Pushkin

Catherine Palace facade

Pushkin (Russian: Пу́шкин) is a town to the south of Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Understand

Formerly known as Tsarskoye Selo (Царское Село), the "Czar's Village", Pushkin is known for its numerous imperial parks and palaces.

Get in

Local trains run from St. Petersburg's Vitebskiy station (not the main hall, but the smaller hall for local trains to the right and around the corner as you face the main hall) to the Tsarskoye Selo station in Pushkin. A round-trip train ticket costs 72 руб, and trains run at 15-20 minute intervals starting at 6:00am until midnight except:

- Leaving St. Petersburg, there is no train service between 10:00am and 12:00 noon on weekdays. The trains during that interval only operate on weekends and holidays; trains outside that interval run 7 days per week. Note that all local trains leaving the Vitebskiy Station stop at Detskoe Selo and Pavlovsk; this makes it a bit easier for non-Russian speakers, since you don't have to worry about which train to board even though different trains go to different terminus stations.

- Returning from Pushkin toward St. Petersburg, there is a gap in service between 12:30pm and 2:30pm weekdays, although trains do operate during that interval on weekends and holidays.

• 1 Tsarskoye Selo railway station (Царское Село). (updated Oct 2021)

See

Corner of the Amber Room inside Catherine's Palace

• 1 Catherine Palace (Екатерининский дворец). Summer residence of the Russian tsars. The sight is really breathtaking, especially during the winter, with the snow covering the magnificent park. Built by Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, famous for having also designed the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, on behalf of the Empress Catherine the Great. It hosts huge rooms totally gilded in gold, and incredible paintings. Main sight is the "Amber Room," a copy made in amber of the original, lost during the Second World War. A gift of the German Kaiser to the Empress, with its walls and furniture totally carved in Baltic amber pieces. Despite the original having been lost, this copy is made with the same materials. Nearby lies the "Petite Hermitage", a secluded house used by the Empress to attend private meetings. Under the main room lies the kitchen, where the servants used to lift the dishes with an elevator to the private rooms, without disturbing the Empress. If you are not with a tour group, the palace is only open to individuals during limited hours: 12:00 to 2:00PM and 4:00PM to 5:00PM. However, if there is a dearth of tour groups during the appointed hours for groups (i.e. 10:00AM-noon and 2:00PM to 4:00PM), the palace does allow individuals enter during those times. This is more likely to happen in the off-season, such as deep winter, and not at all likely in the summer. Entry fee is 700 руб. (updated Oct 2021)
• 2 Alexander Palace. The final residence of the Russian royal family before they were overthrown in the revolutions of 1917. A glorious edifice, it has been undergoing restoration since 1 September 2015. The East Wing, which mostly housedthe Tsar's private apartments, was reopened to the public on 13 August 2021 after its restoration was complete. The West Wing, which mostly housed the state guest apartments, and was used as a naval facility during Soviet times, is still undergoing restoration and scheduled to open to the public in 2025. (updated Jan 2023)
• 3 House-museum of Pavel Chistyakov (Дом-музей П. П. Чистякова), Moskovskoye Shosse, 23. Art museum dedicated to the imperial painter Pavel Chistyakov (1832-1919), known for historical and genre scenes as well as portraits. The museum is located in his former home (updated Oct 2021)
• 4 History and Literary Museum of Pushkin (Историко-литературный музей города Пушкина). (updated Oct 2021)

Eat

• The Catherine Palace has a rather expensive cafe inside near the cloak rooms.
• A clean, reasonably-priced restaurant called "Italian Pizza" with a variety of good food - from pizza to hamburgers to salads to sushi - is located in the square in front of the train station. Facing the station, it is in the building to one's left; enter through the basement stairs. Open 11:00am until after midnight.