Saint Petersburg, or Saint Pete as the locals call it, is one of my favorite cities in the world – and I can’t even tell you why exactly. I stayed for 4 days what is at least one day longer than I usually stay in any city that isn’t particularly big. Being the fifth most populous city in Florida with roughly a quarter million inhabitants (no, that’s not particularly big), Saint Pete is located on the west coast of the Florida Panhandle, comprising a peninsula in the Tampa Bay.
What's so special about Saint Petersburg
This city is (in parts) pretty. It’s like a weird mixture of a massive, busy city with a small coastal town, forcing you to spend hours in its waterfront parks. Chilling and relaxing, hanging out, dining and drinking. Saint Petersburg is a quite young city (in European terms) and you shouldn’t make the mistake to expect something similar to or even a copy of the real St. Petersburg in Russia. Why does it have the same name? Because of the very trivial reason that one of the city’s founders, originating from the Russian St. Petersburg, won the right to dub the city in a coin toss. Et voilà. Some decisions in the late 19th century were as simple as poking a sleeping bear. With a far better outcome.
The Sunshine City
With a nickname like “Florida’s Sunshine City” and the motto “Always in Season” you know exactly what you’re up to when you visit Saint Pete: 361 sunny days a year on average. No kidding. If you’re there for a few days and the sky is constantly covered or it’s even raining, you’re a damn unlucky little bastard. I pity you profoundly. Anyway, I’m sure you will find enough to do even when the sky’s playing heavy metal on you.
I’ve realized that downtown is kinda yellowish; probably on purpose. It’s like every single building was tinted in a pastel yellow. Combined with the green palms, the deep blue water and the relentless sunshine you have no other choice than enjoying summer feelings and forgetting every single trouble you might be (or get) into. Maybe that’s the reason why I fell for this city. You know the feeling when you’re laying in the sun and a warm wind is softly breezing through your hair and you just enjoy the feeling. That’s how this city feels – at least at daytime.
The Notorious City
It’s not all roses. Or palms in this case. According to the Neighborhood Scout, Saint Petersburg is more dangerous than 96 % of all cities in the United States. Should you be worried or even remove this city from your itinerary? Not at all. Just be smart, as always. Use your common sense. An Airbnb host of mine told me once, when I asked him about the safety of a particular area in London: “If you see a bunch of people at night in dark clothes armed to the teeth, it’s maybe wise if you switch to the other side of the street.” In other words, ask some locals where to go and where better not to. Chances are that criminals don’t even mind you if they have no business with you. And you shouldn’t have business with them. Don’t poke the bear. This time for real. Read more about travel safety.
What to do, what to see and what to eat in Saint Petersburg
There’s a lot to do and to see. No matter what you’re into, it shouldn’t be hard to find some attractions you enjoy. Here are my easy doable musts.
1. The Dalí Museum
If you like museums, The Dalí should be a good choice for you. It is located downtown and overlooking the bay. You can spend hours with the largest Salvador Dalí collection outside of Spain. Besides that you’ll find regularly different exhibitions. Admission isn’t cheap at 21 USD, but you can save some bucks on Tuesdays, paying only 10 USD.
2. Fort De Soto Park
Wanna relax at the beach? Without being surrounded by 210 millions (other) tourists and sky scraping hotels? The Fort De Soto Park offers some miles of pure beaches without any touristic development. But if you want, there’s also a campsite, a picnic area, restrooms, showers, canoe rentals and so on. It’s huge. Dr. Beach rated it the best beach in the United States in 2005 (and it usually always ranks within the top 10).
3. Sundial Shopping, Dining and Cinema
The Sundial is a rather small shopping and dining center, located downtown. The name derives from the gigantic sundial at the main entrance.
The probably best thing here is the Locale Market, a groceries store that offers fantastic, selected food of high quality. You can even eat freshly prepared meals inside of the store, if you want. Its design resembles the typical weekly markets in Europe, hence the name. It is by far the best groceries shopping experience you can probably get. Or unique at least.
You’ll find also a 20 screens movie theater. Admittedly not the best cinema I’ve been to but not the worst one either.
4. Baseball
If you’re here at the right time and you’re lucky to get some tickets: You’re in the hometown of the Tampa Bay Rays. Take the opportunity. Even if you’re not a huge baseball fan, it’s worth to see an MLB live game at least once.
5. Fish & Seafood
Saint Petersburg is surrounded by the sea on three sides. Naturally you’d expect to get a lot of great, fresh fish and other seafood. And you’re right. You can find fish restaurants like on every second corner. I’ve had a great fish-dining experience at the 400 Beach Seafood & Tap House. The service was good and the food delicious. Highly recommended.
6. 4th Street - Eating & Shopping
Do you like fast food, burgers, pizza? Then 4th Street could be your little paradise. Maybe it’s something very ordinary in the U. S., but for me it was the “longest fast food street in the world”. Roughly 10 km/6 miles of stores, restaurants and other commercial premises. You could eat probably every day in a different venue for a whole month. And for the next month – just walk down the street on the other side.
Should all the burgers make you sick, you can find a doctor or two just right next door. And banks, of course. Gas stations. Grocery stores. Golf equipment. Fitness. Yoga. Churches. You’re thinking about a new hair cut and fancy nails between the pizza and the grilled chicken? 4th Street’s got you covered.
