeing it live, trust me. You have two options, each with its strengths. If you can afford it, the ideal thing is to do both during your stay: one night on foot from the riverbank and another one from a boat. They’re nothing alike.

4.1. On foot: the best spot on the riverbank

The two bridges you’ll want to see are the Palace Bridge (Dvortsovy) and the Trinity Bridge (Troitsky). They’re the most central, the most photographed, and they open just ten minutes apart: 1:10 and 1:20 respectively.

Most people gather along Palace Embankment (Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya), right in front of the Hermitage, or along Admiralty Embankment (Admiralteyskaya Naberezhnaya), to get a close-up of the Palace Bridge. After the opening, many try to rush over to the Troitsky, but there’s more than a kilometre between the two and almost nobody makes it in time to see it rise.

My tip: position yourself at a point equidistant from the two, around number 28 of Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya. From there you can watch the Palace Bridge open with the silhouette of the Peter and Paul Fortress in the background (the classic postcard shot) and, without moving, you also see the Troitsky rising to your left ten minutes later. You avoid the crowds and get two bridges in a quarter of an hour.

Bring warm clothes even in summer (the humidity off the Neva at one in the morning is deceptive), something hot to drink, and watch out for two things on your way back: the “pirate” taxis that show up when the opening ends and charge absurd fares, and the pickpockets wherever the crowd thickens.

4.2. On a night cruise: the better option

If you’re only going to do it once, do it by boat. It’s much more comfortable (a seat, no cold, no crowds) and, more importantly, far more impressive: you sail literally underneath the bridges while they’re rising, with the two leaves above your head silhouetted against the still-blue White Nights sky. The visual difference compared to watching from the riverbank is huge.

The typical route starts around midnight from one of the central piers (Admiralty Embankment, Bolshaya Konyushennaya Pier, Hermitage Pier), heads up the Neva by 1:00, approaches the Palace and Trinity bridges during the first opening, and then drops down to the Blagoveshchensky or goes up to the Liteyny depending on the boat. The cruise lasts around two hours, and between bridges you’ll see lit up at night the Hermitage, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the gilded dome of Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, the Rostral Columns and, depending on the route, the Yusupov Palace.

Prices in 2026 start at around 1,000-1,500 rubles per person on basic shared boats, climb to 2,500-4,000 rubles if you want a large teplokhod with bar and multilingual audio guide, and shoot up if you book a private yacht. I cover everything (which boat to choose, where to buy tickets, which piers offer the best value and what to avoid) in the dedicated article: Night cruises on the Neva and the canals of Saint Petersburg.

5. The 12 Neva drawbridges, one by one

Saint Petersburg has 18 working drawbridges, but only 12 open regularly during the season. Of those twelve, nine follow a fixed schedule every night and three (the ones on the Bolshaya Nevka) only open by request. On this map I’ve marked the location of the nine that open every night:

5.1. Palace Bridge (Dvortsovy Most)

The most famous and most photographed bridge in the entire network. It was built between 1911 and 1916 and is 250 metres long. It links the city centre with Vasilievsky Island, crossing the river right between the Hermitage and the spit of the island with the Rostral Columns. Its two leaves rise at a 45-degree angle, leaving a perfect gap that frames the silhouette of the Cathedral of Peter and Paul. This is the classic postcard image of the city, the one you’ll see on every brochure.

One curious detail: when it was inaugurated in 1916, they ran a pretty brutal load test on it: they parked 34 trucks on the bridge at the same time, each one carrying nearly ten tonnes. It held without a problem. The elegant cast-iron railings with Soviet stars, however, are not the originals: they were added in the 1930s, because the original decoration was put on hold due to World War I.

• 2026 schedule: 1:10 – 2:50 and 3:10 – 4:55
• Official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/dvorczovyj

5.2. Trinity Bridge (Troitsky Most)

This is the second of the big ones, and one of the most beautiful for its decoration. It was built by the French company Société de Construction des Batignolles between 1897 and 1903, in the reign of Nicholas II, and inaugurated to coincide with the bicentennial of the city. Interestingly, the original competition was won by the studio of Gustave Eiffel (yes, the man behind the tower), but in the end another project was chosen because it came out cheaper in iron.

