There are two things that you see most in Russia: Churches and Palaces. Peterhof Palace and Catherine Palace are the most popular among the others. We are going to show you their comparison and you shall be able to tell which one we liked more after reading this. Let's get started.
Never Leave St Petersburg without a Visit to Peterhof Palace
We never planned to visit this palace until we realised that everyone talks about this palace and gives it a title of "A Must-see in St. Petersburg", or thing like "You-can't-say-that-you-have-been-to-st-petersburg-if-you-didn't-visit-peterhof". Of course we have to give it a go! It's RUB 1000 for an adult ticket of the Grand Palace entrance only. And it took us almost two hours to get here from city centre. It's awful.
Peterhof Grand Palace | Razvodnaya Ulitsa, 2, Sankt-Petersburg, Russia
Better Visiting Peterhof Palace in Summer
In winter, there's actually not much to see outside because everywhere would be just covered by snow. However, the Palace is super gorgeous inside! It was less crowded in the morning than in the afternoon. You could find it disappointing about the garden since no one could see anything out there. We enjoyed our visit very much though. It would be a lot better if you visit here in summertime, although it could be super busy at the same time as well.
Free Entry of Catherine Palace's Garden in Winter
There's a funny story that we would like to share. When we first looked at their official website to double check the palace opening time, we found out that the entrance to the garden was free of charge from late October to late April. We felt so lucky that we could visit the garden for free in Winter. When we actually arrived, we realised why it opened to the public for free... as there's literally nothing to see out there. All we saw was just snow. We couldn't even tell if there was a lake before; basically we just walked over it.
Catherine Palace | Garden St, 7, Pushkin, Sankt-Petersburg, Russia, 196601
Editor's Pick: Catherine Palace is Our Favourite
This palace looks nicer outside! We simply love how the blue contrasts with the snow! The palace inside look quite the same as Peterhof Palace. Therefore, this palace feels a lot better than Peterhof because it's cheaper, it's RUB 700 for an adult and they also offer half price for students with a student card. Most importantly, it's a lot quicker to get here from city centre! However, we do believe that we should visit these two palaces again in summer and we could probably change our mind.