Day 16: Peterhof Palace

The “Grand Cascade” and Peterhof Palace.

Peterhof, located about fifteen miles from the center of St. Petersburg, had its beginning in 1714 when Peter the Great decided to build his summer palace here.  Over the course of time it was expanded upon by the tsars, looted by the Germans during World War II, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

First things first: this is one of those tourist attractions that costs a bit of money – the entrance fee to the lower garden where the hydrofoil stops is 300 rubles.  If you want to see the inside of the palace, there’s a separate queue at the palace itself and that costs about 500 rubles.  If you want to rent an audio guide for the tour of the palace, that’s another couple hundred rubles.  Despite the cost, I think it’s definitely worth seeing both the park and the palace, though I have different thoughts on the audio guide (see below).

The garden first: the lower park is quite beautiful and expansive, with numerous fountains, cascades, streams, and more.  They turn the fountains on at 11:00 AM (to the sound of orchestral music) – it seems to me that they’re trying to make something big out of an otherwise ordinary event, but it’s something to see and the tourists crowd around the Grand Cascade to witness it. 

Peterhof is also a very popular place for weddings during the summer and it’s not uncommon to see more than one on the same day.

Not pictured: a couple getting wedding photos about five feet to my right.	So my Dad and I started discussing the water flow for the fountains in the park, which eventually led us here.  Only in my family…

 

Now, as to the palace itself: they do not allow tourists to take any photos inside the palace so I don’t have any to show here.  It’s grand, you can find photos online, and it’s definitely worth the visit.  And if you do want photos of the inside, the background information behind each room of the palace, and a souvenir to take with you, here’s my advice: go to the gift shop first before you go through the palace (turn left after entering the palace instead of going right).  Take the money that you might have spent on an audio guide and use that instead to buy a book that has both pictures of the inside of the palace and the same information you would have gotten in a one-time audio guide rental. 

“Ah yes, the grand ballroom: designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, its 2900 square feet interior seems considerably larger due to the extensive use of mirrors and the large two-tier windows…”

I’d recommend spending at least half a day at Peterhof, which gives enough time to walk through the park and to see the palace itself.  The interior of the palace is similar to the Winter Palace but the fountains and the setting is what really sets Peterhof apart from the other palaces in St. Petersburg.