The small satellites of the Northern capital are not alike. Solemn residences, intimate parks, austere fortresses – in the vicinity of St. Petersburg there is a place for any state of mind. To see everything at once, you can plan a driving route for several days. But for complete immersion in the atmosphere, it is better to study each place separately. Moreover, all points can be reached quickly and conveniently by public transport. Each of the suburbs, like music, sets the mood for a walk. Ready to experiment? Then choose.
Day one
Tsarskoye Selo ― creative mood
Photo: Ekaterina Timakova
The countryside imperial residence is not inferior to the Winter Palace either in size or in elegant decoration. In the three parks of the museum-reserve you can find colonnades entangled with vines, a Chinese village, a jagged white tower and a neo-Egyptian pyramid. In all this mixture of styles, the baroque facade of the Catherine Palace regally dominates. One of its wings became the cradle of Russian poetry. The Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum was located here, where Alexander Pushkin grew up. On the excursion they show the poet’s room, his diary, drawings, reviews in the magazine.
Music for a walk: Franz Schubert.
Time to explore without the palace: at least 3 hours for the park and an hour for the lyceum.
Ticket price: park – 150 rubles*. Palaces and museum-lyceum A.S. Pushkin – additionally.
How to get there from St. Petersburg : from the Moskovskaya metro station – minibuses 342 and 545, from the Kupchino metro station – minibuses K-545a, K-286, K-287 and K-347a. Travel time will be from 30 to 40 minutes.
The journey by car will take approximately 40 minutes, you will have to drive about 30 km. Renting a car in St. Petersburg for a day costs about 2,500 rubles on OneTwoTrip*.
Pavlovsk ― romantic mood
Photo: Ekaterina Timakova
Antique statues shyly hide in the nooks of shady alleys. Openwork bridges span the thin Slavyanka River covered with duckweed. If you take a wrong turn, you will stumble upon the ruins of an amphitheater or family tombs under the eternal canopy of poplars. On a thoughtful walk, you can look for “The End of the World” – the obelisk farthest from the main entrance. The melancholy charm of the park is only slightly disturbed by the golden-white Pavlovsk Palace and fat, impudent squirrels begging guests for delicacies.
Music for a walk: Robert Schumann.
Time to explore without the palace: from 1 to 3 hours.
Ticket price: park – 100 rubles on weekends, on weekdays – free*. Palace – additionally.
How to get there from St. Petersburg: from From Vitebsky station by train to Pavlovsk station, the journey will take about 40 minutes. You can also get there by minibuses 299 and 545 from the station metro station “Moskovskaya”. Travel time – a little over an hour.
The journey by car from Tsarskoye Selo to Pavlovsk will take about 15 minutes.
Day two
Gatchina ― thoughtful mood
Photo: unsplash.com
This park does not nothing superfluous: only clear lines and harmony of layout. The Great Gatchina Palace looks like an impregnable bastion. Thick walls, slender towers and a wide parade ground are inscribed in the restrained beauty of northern nature. In a relatively small park there is a unique structure – the Priory Castle, built from compressed clay. The Gatchina Museum-Reserve is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Walk soundtrack: P. I. Tchaikovsky.
Time to explore without the palace: about 2 hours.
Ticket price: to the park – free*. Palaces – additionally.
How to get there from St. Petersburg: from the Baltiysky station by train you will reach the Gatchina-Baltiyskaya station in about an hour. In 50 minutes you can get to Gatchina by minibuses K-18, K-18a or by bus 431 from the Moskovskaya metro station.
The journey by car to Gatchina will take from one hour.
Day three
Peterhof ― joyful mood
Photo: Vasilisa Tarunova
Today, the unique museum-reserve, which is called the capital of fountains, includes 150 water bodies, several palaces and other structures. This is a real engineering miracle of the 18th century. In an ideal park with golden palace towers, wide alleys and neatly trimmed trees, even the Gulf of Finland does not look so harsh.
Music for a walk: Antonio Vivaldi.
Time to explore without the palace: at least 3 hours.
Ticket price: to the park – 400 rubles for Russian citizens*. Palaces – additionally.
How to get from St. Petersburg: from the Baltic station by train to “New Peterhof” station (approximately 45 minutes), then by buses 344, 348, 350, 351, 352, 355, 356 (10-15 minutes). From the Avtovo metro station by minibuses 224, 300, 404, 424/424A (about 1 hour). And the motor ship hydrofoil will take you to Peterhof from the Senate Pier pier in just 30 minutes.
The journey by car to Peterhof will take an hour.
Day four
Kronstadt ― decisive mood
Photo: Pavel Chepelev/Shutterstock.com
Before the construction of the dam, which opened in 2011, access to the city, founded in the 18th century, was possible only by water. Warships are laid up in the Middle Harbor. The city is rich in barracks; the amazingly beautiful Naval St. Nicholas Cathedral and the Kronstadt Fortress are also of architectural interest. The city center is included in the UNESCO historical heritage list.
Music for a walk: Richard Wagner.
Time for inspection: 3 hours.
How to get there from St. Petersburg: from metroGet to Staraya Derevnya by bus 101, from the Chernaya Rechka metro station by bus or minibus K-405, from the Prospekt Prosveshcheniya metro station by K-407. Travel time is about 40 minutes. The journey by car will take one hour.
Oranienbaum ― playful mood
The favorite of Peter I, Alexander Menshikov, conceived his ceremonial residence as a symbol of the military triumph of Russia. Nevertheless, the airy ensemble has an absolutely flirtatious mood. For example, the benches on the alleys are too big for one person, but small for two. They say that this way ladies and gentlemen were closer to each other. This place was not damaged during the Great Patriotic War, so all the buildings here are original.
Music for walks: Johann Strauss – son.
Time for inspection without the palace: 1.5 hours.
Ticket price: to the park – free*. Palaces – additionally.
How to get there from St. Petersburg: in an hour you will get from Baltic station by train to the Oranienbaum-1 station. You can get from the Avtovo metro station in about the same time by minibus K-401A or bus 300. The journey by car from Kronstadt will take half an hour.
Day five
Vyborg and Mon Repos Park ― severe mood
Photo: unsplash.com
The eclectic medieval city on the shores of the Gulf of Finland has retained the charm of old Europe. Cobblestone streets run between houses with tiled roofs and lacy window sills, go around stone ruins, and end at clock towers with a spire. The dominant feature of the city is a real knight’s castle with powerful high walls and a donjon. Another famous monument is the Aalto Library, an example of Finnish architecture of the 20th century.
Near the city, among granite rocks and mossy pine trees, there is the Mon Repos Park Museum. At the peaks, cold winds blow across the thin silhouettes of the pavilions. And the lonely “Island of the Dead” (Ludwigstein) guards the tombs of the ancient noble family of barons Nikolai.
Photo: Ekaterina Timakova
Music for a walk: Jan Sibelius.
Inspection time: 1-2 days.
Ticket price: to the park – 100 rubles*. Castle – additional.
How to get from St. Petersburg to Vyborg: from the Finland Station to by train (about 2.5 hours travel time) or by Lastochka (an hour). From Parnassus station by regular bus (the journey will take about 3 hours).
How to get to Mon Repos: from the Vyborg railway station by by bus 1/6, taxi, car or even on foot. The 140-kilometer journey to Vyborg by car will take 2.5 hours.
* Price valid at time of publication
