Visitors to St. Petersburg during the European summer can be sure to have one destination on the top of their list – Peterhof Palace and Gardens.
The town of Peterhof is located a short distance from the city of St. Petersburg, and it is undoubtedly the most popular day trip for visitors to the former Russian capital. There are a range of different ways to visit – be it on your own accord or with an organised tour.
As the public transport system in Russia is difficult to navigate for non-Russian speaking tourists, we decided to book a tour through our concierge at The Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St. Petersburg. Although it is slightly more expensive to book a private tour through concierge, we found this to be an exceptional choice as we enjoyed the Palace with a private guide who spoke both fluent Russian and English.
We left the hotel at 10am and made our way to the hydrofoil – located just out front of The Hermitage. Within just 20 minutes we had booked our tickets, boarded the hydrofoil, and were on our way to the luscious gardens surrounding the famous Peterhof Palace.
We arrived at precisely 11am when the opening ceremony commenced and the fountains launched into action. Another added advantage of booking the private tour was an exclusive ‘skip the line’ access point to the palace, where we walked straight in and began the tour without delay.
Our guide informed us of the history of the palace, along with a broader history of St Petersburg and Russian tsars. It was particularly interesting to learn that the modest Peter the Great built the palace at a much smaller size, yet it was later expanded by his daughter, Elizabeth.
As we walked through the various rooms of the palace – all preserved to their former glory – it was interesting to experience the various styles of design through the ages. While Elizabeth enjoyed gold leaf (quite a lot, as you will see), Catherine preferred a feminine touch with purple crystal chandeliers and floral decorations. Peter was of course the most humble of them all, which is noticeable in the final room of the tour, his study.
After the palace tour we made our way through the gardens to see (and experience) some of the ‘trick’ fountains. These fountains were created by Peter to trick his guests – as they would appear to be small fountains, yet would suddenly burst with water and drench the guest.
Our final stop of the day was to see Peter’s residence on the shores of Peterhof – overlooking the sea and with a distant view of St. Petersburg. Our guide explained that “this was Peter’s dream” – to open up Russia to Europe and the world, as he would watch merchant ships sail into the shores of St. Petersburg from his residence.
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