Plan your vacation in Crimea in 2021 using our travel guide! Find out how to choose a good resort, accommodation, and the perfect time to travel. We talk about prices, transport and much more.
Crimea is either love or hate at first sight. Few people remain indifferent. I fell in love with him immediately and irrevocably, although he has a lot of shortcomings. If you don't like Crimea, give it one more chance!
When to go
Based on what kind of rest in Crimea you need, choose the time. We came to the peninsula at all seasons, except for winter.
Summer - primarily beach holidays and excursions. The sea is well warmed up in July and August. All cafes, hotels, museums and entertainment are open. However, it is hot, prices are high and there are many tourists. June is a special place - if you don't like the heat, come in the first month of summer. Find out more about summer vacation in Crimea.
Fall - border time. September is the velvet season and it is comfortable to swim. There are fewer tourists, prices are slightly lower, the weather is more pleasant. It is no longer so hot to do trekking and go on excursions. October and November are cooler and it starts to rain. Find out more about the rest in Crimea in the fall.
Winter - dead Season. Rare hotels and sanatoriums work, the tourism industry is asleep. It is possible to stay inexpensively in good hotels while enjoying mild winters and exploring the peninsula. Some come to celebrate the New Year. Find out more about rest in Crimea in winter.
Spring - for nature lovers. Blooming and smelling Crimea is very beautiful! Especially great in May. It can be rainy and cold, but I really liked the spring in Crimea. It's still cold to swim. Find out more about the rest in the Crimea in the spring.
How to get there
You can get to the peninsula in a variety of ways: by plane, bus, car, train and tour. Many people use a combination - a single ticket to Crimea. For example, air + bus or train + bus. This method is convenient for regions.
It is easier for residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg to fly. Tickets Moscow - Simferopol are inexpensive all year round - 6000-8000 rubles. Sometimes from the regions there are also cheap ones - usually at "Pobeda" on sales. We are looking for tickets for Aviasales and Skyscanner. They compare the prices of all airlines in a minute and find the dates with the lowest prices.
There are very cheap tours to Crimea - from 25,000 rubles for two. Look for inexpensive tours on Travelata and Level.Travel. Take a look at our review of the cost of vouchers to Crimea - there is detailed information about prices.
For me, the most pleasant way to get to Crimea is by car. You can see a lot along the way, plus freedom of movement around the peninsula! But for many, it is more convenient to fly to Crimea.
Read more about all the ways to get there:
Which resort to choose
First, decide what kind of beach you want. If sandy and sandy-pebble, go to the east or west of the peninsula - to Evpatoria, Feodosia, Kerch, Shchelkino, Olenevka - and small villages adjacent to them. Almost all other resorts have pebble beaches. There is also sand in Sudak and Koktebel, in Tikhaya Bay. Find out which sandy beaches of Crimea are considered the best.
Then think about prices. The most expensive resorts are Yalta, Alushta and the South Coast in general. On the rest, prices are more democratic.
The landscape of the resort is also important. Many resorts are hilly, and it will be difficult for the elderly and young children to climb in the heat from the beach to the hotel.
For a quiet and relaxing holiday, choose small villages such as Olenevka, Rybachy, Partenit and Simeiz. The large resorts have well-developed infrastructure, transport, many cafes and entertainment.
Of all the resorts of Crimea, I like most of all to relax in Sudak - it suits me in many ways, and from there it is convenient to explore the surroundings by car. I've been there four times already.
Lost among the multitude of large and small resorts in Crimea? The choice is not so easy. Read our guide to the resorts of Crimea - it will help you find the right one. I marked all resorts and villages on a detailed map of Crimea.
Where to live
If you want to relax in Crimea on your own, choose your accommodation responsibly: read the reviews carefully and book online in advance. There are many nuances, so find out how to book accommodation in Crimea, and also read how hoteliers in the south cheat tourists.
We lived in Crimea in different cities and chose different types of housing. If it was an autotrip, then they did not bother with housing: they booked for a short period 1-2 days before arrival, because they only came to the hotel to spend the night. Usually, guest houses cost 800-1500 rubles per day, depending on the conditions and the resort. The price record was 200 rubles for a room in Olenevka (Tarkhankut) in 2014, just after the annexation of Crimea. Now, alas, you will not find such prices in Crimea. We also lived in a tent by the sea in Lyubimovka - generally free of charge. Find out where to rest in Crimea with a tent.
If we wanted to relax in peace by the sea, we chose a comfortable hotel with a swimming pool and booked in advance. Such in the season cost from 2500 rubles and more - there is no limit. An example of an excellent budget hotel in Sudak with parking, swimming pool, kitchen and ping-pong table is "House with a Knight". Very nice, lived there for two weeks and paid only 1000 rubles for two in June! It turned out so cheap because we had booked in advance.
It is more profitable for families with children to rent an apartment or rooms with a kitchen in a guest house. There are plenty of them in Crimea - read about the private sector: where and how to shoot, how much it costs and what are the nuances. If there is a kitchen, it is very convenient - we did not waste time looking for a cafe in the morning, but brewed coffee and prepared breakfast on our own.
