For those who dream of going on a big trip across Crimea, we have compiled a tourist route to the most interesting places and sights. You can drive through it by car, bus or motorcycle. It was developed based on personal experience and future travel plans.
We offer a capacious itinerary for a long trip across the Crimea from the Kerch Strait to Tarkhankut and back. We have already been to the peninsula four times and made lists of attractions before each trip. This takes a lot of time and effort - this is how the idea was born to systematize the experience and create a route for a long trip across Crimea. Finding something sensible on this topic on the Internet is not easy, so we undertook to fill the gap. The route will allow you to save time before the trip - you no longer need to shovel mountains of articles, everything is in one.
Download our handy Crimea travel guide to your smartphone! For you, we have selected only the most beautiful, beloved and proven places. The card works without the Internet, which is especially important in Crimea. Cafes, restaurants, hotels and other places are also marked there. The card costs 200 rubles and will save you a lot of time.
Our trip to Crimea - route map
In the route, I included not only the visited places, but also the planned ones. The list of attractions, although huge, is, of course, not complete - suggest interesting places in the comments, I will gladly include them in the article!
This is how our route across Crimea looks like on the map from Kerch to Tarkhankut (I did not add Novy Svet, Balaklava, Belogorsk and Stary Krym, since Google did not allow more labels):
Car rental in Crimea
We almost always come to Crimea by car - this greatly facilitates logistics and gives unlimited freedom. We advise you too! If you can't come by car, rent a car at Myrentacar.com. Cost - from 1000 rubles per day. Check out our tips for renting a car in Crimea or traveling to Crimea with your own car.
Kerch - Bosphoro Cimmerio
Our route of a great trip across Crimea is opened by the Hero-City of Kerch. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, but unpopular with tourists. Many in Kerch are only passing through or devote no more than one day to the city, but in vain - there is something to see here. Many ancient settlements, monuments and burials will interest lovers of antiquities: the ancient settlement of Panticapaeum on Mount Mithridates, the Tsarsky and Melek-Chesmensky burial mounds, the Crypt of Demeter, monuments in the Lapidarium and the archaeological museum. There are also the ancient fortresses of Kerch and Yeni-Kale.
We had only a day for the city, and we managed to see only the Yeni-Kale fortress and Mount Mithridates with Panticapaeum. We went to the Kerch Fortress, but because of the construction of a bridge, the road to it was blocked.
The nature in the vicinity of Kerch is not impressive - steppe and steppe! This is not the southern coast of Crimea. But there are also amazing places here: I really want to see the salty pink lake Koyashskoye in the Opuksky nature reserve, the Chokrak salt lake with healing mud and hydrogen sulphide springs, the Bulganak mud field (valley of volcanoes). Did you know that there are more than 50 mud volcanoes on the Kerch Peninsula?
Of course, in Kerch there is no shortage of beaches, various holiday homes, hotels, cafes and restaurants - in general, the tourist infrastructure is developed here and you can have a good rest. The beaches are mostly sandy and sandy-shell.
Find out what tourists think about Kerch.
Feodosia - given by God
The next stop on our long trip across Crimea is Feodosia, or Kafa. This is the name of the city in the Middle Ages, when it flourished. In general, the city was founded in the 6th century BC by the Greeks, but the ancient buildings have practically not survived. But the monuments of the Middle Ages have survived:
- the remains of the Genoese fortress and tower (St. Constantine, Dock, Round, Thomas);
- Armenian and Greek temples (the temple of John the Baptist, St. Sergius, St. George, the archangels Michael and Gabriel).
There are also Orthodox churches, the Mufti-Jami mosque, monuments, museums (museum of money, museum of antiquities, hang gliding museum, A. Green museum, etc.) and fountains (Armenian, Aivazovsky, "To the Good Genius"). There are many buildings of the late XIX - early XX centuries (mansions, summer cottages, villas: "Milos", "Flora", "Aida".). And, of course, it is worth visiting the National Art Gallery named after Aivazovsky, where not only his works are kept, but also paintings by other marine painters. We really wanted to get there, but we couldn't.
The main ridge of the Crimean Mountains ends near Feodosia (and for many visitors it begins), which means that the landscape outside the window will gradually change from that moment - from the steppe and shallow relief to the high mountains.
The beaches here are mostly sandy with shell rock - we hung on one of these for a long time (Beregovoe). And also right next to the track we found a beautiful pink lake Ajigol! Stop for a minute to watch it.
Read what tourists think about Feodosia.
