The best way to arrive at Peterhof is the way people originally did: by sea. You board a Meteor hydrofoil at the landing stage opposite the Winter Palace, and forty minutes later you step off at the foot of the Lower Park, with no traffic and the city’s skyline behind you.
The crossing. The Meteor, designed in Rostislav Alexeyev’s bureau and first launched in 1959, lifts out of the water on its foils and runs at 60–65 kilometres an hour with hardly any rocking. From the panoramic windows you see St Petersburg from the gulf: the embankments, the new land on Vasilyevsky Island, the Lakhta Centre and the Gazprom Arena.
The Grand Cascade and Samson. The centrepiece of Peterhof: marble terraces, more than two hundred gilded bronze figures and dozens of jets. Samson tearing open the lion’s jaws marks the victory at Poltava, fought on St Sampson’s day, and his jet rises twenty metres.
Through the Lower Park. 102 hectares and 147 fountains, all still powered by gravity through a forty-kilometre water system. You see the Chessboard Hill cascade with its painted dragons and the marble Roman fountains. Then come the Pyramid, with 505 jets, and the Lion Cascade and Golden Hill, where the water runs over gilded steps. In the Favourite fountain a little dog chases ducks, driven by a water wheel.
The trick fountains. Peter’s practical jokes, some working since 1723. Your guide will tell you where to stand if you would rather stay dry.
Along the way you hear how the park was occupied and smashed in 1941, how more than eight thousand objects were evacuated in time, and how Samson was running again by 1947.
Travellers who want the classic Peterhof experience with a boat ride added, families with children who will love the trick fountains, and photographers after the view of the city from the water.
The landing stage opposite the Winter Palace
| People | Price per person |
|---|---|
| 1 | $325 |
| 2 | $183 |
| 3 | $136 |
| 4 | $112 |
| 5 | $98 |
| 6 | $88 |
| 7 | $82 |
| 8 | $76 |
| People | Price per person |
|---|---|
| 9 | $72 |
| 10 | $69 |
| 11 | $67 |
| 12 | $65 |
| 13 | $63 |
| 14 | $61 |
| 15 | $60 |
| 16 | $59 |
| People | Free places | Price per person |
|---|---|---|
| 10–14 | +1 | $60 |
| 15–24 | +2 | $52 |
| 25–34 | +2 | $45 |
| 35–40 | +3 | $42 |
Group rates apply from 10 people.
A three-and-a-half-hour drive through the centre, ending on Hare Island where the city was founded in 1703, with entry to the Romanov burial cathedral.
A private two-hour walk through the Mikhailovsky Palace: a thousand years of Russian art, from medieval icons to The Ninth Wave and Repin's Barge Haulers.
Visit the Konstantinovsky Palace at Strelna, a working state residence that hosted the G8 and G20 summits, by car with a guide and entry arranged.
The essential St Petersburg in three hours by car: Palace Square, the Bronze Horseman, the Summer Garden, the Spit and the sphinxes, told through stories.