Why this ride
341 km from Lebyazh’ye to Lebyazh’ye, about 5 h 54 of riding. On the way it passes The Datcha of the Hospital, The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin, Highway Pushkin - Gatchina and The Blocade Ring. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Fort «Seraya Loshad» and The Blocade Ring
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 341 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 54
- 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 38 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 38 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fort «Seraya Loshad»
Along the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, west of Saint Petersburg, a low strip of pine forest and sand runs for kilometres between the road and the sea. Fort Seraya Loshad, the Grey Horse, stands in this coastal country, eleven kilometres from the village of Lebyazhye, among a group of forts built for the defence of the capital and the naval base at Kronstadt.
Read the complete Fort «Seraya Loshad» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort «Seraya Loshad» is where the day begins. Next is The Datcha of the Hospital.
2. The Datcha of the Hospital
Somewhere between Bolshaya Izhora and Lomonosov, along the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, stood a summer house known as the Datcha of the Hospital. The name suggests one of the many country retreats built along this coast in the nineteenth century, when the road west from St Petersburg was lined with the estates of the aristocracy, merchants and institutions. Few of these houses survive intact, and the exact remains of this one are hard to pin down; it is better to take it as a pause on one of the most historic stretches of shore in Russia.
Read the complete The Datcha of the Hospital write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Datcha of the Hospital comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin.
3. The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin
On the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, between St Petersburg and Peterhof, the old road runs past a string of palaces and estates that the Russian elite built in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to be near the sea and the court. Among them, near Strelna, stands the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage, a monastery founded in the eighteenth century as a dependency of the great Trinity Lavra of St Sergius near Moscow. It is part of the wide UNESCO listing of St Petersburg's historic centre and the monuments around it.
Read the complete The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin 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 The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin. Next is Highway Pushkin - Gatchina.
4. Highway Pushkin - Gatchina
Two imperial palaces lie at either end of this road, and between them the flat country south of Saint Petersburg still carries the scars of the twentieth century's worst siege. At the northern end is Pushkin, the former Tsarskoye Selo, where the Catherine Palace stretches its blue and white façade for hundreds of metres and the reconstructed Amber Room glows inside. At the southern end is Gatchina, Paul I's palace, grey and fortress-like, in a park of lakes and islands. The historic road between them is one of the many components of the World Heritage Site of the historic centre of Saint Petersburg and its related monuments.
Read the complete Highway Pushkin - Gatchina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Highway Pushkin - Gatchina, about halfway. Next is The Blocade Ring.
5. The Blocade Ring
The Blockade Ring stands on the south bank of the Neva, east of Saint Petersburg, close to where the Road of Life began its journey toward Lake Ladoga. It commemorates the siege of Leningrad, which lasted from September 1941 to January 1944, roughly 872 days, and the corridor that kept the city alive. When Shlisselburg fell in September 1941, the city was cut off by land, and the only lifeline ran across Ladoga, by boat in summer and over the ice in winter.
Read the complete The Blocade Ring write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Blocade Ring sits at 154 km, about halfway. Next is back through Highway Pushkin - Gatchina.
6. back through Highway Pushkin - Gatchina
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Highway Pushkin - Gatchina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Highway Pushkin - Gatchina comes up about 234 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin.
7. back through The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 270 km into the recorded legs you reach back through The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin. Next is back through The Datcha of the Hospital.
8. back through The Datcha of the Hospital
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Datcha of the Hospital write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Datcha of the Hospital, late in the day. Next is Fort «Seraya Loshad».
9. Fort «Seraya Loshad»
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort «Seraya Loshad» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 341 km.
Leg by leg
Fort «Seraya Loshad» to The Datcha of the Hospital
Fort «Seraya Loshad» → The Datcha of the Hospital is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Datcha of the Hospital to The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin
The Datcha of the Hospital → The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin to Highway Pushkin - Gatchina
The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin → Highway Pushkin - Gatchina is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Highway Pushkin - Gatchina to The Blocade Ring
Highway Pushkin - Gatchina → The Blocade Ring is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Blocade Ring to back through Highway Pushkin - Gatchina
The Blocade Ring → back through Highway Pushkin - Gatchina is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Highway Pushkin - Gatchina to back through The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin
back through Highway Pushkin - Gatchina → back through The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin to back through The Datcha of the Hospital
back through The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin → back through The Datcha of the Hospital is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Datcha of the Hospital to Fort «Seraya Loshad»
back through The Datcha of the Hospital → Fort «Seraya Loshad» is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.