Summer park panorama

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You'll have to pay to enter the serene Pavlovsk Great Park just to access the palace, so it’s worth exploring while you're here. Filled with rivers and ponds, tree-lined avenues, classical statues and hidden temples, it’s a delightful place to get lost in. Highlights include the Rose Pavilion and the Private Garden, with its beautifully arranged flowerbeds and impressive sculpture of the Three Graces.

Bike hire (R300 per hour) is available in several locations around the park and is a great way to explore, as distances are great.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Rose Pavilion

0.39 MILES

Russian architect Andrei Voronykhin (who rose from serfdom to become one of Petersburg's master architects), designed this simple but elegant pavilion. It…

2. Pavlovsk Great Palace

0.97 MILES

One of the most tragic and mysterious characters in the Romanov royal family, emperor Paul I was intensely disliked by his own courtiers, who eventually…

3. Private Garden

1 MILES

A formal garden restricted to members of the royal family. When the flowers are in bloom, it's a stunning sight.

4. Three Graces Pavilion

1 MILES

Late 18th-century sculpture purchased by Alexander I and given as a present to his mother Maria Fyodorovna.

5. Grotto Pavilion

3.11 MILES

With a gorgeous location on the shore of the Great Pond, the Grotto Pavilion is sometimes used to host exhibits.

6. Great Pond

3.11 MILES

This large ornamental 'pond' is more of a lake, and forms the centrepiece of the landscaped gardens at Tsarskoe Selo.

7. Catherine Park

3.16 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…

8. Chesme Column

3.17 MILES

This is a monument to the Russian victory in the Battle of Chesme in 1778.