Oranienbaum (Orange Tree) isn’t quite as popular among tourists as other similar palaces, but it's nonetheless a lovely place for a picnic or for a walk through peaceful gardens and pine woods. Prince Alexander Menshikov, one of Peter the Great’s best friends, started building the estate and its Grand Palace. Catherine the Great made it one of her holiday spots and built a small Chinese palace with baroque outside and rococo within. Menshikov’s Grand Palace hasn't changed a great deal over the centuries and it's one of the few palaces on the outskirts of the city that wasn’t destroyed by the Nazis. There are numerous development plans in progress in Oranienbaum, also known as Lomonosov. You can have a cheap Russian dinner in a cafe near the administration building, the only place in the park where you can buy food or drinks.

Park admission free. Palaces 100 - 400Rbl. Excursions 750 - 900Rbl up to 30 people group. GETTING THERE: From Avtovo metro, take bus 200 or marshrutka 300, 424A (direction Lomonosov, 40min); or from Baltiisky station, take a train bound for Oranienbaum, Kalishe or Krasnoflotsk.