My experience of buying air tickets to Crimea - how I caught cheap tickets on Aviasales. Air tickets to Crimea Air tickets to Crimea will become cheaper

Direct trains from Moscow to Simferopol have been cancelled. As of 2018, the Crimean section of the route is served by buses. By 2019, it is planned to complete the construction of a railway bridge across the Kerch Strait.

Getting from Moscow to Simferopol by train, of course, takes longer than by plane. After several airlines launched low-cost direct flights from Moscow to Simferopol, one could forget about trains on this section of the route. However, if you are afraid of flying or simply have a weakness for rail travel, it is still worth exploring this option in more detail. It should be taken into account that the distance between Moscow and Simferopol for trains is 1,500 km, and the total time that will have to be spent on the road is about 1.5 days or more.

The Moscow - Simferopol train schedule is set at the end of April - for the entire summer season. At this time, “Single Ticket” routes begin to operate, additional train routes are introduced and carriages are added to existing trains.

Train schedule Moscow — Simferopol

In the absence of direct flights, we suggest considering the schedule of regular trains to the resorts, from which the route can be continued along "". The “Single Ticket” to Simferopol includes: a transfer to the Krasnodar or Anapa station, a subsequent bus ride along the Crimean Bridge to Simferopol. First of all, you need to buy a train ticket to Krasnodar or Anapa.

Train Moscow - Simferopol (via Krasnodar)

The route offers several services per day; the summer schedule includes additional trains. Branded trains travel on average in 19 hours, while other trains travel much longer - from 27 to 34 hours.

The route is served by long-distance trains No. 083C, 110 M, 115A, 259A, 285A, 306 M, 377Ya, 471 M, 481Ya, 533 M, branded “Double-decker train” No. 104B, branded “Premium” No. 030S. Of course, not all flights are daily, but at the height of the summer season 5-10 trains depart along the route per day.

Train Moscow - Simferopol (via Anapa)

There are daily flights; in the summer, additional trains and carriages are introduced along the route. Travel time varies depending on the flight: from 23 hours to 1 day 11 hours.

Passenger transportation to Anapa is carried out by trains: No. 012 M, 110 M, 152 M, 156 M, 247A, 259A, 293A, 517 M. In summer, on average, you can count on 4-7 flights per day.

Ticket prices

The price of a ticket for the Moscow - Simferopol train consists of the cost of a trip from Moscow to Krasnodar/Anapa plus the cost of a “Single ticket” to Crimea (from Krasnodar - 710 rubles, from Anapa - 590 rubles).

Ticket price to Krasnodar in 2019: reserved seat from 2,800 rubles, coupe from 3,200 rubles.

Ticket price to Anapa in 2019: reserved seat from 2,700 rubles, coupe from 3,200 rubles, NE from 8,600 rubles.

To buy a ticket

You can also buy tickets for the Moscow - Simferopol train (on the route with all connections) on the Russian Railways website by selecting the desired dates and clicking “Routes with transfers” (otherwise the options will not be available).

If you don’t have the time or desire to register, then the easiest option is to use the services of a ticket sales service. The search form is shown below. You can get your boarding pass at the station ticket office, but trains on the Moscow-Simferopol route have electronic registration, so you don’t need to print anything.

According to passenger reviews, purchasing tickets on the Tutu.ru website has a number of advantages:

The site is easy to use, simple and accessible, the purchase form is easy to understand the first time;
The process of purchasing a ticket takes only a few minutes and there is no need to go to the departure station and stand in line for a ticket;
Possibility of choosing a carriage and seat;
You can pay for your train ticket in cash or by credit card online;
Cashback and promotional codes allow you to save on purchasing a ticket;
Reliability: you receive confirmation of the purchase of an electronic train ticket by email or SMS, with an enclosed boarding coupon and many information links (for example, to your personal account), as well as technical support phone numbers. A few hours before departure, SMS reminders with detailed information about the trip (departure station, time, train number, carriage and seat) are sent to your specified phone number;
After purchasing a ticket, the Tutu.ru service offers free coupons for discounts in various online stores.

Review of current prices for air tickets to Crimea. How much do plane tickets cost? When is the cheapest time to fly on vacation? We compare ticket prices in different months of 2019.

Below we present the current prices for air tickets to Crimea for each month of 2019. All tickets for flights from Moscow (round trip, direct flights). For comparison, we indicate last year's prices.