Koktebel - a bohemian place
The next point of our tourist route in Crimea is the village with the romantic name Koktebel. In fact, there is nothing romantic and bohemian in it - a typical seaside town with a tourist infrastructure. But since the end of the 19th century, famous figures of art and culture flocked here, who glorified Koktebel as a bohemian place. The village is also known as a gliding center due to the updrafts on the Uzun-Syrt plateau. He also gained fame thanks to Fox Bay ("Fox"), favored by naturists and hippies.
Koktebel is an amazing combination of Cimmerian steppes and mountains. The village is located at the foot of the volcanic massif Kara-Dag, where the famous Karadag reserve - rare plants grow there and endangered species of animals live. Entry to the reserve on request with a guide. The cost depends on the route - 200-600 rubles. Detailed information can be found on the site of the reserve.
In Koktebel we went to the beach, and then went to the "Starfall of Memories" - a platform with a panoramic view of Mount Koklyuk, which is mercilessly blown by the wind. The views are gorgeous! On the way, we walked along the Barakol mini-salt marsh, found an abandoned film set and admired the views from the Uzun-Syrt plateau, or Klement'eva mountain - paragliders fly from there.
Even in Koktebel and the surrounding area, look at Cape Chameleon, which changes color depending on the lighting, go on an excursion to a vintage wine factory and take a boat trip to the Golden Gate rock. Children can be taken to the dolphinarium.
Find out what tourists think about Koktebel.
Zander
The next point in the Crimea route is Sudak. In Sudak I really like the Genoese fortress, the park of the rest house "Sudak" near the embankment, the Meganom and Alchak capes, as well as the Ai-Georgy and Perchem-Kaya mountains. The views from these mountains and capes are stunning, and the ascent is a whole adventure!
We advise you to go for a boat trip with dolphins - it's incredible. They swim right under the boat and jump out of the water! You can even swim with them in the open sea. Price - 600-700 rubles per person for 1 hour. The video can be viewed on Instagram using the hashtag # boat-hunter. Book an excursion by phone 89780652938, name is Vitaly.
Not far from Sudak is the Cimmerian steppe - the red valley of Kapsel, which was mercilessly scorched by the sun in summer. It is a pleasure to ride on it admiring its harsh beauty. You can drive into the coves and swim - some of them have campsites.
From Sudak we drove towards the Sun Valley along the highway - bizarre cliffs with vineyards on the slopes and a steep serpentine dizzy in the truest sense of the word. There you can climb the Parsuk-Kaya mountain and look into the "Ear of the Earth" karst cave - it goes 132 meters deep.On the way to Parsuk-Kaya, we stopped at the still unknown church of St. John Chrysostom - excavations are just underway there.
Read our review about the rest in Sudak: what are the prices at the resort, what to do and where is it better to live.
New World
Novyi Svet is located just 20-30 minutes from Sudak. There is not much to do at the resort itself, except to go on an excursion to the champagne factory. But lovers of nature and adventure in a small village will find great wealth - the Novosvetsky reserve.
The nature in Novy Svet is so beautiful that we have already come four times to walk along the Golitsyn trail and breathe in the aromas of the juniper grove, admire the Kapchik and Chicken capes, climb Kosmos peak and Karaul-Oba mountain, walk along the valleys of Hell and Paradise, walk along the dangerous Ladder of the Taurus. If you like trekking, follow the "Karaul-Oba" route through the massif and go down to the sea in the Veseloye village.
On the way from the New World, take a look at Zelenogorye - this is Crimean Switzerland! I haven't been there yet, but I really want to.
Find out what tourists think about the New World.
Alushta - Valley of Ghosts
Alushta is a boring town, there is nothing interesting there. All the beauty beyond is the bizarre rocks of the Valley of Ghosts in the Demerzhdi massif. We were lucky to visit the valley in the fogs, when the pillars seem ghostly, and in the sun. Tourists are advised to meet the sunrise at Demerdzhi - they say it is an amazing sight. Another interesting place from the nearby places is the Kastel mountain and the Chatyr-Dag caves, as well as the Dzhur-Dzhur waterfall near the Generalskoye village.
In Alushta, we saw the world's most boring fortress Aluston - don't even waste time on it. What else to see? There is the Funa fortress, but little is left of it, the palace of Princess Gagarina, as well as various old estates. In general, tourists come here primarily for beach holidays and treatment - in Alushta and the surrounding area there are many boarding houses and sanatoriums.
On the way to Alushta, take a look at the Museum of Water Disasters (Malorechenskoye) - touching and amazing.
Find out what tourists think about Alushta.
