Places to Visit in Crimea

CRIMEA

The Crimean Peninsula is an autonomous republic within the country of Ukraine.

• The area of the Crimean Peninsula is 26,200 square km.
• It's population is nearly 1,994,500 inhabitants.
• Mount Roman-Kosh is the highest point on the peninsula, at 1,545 meters.
• The capital of Crimea is the city of Simferopol.

Crimean mountains consist of three ridges: the Main, the maximal height of which is 1545 meters above sea level; the Internal - introduced by separate mountain group heights of which are nearly 500-600 meters above sea level, and the External, which are not high.

The Crimea (Krym in ukrainian) attracts different kinds of tourists from active - mountain bikers, hikers, rock climbers - to more passive, who prefer lazy days on the beaches under hot Crimean sun etc.

Crimea attracts tourists by its variety and constant change of landscapes. Northern and central part of the Crimean Peninsula is plain steppe, while the Crimean Mountains run three ridges from Sevastopol to Feodosia along the southern coast of the peninsula. Those mountains protect the wide strip of the Black Sea coast from strong winds, making a subtropical climate for orchards, vineyards and gardens, and those spending time on the endless beaches. Crimean climate allows you to swim in the Black Sea from the early May to the mid October.

There are more than 500 km of different type of beaches in Crimea - most of them are small pebbles beaches, and some beaches are with gray volcanic sand for example in Sudak and Feodosia area with golden sand in Yevpatoria area. Crimea offers crowded beaches for people who enjoy hanging out at each of well-known resorts: Yalta, Alushta, Sudak, Feodosia,Yevpatoriya, Saki, and Koktebel and more silent beaches as in Cape Tarkhankut. There are also nice beaches and opportunities to have a good holidays in Gurzuf, Partenit, Simeiz, Foros, Livadia, Novy Svet, and other.

Cape Tarkhankut is the most west point of the Crimean peninsula. It's steppe without trees, which reaches the Black Sea and then drops straight down a hundred meters or so to the water. There are a lot of small beaches, and it is the best place for diving, wind surfing, water skiing there.

All the peninsula is divided into several groups: Southern Coast, Yalta, South-East Coast, South-West (area of Bakhchisarai) and area of Sevastopol. And wherever you go you may find a lot of interesting things to see, to do and enjoy staying there.

Southern coast of Crimea stretches from Alushta town to Balaklava. The climate there is mild and the humidity is moderate, because it is closed for Northern winds by the main ridge of Crimean mountains. Tourists are attracted not only by the sea and mountains, but also by remarkable palace and museum complexes surrounded by parks. You can visit Livadiya palace where Yalta conference of 1945 took place, Vorontsov palace which was built in 19c for Count Vorontsov as summer villa, Massandra palace, beautiful Swallow's Nest Castle, Chekov's house in Yalta and Gurzuf, Nikitsky Botanical Gardens etc.

Yalta is summer capital of Ukraine and very charming city situated on Southern coast of the Crimean peninsula. The climate in Yalta region is very mild and similar to the Mediterranean. The average annual temperature is nearly +13.2°C and the humidity is moderate. The height of the mountains there is above 1200m. above sea level. The population of Yalta is about 80,000 inhabitants. The Big Yalta region stretches from Foros to Gurzuf (70 km) in surroundings of high mountains, which combines picturesque landscapes with a magnificent historical past. Beaches of Yalta are pebbled but in high summer season they are completely overcrowded. Yalta is good for people who enjoy hanging out and amazing landscapes. There are a lot of casinos, night clubs, luxury hotels and villas. It's convenient to stay in Yalta with an idea to explore the Crimea.

Yalta is famous for palaces, parks, holiday resorts, historical monuments. Some of sights are very important and have International significance, for example Livadiya Palace - residence of last Russian Tsar Nicolay II, where in 1945 Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met in Yalta for Crimean Conference.

Swallow's Nest Castle, which was built at the beginning of 20 c and now it is the symbol of Crimea, which you can see in any book about Crimea.

South-east Crimea begins in Alushta. The climate in this region is dry, the average annual precipitation 300 mm. The sea at coast is rather shallow and beaches are pebbled. Karabi Yayla (or Plateau) is the largest and most remote mountain plateau in Crimea. It is covered with caves. Much of the plateau belongs to the "Karst Reserve," and there might be special rules for entry. However, they are almost certainly ignored and go unenforced. It is territory of ancient volcanoes, tall beech woods, medieval fortresses, cozy bays.
There is Novyi Svit (New World) - small resort west of Sudak, famed for champagne production that was organized by wine maker prince Lev Golitsyn. The most interesting is the fact that its champagne won the gold medal on the exhibition in 1900 in France.
The great Genoese fortress in Sudak is the most preserved one out of Genoa. There is Feodosia city to the east where you can find sandy beaches and the remnants of Kaffa - the capital of Italians in Crimea, a great medieval city with the population of 70 000 at that time.

South-west of Crimea is an area with a moderate humidity: 500 mm is average annual precipitation. There are many caves which united in cities, canyons of the fast rivers etc there. The Main ridge is cut by deep canyons with waterfalls. There is the Grand Canyon of Crimea. There are many archeological and architectural monuments near Bakhchisarai. One of the most famous is the Khan palace, which has become the Tatar national museum, different cave monasteries founded in 6-9-th century and amazing cave towns: Chufut-Kale, Eski-Kermen, Manhup-Kale. The great city was well guarded with natural abruptions, towers and casemates carved in the rock.

Sevastopol is very heroic city, with great past. Heroic pages of the Crimean war 1853-1856 and World War II are connected to Savastopol. This city is very famous as archeological monument - the antique city of Chersonesus attracts lots of visitors. In 988, the prince of Kyivan Rus Volodymy the Grand was confirmed as Christian there and then baptized the Rus.