12 Things to Know Before Visiting Catherine Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

No trip to St. Petersburg, Russia would be complete without a visit to Catherine Palace in the suburb of Pushkin. Catherine Palace (or the Great Palace of Tsarskoye Selo) tops many of the “must-see” lists for planning a trip to this area.

Being armed with a little knowledge before you go can certainly make the visit more enjoyable! Check out all my tips, tricks for getting tickets and visiting, as well as some fun facts about the palace.

If there’s only one thing you take away from this post – let it be this one! Just showing up on the day you want to visit Catherine Palace and waiting in line for tickets will not end well. The setup here is similar to the Kremlin in Moscow, you can wait in line for hours on end and hope they allow you a ticket inside (tickets are capped at a certain capacity every day)…or you can book your tickets online up to 14 days in advance. (Click here for the website – it’s much more English-friendly than the Moscow Kremlin ticket office.) You still have to wait in line to get your “actual” entry tickets when you arrive at the museum. However, that’s nothing compared to the line you would have to wait if you just showed up the day of! We were there in early January, and the line to get tickets in the freezing cold was nearly 3 hours long! No thank you! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).