Strelna lies on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland, on the road to Peterhof, and it is where Peter the Great first thought of building his seaside palace before he settled on the site a few kilometres to the west.
Strelna's great monument is the Konstantinovsky Palace, begun for Peter and later given to the Grand Duke Konstantin, restored in the early 2000s for the three-hundredth anniversary of Saint Petersburg and now used for official receptions. The park runs down to the water in a series of canals and lime avenues, and the gulf stretches grey and flat beyond. The whole shore was lined with country houses for the nobility, because Peter insisted that the aristocracy should build near his new capital, and the habit of summering on the coast lasted until 1917. Many of the older wooden dachas were burned or bombed in the Second World War, and the area was close to the front line when the Oranienbaum pocket held out to the west.
On two wheels, the Peterhof highway is a broad road along the gulf, often busy, with long straights, roundabouts, and plenty of cars heading for the fountains at Peterhof on summer weekends. It is a good road for steady cruising, but it is not twisty, and the interest is in the glimpses of the water and the parks. The best time to be here is in the evening in June, when the light stays low and golden until nearly midnight, or in September, when the parks turn yellow and the crowds thin. The wind from the gulf is cold even in July, and in winter the shore freezes and the roads are slippery.
Strelna, a town of nearly thirteen thousand people, has fuel stations, supermarkets and cafes, and Sosnovaya Polyana and Gorbunki, a little to the south-west, also have shops. A stop at the park is cheap and pleasant, and the coastal walk is a good way to rest. Those who want something more substantial can ride on to Peterhof, where the Grand Cascade and the Samson fountain are among the most visited sights in Russia. Rules for travel in Russia can change, so check them before you go.