Why this ride
A 319 km round trip from Petrodvorets - roughly 5 h 37 in the saddle. The stops in between: Dudergof, Ligovsky prospect, The Park «Mariental» and The Blocade Ring. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Gostilitskoe Highway and The Blocade Ring
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 319 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 37
- 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. Gostilitskoe Highway
Peterhof is famous for its fountains, and the road called Gostilitskoe runs along the high ground behind the palace, where the water begins. When Peter the Great decided in the early eighteenth century to build a rival to Versailles on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, the engineers had a problem, because the ground at the shore is flat, and a fountain needs a head of water. They found springs and ponds on the Ropsha heights, a few kilometres inland, and built a system of canals, reservoirs and pipes that carried water downhill to the palace by gravity alone, without a single pump. That system, the Water-bringing system of Peterhof, still works, and it is a marvel of its time.
Read the complete Gostilitskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gostilitskoe Highway is where the day begins. Next is Dudergof.
2. Dudergof
South-west of St Petersburg, the flat land of the Neva lowland rises unexpectedly into a pair of wooded hills, the Duderhof heights, the highest ground for many kilometres around. Their name comes from Finnish, and they have long been a landmark, used for military observation since the eighteenth century and as a summer retreat for the people of the capital. In the nineteenth century, the imperial army held its summer manoeuvres around nearby Krasnoye Selo, and the officers' villas and parade grounds became part of the social life of St Petersburg.
Read the complete Dudergof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dudergof comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ligovsky prospect.
3. Ligovsky prospect
Ligovsky Prospect is one of Saint Petersburg's long avenues, running south from Nevsky Prospect near Moscow Station, through old tenements, markets and railway yards toward the edge of the city. Its name comes from Ligovo, and the avenue follows the line of the old Ligovsky Canal, dug in the early eighteenth century under Peter the Great to bring water from the southern springs to the fountains of the Summer Garden. The canal has been covered or filled over most of its route, but the street still traces it, a straight line through the city's grid.
Read the complete Ligovsky prospect write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Ligovsky prospect. Next is The Park «Mariental».
4. The Park «Mariental»
Pavlovsk's great park spreads over several hundred hectares along the Slavyanka river, a valley of meadows, groves and winding water that was designed as a landscape garden for the family of Tsar Paul I, with the palace by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron as its centrepiece. The name Mariental, meaning Maria's valley, recalls the empress Maria Feodorovna, who spent decades shaping the grounds after her husband's death. Little of it was left in 1944, when the retreating German army burned the palace and felled thousands of trees, and its restoration after the war took years of patient work.
Read the complete The Park «Mariental» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Park «Mariental», 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 142 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Park «Mariental».
6. back through The Park «Mariental»
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Park «Mariental» 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 «Mariental» comes up about 218 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Ligovsky prospect.
7. back through Ligovsky prospect
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ligovsky prospect write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 248 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Ligovsky prospect. Next is back through Dudergof.
8. back through Dudergof
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dudergof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dudergof, late in the day. Next is Gostilitskoe Highway.
9. Gostilitskoe Highway
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gostilitskoe Highway 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 319 km.
Leg by leg
Gostilitskoe Highway to Dudergof
Gostilitskoe Highway → Dudergof is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dudergof to Ligovsky prospect
Dudergof → Ligovsky prospect is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ligovsky prospect to The Park «Mariental»
Ligovsky prospect → The Park «Mariental» is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Park «Mariental» to The Blocade Ring
The Park «Mariental» → The Blocade Ring is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Blocade Ring to back through The Park «Mariental»
The Blocade Ring → back through The Park «Mariental» is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Park «Mariental» to back through Ligovsky prospect
back through The Park «Mariental» → back through Ligovsky prospect is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ligovsky prospect to back through Dudergof
back through Ligovsky prospect → back through Dudergof is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dudergof to Gostilitskoe Highway
back through Dudergof → Gostilitskoe Highway is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.