The cheapest tickets to Simferopol are always from Moscow. There are also inexpensive air tickets (6000-7500 rubles) from southern cities: Sochi, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Volgograd. It is a little more expensive to fly from St. Petersburg, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Voronezh, Ufa, Kazan and Chelyabinsk: the price of the cheapest tickets to Crimea from these cities is 7500-9000 rubles for a round trip flight.

Good luck finding tickets!

When are we flying?

Cost of tickets to Crimea for spring 2019

Tickets for March

The cheapest time to fly to Crimea in 2019 is in the spring, namely in March. 3980 rubles - for a round trip flight! Red Wings offers these prices, but other airlines offer slightly higher prices. Inexpensive tickets are available for almost any date. Even during the March holidays, they can be purchased for only 4,500 rubles.

Ticket price to Crimea in March last year: from 3800 rubles.

Tickets for April

In April, prices for air tickets to Crimea increase as the holiday season approaches. The minimum cost of a flight for April 2019 is 6,000 rubles (Vim Airlines, Aeroflot, Red Wings and others).

Ticket price to Crimea in April last year: from 5,200 rubles.

Tickets for May

Mid-May is the beginning of the beach season in Crimea. Nevertheless, you can still find attractive prices for air tickets - from 6,000 rubles for a round-trip flight with Nordwind.

Relatively inexpensive tickets can also be purchased for the May holidays. You can fly to Crimea for a short holiday at this time from 7800 rubles.

Ticket price to Crimea in May last year: from 5,500 rubles. The cheapest tickets for the May holidays cost from 7,300 rubles, and in 2016 - from 8,500 rubles.

Before your flight, read our article about - find out what the weather is like there and what you can do. Also watch an inspiring video about spring in the Demerdzhi mountains - the Crimean mountain landscapes are simply amazing:

Rent a car- this is the best way to travel! - reliable and convenient car rental service in Crimea. Choose a car to suit your taste and budget - there is a wide choice. The cost of renting a car is from 1000 rubles per day. Do you have any questions? The Russian-speaking support service will help you with everything.

Cost of tickets to Crimea for summer 2019

Tickets for June

Airfare prices in June 2019 are not at all March prices, but adequate for the holiday season by the sea. In the first half of the month, the cost of tickets to Crimea starts from 7,700 rubles. (Nordwind with luggage), in the second half - from 8,500 rubles (also Nordwind with luggage).

Ticket price to Crimea in June last year: from 7,000 rubles.

Tickets for July

July is the high season in Crimea, so flight prices are at their highest. The cheapest tickets are from Aeroflot at the beginning of the month - from 9,350 rubles. In July 2019, there are inexpensive tickets from Nordavia - you can buy tickets from Moscow to Crimea from 11,000-13,000 rubles (with luggage). For other airlines, prices start from 13,000 rubles.

Ticket price to Crimea in July last year: from 9,500 rubles.

Tickets for August

August, like July, is the peak season. But at the same time, closer to September 1, most tourists already return home, so the range of prices for air tickets to Crimea in August is the greatest.

The cheapest time to fly to the peninsula is in the second half of the month and return at the beginning of September. For these dates you can purchase tickets from Moscow from 9800 rubles (with luggage). Tickets are more expensive when returning in late August - from 12,500.

However, for the first half of August such inexpensive tickets to Crimea can no longer be found - their cost starts from 14,000 rubles.

Note to travelers and long-term vacation lovers: air tickets to Crimea with departure in August and return in October can be purchased from only 6,700 rubles, with return in September - from 8,800 rubles.

Ticket price to Crimea in August last year: from 8,300 rubles.

Ticket prices to Crimea for autumn 2019

Tickets for September

September is a velvet season and one of the most pleasant () months for a holiday in Crimea. The heat is subsiding, the holiday season is over, vacationers have returned to work or school - accordingly, prices for tickets, hotels and food are reduced. Grace!

In September 2019, ticket prices to Crimea start from 9,800 rubles. You can fly very cheaply at the end of the month with a return at the beginning of October - tickets cost from 7,800 rubles.

Ticket price to Crimea in September last year: from 7800 rubles.

Tickets for October

In October, air tickets to Crimea become cheaper. Nordwind currently offers the best price - 7,300 rubles.

Ticket price to Crimea in October last year: from 5,500 rubles.

