Why this ride
From Shushary it runs 276 km to Shushary; allow about 4 h 51 of riding. The stops in between: Park «The Menagerie», Tallinskoe Highway, Oranienbaumsky Springboard and The Coastal Fort «Reef». It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pulkovskaya Observatory and The Coastal Fort «Reef»
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 276 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 51
- 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
For about 35 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 35 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Water arrives beside the road and stays for 34 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go. Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 34 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pulkovskaya Observatory
On the Pulkovo heights, the low ridge south of St Petersburg, an observatory has been watching the sky since 1839. It was founded by Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, the German-born astronomer who became its first director, and it quickly became one of the leading observatories in the world, with the largest refracting telescope of its day. The Pulkovo meridian, running through the observatory's main building, served as the reference for Russian maps for many years. Struve also led the measurement of the Struve Geodetic Arc, a chain of survey triangulations stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, which helped determine the size and shape of the earth and is now a UNESCO site.
Read the complete Pulkovskaya Observatory write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pulkovskaya Observatory is where the day begins. Next is Park «The Menagerie».
2. 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» comes up about 34 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 69 km into the recorded legs you reach Tallinskoe Highway. Next is Oranienbaumsky Springboard.
4. 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
Oranienbaumsky Springboard, about halfway. Next is The Coastal Fort «Reef».
5. The Coastal Fort «Reef»
In the shallow, grey waters of the Gulf of Finland, a chain of fortified islands guards the sea approach to Saint Petersburg. Peter the Great founded the naval base of Kronstadt on Kotlin Island in 1703, and over the following two centuries forts were built on artificial islets and reefs to the north and south, to form a defensive screen. In many cases the forts are military or ruined, and visits require permission.
Read the complete The Coastal Fort «Reef» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Coastal Fort «Reef» sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard.
6. 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
back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard comes up about 172 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 207 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Tallinskoe Highway. Next is back through Park «The Menagerie».
8. 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», late in the day. Next is Pulkovskaya Observatory.
9. Pulkovskaya Observatory
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pulkovskaya Observatory 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 276 km.
Leg by leg
Pulkovskaya Observatory to Park «The Menagerie»
Pulkovskaya Observatory → Park «The Menagerie» is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Park «The Menagerie» to Tallinskoe Highway
Park «The Menagerie» → Tallinskoe Highway is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tallinskoe Highway to Oranienbaumsky Springboard
Tallinskoe Highway → Oranienbaumsky Springboard is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Oranienbaumsky Springboard to The Coastal Fort «Reef»
Oranienbaumsky Springboard → The Coastal Fort «Reef» is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Coastal Fort «Reef» to back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard
The Coastal Fort «Reef» → back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard to back through Tallinskoe Highway
back through Oranienbaumsky Springboard → back through Tallinskoe Highway is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tallinskoe Highway to back through Park «The Menagerie»
back through Tallinskoe Highway → back through Park «The Menagerie» is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Park «The Menagerie» to Pulkovskaya Observatory
back through Park «The Menagerie» → Pulkovskaya Observatory is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.