KRYM

[anono]

i'm going to spend 10-14 days in crimea with my lady, anyone have any suggestions as to where to stay? i have been to foros two summers now and i'm thinking of giving another place a try..

[Elen]

Yalta is most "civilised", Evpatoria is not bad too and has sandy beaches.

There is also Alushta and Feodosia. In each town there are the same sets of buses excursions around Crimea.

[anono]

hi elen, thanks. i googled crimea and came up with a ton of information. i think i know more about the main pearl of the russian empire than i set out to find.

apparently, the beaches are black volcanic near feodosiya and "silver sand" near evpatoriya. it's pebbles and rocks in foros.

the coastal road from sevastopol to feodosiya is "one of the most beautiful drives in the world".

on a trip by taxi from yalta to foros last year, the taxi driver named three places in krym that are supposed to be the best, at least in his opinion. foros is one of them but i do not remember the other two..

yuliya and her mother vacationed in kerch.

i may just return to foros since i am becoming a familiar face every summer.

[Albert]

Anno, it depends on what sort of things you like to do.  I am more into cultural types of things than beaches or bars.

I have spent 2 weeks in Yalta and 2 weeks in Sevastopol.  In and around Yalta there are 10 or so palaces that can be visited, and some other things such as the regional botanical gardens and the mountain top  at ai petri.

Sevastopol and surrounding area also have 10 or more great sites.  The panorama (dedicated to Crimean war) is a must see along with the ancient greek ruins at Chersones.  South of town is the diorama (dedicated to WWII). 

I really enjoyed the town of Balaclava a bit south of the diorama.  The view on top of the large hill that has the ruins of a Genovese fort is quite fantastic and on the climb up will burn 4000 calories or so.  The tunnels to the secret Soviet submarine base is there also.  Just east of town is the site of a major Crimean war battle immortalized by Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Charge of the Light Brigade."

Between Sevastopol is Bachisari which has several things to see including a Khan's palace and Churches dug into limestone on side of hills.

I highly recommend both Yalta and Sevastopol areas, but I know nothing of the tourist trap nightlife scene.

[anono]

hi albert..thanks for the info.   yes, i've been up ai petri twice. i bribed a guy at the submarine base at balaklava and took a tour inside the mountain. you should see the massive steel and concrete "doors" that seal chambers they then fill with concrete if there is a nuclear attack.  i also visited the battlefields.  after one trip, i came home to the usa only to watch a documentary about the crimean war and i was at the very same site.

i also visited the site where the yalta agreement was signed (i cannot remember all the names), the palace of a russian general, the sparrow's nest, the ruins in sevastopol and the monastaries in the limestone bluffs. my driver, eugene giblin, studied the history of crimea so he could qualify himself as a guide as well as a driver.

foros is not a tourist trap/bar/nightlife type place. it is a very quiet, beautiful and small village where most people come to sunbath and relax. i am not interested in the nightlife party scene as i always have a lady with me when i visit foros. i was asking about villages in crimea for a place to stay that is quiet, small and romantic with nice beaches. from there, if we do not stay and just sunbathe and play in the black sea (i like to rent jetski's), we go to yalta and the various palaces and ruins in the area. i wanted to go to sudak last trip but i was in yalta on the wrong day as excursions are not every day. maybe this trip i'll make it to sudak.

the only thing in foros are apartment buildings, a sanatorium, the beach and a few restaurants. one restaurant has a singer whose wife plays the electronic stuff that plays the beat and music while he sings. he recognized me from my first trip and usually will sing a few "american" songs for my benefit and introduces me and the lady i am with to the other patrons. there is also a "church on the hill" as well as a place the nazi SS used as a party palace.  i have yet to see another english speaking man in foros. it is usually full of russian families on vacation.

i think i will stay in foros again this year, making it three summers in a row. from there, we can go and visit all the sites i did not visit the first two trips.