About Pushkin

Pushkin is a small town south of St Petersburg, spread out 25 km from Palace Square and half an hour’s ride from Vitebsky Station. Until 1918 it was called Tsarskoye Selo and for nearly two centuries served as the summer residence of the Russian emperors. Today it is the centre of the Pushkinsky District, with a population of around 108,000 and a life of its own, separate from the metropolis: with its museum infrastructure, Lyceum traditions and a rhythm set by admission sessions at the Catherine Palace and the commuter-train schedule from Vitebsky Station.

The town sits compactly within a “triangle” formed by three parks — Catherine, Alexander and Babolovsky. Around them stretches the historic centre of the 18th–19th centuries, which has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1990. Walk five minutes away from the main gates and you find yourself on the merchant streets of the former county town; five minutes further on, you reach the Egyptian Gates (1827–1830, architect Adam Menelaws). Beyond them begins Oktyabrsky Boulevard and the “residential” Pushkin, with its modern housing.

What the town is known for

The short answer: for Tsarskoye Selo. That is what this place was called for nearly two centuries — until 1918. Today the image of Pushkin is made up of three main stories.

The first — the ceremonial one. This is the world of Baroque and luxury. The Catherine Palace, with its azure-and-gold façade, Great Hall and grand enfilade, was built by F.-B. Rastrelli in 1752–1756 for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Later, under Catherine II, following a redesign by C. Cameron, the palace acquired the classical interiors that are now part of the must-see programme for any visitor to St Petersburg. The Amber Room, taken away by German troops in 1941 and lost, was reconstructed by 2003 — in time for the 300th anniversary of the founding of St Petersburg.

The second — the literary one. In 1811, Alexander I opened the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum here — an educational institution of a new kind. The first intake included the twelve-year-old Alexander Pushkin. He studied at the Lyceum for six years alongside Delvig, Pushchin and Küchelbecker. From here came his first grown-up poems, and from here begin the Lyceum anniversaries that are still marked today — on 19 October. That is why in 1937, on the centenary of the poet’s death, the town was renamed Pushkin, replacing the neutral name “Detskoye Selo” that it had borne since 1918.

The third — the tragic one. The Alexander Palace was the family residence of the last Romanovs. This palace was built by G. Quarenghi in 1792–1796 for the future Emperor Alexander I, and from 1905 it became the permanent home of Nicholas II and his family. They spent most of their final years here, and in March 1917 the emperor and his family were placed under arrest and, in August, sent into exile in Tobolsk. Recently the palace, after a long restoration, has reopened to visitors with its interiors renewed.

How the town is laid out

Tourist Pushkin is remarkably compact: from the Egyptian Gates to Cathedral Square is only a kilometre, and the walk from the main entrance of the Catherine Park to the Alexander Palace takes no more than twenty minutes.

The heart of the town is Sadovaya Street. Along it are concentrated the façade of the Catherine Palace and the famous pavilions of the park: the Cameron Gallery, the “Upper Bath”, the “Hermitage”, the Marble Bridge and the fountain “Girl with a Pitcher”. The park itself (107 hectares of formal and landscape avenues) is open for walking from 7:00 to 22:00 in summer and until 21:00 the rest of the year.

To the northwest stretches the Alexander Park. Its two hundred hectares are ruled by English landscape freedom. Here you can see the Great Chinese Bridge and the Dragon Bridge, as well as the “Chinese Village” designed by Charles Cameron and Vasily Neyolov. There are considerably fewer tourists here than around the Catherine Palace, and in winter the avenues can be deserted altogether.

South of the parks lies Cathedral Square with the restored Catherine Cathedral, the Lyceum Garden with a monument to the young Pushkin, and the Memorial Lyceum Museum. Slightly to the east is the historic Sofia quarter with the cathedral of the same name — an early example of Russian Classicism by Stasov and Cameron. On the edge of the park zones stands the Feodorovsky Gorodok: here you can see the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral, the Martial Chamber (Russia’s only museum of the First World War) and the Song Tower.