Tickets for November

November is not the most popular month for tourists to relax on the peninsula, however, it has its own charm, which attracts few tourists. Air tickets from Moscow to Crimea in November 2019 cost almost the same as in October - 7,800 rubles (Globus airline).

Ticket price to Crimea in November last year: from 5,500 rubles.

Winter 2018-2019

Experienced tourists always plan their summer holidays in advance and are already booking flights and hotels (an absolutely correct tactic). But the pinnacle of strategic travel planning is to book tickets for your New Year's holiday almost a year in advance! Yes, now is the time to do this, because on peak dates the cost of air tickets will always increase in inverse proportion to the time remaining before their arrival.

For example, now you can buy tickets from Moscow to Simferopol - 2019 for only 9,000 rubles! Don't miss the moment, the cost of a flight will not always be so low.

Ticket price to Crimea for New Year 2019: from 5,500 rubles.

Introductory image source: © Mourner / flickr.com.

/ Crimea

Crimea is located in the northern part of the Black Sea, washed from the northeast by the Sea of Azov, and is de facto part of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.

The city of Simferopol is the center of Crimea.

Name: Crimea

Fly from Moscow to Crimea:≈ 1200 km, 1.5 h

The language of communication: Russian

Currency: Russian ruble (RUB)

Local time: Moscow

How to get to Crimea

The main airport of Crimea is located in Simferopol. A flight from Moscow to Crimea will take approximately 2 hours. About a day by train.

Available airports from Moscow: Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo

To visit Crimea, you do not need a visa. You only need to have your Russian passport with you.

Prices for air tickets to Crimea from Moscow (round trip) in 2019

Use the calendar by entering your departure city.

The average price in 2018-2019 is:

From 1,830 rubles.

Chart of cost changes for cheap air tickets Moscow - Crimea - Moscow by month:

Cost of air tickets to Crimea from other cities

	from 1 915 rub.		from 4 320 rub.
	from 4 200 rub.		from 4 320 rub.
	from 3 350 rub.		from 3 909 rub.
	from 6 250 rub.		from 9 700 rub.
	from 3 350 rub.		from 9 342 rub.
	from 4 500 rub.		from 9 900 rub.
	from 6 250 rub.		from 3 200 rub.
	from 3 280 rub.		from 7 750 rub.
	from 9 000 rub.		from 6 430 rub.
	from 3 650 rub.		from 7 125 rub.
	from 3 600 rub.		from 2 250 rub.

* The final ticket price is confirmed during the search and may change depending on the number of remaining seats on the flight at a given fare. You can find and buy subsidized or discounted air tickets to Crimea cheap using the search form above.

Flight route Moscow - Crimea

The flight distance by plane from Moscow to Crimea is 1,225 kilometers (761 miles), and the fastest flight time was 1 hour 47 minutes.

Crimea is a source of inspiration

It is very difficult to meet a person who does not admire Crimea. Since ancient times, Crimean nature has attracted writers and poets. She became a source of inspiration for them. The great poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, for example, believed that Gurzuf was the most beautiful place he had ever visited.

The first name of the Crimean peninsula is Tavrida. It has been attached to the peninsula since ancient times. After the 13th century, the peninsula received its modern name - Crimea.

Crimea is located in the south of Russia and is washed by two seas: the Black and Azov. Crimea is connected to the continent in the north. Scientists have proven that people first appeared on the peninsula in the Stone Age.

Climate and sea temperature

Crimea occupies a small territory, but has a varied climate. The Crimean peninsula is located in three climatic zones: temperate, temperate continental and subtropical. Features of a subtropical climate - in the south of Crimea.

In summer (mid-July) daytime air temperatures reach +35...+37 °C in the shade, at night up to +23...+25 °C. The climate is predominantly dry, with seasonal dry winds prevailing.

The Black Sea warms up to +25 °C in summer. Sea of Azov up to +27…+28

The uniqueness of Crimea

There are 257 rivers flowing in Crimea, which is quite a lot for such a territory.

The largest population is in Sevastopol. The second place in terms of population density is occupied by the capital of Crimea - Simferopol. In third place is the hero city of Kerch.

All cities of Crimea are connected by bus routes. There are no difficulties in getting to another locality. There are trolleybus lines between some cities. In addition, there are also sea routes and railway lines.

In the city of Kerch there is a ferry crossing across the Kerch Strait. Thanks to this crossing, communication between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula is established.

Crimea is a multinational region, home to a large number of cultures. People of different nationalities live here: Slavic peoples, Greeks, Romans, Tatars, Armenians, Bulgarians.

