Why this ride
A 143 km round trip from Ol’gino - roughly 2 h 47 in the saddle. On the way it passes Izhorsky Bench, Dudergof, Tallinskoe Highway and Kievskoe Highway.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ropshinskoe Highway and Kievskoe Highway
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 143 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 47
- 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 18 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 18 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ropshinskoe Highway
Ropshinskoe Highway is the road that leaves the Gulf of Finland behind at Peterhof and climbs gently south towards Ropsha, and for a ride that starts and ends here it is a good place to look at a map and understand the ground. You are on the edge of the Izhora upland, a low limestone step above the coast. It never looks like much from the saddle, a few tens of metres of rise through birch and pine, but in this flat country that step decided who could see whom, and that mattered enormously in the last century.
Read the complete Ropshinskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ropshinskoe Highway is where the day begins. Next is Izhorsky Bench.
2. Izhorsky Bench
South of St Petersburg, the flat marshy plain of the Neva lowland suddenly steps up onto a limestone plateau. Geologists call the edge a glint or bench, and here, near Russko-Vysotskoye and Kipen, it forms a low but noticeable escarpment, the northern edge of the Izhora plateau. It is one of the natural features included in the wide UNESCO listing of St Petersburg and its surroundings, which recognises not only palaces and canals but the landscape the city was built against.
Read the complete Izhorsky Bench write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Izhorsky Bench comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dudergof.
3. 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
about 34 km into the recorded legs you reach Dudergof. Next is Tallinskoe Highway.
4. 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
Tallinskoe Highway, about halfway. Next is Kievskoe Highway.
5. Kievskoe Highway
South of Saint Petersburg, the flat, damp plain of Ingria runs off towards Pskov and the old western frontier, and the Kievskoe Highway is the road that heads that way, the route to Kyiv that gave it its name.
Read the complete Kievskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kievskoe Highway sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Tallinskoe Highway.
6. 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
back through Tallinskoe Highway comes up about 94 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Dudergof.
7. 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
about 109 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Dudergof. Next is back through Izhorsky Bench.
8. back through Izhorsky Bench
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Izhorsky Bench write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Izhorsky Bench, late in the day. Next is Ropshinskoe Highway.
9. Ropshinskoe Highway
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ropshinskoe 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 143 km.
Leg by leg
Ropshinskoe Highway to Izhorsky Bench
Ropshinskoe Highway → Izhorsky Bench is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Izhorsky Bench to Dudergof
Izhorsky Bench → Dudergof is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dudergof to Tallinskoe Highway
Dudergof → Tallinskoe Highway is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tallinskoe Highway to Kievskoe Highway
Tallinskoe Highway → Kievskoe Highway is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kievskoe Highway to back through Tallinskoe Highway
Kievskoe Highway → back through Tallinskoe Highway is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tallinskoe Highway to back through Dudergof
back through Tallinskoe Highway → back through Dudergof is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dudergof to back through Izhorsky Bench
back through Dudergof → back through Izhorsky Bench is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Izhorsky Bench to Ropshinskoe Highway
back through Izhorsky Bench → Ropshinskoe Highway is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.