The Lyceum in Tsarskoye Selo is the building where Alexander Pushkin, Russia's national poet, studied from 1811 to 1817 alongside friends who became famous in their own right — the poets Delvig and Küchelbecker, the Decembrist Pushchin and the future foreign minister Gorchakov. Today it is the Memorial Lyceum Museum: the classrooms, library, Great Hall and pupils' bedrooms have been restored from archive documents, and since June 2024 a whole second floor — dining room, infirmary, pharmacy — has opened too. October is the Lyceum's month: 19 October is the anniversary its pupils always celebrated, and on that day in 2026 the museum opened the exhibition "The Lyceum as Destiny", running until 27 January 2027.
Here is what we checked on the websites of the All-Russian Pushkin Museum (the Lyceum is one of its branches) and the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve on 19 October 2026: what to see inside, ticket prices, closing days, how to get there without a car, and how to pair the Lyceum with Catherine Park in its autumn colours — entry to the park has been free since 19 October.
🏛 The Great Hall and the classrooms: third floor
The museum occupies the second, third and fourth floors of the building at 2 Sadovaya Street in the town of Pushkin; this memorial section is all there is to see at the moment. The main floor is the third. Here you'll find the Great (assembly) Hall with its two antechambers, the Newspaper Room, the library holding original books from the Lyceum's own collection, the classrooms and the physics room.
A Lyceum classroom with desks and a lectern — Photo: Aleksandrovy AG, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
In the classroom the desks stand in a semicircle in front of the teacher's lectern, with a map on the wall. The interiors were rebuilt using documents from archives and libraries; the major restoration ran from 1966 to 1974, and the third and fourth floors took their present form for Pushkin's 175th birthday on 6 June 1974. In 2011 the flat of the drawing master and tutor S. G. Chirikov was added — the museum suggests that the portrait of the young Pushkin may have been drawn there.
🛏 Fourth floor: the corridor and the pupils' rooms
The fourth floor is what many visitors come for. A long corridor is lined with the pupils' rooms and the room of the tutor on duty. This is where the museum began in 1949: back then visitors saw only the Great Hall and four bedrooms, including Pushkin's, and only Ivan Pushchin's room had early-19th-century furniture.
The fourth-floor corridor with doors to the pupils' rooms — Photo: Aleksandrovy AG, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The rooms are tiny. Pushkin's has a bed, a writing desk, a chest of drawers and a washstand by its single window. There is no luxury at all — and that is probably the strongest impression the Lyceum leaves.
Pushkin's room: bed, writing desk and washstand by the window — Photo: Aleksandrovy AG, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
🍽 Second floor: dining room, infirmary and pharmacy
These rooms opened on 6 June 2024, the poet's 225th birthday. The cloakroom, pantry, dining room, infirmary, pharmacy and conference hall — 345 square metres in all — were completely lost in the mid-19th century when the Lyceum moved to St Petersburg. They have been recreated as they were in 1811–1821 from archive sources, down to wall colours, furniture layout and lamps. If you visited before 2024, this floor is a reason to return: the museum itself says the display is now complete and shows the pupils' whole daily routine.
🎟 Tickets, opening hours and closing days
The museum is open 10:00–18:00, with the ticket office closing at 17:00. It is closed on Tuesdays and on the last Friday of each month for cleaning (in 2026 that means 30 October and 27 November).
- Entry without a guided tour: adults 600 roubles; students over 18 and pensioners 450; school pupils under 18 — 400. Russian concessions require a document.
- Audio guide: 300 roubles, from the ticket office; concessions don't apply. The museum's site doesn't say which languages it offers — ask at the desk.
- Private guided tour for up to 5 people: 8,000 roubles including tickets; 5–10 people: 12,000.
- Entry is free for everyone three times a year: 18 May, 6 June and 19 October.
Tickets are sold online on the museum's website and at the ticket office. Cards issued outside Russia generally don't work in the country, so plan to pay with a Russian card or check the payment options in advance. Under the museum's rules, entry can be limited when the rooms are overcrowded or, in the cold season, when the cloakroom is full — at weekends it's worth buying ahead. Coats and bags larger than 36×30×27 cm go to the cloakroom, you'll be given free shoe covers, and food and drinks are not allowed in the rooms. Phone photos are fine without a tripod or flash.
The museum is small: with an audio guide, we'd allow an hour to an hour and a half.
