Pavlovsk Palace and Park, St Petersburg

Pavlovsk Palace tickets and opening hours

The palace ticket is 800 ₽ and covers the Living Rooms on the ground floor and the State Rooms upstairs. The museum’s English price list shows no separate rate for foreigners. Under-16s go free; temporary exhibitions and the Museum of Imperial Costume need their own tickets.

The palace is open 10:00–18:00, the ticket office closes at 17:00 and the last entry is 17:15. It’s closed on Mondays — the park stays open. Older guides mention closures on the first Monday of the month or on winter Fridays; the museum now lists only Mondays.

The park is open every day. From 1 May to 31 August it charges 300 ₽ between 9:00 and 21:00 and is free early in the morning and late in the evening. Off-season the rules are looser — last winter weekdays were free and only weekend daytime was paid. When the park is in paid hours, you need a park ticket to reach the palace, so buy both together.

Pay in roubles: Visa and Mastercard cards issued abroad haven’t worked in Russia since March 2022, so bring cash or a Russian Mir card. An English-speaking guide inside the palace is available only on advance request by phone; a guided tour from the city with transport is the easier option — it’s behind the button below.

Is Pavlovsk worth visiting?

Yes, if you like parks and quiet. Pavlovsk is less grand than Catherine Palace next door — no Amber Room, no gold — but its classical rooms are elegant, the original furniture and art largely survived the war in hiding, and the crowds are thinner.

The park is the real reason to come. At around 600 hectares it takes hours to walk: rolling hills, the winding Slavyanka river, temples and bridges placed like scenery in a painting. It’s good in every season, at its best in late September and early October.

YesGo’s take: if you have time for only one palace south of the city, pick Catherine Palace for the interiors. If you have a full day, do both — they are 4 km apart on the same railway line. Skip Pavlovsk on a Monday unless you only want the park.

What to see inside the palace

• The Egyptian Vestibule — the entrance hall, with Egyptian-style figures and the signs of the zodiac.
• The Italian Hall under the dome — the round, double-height heart of the palace, lined with antique sculpture.
• The Greek Hall — a ballroom framed by green columns, classicism at its purest.
• The Halls of War and Peace — a matching pair: trophies and weapons on one side, flowers and musical instruments on the other.
• The Throne Room and Picture Gallery on Paul’s side of the palace.
• The State Bedroom and Maria Feodorovna’s private rooms, including ivory pieces she carved herself.
• Carlo Rossi’s Library from the 1820s.
• Separate tickets: the Museum of Imperial Costume in the northern wing and the exhibition in the palace church.

What to see in Pavlovsk Park

• The Apollo Colonnade above the Slavyanka — a deliberately “ruined” rotunda and the park’s signature view.
• The Temple of Friendship — Cameron’s round Doric temple on a bend of the river.
• The Cold Bath and the Pil Tower — follies dressed up as a rustic bath-house and mill.
• The Mausoleum “To My Benefactor Husband” — Maria Feodorovna’s memorial to Paul, deep in New Sylvia.
• The Grand Stone Staircase leading down from the palace to the river.
• Old Sylvia — a forest clearing with bronze statues of Apollo and the Muses.
• White Birch — the far, wild end of the park; take it if you have a spare hour.
• The Private Garden with the Pavilion of the Three Graces — summer only, until mid-October.

A short history of Pavlovsk

In 1777 Catherine the Great gave her son Paul and his wife Maria Feodorovna forest land along the Slavyanka to celebrate the birth of their first son, the future Alexander I. Scottish architect Charles Cameron began the palace in 1782, modelled on Palladian and Roman villas. Vincenzo Brenna, Giacomo Quarenghi, Andrei Voronikhin and Carlo Rossi added to it over the next forty years.

Paul preferred Gatchina and built the Mikhailovsky Castle in the city, where he was murdered in 1801. Pavlovsk became his widow’s home until 1828; she shaped its collections and its park.

A fire in 1803 gutted part of the interiors. In 1941–1944 German troops occupied the town, and the palace was burned when they retreated. Before they arrived, curator Anna Zelenova and her staff evacuated or buried much of the collection, which is why so many original pieces are back in place. Restoration began in 1944; the first rooms reopened in the late 1950s.

Pavlovsk vs Catherine Palace vs Peterhof

Pavlovsk and Tsarskoye Selo are one train stop apart — pair them in a day. Peterhof is on the other side of the city and needs its own day, with Oranienbaum nearby.

St Petersburg palaces compared

Every palace in and around St Petersburg rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

How to do it right

• Be there for 10:00: do the palace while it’s quiet, then the park, which stays open into the evening.
• A 3-hour loop: Grand Stone Staircase → Apollo Colonnade → Temple of Friendship → along the Slavyanka → back through Old Sylvia.
• Weekend trains from Kupchino fill up with locals heading out of town — go early on Saturdays.
• Full day: Pavlovsk in the morning, then Catherine Palace after lunch.
• There are cafés near the palace, but some park kiosks close in winter — carry water and a snack.

Questions