Pavlovsk's great park spreads over several hundred hectares along the Slavyanka river, a valley of meadows, groves and winding water that was designed as a landscape garden for the family of Tsar Paul I, with the palace by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron as its centrepiece. The name Mariental, meaning Maria's valley, recalls the empress Maria Feodorovna, who spent decades shaping the grounds after her husband's death. Little of it was left in 1944, when the retreating German army burned the palace and felled thousands of trees, and its restoration after the war took years of patient work.
What you find today is a green and peaceful place, full of old oaks, silver birches and lime avenues, with pavilions, bridges and statues half hidden among the trees. The paths are good for walking, and cyclists share them. Dogs, children and joggers fill the park on summer weekends. In autumn the leaves make a coloured carpet, and in winter, when snow covers the ground, the place is almost magical.
The town of Pavlovsk, with about sixteen thousand inhabitants, lies right next to the park and has fuel, bakeries and cafes. The road to it from Pushkin, which is only a few kilometres off, is short and straight, with the odd bend where an old villa stands. Parking at the park gates can be crowded on weekends, so go early. The surface in town is patchy, and the traffic slow.
Do not expect a thrilling ride. This is a place for taking things slowly: parking the bike, walking in the shade and thinking about the history of the place. The riding comes in the lanes between Pavlovsk and neighbouring Tyarlevo, where birch woods and meadows give a taste of rural Ingria, the old name for this part of Russia.
The park is at its best in late May, when the trees are in leaf and the birdsong is loud, and again in September and early October, when the light is golden. Mosquitoes can be thick in July, so carry repellent. Winters are long, snowy and cold, and the roads can be icy.