Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cost and Hours:
Free, daily 9:00-21:00, until 18:00 in winter,
www.pmemorial.ru
.
Getting There:
The memorial is northeast of the city at Nepokorennykh Prospekt 72.
From downtown, take the red Metro line (catch it at Uprising Square, near the end of
Nevsky Prospekt) and ride it toward Devyatkino, getting off at the Ploshchad Muzhestva
stop. Exit to the street, cross to the eastbound bus stop, and take bus #123 to the sixth
stop—you'll see the cemetery buildings on your left.
▲▲Peterhof (Петергоф)
Peter the Great's lavish palace at Peterhof (sometimes still called by its communist name,
Petrodvorets/Петродворец) sits along the Gulf of Finland west of the city. This is Russia's
Versailles and the target of many tour groups and travel poster photographers. Promenade
along the grand canal, which runs through landscaped grounds from the boat dock up to
the terraced fountains in front of the palace. There are ice cream stands aplenty. You can
visit the museum inside the palace if you want, but it's more fun to stay outdoors here.
Children love to run past the so-called trick fountains—sometimes they splash you, some-
times they don't.
Cost and Hours:
Park—400 R, open daily in summer 9:00-20:00; Grand Palace mu-
seum—500 R, audioguide-500 R, Tue-Sun 10:30-18:00, closed Monday;
Getting There:
In summer, “Meteor”
hydrofoils,
run by at least three competing com-
panies, leave for Peterhof from docks to either side of the busy bridge by the Hermitage
(first boat leaves around 10:00 and every 30 minutes thereafter, last boat returns from
Peterhof at 18:00, 30-40-minute trip, 500-600 R one way or 900-1000 R roundtrip, plus
400 R entry to the palace grounds; hydrofoils stop running in even mildly strong winds). Of
the hydrofoil companies, only one has a good English website (
www.peterhof-express.com
,
tel. 647-0017).
Outside hydrofoil hours, if it's windy, or in winter, the best way to reach Peterhof is by
going to the Avtovo Metro station and boarding one of the
marshrutka
minibuses that run to
the palace. You can also take a suburban train from the Baltiisky Vokzal to Novy Petergof
(Новый Петергоф) station, but this leaves you with a 40-minute walk to the palace itself.
▲▲Tsarskoye Selo (ЦарскоеСело)
In the town of Pushkin, about 15 miles south of St. Petersburg, sits a cluster of over-the-
top-opulent Romanov palaces—the “Czars' Village” (Tsarskoye Selo). This gorgeous en-
semble of residences, pavilions, and gardens was born shortly after St. Petersburg, when
Peter the Great's wife Catherine founded a church and began erecting palaces here. Dur-
ing the second half of the 18th century, Peter's heirs built the most impressive building at
the site: the grand
Catherine'sPalace,
a sumptuous, sprawling palace most famous for its
breathtaking Amber Room—a riot of gilded panels, embedded with amber and slathered
with mirrors. Like the rest of the palace, the Amber Room had to be restored (mostly using
funds donated by Germany) after Tsarskoye Selo was badly damaged during the WWII
Siege of Leningrad. The adjacent
CatherinePark,
studded with various pavilions and oth-
er decorative flourishes (each with its own entry ticket) surrounds a sprawling pond. And
to the north, the “modest” (relative only to the other sights here)
Alexander Palace
has a
