Forts of the Island Kotlin and P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Forts of the Island Kotlin

   Kotlin island carries so many forts that the usual way to describe it is as a single stone ship moored in the middle of the gulf. The whole island is fortified, and you can see the evidence from the water, from the road and from the air: low batteries, round towers, harbour walls and the great forts built on artificial islands in the shallows. Many carry the names of tsars and grand dukes, and some, like the fort known as Alexander I, have a more sinister reputation, since it was used as a research station for plague bacteria in the early twentieth century and is still called the Plague Fort.

   Read the complete Forts of the Island Kotlin write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Forts of the Island Kotlin is where the day begins. Next is The Mordvinov's Estate.

2. 2. The Mordvinov's Estate

   Peterhof's fountains get the attention, but the coast road west of it, running along the Gulf of Finland toward Oranienbaum, is the better introduction to the landscape. The Mordvinov estate, named for a family of Russian statesmen and naval officers, belongs to the string of country houses that nobles built along this shore in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when Peter the Great's new capital pulled the whole aristocracy to the Baltic.

   Read the complete The Mordvinov's Estate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The Mordvinov's Estate comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha, 17 km on.

3. 3. P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha

   Strelna lies at the beginning of the road to Peterhof, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, and its main feature is the Konstantinovsky Palace, begun in the reign of Peter the Great and named for a later grand duke, Konstantin. Like Peterhof, it was heavily damaged in the Second World War and later rebuilt, and in the early 2000s it was restored for the three-hundredth anniversary of Saint Petersburg. The park, with its canals and ponds, runs down toward the water, and the view across the gulf is wide and grey.

   Read the complete P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 38 km into the recorded legs you reach P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha. Next is back through The Mordvinov's Estate.

4. 4. back through The Mordvinov's Estate

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete The Mordvinov's Estate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through The Mordvinov's Estate, late in the day. Next is Forts of the Island Kotlin.

5. 5. Forts of the Island Kotlin

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Forts of the Island Kotlin write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Forts of the Island Kotlin. That is the ride.