The road to Peterhof is one of the most picturesque routes for long walks. The road from St. Petersburg to Peterhof in the XVIII - XIX centuries was primarily an imperial road. For the summer, the emperor, together with his family and his entourage, would go to a country palace. One of the most favourite country palaces of many emperors was the palace in Peterhof. In the XVIII century it was very prestigious to have a plot of land with an estate near the road leading from St. Petersburg to Peterhof.
The whole area adjacent to the Peterhof road was turned into a succession of parks that replaced each other. The estates and parks began just outside the city boundary. Part of these ancient parks was swallowed up by urban development in the XIX century. But the mass housing construction of the XX century was more sparing and treated the architectural heritage with great reverence. Starting from Avtovo, the old parks have survived to this day, and it's a great place for walking - especially cycling.
On this day, I wasn't going to ride far. It was quite cold in the morning, and I was only going to ride around the house for a while. But soon the sun came out, the air warmed up and I decided to continue my walk and ride through the parks along the Peterhof road. The whole route turned out to be about 30 kilometres. I decided to go ahead until I started to get tired - and then return home by suburban train.
The first part of the route is the parks along the upper Peterhof Road. The second part of the route is the so-called ‘Lower Road’. The upper road is a multi-lane motorway nowadays. It is the upper road that most motorists take. It doesn't matter as long as you drive through the park alleys, but on some sections you have to leave the parkland and then the neighbourhood of a large number of cars is not very pleasant. So I chose the Lower Road for the second part of the walk.
The Lower Road is a two-lane motorway laid parallel to the Upper Road, closer to the coast of the Gulf of Finland. There are very few cars on this road, it is used only by locals. But there are always a lot of cyclists and runners on this road. The Lower Road is less picturesque than the Upper Road. Palaces and manor houses are located along the Upper Road. But the Lower Road is closer to the Gulf of Finland, and there are several places where you can turn off and find yourself in the coastal recreation area.
I turned towards the Gulf of Finland twice. The first time I took a side path along the Strelka River and drove up to the embankment near the yacht club. From the observation deck there is a beautiful view of the sea surface. But this place is not very suitable for long stops, so I soon returned to my route. For a rest I planned another place, a little further away.
A glade on the shore of the bay, where you can sit and relax overlooking the bay, has long been familiar to me. Until recently, the place had not stood out in any particular way, but it had recently been completely landscaped. Gazebos, benches, swings, skater slides, and sculptures have been installed. This place was the furthest point of my walk. I only had to ride about three kilometres to the suburban train station to get home.
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| Smartphone | Google Pixel 3a |
| Location | Saint Petersburg, Russia |