Why this ride
From Kronstadt it runs 188 km to Kronstadt; allow about 3 h 04 of riding. On the way it passes The Lugovoy, Krasnoe Selo, Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk and back through Krasnoe Selo. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Fort «Constantin» and Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 188 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 04
- 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
For about 29 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 29 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Krasnoe Selo → Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk
25 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 28 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fort «Constantin»
Fort Constantine sits off the western end of Kotlin Island, out in the Gulf of Finland, and the sea is the whole point of it. Kotlin is a long, thin strip of land with the island city of Kronstadt at its heart, built by Peter the Great as the base of the Baltic fleet and the shield for St Petersburg. The forts around it were built on shoals and artificial islands to close the channels, which means several of them can only be seen from a distance, or from the water.
Read the complete Fort «Constantin» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort «Constantin» is where the day begins. Next is The Lugovoy.
2. The Lugovoy
Peterhof is the work of a tsar who wanted his own Versailles on the Gulf of Finland. Peter the Great began the palace and its gardens in the early eighteenth century, and by the time of his daughter Elizabeth and later of Catherine the Great, the Great Cascade, with its gilded statues and its fountains, was one of the most extravagant waterworks in Europe. Behind the formal gardens, the Lugovoy, meaning the meadow park, is a larger, quieter landscape of open lawns, ponds, tree-lined paths and old oaks, a place where Petersburgers come to walk dogs and push prams on weekends.
Read the complete The Lugovoy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Lugovoy comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Krasnoe Selo.
3. Krasnoe Selo
Readers of Anna Karenina will know Krasnoye Selo, even if they have never been within a thousand kilometres of it. It was here, at the summer camp of the imperial guards, that Tolstoy set the officers' steeplechase in which Vronsky rides his mare Frou-Frou to disaster in front of the court. For more than a century, from the early nineteenth century until the revolution, the guards regiments of the Russian army gathered each summer in this area south-west of Saint Petersburg for manoeuvres, parades and horse races, and the tsar and the court came to watch. It is listed as one of the monuments associated with the historic centre of Saint Petersburg.
Read the complete Krasnoe Selo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Krasnoe Selo. Next is Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk.
4. Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk
Pavlovsk station has a story that every Russian railway enthusiast can tell. The line from Saint Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo opened in the late 1830s, the first public railway in the country, and it was soon extended to Pavlovsk, where a grand station building became a place of concerts and summer entertainment. Johann Strauss the younger came to conduct there in the nineteenth century, and the rich of the capital rode out in their finery to hear him. The railway still runs, though the trains are electric and the concert hall has long gone quiet.
Read the complete Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk, about halfway. Next is back through Krasnoe Selo.
5. back through Krasnoe Selo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Krasnoe Selo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Krasnoe Selo sits at 99 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Lugovoy.
6. back through The Lugovoy
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Lugovoy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Lugovoy comes up about 161 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort «Constantin».
7. Fort «Constantin»
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort «Constantin» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort «Constantin» closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fort «Constantin» to The Lugovoy
Fort «Constantin» → The Lugovoy is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Lugovoy to Krasnoe Selo
The Lugovoy → Krasnoe Selo is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Krasnoe Selo to Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk
Krasnoe Selo → Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk to back through Krasnoe Selo
Railway Saint Petersburg - Pavlovsk → back through Krasnoe Selo is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Krasnoe Selo to back through The Lugovoy
back through Krasnoe Selo → back through The Lugovoy is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Lugovoy to Fort «Constantin»
back through The Lugovoy → Fort «Constantin» is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.