Alushta

Alushta (Russian, Ukrainian: Алушта) is a small city in the Crimea.

Get in

You can take the 'famous' Crimean over mountain trolley bus but you may be disappointed. It's about as interesting as riding around the LA municipal transit. (Alushta is twinned with Santa Cruz in California USA). The trolley system is extremely slow and basically just a really old bus that is electrically powered. The kicker is that it goes over a windy road. The trolley bus can't go around turns quickly or else it'll fall off of its cables so at every turn its goes really slow. Take a mini bus instead, cheap and regular but very hot in mid summer.

See

Alushta has some fairly nice former boat docks that have been converted into beaches. The town is mostly a big carnival though.

Visit the Genonese fortress and Byzantine defensive tower.

Do

Alushta offers you a wide selection of clubs and discos. Don't miss the famous Kivi Kivi on Gorkovo Street. It's hard to get a table inside, but you can be sure to meet friendly Russians/Ukrainians. This is probably the only establishment in Alushta that knows Western-style drinks (such as Cuba Libre). Meeting people is easy here. Every sixth or seventh song is a slow one. Don't miss that chance.

Take a walk down the Naberezhnaya. Get yourself a beer or two, sit anywhere and good things will happen. You can be sure to meet someone who will invite you to a party.

Eat

The dishes tend to be extremely small (this is both for the locals and tourists), be sure to order at least two dishes. The "plov" is recommended.

Sleep

Private accommodation is plentiful and cheap (about USD 7 per night). Just look for the signs people have posted outside their homes (in Cyrillic letters, жильё) and knock.

• 1 Hotel Arcadia, Knyagini Gagarinoy St., h. 25/186-188, Alushta district, pos. Utyos, Crimea, 98541, ☏ +7 978 863 86 91, +380 6560 21969, info@hotel-arcadia.crimea.ua. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Hotel Arcadia features newly-renovated rooms, cozy restaurant with the sea view, own beach only 10 m from the hotel, and heated swimming pool with salt water. Free Wi-Fi.