Imperial Palaces of St. Petersburg

Our visit to St. Petersburg wouldn't have been complete without visiting the Imperial Palaces of Peterhof and Puskin.  We decided to approach Peterhof by hydrofoil (speed boat), which seemed to be the quickest way of travel with its 30-minute- cruising time.  When arriving to Peterhof, our first glance at the palace and gardens was already impressive from the sea-side and it got even better and better the closer we walked to the famous fountains.

From EUROPE - RUSSIA - Peterhof & Pushkin

We wandered in the direction of the palace through the Lower Park, which lies between the Grand Palace and the seashore and boasts the world's largest system of fountains (150 fountains and 4 cascades in total). The most impressive is the Grand Cascade, located directly below the Grand Palace and featuring a golden statue of Samson grasping the jaws of the lion.

From EUROPE - RUSSIA - Peterhof & Pushkin

Peterhof is often referred to as the 'Russian Versailles'... but the scale and granduer of the gardens of Peterhof even overcomes that of Versailles. As we walked up the stair to the Grand Palace, the view was just stunning... there is nothing to describe it better than this panorama:

From EUROPE - RUSSIA - Peterhof & Pushkin

After visiting the Grand Palace, which is also pretty impressive and well worthwhile seeing (see pictures in our Album), we walked around to enjoy the numerous fountains, statues, and pavilions within the Lower Park. Afterwards, we entered the Upper Garden, located on the other side of the Grand Palace, which is a typical French-style formal garden with five fountains including the one below, depicting Neptune, the God of the Sea:

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Later in the afternoon, looking for a taxi to take us to Pushkin, we were lucky enough to find a nice lady at a fruit stall who arranged a cheap cab for us (1000 RUB - apx 25 EUR for a nearly one-hour-drive)... Cathrine's Palace, painted in light blue with its reach white and gold gilt decoration appeared magnificently in the middle of the park.

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We arrived at the castle just in time to enter with one of the last visitor groups. At least that's what we thought... It turned out however that it was already 5 p.m., one hour later than on our watches since we mistakenly only changed it by one hour. So our visit inside the Cathrine's Palace will have to wait until our next trip to St. Petersburg, but at least we did not oversleep and miss our flight back to Zurich as well ;-))  


Visit our entire photo album on Peterhof and Pushkin here.

EUROPE - RUSSIA - Peterhof & Pushkin

White Nights, onion domed cathedrals and Russian art collection...

... all of these you can find in one single place, if visiting it in the right season: St Petersburg. It was Zoli's old dream to visit this city, so we chose to spend a few days in Russia's second largest city in the beginning of June, during the legendary period of the White Nights, when the sun never really disappereas from the horizon; at 5 a.m. we woke up on the brightest sunshine ever - believe it or not, first thing Zoli was asking for while still lying in the bed, were his sun glasses -, and at 10 p.m. we were still walking around with them. There was something magical about it... we walked down the bank of the river Neva at after midnight to watch the raising of the bridges and the banks of the river were packed (with tourists, teenagers, families and yourng couples, all admiring the sunset). The sun was just starting to dip below the horizon, but the time between sunset and sunrise, around 2 a.m., looked like dusk and was very short.

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Thus our days were also much longer and had plenty of time for sightseeing and St Petersburg had enough to offer for our relatively short, 4-day visit:

• The Church on the Spilled Blood, the city's most Russian-looking onion-domed cathedrals was one of our favorites with its interior decorated with 7500 square meter of exquisite mosaics.

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• The Hermitage Museum, one of the largest museums in the world hosts a collection of more than three million works of art and artefacts of the world culture. The main architectural ensemble of the Hermitage situated in the centre of St Petersburg consists of the Winter Palace, the former state residence of the Russian emperors.

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• Unbelievable, but true: the financial outlay of the St Isaac's Cathedral (the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral) with its richy decorated interior was more than six times that of the Winter Palace. It is decorated with fourteen kinds of marble, as well as frescoes and 600 sq. metres of mosaics, more than 400 kg of gold, 1000 tons of bronze and 16 tons of malachite...

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• The illuminated Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress was glowing through the dusk at midnight. Under the shining Cathedral tower rest nearly all the czars of Russia, including Peter the Great, himself.

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It is said that during the White Nights St Petersburg's residents become relaxed and charming, all enjoying the midnight sunlight and the festival atmosphere taking over the city, socializing and chatting with friends until late evening near a cup of coffee.

From EUROPE - RUSSIA - St Petersburg

We don't really know if it was due to this special atmosphere of the White Nights, but it was a positive experience to find very friendly and helpful people everywhere ... it was quite challenging understanding their advice though as English is rarely spoken (not even among young people). However, the biggest drawback for tourism lies not in the language barrier and not even the entry tickets which were double as high everywehere as for locals, but the regime and state regulations - visa requirements, tourists having to register themselves at the local policy upon arrival, lengthy document and security control at the airport (we almost missed our flight, reaching the gate after well after scheduled departure time, even though we completed check-in well in advance). Despite the challenges though St Petersburg is still a very attractive tourist destination and has a lot to offer, which one may not find in any other place of the world.

You may check out here our entire Album on St Petersburg:

EUROPE - RUSSIA - St Petersburg

(Photos and blog entry on the Grand Palaces with follow soon...)