Why this ride
From Kronstadt it runs 200 km to Kronstadt; allow about 3 h 55 of riding. The stops in between: The Park «Alexandria», Krasnoe Selo, The Lugovoy and back through Krasnoe Selo.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Forts of the Island Kotlin and The Lugovoy
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 200 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 55
- 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 36 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 36 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
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 Park «Alexandria».
2. The Park «Alexandria»
Alexandria Park is one part of the great Peterhof estate that most visitors skip, which is a good reason to visit it. Peterhof is known for its Grand Cascade and golden statues, the fountains that Peter the Great designed to rival Versailles, and for the crowds that pack the Lower Park in summer. Alexandria, on the other side of the road, is quieter, with winding paths, ponds, old oaks and a collection of small romantic buildings set among the trees.
Read the complete The Park «Alexandria» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Park «Alexandria» comes up about 36 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 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Krasnoe Selo. Next is The Lugovoy.
4. 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, 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 Park «Alexandria».
6. back through The Park «Alexandria»
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Park «Alexandria» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Park «Alexandria» comes up about 166 km into the recorded legs. Next is Forts of the Island Kotlin.
7. 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
Forts of the Island Kotlin closes the day.
Leg by leg
Forts of the Island Kotlin to The Park «Alexandria»
Forts of the Island Kotlin → The Park «Alexandria» is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Park «Alexandria» to Krasnoe Selo
The Park «Alexandria» → Krasnoe Selo is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Krasnoe Selo to The Lugovoy
Krasnoe Selo → The Lugovoy is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Lugovoy to back through Krasnoe Selo
The Lugovoy → back through Krasnoe Selo is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Krasnoe Selo to back through The Park «Alexandria»
back through Krasnoe Selo → back through The Park «Alexandria» is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Park «Alexandria» to Forts of the Island Kotlin
back through The Park «Alexandria» → Forts of the Island Kotlin is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.