In the 19th century, the development of the Crimean Peninsula as a resort area began. Thanks to the development of transport connections, residents of the Russian Empire had the opportunity to relax in Crimea. The Crimean peninsula was called a health resort, as people came here to sanatoriums.

After 1991 the situation changed. Tourists began to prefer holidays by the sea on the beach. Sanatoriums have become less popular.

Crimean years and wooded areas are protected. A large number of nature reserves have been created.

Mountain tourism is developed in Crimea.

If you have not been to Crimea yet, do not miss the chance to visit it! Using our website you can find the best prices for air tickets to Crimea from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and other cities!

On the website and at the ticket offices of JSC FPC during the holiday season, you can issue “Unified tickets” for travel to Crimea.

Registration of a coupon for receiving services for organizing transportation by road begins 90 days before the start of rail transportation and ends 24 hours before the departure of the bus.

1. By train you follow from any station to the station. Anapa or Krasnodar.

All flights are connected by departure time. A support service has been organized for passengers with luggage during transfers.

"Single ticket" consists of two parts: 1) a train ticket and 2) a ticket (coupon) for travel by bus.

To purchase an electronic ticket on the website you need:

Select route from the station where you board the train to the cities of Sudak, Feodosia, Simferopol, Yalta, Sevastopol, Evpatoria or Kerch;
Click on the link "Routes with transfers". The issuance of electronic tickets for trains and buses is carried out step by step, first for the train, then for the bus;
To board a train/bus you need from your Personal Account on the website print 2 tickets(boarding passes) on paper (A4 format).

Routes and fares (bus)

Route	Rate	Route	Rate
Anapa - Kerch		Krasnodar - Kerch
Anapa - Feodosia		Krasnodar - Feodosia
Anapa - Sudak		Krasnodar - Sudak
Anapa - Simferopol		Krasnodar - Simferopol
Anapa - Evpatoria		Krasnodar - Evpatoria
Anapa - Sevastopol		Krasnodar - Sevastopol
Anapa - Yalta		Krasnodar - Yalta

Delivery of passengers arriving in Anapa or Krasnodar is carried out by bus:

Transfer by bus from the railway station in Krasnodar or Anapa to the city selected in Crimea.

An electronic bus ticket can only be purchased simultaneously with a train ticket. When purchasing at the ticket office, a bus ticket is issued simultaneously with a train ticket or a previously purchased one.

The “Single Ticket” is issued no later than 1 hour before the train departs from the passenger boarding station and no later than 24 hours before the start of transportation by road.

Validity period of the "Single ticket"

In the “Single Ticket” the seats are indicated only for the train; on the bus there is free seating.

If the train is late, the passenger can choose another bus traveling during the current day (until 23:59), subject to availability.

Return

Attention! The issuance and return of coupons for road transport is carried out simultaneously with the issuance and return of a travel document for rail transportation.

Refunds for unused tickets are made no later than 12 hours before the bus departure. When returning an unused coupon, a fee for the return operation in the amount of 54 rubles is withheld from the passenger. 60 kopecks Return of railway tickets is carried out in accordance with the rules of railway transportation.

Those reasonable people who use Telegram and subscribe to it know that I was in Crimea all last week. Moreover, they could regularly read travel notes and look at photographs from there. For those strange people who for some reason are still not on Telegram, I will now try to make some kind of brief summary. But, in general, you are in vain. Telegram is convenient.

Yes, I’ll say right away that I went there on business, so I didn’t set myself any tourist goals. I traveled by car, weekend there, week there, weekend back. However, some observations may be of interest to those who are considering Crimea as a vacation destination.

1. Road

I was traveling from Voronezh to Yalta (not to Yalta itself, to a village nearby, but this is not important). I drove through Timashevsk - this is not the most popular route; many people take a longer, but also more traveled route through Krasnodar. Perhaps in season it will be better - the road is wider. It’s not interesting to talk about the M4 – you stepped on the gas and are trying not to fall asleep. Well, except for Losev and a couple of other interesting places where it suddenly turns from a six-row trail into a goat trail. In the summer, people die there for hours in traffic jams, but in the off-season this is a slight annoying delay, nothing more. They collect money twice along the way, but since I have a transponder in my car, it flew there twice and once back without the slightest delay. The last time I came across a woodpecker who couldn’t read in a Mercedes, who rushed into the green corridor without a transponder, stood in front of the barrier and started yelling at him. The barrier didn't care, but the others had to wait until he stopped yelling at the piece of iron and drove out of there in reverse. A common occurrence in green corridors.

