Why this ride
A 377 km round trip from Kronstadt - roughly 6 h 15 in the saddle. On the way it passes Vyborgskaya Road, Tallinskoe Highway, Park «The Menagerie» and The Blocade Ring. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Northern battery No. 4 and The Blocade Ring
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 377 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 15
- 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
A-121 Ladoga and Sortavala
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 45 km this is A-121 Ladoga and Sortavala, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 45 km
- Named road
- A-121 Ladoga and Sortavala
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Northern battery No. 4
Kotlin Island lies in the Gulf of Finland, at the entrance to the Neva, and its job for three centuries has been to guard St Petersburg from the sea. Peter the Great founded the naval base of Kronstadt here in 1704, and the island, long and narrow, was ringed with forts, batteries and artificial islands. The northern batteries, of which No. 4 is one, belong to that long chain, built in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as the guns grew bigger and the ships more dangerous. They are low, grass-covered earthworks and brick casemates facing the water, and on grey days the place has a lonely, military feel. The sea is shallow here and often frozen in winter.
Read the complete Northern battery No. 4 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Northern battery No. 4 is where the day begins. Next is Vyborgskaya Road.
2. Vyborgskaya Road
Every road out of Saint Petersburg to the north-west ends up in Finland or in the memory of it, and the Vyborg highway is the old way. It leaves the city through the northern suburbs of Shuvalovo, Pargolovo and Parnas, passing parks, lakes and rows of tower blocks, and then continues over the Karelian Isthmus to Vyborg, a town that belonged to Finland until 1940.
Read the complete Vyborgskaya Road write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vyborgskaya Road comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tallinskoe Highway.
3. Tallinskoe Highway
Not every historic road is a pretty one, and the Tallinn highway on the south-western edge of St Petersburg is not trying to win prizes for charm. It is, however, one of the old imperial routes out of the capital, the road toward Narva and Reval, today's Tallinn, and as such it forms part of the UNESCO listing of the historic centre of St Petersburg and its related monuments, which includes the network of roads tying the city to its palaces and estates. Along it, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries planted suburban residences, military camps and post stations.
Read the complete Tallinskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 74 km into the recorded legs you reach Tallinskoe Highway. Next is Park «The Menagerie».
4. Park «The Menagerie»
Gatchina is one of the great imperial estates ringing St Petersburg, and the Menagerie, the Zverinets, is its wild back garden: a large walled tract of forest north of the palace that was laid out in the eighteenth century as a hunting reserve, with deer and other game kept for the court. Today it is mostly woods, ponds and paths, and on a hot day it is the coolest place within reach.
Read the complete Park «The Menagerie» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Park «The Menagerie», 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 177 km, about halfway. Next is back through Park «The Menagerie».
6. back through Park «The Menagerie»
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Park «The Menagerie» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Park «The Menagerie» comes up about 268 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Tallinskoe Highway.
7. back through Tallinskoe Highway
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tallinskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 302 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Tallinskoe Highway. Next is back through Vyborgskaya Road.
8. back through Vyborgskaya Road
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vyborgskaya Road write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Vyborgskaya Road, late in the day. Next is Northern battery No. 4, 44 km on.
9. Northern battery No. 4
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Northern battery No. 4 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 377 km.
Leg by leg
Northern battery No. 4 to Vyborgskaya Road
Northern battery No. 4 → Vyborgskaya Road is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vyborgskaya Road to Tallinskoe Highway
Vyborgskaya Road → Tallinskoe Highway is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tallinskoe Highway to Park «The Menagerie»
Tallinskoe Highway → Park «The Menagerie» is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Park «The Menagerie» to The Blocade Ring
Park «The Menagerie» → The Blocade Ring is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The Blocade Ring to back through Park «The Menagerie»
The Blocade Ring → back through Park «The Menagerie» is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Park «The Menagerie» to back through Tallinskoe Highway
back through Park «The Menagerie» → back through Tallinskoe Highway is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tallinskoe Highway to back through Vyborgskaya Road
back through Tallinskoe Highway → back through Vyborgskaya Road is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vyborgskaya Road to Northern battery No. 4
back through Vyborgskaya Road → Northern battery No. 4 is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.