Summer 2020 promises a season of sport to remember with both the Olympics and the UEFA European Football Championship taking place between June & July. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the famous football championship, cities across Europe will be hosting matches, including St Petersburg. But if you don’t manage to get tickets, fear not because the Sports Village and Fan Zone will be holding free events and screening live matches and we have some excellent sports bars for you to soak up the action alongside football-mad locals. Here are my favourites…
The heart of UEFA Festival Saint Petersburg will be the Football Village at Konyushennaya Square right in the historical centre of the city. All the matches will be screened here live, alongside a lively program of music events, children’s activities and plenty of food and drink stalls to keep your energy levels up. The Fanzone will be located in Palace Square. Here you can watch matches on a big screen surrounded by the city’s cultural icons, tradtional Russian food will be available to eat and there’s even a football exhibition nearby.
This bar and grill regularly hosts all manner of different events, including screening live sporting events and is popular with the locals. They offer an eclectic selection of cocktails, wine and a large selection of draft and bottled beer. And if that weren’t enough, this place is often cited as the best burger joint in St Petersburg and I would have to agree.
Address: Liteiny prospect, 55
Madmax brings you industrial chic in a former warehouse; boasting an in-house brewery (that you can visit) that offers up to 10 different beers, a sunny terrace, a shisha hall, a whisky tasting room and an interesting pan Asian menu. This bar/restaurant hosts lots of events, concerts and regularly screens major sporting events. Be warned though, customers are allowed to smoke pipes and cigars in certain areas (perfect if you’re a smoker, not so perfect if you’re not).
Address: Sadovaya 12 street
Loved by locals and boasting a fun, friendly atmosphere, СБГ 25 occupies a small hall with vaulted ceilings with exposed brickwork, where you can admire the uniforms of the players of St. Petersburg football club Zenit, hanging on the walls. On Fridays and Saturdays, the bar hosts dance parties and other live music events. The СБГ 25 bar card presents a large selection of beers, including foreign and domestic craft. The basis of the menu was a variety of beer snacks: chicken wings, sausages, fried dumplings, sandwiches.
Address: Goncharnaya Ulitsa, 25,