Pushkin is striking for its abundance of greenery: three historic parks together cover more than 500 hectares. The most “wild” of them is Babolovsky. This is a forest park west of the Alexander Park, where among the ruins of the palace is hidden the famous “Tsar Bath”, carved from a single granite monolith by the master Samson Sukhanov. It is worth coming here for solitude: tourist routes barely reach the far avenues.

Getting there and getting around

There are three main ways to get from St Petersburg to Pushkin:

By commuter train: the fastest option. Trains depart from Vitebsky Station to “Tsarskoye Selo” station (it may appear on the schedule as “pl. Pushkin”). Travel time is 30–35 minutes. At rush hour trains run every 15 minutes, and there are comfortable air-conditioned trains. From the station to the Catherine Park you can walk (25–30 minutes) through the town centre, past Gostiny Dvor and Oktyabrsky Boulevard.

By bus:

By car: the distance is about 30 km along Vitebsky Prospekt or Pulkovskoye Highway. Without traffic the drive takes 30–35 minutes, but during rush hour it is better to allow an hour. Free parking is located at the intersection of Sobolevskaya Road, Volkhonskoye and Kuzminskoye Highways.

Getting around town

You will not need a car in Pushkin: the entire tourist core is compact and lies within a two-kilometre radius. It is convenient to get around town by taxi or car-sharing, and in winter sleigh and skate rentals operate in the parks.

From Pushkin it is easy to reach the neighbouring suburbs. To Pavlovsk it is 6 km (there is a direct commuter train), to Gatchina — from 27 minutes by public transport, and to Peterhof — about 40 km via the city.

Atmosphere, seasons and who it suits

Pushkin does not compete with St Petersburg for capital status and does not pretend to be a village suburb. It is a town with a face of its own: intimate, well-kept and steeped in the spirit of the Lyceum and imperial history. In the morning excursion groups are noisy here, and audio guides sound in the palace halls, but towards evening, when the main flow of tourists leaves, the avenues empty out and the parks turn into a true forest oasis.

Seasons: when to visit?

Pushkin has pronounced seasons, and each period is good in its own way:

Summer (June–August): a comfortable time with daytime temperatures of +20…+22 °C. This is the peak of the tourist season: parks are open until 22:00, and festivals take place (“City of Muses”, “Associations”, the Landscape Poetry Festival). During this time tickets to the Catherine Palace sell out in a matter of days, and a strict rule applies to entry to the Amber Room: being more than 15 minutes late voids the ticket.
Autumn: the town’s “golden time”. September is still warm (+16 °C), and by mid-October the Catherine Park turns into a set for a historical film. On 19 October, Lyceum Day is traditionally celebrated here. November is a time of quiet and cool (+1 °C), ideal for those who do not like crowds.
Winter: the calmest season (from −3 to −10 °C). The palaces are open, and the snow-covered Cameron Gallery is a favourite spot for photographers.
Spring: a slow awakening. March is still damp, April brings the first +8 °C, and in May the air warms up to +16 °C. From 20 April the parks switch to summer opening hours.

Who the town suits

Pushkin is ideal for those who value 18th–19th-century architecture, long walks and Russian palace culture.

For families with children: it will be interesting here for both adults and children. The Martial Chamber has an interactive exhibition about the First World War, in summer you can go boating on the Great Pond, and the bridges and Chinese Village in the Alexander Park make a ready-made setting for adventures.

For those seeking atmosphere: to truly feel the town, it is worth staying overnight. Only then can you catch the morning park without tourists and the evening quiet of Sadovaya Street.

There is a good range of accommodation formats here — from small hotels near the Egyptian Gates to apartments in the historic quarter next to the park. We have compiled a complete list on the hotels in Pushkin page.

Pushkin is a fully fledged museum town, where 25 hotels sit alongside two imperial palaces and the Lyceum, and the walk between the main sights takes no more than 20 minutes. It is worth coming here for at least a day, and better still — for the whole weekend.