When to visit Crimea Crimea's high season is July and August. However, it is generally warm from mid-April to the end of October. September is a perfect time to enjoy the resorts with less crowds, and October brings wonderful colour to the peninsula. Even during winter months which bring occasional snowfalls there are usually periods of sunshine every day. Spring in Crimea begins in early April and is especially scenic, with Crimea's wide variety of flora all in bloom. Summer itself can be scorching hot at times. The Black Sea is not as warm as some seas, but the water reaches 25-28° C during summer months and is often warm enough to swim in till late October.

Getting to Crimea Crimea's transportation hub is Simferopol. Here is Ukraine's only airport with flights from other Ukrainian cities and a few international destinations, and this is where most people get off the train to travel to Yalta and Crimea's South Shore. Planes fly to Simferopol from Kyiv Zhuliany airport every day and cost between 35 and 60 USD one-way. Train tickets are much cheaper — around $7 for third class, $10 for second, and $20 for first. All the trains are overnight (14-16 hours) and have beds for sleeping. Trains go to Simferopol, Sevastopol, Kerch, and Feodosiya. Other destinations — particular the South Shore — must be reached by car or bus. Yalta can best be reached by taxi ($40-50), trolleybus ($2), or bus ($4) from the Simferopol train station (100 km trip), but buses and minibuses run from Sevastopol as well. If you are planning to visit Crimea during the high season, book plane or train tickets far in advance (three weeks or more).

Crimean resorts Crimea's most famous resort town is Yalta, which became a prestigious vacation destination in 19th century Tsarist Russia after the first road was built from Simferopol. Sevastopol, Alushta, Sudak, Feodosiya, Yevpatoriya, Saki, Koktebel, and Feodosiya are also well-known resorts. Sevastopol on the west end of the peninsula is more of a regular city than a resort; it is a navy town with shipyards and the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet. Sudak has some awesome sights, and its beach front area has been very nicely developed. Yevpatoriya and Saki on Crimea's west coast are known for their soft sand beaches (most other beaches in Crimea are made of pebbles). While each Crimean resort town has its unique set of sights and historical monuments, they are all alike in certain ways — there is always a beachfront area full of restaurants, discotheques, hot dog stands, musicians, jugglers, caricaturists, "find out how powerful your punch is" stands, and locals selling everything from trinkets made in China to fresh milk. If you enjoy hanging out at crowded beaches in the daytime and having fun at night, these resorts are for you. You'd probably enjoy spending a couple days in each town as you move down the Crimean coast. If you'd like more solitude, Crimea has plenty of that to offer, too. There are hundreds of secluded health resorts and hundreds of kilometres of undeveloped coastal areas. Here you may come across folks who spend the entire summer living in caves by the beach, groups that spend weeks practicing yoga or meditation in remote corners of the peninsula, and of course nudists who have congregated in Crimea since Soviet times.

Outdoor recreation in Crimea Crimea's incredibly varied relief and scenery provides wonderful opportunities for all kinds of outdoor recreation — hiking, cycling, mountain biking, horseback riding, spelunking, rock climbing, hang-gliding, scuba diving, windsurfing, and even skiing. The Crimean Mountains are home to magnificent caves, forests of beech, oak, pine, juniper, and endemic species, windswept mountain plateaus, called yayly, and curious "cave cities" from the Middle Ages.

Crimea's history Crimea's history is extremely complex and reaches back to antiquity and even prehistory. The settlement of Hersones near present-day Sevastopol was an outpost of Greek and Hellenic culture for two millenia. Bakhchisaray was the seat of the Khans' rule for several centuries. The city of Kerch is 2600 years old and was founded one year after Rome. Crimea has been settled and colonized by Skifs, Sarmats, Greeks, Genoans, Venicians, Armenians, Jews, Turks, Khans, Russians, and Ukrainians. In Crimea Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all have left their distinct mark. With few exceptions people of these different faiths coexisted peacefully.

Facts about Crimea