Why this ride
A 174 km round trip from Pushkin - roughly 3 h 30 in the saddle. On the way it passes Park «The Menagerie», Izhorsky Bench, The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya and back through Izhorsky Bench. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town and The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 174 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 30
- 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
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 25 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 28 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town
Between 1941 and 1944 Tsarskoye Selo lay behind German lines, and when the Red Army came back the Catherine Palace was a shell. The Amber Room's panels had vanished, the park trees had been cut for firewood, and most of the interiors were ash. The restoration that followed, and the new Amber Room that finally reopened in 2003, make this one of the most remarkable rebuilding jobs in Europe. The town, now called Pushkin after the poet who studied at its Lyceum, is part of the UNESCO listing for the historic centre of Saint Petersburg, and the ensemble of palaces, pavilions and parks around it is the reason to come.
Read the complete The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town 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 Ensembles of the Town 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 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Izhorsky Bench.
3. 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
about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Izhorsky Bench. Next is The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya.
4. The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya
Peterhof is the one everyone has seen in photographs, with the golden statue of Samson tearing open a lion's jaws and the long canal running down to the Gulf of Finland. The Sobstvennaya Dacha, the Tsar's Own Dacha, is a quieter corner of the same ensemble, tucked into the parkland on the southern shore of the gulf. The ground here is the Izhorsky bench, a limestone shelf running east to west with a sudden step down toward the water.
Read the complete The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya 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 «Sobstvennaya, about halfway. Next is back through Izhorsky Bench.
5. 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 sits at 103 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 141 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town.
7. The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town 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 Ensembles of the Town closes the day.
Leg by leg
The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town to Park «The Menagerie»
The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town → Park «The Menagerie» is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Park «The Menagerie» to Izhorsky Bench
Park «The Menagerie» → Izhorsky Bench is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Izhorsky Bench to The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya
Izhorsky Bench → The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya to back through Izhorsky Bench
The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya → back through Izhorsky Bench is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Izhorsky Bench to back through Park «The Menagerie»
back through Izhorsky Bench → back through Park «The Menagerie» is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Park «The Menagerie» to The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town
back through Park «The Menagerie» → The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.