Ushkovo and Zelenogorsk: pines and the bay

⏱ 9 h🚶 8 km + 🚆🚌🍽 2📍 6 stops

🏃 A lot — over 7 km

A forest trail along the Ushkovo stream to the bay, along the sand to lunch with a view of the water, then the white Kazan Church and Zelenogorsk's Finnish kirche.

👶 With kids🌳 Parks and nature🚆 Out of town

👶 3–6, 7–12 years · ✗ hard with a stroller

The trail along the stream is dirt and roots, and on the beach a stroller sinks in sand. With a stroller, better to go on to Zelenogorsk and walk along Lenin Avenue and Primorskoye Highway.

🗺 Open in Yandex Maps (with transit)

Getting there

🏛 Finlyandsky Station and Locomotive N2-293

Санкт-Петербург, пл. Ленина, 6

Steam locomotive N2-293 stands in a pavilion by the platforms (October 2026 timetable)

🚆 by suburban train to Ushkovo Stream

Finlyandsky Station: train to Ushkovo at 08:34, 09:46 or 10:10 (Lastochka to Kirillovskoye), ≈1 h; Lastochka trains to Vyborg do not stop here

1
🌳 Ushkovo Stream
Ушково, тропа от Вокзальной ул. к Приморскому ш.
A forest path through the pinewoods of the Kurortny district, along a stream running to the Gulf of Finland.
From the platform along Vokzalnaya Street to the bay, the trail goes through the forest along a stream with dark peaty water. In about 40 minutes you reach Primorskoye Highway
📖 More about the placeCollapse
- The settlement of Ushkovo appeared in 1948 from seven villages and is named after the Hero of the Soviet Union, Corporal D. K. Ushkov.
- Before the war the village was called Tyurisevya — after the 17th-century settler Matti Tyurisevya.
- The engineer V. K. Orlovsky named his dacha here "Kaunisranta" — "Beautiful Shore".
- Next to the platform is Kamennaya Gora park, the closest outcrop of the granite crystalline shield to Petersburg.
🚶 on foot
2
🌳 Ushkovo Beach
Ушково, Приморское ш. у Пляжевой ул.
A wide strip of sand along the Gulf of Finland with pines behind and shallow water by the shore.
A sandy beach with boulders; on a clear day you can see the dome of Kronstadt Cathedral on the horizon. In autumn there is almost no one here
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© spb-wanderer · CC BY 3.0
© GAlexandrova · CC BY-SA 4.0
- For centuries the native residents of old Tyurisevya lived mainly by fishing.
- After the revolution, emigrants settled in the empty dachas; the writer Leonid Andreyev lived here in the winter of 1918–1919.
- In the early 20th century there was an estate here of Count Alexander Sheremetev, who lived in it for another ten years after the revolution.
🚶 on foot
3
🍽 Ptichki i Yagody Restaurant
Зеленогорск, Приморское ш., 572
▮▮▮▮▯
About 3 km along the bay to the east — along the beach or the path by the highway. Lunch with panoramic windows, average bill 1500–2000 ₽, kids' menu available. Book a table on weekends
🍴 A restaurant on the shore of the bay at the President Hotel, with panoramic windows and warm gazebos. What to order: grilled pork shashlik, the fish of the day, and for dessert pavlova or a fondant.
🚌 bus 213 along Primorskoye Highway to the center of Zelenogorsk, every 20–40 min, ≈5 min ride
4
🏛 Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
Зеленогорск, Приморское ш., 547
A white multi-domed church in the Russian style with a tall bell tower above the Primorskoye Highway — a symbol of Zelenogorsk.
A white church from the 1910s in the Neo-Russian style
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© Александров · CC BY-SA 3.0
© EugeniaEva · CC BY-SA 3.0
- The first wooden Kazan church in Terijoki was built in 1880 by the merchant Andrei Durdin; it burned down in 1907.
- The stone church was laid down in 1910 in memory of the 200th anniversary of Peter the Great's capture of Vyborg.
- The bell tower with its cross rises 49 metres; the bells weighed more than 9 tonnes, the main one about 5 tonnes.
- The main altar was consecrated in 1915 by Archbishop Sergius — the future Patriarch of Moscow.
- The icons for the iconostasis were painted by the artist Pavel Rozanov, brother of the famous philosopher.
- In 1940 the bell tower was destroyed, and until the late 1980s the church served as a warehouse; in the 1970s it was saved from demolition by Leningrad's chief architect Gennady Buldakov.
🚶 on foot
5
🏛 Church of the Transfiguration (Lutheran)
Зеленогорск, пр. Ленина, 13
A Lutheran church that survived the Soviet years as a cinema; now it has an active parish and an organ.
Up Tserkovnaya Street. A small kirche with huge round windows, open Wed–Sun 10:00–18:00; on weekends there are sometimes organ concerts (donation about 500 ₽)
📖 More about the placeCollapse
© Laazar · CC BY-SA 3.0
© Александров · CC BY-SA 3.0
- The church was built in 1907–1908 to a design by the Finnish architect Josef Stenbäck.
- In 1940 its bell tower was destroyed, and from 1944 the Pobeda cinema operated in the building.
- In 2001–2002 the church was restored and the bell tower rebuilt; it was reconsecrated in 2008, for its 100th anniversary.
- Since 2004 the international music festival "Summer in Terijoki" has been held here every summer.
- Nearby are the mass grave of 75 Finnish soldiers from Terijoki and the 2004 "Monument of Reconciliation" to participants of the Winter War.
🚶 on foot
6
☕️ Mesto Vstrechi Coffee Shop
Зеленогорск, пр. Ленина, 17Б
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Coffee and soup before the road
🍴 A cosy coffee shop on Zelenogorsk's main street, on the way to the station. What to order: chicken soup, a sandwich, a croissant with your coffee.

↩️ Getting back: 10 min to Zelenogorsk station: fastest are the Lastochka trains from Vyborg, 30 min to Finlyandsky Station — 17:50, 19:02, on Sat–Sun also 16:07 and 19:28; regular trains ≈1 h (October 2026 timetable)