Some variety begins when you leave the M4.

When after Kushchevskaya you turn right towards Timashevsk, a fairly decent, but still two-lane road begins. This is quite survivable when there are relatively few cars - well, you will have to twitch, overtake trucks, but it’s okay, that’s how we used to drive. I remember very well how the whole M4 looked much worse, it’s already “you-know-who has brought the country to what” that there is now a six-row. You drive, of course, slower than on the federal highway, but you are surrounded by the beauty of Kuban.

Sorry for the quality of the photos, my main smartphone worked all the way as a navigator and warning service (in the background under Yandex.Navigator). This is highly, highly recommended, because Kuban is simply littered with cameras.

However, it seems to me from road observations that in summer this road can turn into hell. Each narrowness will become a traffic jam for many hours. If now the journey to Timashevsk took 15 minutes, then it was, excuse me for a minute, a traffic jam of five cars. What if there are 50 of them?

2. Navigation

Yandex navigator communicates with itself in voice control mode. The word “kilometer” is the key word, and having said it, it switches to voice mode and waits for a command. He doesn’t understand what he hears, gets upset, asks again... So it’s better to turn off this mode right away. Despite the preloaded maps (some monstrous gigabytes), when the mobile connection goes out, he gets lost, doesn’t see himself or the world around him, makes mistakes in routes, painfully tries to understand who he is, where he is, and what his place is in this Universe... K Fortunately, on the road to Crimea this rarely happens - the entire M4 is covered without interruptions, and in rich Kuban, unexpected LTE appeared here and there.

Beeline makes me happy. It’s just a pity that Crimea is not Russia for him...

But Megafon wanted money before reaching Rostov.

3. Kuban

In Kuban they live richly, fatly. You drive through local villages and see all the “Great”, “Joyful”, “Abundant” and other positively self-satisfied place names. Not like we have in the Black Earth Region - Mud, Squabbles and the great village of KhrenOvoye. Well, that is, the locals, of course, assure that it is worthless, but let them fill it up for someone else. I could never understand what kind of toponymic masochism it is to live in some Drishcha or Shit. It’s better then “State Farm named after Lope De Vega” - at least it sounds like “fuck you.”

Already in the houses it is noticeable that toponymic sorcery has benefited the Kuban people - even in the smallest villages everything is well-kept, the houses are brick, the roofs are fashionable, the windows are plastic. There is a car near every house, and most often it is not a Lada. The presence of wealth among the peasants is easy to notice by the abundance of small decorations - beautiful fences, carved platbands, incredibly vulgar weathervanes... Well, yes, it’s kitschy, but positive, bright and, most importantly, indicative. Everything is normal for people, they have leisure and money.

The roads here, in the depths of Kuban, are also quite good - markings, asphalt, gas stations. Two-row, but a decent two-row and there is room to overtake. True, Lukoil, the pest, hid all the gas stations! I was driving there - all of Lukoil was on the left, across a continuous road with no U-turns. I'm going back - the same garbage! How did he manage to move all the gas stations to the other side of the road in a week? Some kind of vile sorcery, no less... But as soon as out of desperation you refuel at some “Rosneft” - and that’s it, Lukoils will nest like mushrooms, and everyone, as if mockingly, is on your side! By the way, Lukoil sells folding pocket axes. For little Raskolnikovs.

No, I have nothing against Rosneft, but when it comes to diesel fuel for Komonrail, I prefer Lukoil. It’s really painful, you know, injectors are expensive... Well, the best toilets along the whole road are at Lukoil. We recommend.

And yes, Kuban lives richly. Against its background, the Voronezh region looks pale, and the steppe agricultural Crimea is a complete destitute. What can I say - even the candy cockerels here grow the size of your palm! And I guess I plucked it unripe...

3. Motel

There is a motel at the Olkhovsky state farm, which can be booked through booking and has free Wi-Fi in the rooms.

At the state farm, Karl!

But in Europe, sometimes even in an expensive hotel in the center of Vienna there is no Wi-Fi, just one socket in the wall, but if there is one, then by all means give a couple of euros for poverty. And the speed is crap, to be honest.

The motel cost one and a half thousand rubles for a double room with separate beds (I went with my daughter) and was in the “not rich, but clean” category.

