Yalta Crimea Russia-Ukraine
Russia
Frequently Asked Questions
No. International maritime calls to Crimea stopped in 2014 and nothing has been scheduled since. This guide describes Yalta as it was visited, for travellers following the region and to understand what this coast offered.
At the passenger mole, a good kilometre and a half from the heart of the promenade. The walk along the water is pleasant, with no transport needed in fine weather.
The paved seafront stretching more than a kilometre between palm trees, cafes and ice cream kiosks. It is the heart of town: swimmers on the pebble beaches below, street artists, terraces serving the region's sweet wine facing the sailboats.
Because the Crimean mountains close their amphitheatre around the bay and hold a Mediterranean-style climate inside it. That microclimate made this shore of the Black Sea the resort of tsars, poets and sanatoriums.
A white dacha on the heights, surrounded by a garden the writer planted himself. Anton Chekhov spent his last years here and wrote The Cherry Orchard and The Lady with the Dog. His study remains furnished as he left it.
The summer residence of the last tsars, a few kilometres west: pale limestone facades above the water. It hosted the 1945 conference that took the city's name. You tour the negotiation hall, the Italian courtyard and the imperial apartments.
A small neo-Gothic castle perched on the edge of the Aurora cliff, turrets above the void. It is the emblem of the whole Crimean coast. Admire it from the nearby viewpoint or, better, from the water when a coastal boat rounds the headlands.
A shaded cliffside path laid out long ago for imperial walks, starting from the Livadia park. It offers superb openings onto the coast and walks easily, under the pines.
Yes, below the promenade, but they are pebble beaches rather than sand. They fill up as soon as the weather turns. Water shoes make getting into the sea considerably more comfortable.
May, June and September: the heat stays gentle, the gardens are at their best and the cliff paths are walkable without suffering. July and August bring crowds and heavy heat.
