Peter the Great built Peterhof, about 30 km west of the city, as his answer to Versailles. Below the palace, the Grand Cascade sends 64 fountains and gilded statues down to a semicircular pool, where the Samson fountain throws its jet 20 m high. Remarkably, the fountains use no pumps: spring water is driven by the fall of the land alone.

You arrive by hydrofoil from central Saint Petersburg, straight to the pier of the Lower Park. The fountains run from late April or May until early October, and the Grand Cascade starts at 11:00, so we bring you in a little earlier to find a quiet place.