Laid out in the late-18th century by Vincenzo Brenna for the private use of the royal family, the Private Garden is a charming place to stroll, full of sculptures, flowers and neatly trimmed hedges.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
27.16 MILES
The Hermitage fully lives up to its sterling reputation. You can be absorbed by its treasures for days and still come out wanting more. The enormous…
23.25 MILES
The Grand Palace is an imposing building, although with just 30-something rooms, it is not nearly as large as your typical tsarist palace. From the start…
26.98 MILES
The east wing of this magnificent building, wrapping around the south of Dvortsovaya pl and designed by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s, marries restored…
23.56 MILES
One of the greatest attractions outside of St Petersburg is the jaw-dropping collection of gilded fountains, statue-lined lanes and picturesque canals…
26.13 MILES
This spectacular palace on the Moyka River has some of the best 19th-century interiors in the city, in addition to a fascinating and gruesome history. The…
14.54 MILES
The centrepiece of Tsarskoe Selo, created under Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great between 1744 and 1796, is the vast baroque Catherine Palace,…
25.89 MILES
The Mariinsky Theatre has played a pivotal role in Russian ballet ever since it was built in 1859 and remains one of Russia's most loved and respected…
14.59 MILES
Around the Catherine Palace extends the lovely Catherine Park. The main entrance is on Sadovaya ul, next to the Palace Chapel. The park extends around the…
Nearby Around St Petersburg attractions
0.06 MILES
Shaped in a graceful curve around a central turret, the Gatchina Great Palace certainly lives up to its name – its enormous (if surprisingly plain) facade…
0.21 MILES
Gatchina Park is more overgrown and romantic than the other palaces’ parklands. The park has many winding paths through birch groves and across bridges to…
0.34 MILES
Down on the lake, the Venus Pavilion juts out into the water and has an elaborately painted interior.
0.41 MILES
This red-brick building with bright blue domes is an important Gatchina church.
0.44 MILES
Built as a surprise present from Maria Fyodorovna to Paul I, the Birch House has a rough facade made of birch logs, but the interior is actually very…
0.72 MILES
This baroque cathedral can be found at the end of the pedestrianised shopping street off the central pr 25 Oktyabrya. It has a grandly restored interior…
14.12 MILES
With its minaret and mosaic-covered interior this pavilion perched over the water was meant to resemble a mosque. The building closes during bad weather.