Why this ride
From Strel'na it runs 420 km to Strel'na; allow about 6 h 24 of riding. On the way it passes Primorskoe Highway, The Road of Life and back through Primorskoe Highway. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
A.F.Orlov's Datcha and The Road of Life
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 420 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 24
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 87 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 87 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. A.F.Orlov's Datcha
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.
Read the complete A.F.Orlov's Datcha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A.F.Orlov's Datcha is where the day begins. Next is Primorskoe Highway.
2. Primorskoe Highway
Zelenogorsk used to be Terijoki, a Finnish resort town on the Gulf of Finland, and it belonged to Finland until the Winter War of 1939 to 1940, when this stretch of the Karelian Isthmus passed to the Soviet Union. Before that, Terijoki was a place where Russian aristocrats and artists kept summer houses, and the wooden villas that survive among the pines still have some of that air. The Primorskoe highway runs north-west from Saint Petersburg along the shore to Vyborg, and this is the part of it where the road threads a sandy, forested coastal strip with dunes on one side and wet pinewoods on the other.
Read the complete Primorskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Primorskoe Highway comes up about 87 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Road of Life.
3. The Road of Life
On the south-eastern shore of Lake Ladoga, east of Saint Petersburg, a road ends at the water. This is the start of the Road of Life, the supply route across the ice that kept Leningrad alive during the siege of 1941 to 1944. The siege lasted 872 days, from September 1941 to January 1944, and it cut the city off from nearly everything except the lake. In the first winter, when Ladoga froze, trucks and horse-drawn sledges began to cross the ice with food and fuel, and on the return journey they carried out women, children and the sick. Lorries broke through the ice, and bombing and artillery attacked the route, but it kept going.
Read the complete The Road of Life write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 218 km into the recorded legs you reach The Road of Life. Next is back through Primorskoe Highway.
4. back through Primorskoe Highway
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Primorskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Primorskoe Highway, late in the day. Next is A.F.Orlov's Datcha, 85 km on.
5. A.F.Orlov's Datcha
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete A.F.Orlov's Datcha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at A.F.Orlov's Datcha. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
A.F.Orlov's Datcha to Primorskoe Highway
A.F.Orlov's Datcha → Primorskoe Highway is 87 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Primorskoe Highway to The Road of Life
Primorskoe Highway → The Road of Life is 131 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The Road of Life to back through Primorskoe Highway
The Road of Life → back through Primorskoe Highway is 115 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Primorskoe Highway to A.F.Orlov's Datcha
back through Primorskoe Highway → A.F.Orlov's Datcha is 88 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.