Holiday in Russia: 10 popular summer holiday destinations
Holiday in Russia: 10 popular summer holiday destinations
Those readers whose holiday plans are associated with recreation in domestic resorts, we will tell you about the 10 most popular summer holiday destinations in Russia
1. Greater Sochi
Sochi and its satellite resorts (Khosta, Matsesta, Adler, Dagomys, and others) have been the most popular tourist destination in Russia for many years. The mild subtropical climate, magnificent nature and 145 kilometers of the sunny Black Sea beach of Big Sochi have long attracted hundreds of thousands of Russians in the summer, although in recent years many have been hindered by the high cost of trips. This season, according to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), the cost of a weekly rest (including flight) for two has grown here by about 5,000 rubles, but Big Sochi, according to ATOR, remains the most accessible beach resort for Russians.
2. Crimea
The second most popular summer tourist destination traditionally remains the Crimean peninsula, more precisely, the southern coast of Crimea, a subtropical zone. According to ATOR, in the current season the rest in the Crimea has fallen by an average of 8 thousand rubles, but a rest on a peninsula comparable in terms of service will still cost a thousand rubles more for a tourist than in Sochi. The commissioning of the automobile part of the Crimean bridge did not significantly affect the total cost of rest on the peninsula.
3. Caucasian Mineral Waters
The group of resorts of federal significance Kavkazskiye Mineralnye Vody in the Stavropol Territory is Kislovodsk, Pyatigorsk, Essentuki, Zheleznovodsk, Mineralnye Vody and other health resorts not less known in Russia on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range. Summer is the most favorable time for rest and recuperation in the local resorts. The temperature of air and water in mountain rivers and lakes reaches optimal values for a comfortable rest, rains occur extremely rarely. Prices for housing and food in the resorts of the Caucasian Mineral Waters are much higher in summer than at other times of the year, but still do not reach the level of “Sochi records”.
4. Baltic coast (Kaliningrad)
Summer holidays in the Kaliningrad region are for those who like the mild, cool Baltic climate, a kind of “wild” nature, an abundance of fish delicacies and amber souvenirs. The swimming season in the Russian Baltic begins at the end of July and usually lasts until the 20th of August. In this short period of time, there is the largest flow of tourists and, accordingly, the rise in housing prices. The most popular tourist spots are Curonian Spit, Baltic Spit, Svetlogorsk, Zelenogradsk.
5. Baikal
The cleanest and deepest lake in the world, Baikal every year becomes more and more popular among Russians tourist destination. Baikal is considered to be beautiful anywhere and at any time of the year, but in the summer its fantastic beauty is revealed most vividly and picturesquely. It is the primeval beauty of summer nature that attracts tourists who are not stopped by the cold (always!) Water in the lake, nor the capricious nature with frequent piercing winds. Natural and financial obstacles accompany natural obstacles: the distance from Moscow to Irkutsk is more than 5,000 kilometers, respectively, and the cost of the air ticket in both directions starts from 23 thousand rubles. You can get cheaper by train, in a compartment car for about 15 thousand rubles in both directions, but the prospect of spending more than three days in this car does not suit everyone. Yet, Baikal is worth seeing at least once!
6. Mountain Altai
Altai with picturesque mountain landscapes, swift rapid rivers, pearl lakes, monuments of ancient cultures is one of the most interesting regions of our country. The summer season in the Altai Mountains is perfect for lovers of active and thematically diverse tourism. In recent years, an extensive modern tourist infrastructure has been established and is actively functioning in Altai. Many hotels and tourist bases have been built, many places for health and sports tourism have been arranged. Gorny Altai traditionally attracts lovers of extreme tourism, rope lifts to the mountain peaks were built for them, rafting on the Katun, Chuya and Biya rivers was organized. Prices for housing, compared with the resorts of the European part of Russia, are low. For 600 rubles a day you can rent a summer house, and for 4000 rubles you can rent a comfortable cottage. Prices in hotels start at 400 rubles per day per room.7. St. Petersburg
The season of “white nights” in St. Petersburg, as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup, is coming to an end, but the tourist flow to our “cultural capital”, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, does not dry out. According to the calculations of ATOR, St. Petersburg in 2018 should be visited by about four million Russians, a significant part of this stream falls on the summer season. Russian tourists, as a rule, visit the city for cultural and educational purposes. The city on the Neva is literally “stuffed” with various sights, monuments and historical sites, a summer tour to St. Petersburg is an excellent chance to get the most unforgettable impressions of boat trips along the rivers and canals, visits to the world famous suburbs of the Northern capital (Pavlovsk, Gatchina, Tsarsky Village, Petrodvorets). As expected, the prices of housing, excursions and meals in St. Petersburg at the end of the 2018 World Cup should return to the same “pre-football” values, although they will be slightly higher than last summer.
8. Karelia
Karelia as a summer holiday destination is attractive for its amazing northern nature; it is one of the most beautiful regions of Russia. Here, clean air and clean water everywhere in hundreds of large and small lakes. One of the oldest in Russia island monastery Valaam, built in the XV century, is also located on the territory of Karelia, tourists usually visit it during an exciting cruise on Lake Ladoga. On the other famous lake, Onega, there is a monument of Russian wooden architecture, referred by UNESCO to the cultural heritage of mankind – the Kizhi temple complex.
9. Azov coast
Resorts on the coast of the Azov Sea have long been popular with Russians, primarily as children’s resorts. The villages of Golubitskaya, Dolzhanskaya, Kuchugury, Yeisk, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk have all the necessary infrastructure for a full-fledged summer children’s holiday. The beaches of the Azov coast are mostly sandy, clean, and the number of sunny days per year is more than anywhere else in Russia. The cost of the tourist service on the Azov coast in all respects – accommodation, meals, excursions, entertainment – is significantly lower than at the neighboring Black Sea resorts.
10. Moscow region
Summer vacation in the Moscow region is not only a mass departure of Muscovites out of town. Residents of other regions of Russia are also attracted by the cozy silence of the groves near Moscow, the opportunity to improve their health in one of the many health resorts located near Moscow, go fishing or make an exciting water trip along the Oka, Istra, Pakhra, Moscow River and other rivers near Moscow and lakes. The infrastructure here is extensive and designed “for every taste and budget” – from cheap hostels and rented rural houses to expensive country hotels.