It’s 582 metres long (one of the longest in the centre), still keeps its art nouveau lamp posts and two rostral obelisks crowned with double-headed eagles. Unlike the Palace Bridge, when it rises only one of its two leaves goes up, the one on the Hermitage side. It’s right next to the Peter and Paul Fortress.

• 2026 schedule: 1:20 – 4:50
• Official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/troiczkij

5.3. Annunciation Bridge (Blagoveshchensky Most)

The first permanent bridge ever built over the Neva (not over a canal): it dates from 1850. When it was inaugurated, it was the longest in Europe. It connects Vasilievsky Island with the centre and stands out for its beautiful wrought-iron railings with nautical motifs. It’s 331 metres long and 24 wide, in a stretch where the Neva is about 280 metres across.

One thing worth noting: in the 2026 season it has gone from having a single opening to having two, just like the Palace Bridge. If you’re going to watch the Palace and Trinity bridges, this one is relatively close and you can catch it during the second opening without moving too much.

• 2026 schedule: 1:25 – 2:45 and 3:10 – 5:00
• Official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/blagoveshhenskij

5.4. Liteyny Bridge (Foundry)

It usually flies under the radar in the guidebooks, but it’s the second oldest bridge over the Neva: it was finished in 1879 and rebuilt in 1967 with six lanes of traffic. It sits at the deepest point of the Neva as it flows through Saint Petersburg and measures 396 metres long by 34 wide. Its decoration isn’t flashy (don’t expect obelisks or eagles), but its mechanism is very powerful: a single drawbridge leaf that rises at a sharp angle in just minutes. It’s quite far from the tourist centre, to the east.

• 2026 schedule: 1:40 – 4:45
• Official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/litejnyj

5.5. Exchange Bridge (Birzhevoy Most)

It was built between 1957 and 1960 and owes its name to the old Stock Exchange building nearby, on the spit of Vasilievsky Island. It’s right next to the Leningrad Zoo and the Peter and Paul Fortress. The star feature here is the reinforced-concrete structure with several piers, but it’s also worth a look at the cast-iron railings with nautical motifs. It has one technical quirk that’s unique in the world: the opening system is “sliding-drawbridge”, that is, the two leaves first separate by 15 cm and then rise up, which reduces the effort on the mechanism.

• 2026 schedule: 2:00 – 2:55 and 3:35 – 4:55
• Official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/birzhevoj

5.6. Tuchkov Bridge

It links the Petrogradsky and Vasileostrovsky districts. It was originally a wooden bridge (1758) and the current one dates from 1962. It has no great ornamental value, but watching it open has its own charm. In 2026 it follows exactly the same schedule as the Birzhevoy right opposite. You can watch both almost without moving.

• 2026 schedule: 2:00 – 2:55 and 3:35 – 4:55
• Official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/tuchkov

5.7. Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge

It’s outside the city centre, in the Smolny area, but it’s one of the most architecturally striking: it was opened in 1911 and has two large arched iron structures and two small Norman-style towers shaped like lighthouses on the sides. The drawbridge mechanism opens the 14-metre central span in just half a minute. If you take a cruise heading up the Neva, you’ll see it lit up.

• 2026 schedule: 2:00 – 5:00
• Official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/bolsheohtinskij-most

5.8. Volodarsky Bridge

Built in the early 1930s, it sits in the south-western part of the city, off any tourist route. It’s 325 metres long, with a 43-metre drawbridge section. It’s strictly functional: it eases the outbound traffic heading south. You’ll only see it if you take a long cruise or if the route from your hotel takes you across it at night.

• 2026 schedule: 2:00 – 3:45 and 4:15 – 5:30
• Official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/volodarskij

5.9. Alexander Nevsky Bridge

It sits next to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery and was completed in 1965. The design is functional, without grand ornaments, but it has merit: with its 906 metres it was the longest bridge in the city until 2004 (when it was surpassed by the Big Obukhovsky Bridge). It has six lanes of traffic and a rather beautiful night illumination.