We are not looking for housing in Crimea on the spot - it is long and inconvenient. We book everything on Booking, we double-check the prices on Hotellook. The private sector is still looking at Daily.
Where to eat
On vacation in Crimea, there will be no problems with food. The choice of establishments is wide: from inexpensive canteens to restaurants of different cuisines overlooking the sea. But the service, as well as the price-quality ratio, is mediocre, so I always first read reviews about the institution on Yandex, in Google and MAPS.Me.
Food prices are about the same as in the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory. On vacation in Crimea, we eat mainly in canteens, because it is inexpensive, satisfying, tasty and, most importantly, fast - restaurants usually have a long service. The average bill is 300-500 rubles for two. Canteens are very popular with tourists and can be found in almost every resort. Decent queues line up.
We love oriental cuisine, so we often dropped in to national cafes: lagman, pilaf, samsa and so on - delicious, satisfying, good! They are a little more expensive than in canteens.
Had dinner in restaurants a couple of times - not bad, but prices are not low. It turns out from 1000 rubles for two without alcohol.
In general, groceries in stores are the same as in the European part of Russia. Dairy products and imported fruits, as well as fish and seafood, are more expensive. It remains a mystery to me why prices for seafood are so high in Russian coastal cities.
Local fruits and vegetables are cheap in season: we buy strawberries, cherries, cherries, mulberries, grapes and figs. For example, in September we bought figs from grandmothers on the market for 50-100 rubles / kg (depending on the variety), fig jam - 150 rubles for 0.5 liters. Grapes - from 30 to 150 rubles, depending on the variety. But watermelons and melons are expensive.
If you have a sweet tooth, I advise you to look into the shops with Turkish delight, halva and sherbet. This is delicious! In addition, this is a good gift for friends and family - we always bring sweet gifts from Crimea. Find out what souvenirs to bring from Crimea.
What to see
Crimea is one continuous interesting place, and on every trip I discover something new for myself. I like that every corner of the peninsula has a rich history, is full of sights and is covered with legends.Going on vacation to the Crimea, get ready that time after time you will have to choose: where to go now, and what you will have to leave for later. From personal experience, we have developed a large route across Crimea - use it to plan your own.
Most of all in Crimea I like the diverse nature - there are so many things on a small peninsula! From the steppes with mud volcanoes in Kerch and the smooth hills of Dzhangul to the high mountains of Ai-Petri, where snow falls in winter. Especially beautiful in the New World. I have compiled a list of the most beautiful places in Crimea - it is replenished with each trip.
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 ₽ and will save you a lot of time.
Where to relax with children
It is more convenient to relax with children in developed resorts with sandy beaches such as Evpatoria and Feodosia. However, many families go to Yalta, Gurzuf and other resorts of the South Coast, although the local beaches and landscape are not exactly ideal for young children - after all, pebbles. But there is beautiful nature and a lot of entertainment for the child, it is convenient to go on excursions.
My nephews and my younger brother rested in Sudak - it is inexpensive and beautiful there.
Read about holidays with children in different resorts of Crimea:
Car ride
Crimea must be felt, lived, smoothly flowing from one of its locations to another, adhering to a personal rhythm. Then you get the melody of travel, and not the cacophony of a beach holiday with limited interspersed excursions.
Crimea was really created in order to travel around it on your own by car: it is easy to get there, there are no language barriers, finding accommodation and food is as easy as shelling pears. And there are a million interesting places here!
I came to the peninsula by car twice - without a car and I would not have time to see half of the places in a short time of rest. The main thing to know:
- Gasoline is 10% more expensive than in central Russia.
- The roads are excellent in places (South Coast, "Tavrida"), and in places bad.
- The driving style is peculiar, southern.
- There is no parking in the South Coast resorts - everything is forced.
This is just a small part - read more about a trip to Crimea by car.
Also read our notes on traveling by car to other regions and countries. And good luck on the road!
How to get around Crimea
Traveling around Crimea using regular buses is very easy, as they are ubiquitous and pervasive. Buses run frequently between cities and travel is inexpensive. The main transport hubs are Simferopol, Sevastopol, Kerch, Evpatoria. There are many trolley buses running between the resorts on the South Coast.
Those who are not comfortable traveling on buses are rescued by taxi drivers. Private traders are on duty in the streets and at train stations.
However, the most convenient and interesting way to travel around Crimea is by car. If you don't have your own, rent on the Myrentacar.com website - renting costs from 1000 rubles per day. Read our tips for renting a car in Crimea.
Inexpensive public transport runs inside cities and resorts. In 2014, in Sevastopol, we felt like we were in the 90s, when the trolleybus fare was announced to us - 5 rubles. We could not imagine that this happens! Now the prices are higher, but still inexpensive. And in Sevastopol there is a unique type of public transport - intracity boats. They run between opposite shores of the bay and also go to Inkerman.