The room has a shower, toilet and electric kettle - what else does a person need to spend the night on the road? The bed, however, is creaky as hell, and it’s better not to turn on the refrigerator - it rumbles like a diesel engine under power.

But the main thing is that the booking through booking worked in both directions. Civilization! I chose the motel based on the mileage - 800 km from Voronezh, 300 km to the ferry. It was just a convenient time - I arrived in the evening, spent the night, jumped on the ferry in the morning - and off to Crimea.

4. Ferry

Those who are smart and paid for the ferry online will not be pushed into the first drive. But there must be a paper printout. “I’ll show you on the smartphone screen” doesn’t work. (When I ordered the return trip, I had to look for a printer in Yalta). So you drive past the main line and feel like the trickiest one.

True, not for long. On the spit (after 10 km) there is a traffic police post, successfully creating a traffic jam out of the blue.

There they randomly check documents for the car and compulsory motor liability insurance. We went there - they checked, but back - no. But they stood in both cases.

Then turn to the second drive, the final one. In front of him is an inspection, like at customs - with passengers passing through frames, passing bags through an X-ray and examining a car with a mirror on the handle.

True, they let us through in both directions, looking very formally. Apparently because my daughter and I didn’t look like desperate suicide bombers who would gnaw through the bottom of the ferry to spite the Muscovites. Yes, you must have passports for adults and a child’s birth certificate.

In the last drive, cars are collected according to the number of seats on the ferry, lining them up in rows.

The ferry has a warm (air-conditioned in the summer) salon where they sell coffee and sandwiches, but you can also sit in the car if you want. Or you can go out and take pictures of the sea and the impudent seagulls.

Yes, everyone is trying to see the bridge under construction - but no, it is in a different place, it is not visible from the ferry.

The ferry goes quickly, literally half an hour, and unloading begins from the side opposite to loading, so it’s convenient to leave.

That's it, that's Crimea.

5. Crimea. Roads.

The road from Kerch to Yalta via Simferopol is terrible in some places, in others it’s already new - but everywhere there is one lane in each direction. Now, in the off-season, it can be overcome without much stress - well, it’s not fast, well, it’s shaking, well, the trucks are collecting their tails... But it’s scary to imagine what will happen in the summer, when thousands of vacationers rush onto this narrow path.

Gasoline and diesel fuel here are +2 rubles to Voronezh, stable. There are widespread local networks, but Lukoil was also discovered hiding in the bushes from sanctions. My delicate common rail turbodiesel ate a whole tank of local diesel fuel and didn’t choke.

The roads around Yalta are such that two cars cannot pass each other everywhere. Several times I had to back up along the almost vertical serpentines of village passages in order to let someone oncoming pass. There are constant traffic jams in Yalta, the center is also very narrow, traffic is intense, intersections are often unregulated and difficult to navigate. However, the people drive somehow more calmly than ours, they let you through with the secondary traffic, they let you turn around, they don’t honk heart-rendingly and don’t tear their hearts out.

Almost all parking in the center is paid (one hundred rubles) and even then you won’t find a free space. And this is March-April! It's scary to imagine what will happen in the summer.

6. Crimea. Realities.

You can tell a lot about Crimea, but all these impressions are chaotic and casual. The first impression is that it sucks beyond belief. No, really, it's some kind of garbage dump. Garbage, garbage, garbage.

Later I understood the reason - in our location, in order to take the garbage into the container, you had to carry bags up the stairs several kilometers up. About the same as the tenth floor without an elevator. We know that not everyone reports...

The public services here are pretty bad, but since the sanatoriums in the area have quietly become departmental under various Russian security forces, they are being intensively reconstructed and there is a chance that the surrounding area will be cleaned and garbage collection will be organized. I don’t know how to feel about this - on the one hand, with the fucked up people they all turned into ruins and heaps of shit, and on the other - why exactly and only departments?

The former Panina Palace, also known as the former Yasnaya Polyana children's sanatorium, now belongs to the Customs Service of the Russian Federation. This is their flag.

Near the coast, Miskhora Park has already been licked, cleaned and trimmed.

The first timid spring loot-suckers have already crawled out to bask in the sun, invitingly sparkling with bright tinsel. An obese tourist will soon swoop in, buzzing, like a bumblebee, carrying pollen from the bumblebee on its paws...

