Visiting Crimea: A Place of Warmth and Incredible Nature
 - Александра Асташина.jpg "Visiting Crimea: A Place of Warmth and Incredible Nature")
Good afternoon, dear readers! My name is Aleksandra and I would like to tell you more about Crimea and my own experience of visiting it in September, 2025.
Well, the first thing that I have noticed and that is different from Moscow is the nature. It is pretty usual to see some fruits, nuts, and vegetables which we tend to buy at the supermarket growing out on the streets, near blocks of flats. For instance, the most shocking thing for me was grapes growing near a small house. I have also seen lemons, almonds, figs — my new favorite fruit :) growing out. Buildings also drown in plants and all of this makes the first impression of the place very nice.
As we have started talking about food, I would like to mention some Crimean restaurants and cafes that my family and I have enjoyed. The first place is called Chaika and is located in Yalta near the Black sea and Yalta's main sea bank. The dishes are luxurious and expensive, but it's worth it, because the food is fresh and there are many dishes with seafood. You can enjoy the sea view while having dinner at that place. You should also wear a dress or a suit to be accepted according to the dress code.
The second cafe is named 1837 and connected with the history. It's located in the Vorontsovsky park and tells the story about the emperor Nikolay I and his wife coming to Crimean places in 1837. The price is not that expensive, but the food is accurately combined and both looks and tastes very delicious. I would recommend you take the "Baranina po-graphski", barbeque made from pork, chocolate fondant with a scoop of ice cream and currant-mint flavor of tea. It was our best dinner during the trip!
I can also add that even though I have named some places that we have enjoyed the most, other cafes and restaurants are good as well. You can find your own favourite place.
Something that is connected with the first point is health. People for sure come to Crimea to get healthier, and this is why! As I have already said, there are many ripe fruits and vegetables and of course seafood. Different mussels, shrimps, fish breeds are cooked in cafes and restaurants in sauce with cheese, garlic and even champagne! Travelling to Crimea means you will have an actual gastronomic journey. It is also important to take a "sea bath" and swim in Black Sea. There are many beaches in Crimea such as public and private ones. Public beaches are clean and supported by lifeguards. There are also shops with food, drinks everywhere. My favorite beach for now is the Vorontsovsky park's beach. The water and shore are very clean and there is even an open-air shower. After swimming here you are able to go to the upper part of the park and see the Vorontsovsky castle, the territory and other miracles created by Vorontsov's family 200 years ago.
It also becomes obvious when you come to Crimea that there are many excursions offered for you: riding a horse in the mountains, getting a sea walk on the ship, riding cars and motorcycles etc. As for us, we have chosen a sea walk on the yacht in Balaklava. It feels like riding in an amusement park since the ship itself rocks on the waves and you can feel the adrenaline coming to your body. I would also recommend taking a guide with you to hear the long history of the Crimean places. For example, my friends and I didn't bring the guide with us on the sea walk, but it turned out that the Crimean driver was telling us the story of Balaklava city during the whole walk! I would also like to recommend travelling to different Crimean cities since they are pretty close to each other: walking on the bank of Yalta, spending a day in the Mriya hotel in Opolsnevoe or going to a sea walk on Balaklava.
Another activity that you can choose in Crimea is spending a couple of days in the hotel. For example, if you have rented an apartment and would like to swim in the sea, but it turns out that there is a storm, you can choose that and be satisfied! I have been to a 5-star hotel Mriya in Opolsnevoye. The hotel has got many Russian and international awards and lies in astonishing nature. There are an amusement park, a Japan garden, a private beach, 3 pools and saunas. In my experience, it has been the best decision to come there during the storm day! You can also have a very nice, delicious and luxurious buffet dinner full of meat, seafood, fruits, vegetables, desserts and wine! One more hotel which I have visited during the trip is the Yalta Inturist Hotel which is located in Yalta. It's a 4-star hotel giving you a choice to visit a private zoo, 3 pools with sea water and saunas. Many events are held there during the day such as games for kids, movies in the Cinema Hall, dinners supported by popular Russian chefs etc. It might be expensive to stay at these hotels for a long time, so I would recommend trying and spending 1-2 days and it will also give you an amazing time.
If you don’t know where to stay in Crimea, there are many places such as hotels (for instance, the ones I was talking about before), guesthouses or renting an apartment or a house. Staying at a guesthouse means you will rent a room in a house and you will have a public kitchen where you can cook and eat available for other renters in this house. Well, this is a cheap option for people who would like to cook by themselves. There is also an option of renting an apartment which I took. As for me, it’s the best option giving you privacy to spend time with your loved ones and at the same time an opportunity to provide yourself with basic needs (to cook, to wash the dishes, to do laundry) on your own and save money by that. If to talk about the differences between Crimea and Moscow, it’s also about the view from your window (no comments, I will just show you a picture below).
In my opinion, one more important topic is the road. As for now, there are no flights to Crimea, but you can come by train or by car. The road will take you around 1-2 days. We have chosen to go by train and I can say that the trip becomes very cozy, because there is a service called Tavria Media which gives you an opportunity to watch movies, to listen to music, to check train’s schedule and its stops, to read books and buy some food. The service is free and doesn’t need an Internet connection. During the train stops you can walk a little bit and breathe some fresh air.
I would also like to share our experience on using public transport (such as buses) in Yalta. There are many buses which transfer not only in Yalta city, but also from Yalta to other cities such as Mischor, Opolsnevoye, Sevastopol etc. I think it’s very comfortable and cheap to take buses since they come every 10-20 minutes and one ticket costs 30-100 rubles (depending on the distance).
Overall, spending a week in Crimea has given us incredible impressions, has broadened our horizons and shown us something new and unusual in comparison with Moscow. It also proves that if you want to see new places, to explore the world, it’s unnecessary to go to other countries, because Russia is a country in which you will find places both with hot weather and extremely cold weather. If you want to spend your holidays near the sea and sun — welcome to Crimea!
P.S. and one more additional point that I want to share with you is that travelling is also about memories. We take pictures which we watch over and over after years. That is why we took a photo session at Katsiveli beach with a professional photographer. It was just an hour of work but an amazing new experience at the same time. As for now, we have got the photos which we will print and make a beautiful album to save the memories. I would like to recommend you and take a photo session as well. You can find a photographer on Avito or on the other websites or take a photo session in one of the hotels where this service is available.
Have a good holiday!
Travelled by
