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First of the great palatial ensembles to be founded outside St Petersburg, Peterhof embodies nearly three hundred years of tsarist self-aggrandisement. Its name means "Peter's Court" in German and its progenitor was Peter the Great, but the Grand Palace wasn't completed until the reign of Empress Elizabeth (1741-61). Trains for Peterhof leave from Baltic Station (Baltiyskaya metro) every thirty minutes or so (there is a gap between 10am and noon at weekends) and cost around 25 cents each way, but in summer the best means of transport is hydrofoil (around $3 each way). These depart every ninety minutes (9.30am-5pm) from outside the Winter Palace, the last return boat leaving Peterhof at 6pm. Minibuses run from Avtovo metro station every ten minutes or so along the south bank of the Gulf of Finland, through small settlements and past decaying grand houses and estates; these cost 50 cents each way. The yellow, white and gold Great Palace (Bolshoy dvorets; Tues-Sun 10.30am-5pm; closed last Tues of every month; $8) is far removed from that originally designed by Le Blond (1714-21), but despite later additions, there's a superb cohesion at work, a tribute both to the vision of the palace's creators and the skills of the craftsmen who rebuilt Peterhof from its ashes after World War II. The palace entrance is through the formal Upper Garden . The Lower Park is where to find the fountains (late-May to late-Sept), from the Grand Cascade dropping down to the sea to joke fountains which spout water on (supposedly) unexpecting passers-by. To the east of the Grand Cascade, you'll find Monplaisir (May-Sept daily except Wed 10.30am-5pm, closed last Thurs of every month; Oct-April Sat & Sun 10.30am-4pm; $6), Peter the Great's favourite haunt; both homely and extravagant, it was designed by the tsar himself. Built around the same time was the Marly Palace (daily except Tues and the last Wed of every month: May-Sept 10am-5pm; Oct-April 10.30am-4pm; $3), more of a country house than a palace, which takes its name and inspiration from the hunting lodge of the French kings at Marly le Rois, which Peter the Great visited during his Grand Tour of Europe. Tickets for guided tours must be bought at the wooden hut nearby. Finding Peterhof's Great Palace "unbearable", Empress Aleksandra Fyodorovna pressed Nicholas I to build a home suited to a cosier, bourgeois lifestyle: the resulting Neo-Gothic Cottage Palace (Kottedzh; May-Sept daily except Fri 10am-5pm, closed last Tues of every month; Oct-April Sat & Sun 10am-5pm; $6) is definitely worth the fifteen-minute walk through the overgrown park. The best lunch in Peterhof (traditional and cheap) can be found at the tiny Trapeza , just outside the east entrance to the park and palace.
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