Why this ride
From Peterhof it runs 161 km to Peterhof; allow about 2 h 43 of riding. On the way it passes Tallinskoe Highway, The Otdelny Park, The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag and back through The Otdelny Park.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The English Park and The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 161 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 43
- 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
Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
For 25 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
- 25 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
The Otdelny Park → The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag
25 km on The Otdelny Park → The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 25 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Tallinskoe Highway.
2. 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 comes up 25 km in. Next is The Otdelny Park.
3. The Otdelny Park
Pavlovsk and Pushkin sit side by side on the plain south of Saint Petersburg, and both grew from the imperial taste for country palaces. Pushkin was once Tsarskoye Selo, the Tsar's Village, where Catherine the Great had a palace of blue and white with a facade that stretches for hundreds of metres, and where the Amber Room once stood. Pavlovsk was a smaller palace for her son Paul, set in one of the largest landscape parks in Europe. The name means separate or detached, and it points to a part of the landscape set apart from the main royal grounds.
Read the complete The Otdelny Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
50 km in you reach The Otdelny Park. Next is The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag.
4. The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag
The village of Taitsy, south of Saint Petersburg near Krasnoye Selo, is home to an estate built in the eighteenth century for the Demidov family, the industrial dynasty whose fortune came from iron and metalworks in the Urals. The classical manor house, attributed to the architect Ivan Starov, stands in a landscape park with ponds and springs, and those springs mattered far beyond the estate: the Taitsy water conduit, built in the eighteenth century, carried water from here to the palaces and fountains of Tsarskoye Selo.
Read the complete The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag, about halfway. Next is back through The Otdelny Park.
5. back through The Otdelny Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Otdelny Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Otdelny Park sits at 99 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 124 km in. Next is The English Park.
7. The English Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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 closes the day.
Leg by leg
The English Park to Tallinskoe Highway
The English Park → Tallinskoe Highway is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tallinskoe Highway to The Otdelny Park
Tallinskoe Highway → The Otdelny Park is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Otdelny Park to The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag
The Otdelny Park → The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag to back through The Otdelny Park
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag → back through The Otdelny Park is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Otdelny Park to back through Tallinskoe Highway
back through The Otdelny Park → back through Tallinskoe Highway is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tallinskoe Highway to The English Park
back through Tallinskoe Highway → The English Park is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.