Why this ride
A 148 km round trip from Kronstadt - roughly 2 h 40 in the saddle. It goes by way of The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki», Oranienbaumsky Springboard, The Maximov's Datcha and The Alexandriysky Park.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Northern battery No. 1 and The Alexandriysky Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 148 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 40
- 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 17 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 17 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Northern battery No. 1
Kotlin Island is a long, thin sliver of land in the Gulf of Finland, and Kronstadt, its fortress-town, was founded by Peter the Great in 1704 to guard the sea approaches to his new capital. It became the base of the Russian Baltic Fleet, and ring after ring of forts, batteries and ramparts was built on the island and on artificial islands around it. The Northern Battery No. 1 is one of those fortifications, a low military work on the north shore of Kotlin, part of a defensive system that went on being added to for more than two centuries.
Read the complete Northern battery No. 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Northern battery No. 1 is where the day begins. Next is The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki».
2. The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki»
Lomonosov used to be called Oranienbaum, and the name still describes it well: an orange tree, a German version of a Russian palace town. Prince Menshikov, Peter the Great's closest associate, began building it in the early eighteenth century, and later it passed to the imperial family. The town lies on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland, a few kilometres west of Peterhof, and the palaces and parks of Oranienbaum are part of the UNESCO listing for the historic centre of Saint Petersburg. The Ratkov-Rozhnov estate called Dubki belongs to the same belt of country dachas and manors, and it takes its name from the little oaks that once grew there.
Read the complete The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Oranienbaumsky Springboard.
3. Oranienbaumsky Springboard
The Oranienbaum Springboard is not a single building but a piece of ground, and once you know the story the low woods and fields south of the Gulf of Finland look entirely different. In September 1941, as German and Finnish forces closed the ring around Leningrad, a pocket of coast around Oranienbaum, today's Lomonosov, held out. It was cut off from the city by land, supplied across the water and under the guns of Kronstadt, and it never fell. In January 1944 the Second Shock Army broke out of this pocket as one jaw of the offensive that finally lifted the siege.
Read the complete Oranienbaumsky Springboard write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Oranienbaumsky Springboard. Next is The Maximov's Datcha.
4. The Maximov's Datcha
The south shore of the Gulf of Finland west of St Petersburg is a strip of dachas, palaces and old military ground, and the place marked here as Maximov's Datcha sits within it, a couple of kilometres from the town of Lomonosov.
Read the complete The Maximov's Datcha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Maximov's Datcha, about halfway. Next is The Alexandriysky Park.
5. The Alexandriysky Park
The garden at Alexandria is a nineteenth-century romantic dream laid out at Peterhof for Tsar Nicholas I and his wife, Alexandra, a place of Gothic towers, winding paths and a small cottage palace by the sea. It lies a little to the west of the great fountains of the lower park, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, and its mood is quite different: quiet, wooded and slightly melancholy. The Gothic Chapel, designed in the style of an English country church, stands among the trees, and the Cottage Palace beside it was a family retreat where the emperor could escape the formality of court life.
Read the complete The Alexandriysky Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Alexandriysky Park sits at 66 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Maximov's Datcha.
6. back through The Maximov's Datcha
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Maximov's Datcha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Maximov's Datcha comes up about 87 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard.
7. back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Oranienbaumsky Springboard write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 105 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard. Next is back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki».
8. back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki»
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki», late in the day. Next is Northern battery No. 1, 16 km on.
9. Northern battery No. 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Northern battery No. 1 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 148 km.
Leg by leg
Northern battery No. 1 to The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki»
Northern battery No. 1 → The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» to Oranienbaumsky Springboard
The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» → Oranienbaumsky Springboard is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Oranienbaumsky Springboard to The Maximov's Datcha
Oranienbaumsky Springboard → The Maximov's Datcha is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Maximov's Datcha to The Alexandriysky Park
The Maximov's Datcha → The Alexandriysky Park is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Alexandriysky Park to back through The Maximov's Datcha
The Alexandriysky Park → back through The Maximov's Datcha is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Maximov's Datcha to back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard
back through The Maximov's Datcha → back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard to back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki»
back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard → back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» to Northern battery No. 1
back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» → Northern battery No. 1 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.