Between 1941 and 1944 Tsarskoye Selo lay behind German lines, and when the Red Army came back the Catherine Palace was a shell. The Amber Room's panels had vanished, the park trees had been cut for firewood, and most of the interiors were ash. The restoration that followed, and the new Amber Room that finally reopened in 2003, make this one of the most remarkable rebuilding jobs in Europe. The town, now called Pushkin after the poet who studied at its Lyceum, is part of the UNESCO listing for the historic centre of Saint Petersburg, and the ensemble of palaces, pavilions and parks around it is the reason to come.
The Catherine Palace is the great blue and white pile with a gilded line of ornament along the roofline, and the park beside it is a landscape of lakes, bridges and mock ruins that cost an empire's worth of money to arrange. A short walk away stands the Alexander Palace, a plainer, neoclassical house where the last tsar's family lived before the revolution, and its park is quieter and more rural.
For the ride, expect flat country, wide roads and busy ones. The approaches from the city carry commuter traffic and lorries, and the surface alternates between good asphalt and frost-heaved patches. Nobody comes here for corners. Come for early morning in summer or for late September, when the birches go yellow and the parks are nearly empty. In midsummer the white nights keep the sky light until almost dawn, and a late evening in the park is a surprisingly good time.
Pushkin has some ninety thousand people, so fuel, cafes and supermarkets are plentiful, while the smaller settlements around have little. Allow a couple of hours for the palace, which draws long queues at weekends, and bring cash for the entrance.