The Peterhof Grand Palace

The Peterhof Grand Palace is actually a part of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the "Russian Versailles". The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A must place to visit if you visit Russia.

The palace consist of both the Upper and Lower gardens. You can reach the palace by taking the metro to Avtovo. When you exit the metro, go through the underground linkway to the other side of the road and take the mini bus 224, 300, 424, and 424-A. It will cost about 70 roubles if I recall correctly.

The upper gardens is free but there isn't much to look at. Most of the unique attractions are at the lower gardens, which will cost about 450 roubles to enter. Do take note that the ticket only gain you entrance to the lower gardens. If you wish to see anything within the palace, there are additional costs. For example, if you wish to visit the actual palace, you need to pay an addition 550 roubles if I recall correctly.

Below is a picture of the palace in the Upper gardens. The entrance to the lower gardens that I've been to are at the extreme right.

Upper gardens palace

The weather is quite hot when I was there so I went to the front using the garden walkway shown in the picture below.

Garden walkway

Upon reaching the end of the walkway, you will see a number of fountains as shown below.

Below is the picture of one of the unique buildings before hitting the lower gardens. There is a small area where you can buy your meals but if you're only interested in hot dogs, you can find them within the lower gardens at the same price.

Below is the entrance to the Grand Palace. As you can see, there's a long queue stretching all the way to the back. As stated above, the entrance ticket to the lower gardens do not grant you access to this palace. You will have to queue up, and when you're inside, go towards the left hand side to purchase the tickets for 550 roubles if I recall correctly. You will need to deposit all your belongings in the cloakroom before continuing to the tour of the grand palace.

Grand palace entrance

Below is the picture of the famous Grand Cascade.

Grand cascade

Below is the picture of the popular statue of Samson wrestling the jaws of a lion in the centre of the grand cascade.

Statue of Samson wrestling the jaws of a lion

Below are a couple of pictures of the views of the Grand Cascade.

Another view of the grand cascade

View of the Grand Cascade from a bridge

Other than the picture of a house at the lower gardens (yes you need to pay to get in), I guess the only pictures I have are the fountains in the lower gardens. There are a few such houses in the lower gardens but all requires some form of entrance fee. I guess the only interesting attractions are near the Grand Palace and of course the palace itself. Below are some of the more pretty photos of the lower gardens.

House by a small lake

Adam fountain

Eve fountain

Lion Cascade fountain

Golden Hill Cascade fountain

Close-up of the 3 statues above the golden hill cascade fountain

fountain in front of Monplaisir

The Sun fountain

The Roman fountain

The Triton Fountain

You can find more information about Peterhof here.