While Peter the Great favoured Peterhof, west of St Petersburg, for his summer palace, his wife Empress Catherine I favoured the royal estate south at Pushkin. It became known as Tsarskoe Selo, or Emperor's Village, nowadays the breathtaking Catherine Palace Museum.
Like much of imperial St Petersburg, the estate is built in the Late Baroque style, designed by the Italian Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The star attraction of Tsarskoe Selo is the Catherine Palace with its blue, white and gold exterior. Inside visitors can gaze upon the painstakingly restored panels of the Amber Room, made entirely from the semi-precious stone, and restored in 2003 after it was pillaged by the Nazis.
Nearby is the famous Lyceum, built by Alexander I to educate the children of aristocratic families for imperial service. The author and poet Aleksandr Pushkin was the most famous graduate of the Lyceum, and the town of Pushkin was named in his honour in 1937.
In addition, don't miss a walk in the 600 hectares of Tsarskoe Selo's parkland, or the restored room of the Alexander Palace, from where the last Romanovs were hauled off to Siberia.