🚆 Getting there without a car
Pushkin is part of St Petersburg, about 25 km south of the centre according to the museum-reserve. Two easy options, both listed on the museums' websites:
- A suburban train (elektrichka) from Vitebsky railway station (Pushkinskaya metro) or from Kupchino to Tsarskoye Selo station — 29 minutes from Vitebsky according to the operator. From there it's a 25–30 minute walk, or take bus 370, 376, 378 or 382 to the stop "Sadovaya ulitsa — Yekaterininsky dvorets" (Sadovaya Street — Catherine Palace).
- Bus 299 from Moskovskaya metro to the same stop. From Kupchino metro, buses 186 and 342 go there too.
The Lyceum's own website lists the same buses. Check train and bus fares before you go; we compared ways to save on a day of travel in our guide to St Petersburg transport for a day, and other day trips are covered in the suburbs without a car.
🍂 The Lyceum and Catherine Park in half a day
Next to the Lyceum is the Lyceum Arch, and beside it one of the five entrances to Catherine Park (Yekaterininsky Park). Since 19 October entry to the park is free; it is open daily from 7:00 to 21:00.
The Cameron Gallery above the Great Pond among autumn trees — Photo: Aleksandrov, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
A comfortable plan: arrive for the Lyceum's 10:00 opening and you'll be done by about 11:30. Then go through the entrance by the Lyceum Arch into the park — the Cameron Gallery, the Great Pond, the Admiralty pavilion. Allow an hour and a half to two hours for an unhurried walk. You can eat in the park itself: the Admiralty pavilion on the shore of the Great Pond has a restaurant, and there's a café in the neighbouring left-hand poultry house; opening hours aren't published, so check by phone using the numbers on the museum-reserve's site. Toilets are by the Admiralty, in the Northern Square and under the Cameron Gallery, 9:00–18:00; at weekends they cost 50 roubles.
Aim to head back to the bus by 14:00–15:00 and reach the city in daylight: in late October and November it gets dark early, around 16:30. If you also want to see the palace, we explain how to skip the queue in Tsarskoye Selo in autumn without the queue, and if you're choosing between the palace towns, see Tsarskoye Selo or Pavlovsk.
🧭 Good to know
- Tuesday is the day off and the last Friday of the month is a cleaning day — don't plan the Lyceum for those.
- The ticket office closes at 17:00, an hour before the museum.
- The museum is intimate and its rooms and passages are small: the rules warn that pushchairs may not be allowed in.
- The park has no shelter: in rain and wind off the Great Pond it gets cold in autumn — bring a waterproof jacket and shoes.
- The museum's website doesn't mention English-language tours; assume guided visits are in Russian unless you book otherwise.
- Not for you if you want palace-scale splendour — the Lyceum is a modest school, without the gilding of Catherine Palace. And if Pushkin means little to you, the rooms may feel like old furniture without the story.
📌 In short
✅ Memorial Lyceum Museum, 2 Sadovaya Street, Pushkin. Open 10:00–18:00, ticket office until 17:00; closed Tuesdays and the last Friday of the month.
✅ Adult ticket without a tour: 600 roubles; audio guide: 300. Tickets are sold online and at the ticket office.
✅ See the Great Hall, classrooms and library on the third floor, the pupils' rooms and Pushkin's room on the fourth, and the dining room, infirmary and pharmacy opened in 2024 on the second.
✅ Getting there: suburban train from Vitebsky station to Tsarskoye Selo, then a bus — or bus 299 from Moskovskaya metro.
✅ Since 19 October Catherine Park is free, with an entrance by the Lyceum Arch. The Lyceum plus the park makes a good half-day.
The Lyceum is one of the quietest and most personal museums around St Petersburg: none of the palace queues, just the feeling of walking into a school where the lesson has only just ended. Checked on 19 October 2026 against the websites of the All-Russian Pushkin Museum and the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve.
❓ Questions and answers
How much is a ticket to the Lyceum in Tsarskoye Selo?
As of 19 October 2026 entry without a tour costs 600 roubles for adults, 450 for students aged 18+ and pensioners, and 400 for pupils under 18. An audio guide is 300 roubles. The museum is free for everyone on 18 May, 6 June and 19 October.
On which days is the Lyceum closed?
It is closed on Tuesdays, and the last Friday of the month is a maintenance day. On other days the museum is open 10:00–18:00, ticket office until 17:00.
How do I get to the Lyceum from St Petersburg?
Take a suburban train from Vitebsky Station or Kupchino to Tsarskoye Selo station, then walk 25–30 minutes or take bus 370, 376, 378 or 382 to the 'Sadovaya Ulitsa – Catherine Palace' stop. Alternatively, bus 299 runs from Moskovskaya metro to the same stop.
Cover photo: Aleksandrovy AG, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