• 2026 schedule: 2:20 – 5:10
• Official website: mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/aleksandra-nevskogo

5.10. The three “by request” bridges: Sampsoniyevsky, Grenaderskiy and Kantemirovsky

The three cross the Bolshaya Nevka, far from the tourist centre, and they only rise on prior request (two days’ notice) in the 1:30 – 4:30 slot. In practice, you’ll almost never see them open, unless you happen to coincide with the passage of a specific ship. The Sampsoniyevsky is the most curious of the three: it still uses an electromechanical mechanism (not hydraulic, like the rest) and keeps the option of being raised manually, a technical rarity.

6. The prettiest pedestrian bridges (non-drawbridge)

Beyond the giants of the Neva, Saint Petersburg is packed with smaller bridges over canals and tributaries (the Moika, the Fontanka, the Griboedov Canal, the Krukov Canal…). Many are genuine decorative jewels you’ll walk past without noticing if you don’t have them marked on your route. The ideal thing is to combine them with a canal cruise during the day, which gets you into spots you can’t reach on foot and, at some points, forces you to duck (the canals are narrow and the bridges very low).

These are the four you shouldn’t miss, almost all comfortably close to Nevsky Avenue. I’ve marked them on this map:

6.1. Bank Bridge (Bankovsky Most)

A lovely little pedestrian bridge over the Griboedov Canal, just behind the Kazan Cathedral and a stone’s throw from Nevsky Avenue. It was built between 1825 and 1826, and what makes it famous are its four griffins with golden wings (mythological creatures, half eagle, half lion), the work of sculptor Pavel Sokolov. Tradition has it that the griffins protect the riches of the old bank that gave the bridge its name. It’s one of the most photographed spots in the city.

6.2. Lion Bridge (Lviny Most)

Also over the Griboedov Canal, also pedestrian and also by Pavel Sokolov (1826). Here instead of griffins you get four white lions with their jaws holding up the cables of the bridge. Don’t confuse it with the Bank Bridge: they’re less than a kilometre apart and by the same sculptor, but the decoration is different. It’s a popular meeting point for tourists and street artists.

6.3. Anichkov Bridge

This is the bridge where Nevsky Avenue crosses the Fontanka River. You’ll probably cross it several times without realising it. Its signature feature is the four statues of horses being tamed by young men, installed in 1851 and the work of sculptor Pyotr Klodt (the same artist behind the equestrian statue of Nicholas I in Saint Isaac’s Square). During the Second World War the four statues were buried in the gardens of Anichkov Palace to protect them from German bombing; they were returned to their pedestals once the Leningrad blockade was lifted.

6.4. Lomonosov Bridge

A short walk from the Anichkov, also over the Fontanka. The original bridge dates from 1785-1787 and still keeps its four Doric towers on each corner, typical of the 18th-century granite bridges of Saint Petersburg. It was originally called the Chernyshov Bridge; the name was changed in 1948 in honour of Mikhail Lomonosov, founder in 1755 of the Moscow State University (which today bears his name). It carries both vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

7. Practical tips for bridge night

• Arrive early. If you’re going on foot, plant yourself on the riverbank 15-20 minutes before the bridge closes to traffic. The crowd gathers in the last ten minutes and the good spots fill up fast.
• Warm clothes, even in July. The humidity off the Neva at two in the morning is treacherous, and if you do it by boat, the wind picks up.
• Plan B to get back to your hotel. If you need to cross the Neva during the opening, you’ll be stuck on one side. Before you head out, check the Mostotrest app to see which bridges are down at the time you expect to head back, or book a taxi through Yandex Go in advance (never accept the taxis that approach you as you leave the viewing spots: they charge absurd fares).
• Combine it with the White Nights. Any night between 10 April and 30 November works, but the real magic is in June and the first half of July. If you go in August or September, the sky is already dark and the photos lose some of their charm.
• If you’re going on a cruise, book a day in advance. In high season (White Nights) seats fill up fast. I cover all the options in the Saint Petersburg cruises guide.

Frequently asked questions