And you can’t say that a hundred meters above there is a hellish scum and there is garbage under every bush. Tourists will be getting their hair cut here soon! The tourist is gentle and timid. But in vain - you walk down the Alupka highway - on the left behind the FSB fence, on the right by the FSO. You go up - the FSO has fenced off a piece of Miskhor on the left, the FSB has occupied Chair Park on the right. You feel that your homeland is nearby!

A pleasant feeling of security, but not just security - state security!

It’s funny that under the Ukrainians, behind the same fences there were the same FSB and FSO, only Ukrainian. And under the USSR - Soviet. Most likely, even the same people were sitting in the same booths. They just changed the flags - and all the worries.

Governments come and go, intelligence agencies remain. And Golden Lenin watches from the mountain with his watchful eye...

And everywhere there is the same portrait of the Darkest, with an unusually cunning expression on his face...

Another local problem is the rampant construction of high-rise buildings. Everywhere you look, some fresh concrete casting sticks out. Pandemic concrete casting. They are pushed onto every free patch of soil, which is why they sometimes have a rather bizarre shape. This developed under the Ukrainians, but the Russian administration is in no hurry to restore order. Of course, with the complete absence of roads and barely functioning communications, this turns into a real disaster, not to mention the fact that in some places there is almost nothing left of the relict parks.

Initially, Miskhor and Gaspra looked something like this - huts made from local cheap shell rock.

But then the Ukrainian oligarchs, the “new Ukrainians,” built palaces for themselves wherever there were enough square meters of flat space.

The remaining patches were divided by whoever could, by sticking European sheds of bizarre shapes hanging over the slopes. Crimean architecture - when there is nowhere to build, but you really want to...

It seems that in a few years the entire coast will turn into a huge hive conglomerate, where the roof of one house will turn into the foundation of another.

So far there is no visible political will that should stop this, and the power pause is filled with real estate scammers. All posts and fences are covered with advertisements for extreme land surveying and uncompromising land allocation services.

But this is all, I tell you, complete bullshit against the backdrop of the greatness of nature. What the hell does it matter who once again re-privatized what was privatized or re-plundered the loot, when there are such mountains here? And what about the sea? And the air here is such that you can eat handfuls with both hands, stuffing into yourself this smell of everything in bloom, sweet to the point of stupefaction.

7. Crimea. Life

Crimea is partly stuck in the 90s. I haven’t seen such flea markets in the city center for a long time...

Meanwhile, the stores are full of products. The main producers are Voronezh, Kuban, Belarus. Prices are the same as ours.

In non-food items there is the same abundance and Voronezh is also present:

Well, the range of local wines defies any description at all...

Yes, the lights are turned off. A sign of the times – generators are everywhere.

We also felt like real Crimeans - we sat without light. Only two hours a day, a planned shutdown, but a very inconvenient time - at 20.30 to 22.30. Just when you need it. In addition, in our housing there, everything was electric - from heating to water supply. So I had to simply and without any fuss go to bed, without even drinking tea. Within a week we got involved, becoming avid early risers - since with the light the entire Internet, including mobile, disappeared, all that was left was to fight back at nine in the evening.

What bothered me the most was the need to pay in cash everywhere; I usually use cards more. However, large stores are already starting to accept credit cards, I paid once.

Crimea even has its own Jean-Jacques, albeit without smoothies and meatballs:

So hipsters will find something to entertain themselves with...

Yalta onion - red and flat. We also sell it here, but it looks like the Chinese paint and flatten theirs. And Yalta is sweet...

Another interesting observation is that despite the underdevelopment and some clumsiness of the service, the level of friendliness here is unusually high. People don’t serve your number, but actually rush to help you, going beyond the scope of their official duties. So, for example, the parking attendant jumped out onto the roadway and stood with his arms outstretched across the traffic so that we could drive in the right direction (it was one way), supermarket workers were looking for wrapping paper for us to pack our glasses... And so on. No, nothing supernatural, but enough to pay attention to it.

8. Crimea. Internet.

By our standards, what is trying to pass itself off as “mobile Internet” does not even amount to mockery. One hundred kilobits with a tailwind, waving a mobile router from the balcony. Three G's? No, we haven't heard. But the edge is barely squeezed out.

It’s a little better in the center of Yalta, but it’s also not 4G even once.

It must be said that telegram is the last thing to give up when the connection is dead.

Two operators - MTS and TELE2 allow you to use the Internet in Crimea as if you were at home.

