Why this ride
98 km from Pushkin to Pushkin, about 1 h 59 of riding. It goes by way of Dudergofskaya Elevation, Tallinskoe Highway and back through Dudergofskaya Elevation. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Alexander Palace and park and Tallinskoe Highway
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 98 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 59
- 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
Alexander Palace and park → Dudergofskaya Elevation
29 km on Alexander Palace and park → Dudergofskaya Elevation.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 29 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Alexander Palace and park
Few Russian palaces have a story as heavy as the Alexander Palace in Pushkin, the town that grew around the imperial estate of Tsarskoye Selo, south of St Petersburg. Catherine the Great had it built for her grandson Alexander, the future Alexander I, by the Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi in the 1790s, a restrained neoclassical building with a long colonnade facing the park. Its fame, though, comes from the last family to live in it. Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra preferred it to the grand Winter Palace, and they raised their five children here until the revolution of 1917, when the family was placed under house arrest in the palace before being sent east.
Read the complete Alexander Palace and park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Alexander Palace and park is where the day begins. Next is Dudergofskaya Elevation.
2. Dudergofskaya Elevation
The land around St Petersburg is almost perfectly flat, so any hill gets noticed. The Duderhof Heights, a pair of wooded hills rising south of the city near Krasnoye Selo, are the highest ground for many kilometres around, with the higher one, Voronya Gora or Crow Hill, reaching a little under two hundred metres above sea level. From the top, on a clear day, you can see the gilded domes of the city and the waters of the Gulf of Finland.
Read the complete Dudergofskaya Elevation write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dudergofskaya Elevation comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tallinskoe Highway.
3. Tallinskoe Highway
Not every historic road is a pretty one, and the Tallinn highway on the south-western edge of St Petersburg is not trying to win prizes for charm. It is, however, one of the old imperial routes out of the capital, the road toward Narva and Reval, today's Tallinn, and as such it forms part of the UNESCO listing of the historic centre of St Petersburg and its related monuments, which includes the network of roads tying the city to its palaces and estates. Along it, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries planted suburban residences, military camps and post stations.
Read the complete Tallinskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Tallinskoe Highway. Next is back through Dudergofskaya Elevation.
4. back through Dudergofskaya Elevation
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dudergofskaya Elevation write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dudergofskaya Elevation, late in the day. Next is Alexander Palace and park.
5. Alexander Palace and park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alexander Palace and park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Alexander Palace and park. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Alexander Palace and park to Dudergofskaya Elevation
Alexander Palace and park → Dudergofskaya Elevation is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dudergofskaya Elevation to Tallinskoe Highway
Dudergofskaya Elevation → Tallinskoe Highway is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tallinskoe Highway to back through Dudergofskaya Elevation
Tallinskoe Highway → back through Dudergofskaya Elevation is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dudergofskaya Elevation to Alexander Palace and park
back through Dudergofskaya Elevation → Alexander Palace and park is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.