Why this ride
173 km from Pavlovsk to Pavlovsk, about 3 h 34 of riding. It goes by way of 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
Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa and The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 173 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 34
- 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
- 29 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa
Countess Yulia Samoilova is the sort of figure that the nineteenth century produced in numbers: rich, independent, beautiful, fond of artists and impatient with convention. She was a society woman who spent much of her life abroad, especially in Italy, and who is remembered in Russian painting as the muse of a famous artist. A villa on the southern edge of Saint Petersburg's estates bears her name, and it sits in the quiet country between Pavlovsk and Gatchina, in a landscape of old parks, small rivers and pine woods.
Read the complete Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa 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 104 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 142 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa, 26 km on.
7. Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa closes the day.
Leg by leg
Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa to Park «The Menagerie»
Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa → 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 29 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 Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa
back through Park «The Menagerie» → Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- The Babolovsky Park and The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya · 170 km
- The Palace and Park Ensembles of the Town and The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya · 174 km
- The Zubov's Estate «Otrada» and The Blocade Ring · 295 km
- Kievskoe Highway and The Palace and Park Ensemble «Sobstvennaya · 166 km