Beeline and Megafon, on the contrary, will take your shirt off your back, as if you were not in Russia, but in some Honduras.

Wired Internet, however, is available - a hundred megabit costs 440 rubles per month and was connected on the day of application (there were already wires in the apartment). Although to apply, I still had to lock myself in the center of Yalta, and there was no way to connect and pay in one day - first the Internet, then payment. Surprisingly, it's not the other way around. The inconvenience is that you cannot pay for internet here and check it in your personal account. The local service has not yet reached this point, although it would seem... The Internet is annoyingly unstable even on wires - it disappears every now and then in an unpredictable rhythm, it is extremely difficult to work. Everything is attributed to blackouts.

Yes, a very funny trick is to buy MTS SIM cards in Crimea. I don’t know how the locals get by here, but for tourists they sell MTS SIM cards of the Krasnodar Territory with the Super MTS tariff. That would be fine, but a call from such a tariff to Voronezh to any operator other than MTS costs an absurd 12 rubles per minute, which is more expensive than from Voronezh Beeline, which ignores the fact that Crimea is Russia and considers itself in international roaming.

But that's not the funniest part. The fact is that you cannot change the tariff on a purchased SIM card either via USSD or via LC, and you cannot transfer money recklessly thrown onto it to another number, because, despite the “full registration with a passport”, the contract turns out not to be on you, but to a certain “legal entity”. In the personal account it is listed as “Dear subscriber”.

By the way, they offer to buy the same SIM card without registration, but for a hundred rubles more, although in both cases it turns out not to be on you. In general, life is bad without a sucker.

I don’t know if there are MTS SIM cards with other tariffs (I didn’t buy this one). But, in any case, most likely they will be issued through the same ass, because MTS pretends that it’s not here, and it’s as if it’s not them at all, but as if it’s real roaming. In general, the most correct way of mobile communication in Crimea is to buy an MTS SIM card with a tariff from Smart to Smart+ in your home region. This is the cheapest way to call home from Crimea.

I also came under international sanctions - in Crimea I was unable to update my smartphone applications via GooglePlay. In general, I don’t care, I try to update them less often so as not to waste my memory. I just found out that the new Yandex maps have switched from raster to vector and decided to see what it looks like.

However, this probably causes some inconvenience for local Android users. Yes, almost everything can be found and installed bypassing Google Play, or using a VPN, but these are unnecessary gestures. It's funny that the iPad was updated without problems.

Just out of sport, I installed the ZenMate VPN service (where you can frolic up to 500 MB for free), changed the country to the USA, and everything was installed.

I can’t yet say that Yandex maps have become fundamentally better with the transition to vector, but the download volumes have definitely become smaller.

But I’m not very happy with Yandex.Navigator, which was in charge on this trip - it always tried to lead me into some gloomy ridges (wide straight roads are not for him, he loves to take shortcuts through some courtyards) and , when the rotten local mobile Internet disappeared, I forgot who he was and where he was. There is no warning about cameras at all, the service is completely crude - it starts yelling “camera!” when you have already passed it a long time ago. But, in general, I have never gotten lost anywhere, just a few times, no more.

8. Conclusions.

I don’t know what to write here... Well, oh well:

1. Go to Crimea by car in off-season simple, fast and inexpensive. Especially compared to other methods. In the summer, I suspect it will be much worse, but I still plan to go around in June with the goal of bathing the children in the surf. Yes, it will be a bit difficult by car, but it’s 15-20 thousand for a round trip for four, and by plane on a direct flight - 80 thousand, via Moscow - 40 thousand, but with a connection at 15 hours. There is something to suffer for. (Perhaps in the summer there will be cheaper direct flights from low-cost airlines, but they cannot be booked for now).

2. Living (in the sense of eating) in Crimea in the off-season is no more expensive than in Voronezh (minus housing), I think that this will not change during the season.

3. Overall, I liked Crimea, despite some things that annoy me. But such things are everywhere. I hope there will be fewer of them.

4. I consider any discussions about politics in the comments to be extremely inappropriate; I will answer everyday questions - but don’t expect much, I was there for a short time, saw little and was very busy with the business for which I came.

5. Switch to Telegram, I will increasingly move there from other public pages. This, as it turned out, saves a lot of time, which I now have a desperate shortage of. A publication on FB or LiveJournal eats up the rest of the day with comments and discussions, but in a telegram I post it and forget it. Beauty!

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