Visit Peterhof September 25-26

[PandasRUs]

We will be in St Petersburg for a 2-day stay and are trying to figure out which places to visit and which tour to take. We are interested in Peterhof, but we just saw online that the fountains are done by the middle of September (if I have the correct site and year, it looks like the closing ceremony is Sept 12-14). Would it still be worth a visit there? I will check with tour groups when we get it narrowed down to what we want to see.  Thank you.

[dogs4fun]

19 minutes ago, PandasRUs said:

We will be in St Petersburg for a 2-day stay and are trying to figure out which places to visit and which tour to take. We are interested in Peterhof, but we just saw online that the fountains are done by the middle of September (if I have the correct site and year, it looks like the closing ceremony is Sept 12-14). Would it still be worth a visit there? I will check with tour groups when we get it narrowed down to what we want to see.  Thank you.

We attended the closing ceremony at Peterhof a few years ago  - it was spectacular!!! But - to answer your question, the fountains do not stop running right after the closing ceremony - they usually run until mid October. The fountain park is spectacular and definitely worth seeing.

[PandasRUs]

4 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

We attended the closing ceremony at Peterhof a few years ago  - it was spectacular!!! But - to answer your question, the fountains do not stop running right after the closing ceremony - they usually run until mid October. The fountain park is spectacular and definitely worth seeing.

Thank you. That is reassuring. I will continue to include this in our plans.

 

By the way, I love fall and fall colors. Will we see much of that on a Baltic cruise? We didn't see much color on our Australian and New Zealand trip because of the types of trees they have or, more accurately, don't have there. Was wondering what it is like in this area?

[dogs4fun]

11 minutes ago, PandasRUs said:

Thank you. That is reassuring. I will continue to include this in our plans.

 

By the way, I love fall and fall colors. Will we see much of that on a Baltic cruise? We didn't see much color on our Australian and New Zealand trip because of the types of trees they have or, more accurately, don't have there. Was wondering what it is like in this area?

You will see fall colors - Saint Petersburg's foliage is mostly beautiful shades of gold - I didn't notice the deep red & rust hues that we find on the eastern coast of the USA. Full disclosure - I am not the world's most observant person and admit that fall colors were not on my radar on any of my Baltic trips - hopefully someone with more info on Autumn colors will post.

Edited January 19, 2020 by dogs4fun

[trosebery]

I'm very jealous of those of you who get to tour in the off season! (I'm a teacher. School holidays only for me.)

 

But yes, the fountains should still be running through mid-October . . . and the fountains in the park should be running before the Grand Cascade starts at 11:00 am. First time we visited, we were on a small group tour which timed our arrival at Peterhof for the start of the Grand Cascade (which was ridiculously crowded in high season) at 11:00 am; this past year, I'd set up a private tour with Red Sun Tours and saw that we were scheduled to arrive at Peterhof at 10:00 am, so I was confused. When I asked, Elena explained that the other fountains (including the trick fountains) would be running then and the earlier crowds would be much more reasonable, and we could circle back to see the Grand Cascade after the opening, when the press of the crowds had moved on . . . and she was right! Bottom line is that the St. Petersburg tour companies really know their timings and can answer all your questions.

 

Do you know if you're going to do a small group tour or a private tour (with just you or the others on your Roll Call)? I will warn you that if you start researching things to do and see in St. Petersburg, you'll be tempted into a private tour as there's a lot of fascinating sights that don't make the standard tour itineraries!

[scubacruiserx2]

We saw a little color when we stayed there in late September

 

[Coral]

17 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

We saw a little color when we stayed there in late September

 

Pretty!

[scubacruiserx2]

This church was out side of the city near Peterhof

 

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

The photo of the visually stunning cathedral above is St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Peterhof (in case anyone is interested).

Edited January 20, 2020 by dogs4fun

[scubacruiserx2]

Last June they were working on the out side and with a service going on inside we could't take photos

 

 

 

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

Last June they were working on the out side and with a service going on inside we could't take photos

 

 

 

AFAIK, they have been working on it for a few years (at least as far back as 2017). 

[Coral]

3 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

 

The photo of the visually stunning cathedral above is St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Peterhof (in case anyone is interested).

Many years ago I saw that church and came back to try to find the name of that church. I am sure I have it bookmarked as I wanted to see it next time I went. It was one of those "I saw on a bus"......

[PandasRUs]

Thank you for the beautiful pictures. Looks like we will be able to enjoy some fall colors while there. And the buildings are spectacular. Looking forward to being in St Petersburg. 

[CrazyJess]

I've been to Peterhof three times. The last visit was in winter, to be exact in the beginning of  March. We've got Russian visas and flew to St. Petersburg from Paris.  There was a lot of snow and the gulf was frozen. Of course fountains didn't work and all decorations and sculptures were covered but still the gardens  were extremely beautiful and charming.

Don't hesitate. It's worth seeing even in winter :)

Jess