Why this ride
202 km from Sosnovaya Polyana to Sosnovaya Polyana, about 3 h 38 of riding. It goes by way of Petrovsky, The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur, Southern battery No 2 and The English Park.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Peterhofskaya Road and The English Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 202 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 38
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 18 km this is A-121 Ladoga and Sortavala, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 17 km
- Named road
- A-121 Ladoga and Sortavala
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Peterhofskaya Road
Peterhofskaya Road was once the grandest road out of St Petersburg. Running southwest from the city along the shore of the Gulf of Finland toward Strelna and Peterhof, it was lined in the eighteenth century with country estates, dachas and palaces built by the nobility, who wanted to be close to the imperial residences along the coast. Peter the Great started the trend, granting plots to courtiers along the road, and the result was a chain of estates with gardens, parks and ponds stretching for miles. Many of these estates survive in some form, and the road and its surroundings are part of the UNESCO listing of the historic centre of St Petersburg and related groups of monuments.
Read the complete Peterhofskaya Road write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Peterhofskaya Road is where the day begins. Next is Petrovsky.
2. Petrovsky
The label is a puzzle: Petrovsky could refer to any of a dozen places in a city named after Peter the Great, and it is safest to treat it as a viewpoint on his great project, the opening of Russia to the sea. Whatever the exact spot, the landscape is unmistakable: flat shore, reeds, wide grey water, and on the horizon the dome of the Kronstadt cathedral and the line of the flood barrier.
Read the complete Petrovsky write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Petrovsky comes up 17 km in. Next is The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur.
3. The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur
Peterhof is the palace complex that Peter the Great built on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland, and the parks around it were developed over two centuries, taking in farms, menageries and small country estates. What you will find nearby is parkland of old trees, ponds and paths, and the sense of the wide, flat coast opening northward.
Read the complete The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
34 km in you reach The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur. Next is Southern battery No 2.
4. Southern battery No 2
Kotlin Island sits in the middle of the Gulf of Finland like a cork in a bottle, and Peter the Great knew it. He seized this stretch of coast from Sweden in 1703 and almost at once began fortifying the island to guard the new capital, Saint Petersburg, which lay at the head of the gulf. Over the next two centuries a ring of forts and batteries grew up on islands, shoals and the shore, and Kronstadt became the home port of the Baltic Fleet. The batteries named in these ride titles, Southern and Northern, belong to that defensive system.
Read the complete Southern battery No 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Southern battery No 2, about halfway. Next is The English Park.
5. The English Park
Everybody who comes to Peterhof heads for the fountains, the Grand Cascade and the gilded Samson tearing open the lion's jaws, and almost nobody walks the few hundred metres west into the English Park. That is their loss. Catherine the Great, who found Peter the Great's straight avenues and clipped hedges old-fashioned, had this park laid out from 1779 by the English gardener James Meader, in the natural landscape style then sweeping Europe: a chain of ponds, meadows, clumps of oak and lime, and paths that wander rather than march. It belongs to the World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Saint Petersburg and its ring of palaces and estates.
Read the complete The English Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The English Park sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Southern battery No 2.
6. back through Southern battery No 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Southern battery No 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Southern battery No 2 comes up 84 km in. Next is back through The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur.
7. back through The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
101 km in you reach back through The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur. Next is back through Petrovsky.
8. Back to Peterhofskaya Road
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Peterhofskaya Road write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Petrovsky, late in the day. Next is Peterhofskaya Road.
9. Peterhofskaya Road
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Peterhofskaya Road 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 135 km.
Leg by leg
Peterhofskaya Road to Petrovsky
Peterhofskaya Road → Petrovsky is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Petrovsky to The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur
Petrovsky → The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur to Southern battery No 2
The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur → Southern battery No 2 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Southern battery No 2 to The English Park
Southern battery No 2 → The English Park is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The English Park to back through Southern battery No 2
The English Park → back through Southern battery No 2 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Southern battery No 2 to back through The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur
back through Southern battery No 2 → back through The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur to Back to Peterhofskaya Road
back through The Park of the Farm of Prince of Oldenbur → Back to Peterhofskaya Road is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Kronstadtsky and The Maximov's Datcha · 132 km
- Petrovsky and Southern battery No 2 · 151 km