Crimea may be in the spotlight these days, it is still off most traveler’s radars for security reasons (even though it is actually safe) and a huge lack of up-to-date information.
If the peninsula is on your buket list (if it’s not, keep reading, you will soon be convinced to add it) here’s my list of the 18 must-see places in Crimea so you can get inspired and plan your next Adventure !
Note : I’ve visited all these places while solo backpacking Crimea in 2022. I’ve included tips and some of my favourite food and sleeping addresses.
Last updated : 15/07/2025
Important note: Entering Crimea via Russia is considered a violation of Ukrainian law. Since 2014, Crimea has been annexed by Russia but is still recognized by most of the international community as part of Ukraine. The region is subject to international sanctions, and many foreign ministries advise against traveling there. This content reflects a personal travel experience and is not intended to encourage or promote actions that violate any national laws.
Interactive map: 18 best places to visit in Crimea
1. Sevastopol
Севастополь | Let’s start with the obvious: Sevastopol. This is the best place to start your Crimean adventure. Home to Chersones, an ancient Greek city, large battery forts turned into museums, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet daily parading for epic sunset views. It is such a pleasant city that even if you’re not a history buff, you will enjoy it.
Sevastopol is one of the best Russian cities out there; you will fall in love with the place for sure!
2. Cape Fiolent
Мыс Фиолент | Cape Fiolent is without a doubt one of Crimea’s most breathtaking places. It offers a stunning panorama of the surrounding coast and is fairly easy to reach from Sevastopol – if you don’t mind a bus overcrowded with babushkas.
A short hike takes you from Fiolent to the Georgievsky Monastery. An 800-step staircase leads down to Yashmovy beach. Make sure to go on a sunny day!
3. Balaklava
Балаклава | Balaklava is surrounded by mountains, and its location is practically invisible from the sea.
Over the course of its 2 500-year-old history, this naturally hidden bay has been everything from a Genoese trading post to a British settlement during the Crimean War, and later, a secret Soviet submarine base.
Today, it’s a very pleasant little town where you can take a boat tour to nearby beaches, climb up to the ruins of the Genoese fortress of Cembalo, visit the Nuclear Bunker/Cold War museum, start (or finish) the Great Sevastopol Trail, and enjoy seafood and wine in one of the many restaurants along the port.
4. Bakhchisarai
Бахчисарай | Bakhchisarai, the historical capital of the Crimean Khanate, is sure to spice up your journey with oriental vibes! Located along the Churyuk-Su River, the old town (the rest is rather sleepy) is where you’ll find remnants of the Khanate.
Tour the Khan’s Palace and its gardens, then make your way up to the Chufut-Kale Jewish fortress built on a plateau. On the way, you can also visit the Holy Assumption Monastery.
There are many hiking trails in the area – proper shoes and plenty of water are recommended for exploring around Chufut-Kale.
5. Mangup – Kale
Мангуп-Кале | The impressive ancient fortress of Mangup-Kale is built on a plateau and believed to date back to the 3rd century. Due to its strategic location, it was controlled over the centuries by various tribes.
In the 13th century, the Crimean Greeks turned it into the independent Principality of Theodoros.
Under Mongol conquest, Theodoros became known as Mangup-Kale. The Ottoman Turks eventually captured the city in the 15th century after a siege that lasted half a year.
Today, you can visit the ruins of the fortress and religious sites such as Orthodox monasteries, churches, a mosque, and a Karaim kenassa.
There’s a roughly 30-kilometer hike from Bakhchisarai through Chufut-Kale and Tepe Kermen to Mangup-Kale.
6. Evpatoria
Евпатория | The underrated town of Evpatoria (also spelled Yevpatoria) is home to the last Ottoman-era old town in Crimea – a place not to miss!
You can follow the “Little Jerusalem” route to discover the Juma-Jami Mosque built in the 16th century, the Jewish Karaite Kenassa, the 15th-century Dervish Tekiye Monastery (no more dervishes though), the Yegiya Kapay Synagogue, and the Gezlev Gate.
Truly a Little Jerusalem – minus the tourist crowds and Israeli soldiers, of course.
PS: I adored Evpatoria. I found it much more pleasant than many of the towns of the southern coast.
7. Ai-Petri
Ай-Петри | One of the most popular natural sights in Crimea, Mount Ai-Petri is a 1 234-meter-high peak located in the Yalta Mountain Forest Reserve. The view of the coast from up there is absolutely gorgeous.
It’s easily reachable by cable car (note: it doesn’t operate when it’s windy), taxi, organized tour, or even on foot. The summit is usually covered in snow from winter to spring.
I recommend avoiding it on cloudy or rainy days – you’ll miss the spectacular views. Tip: Take a windbreaker jacket, it gets chilly up there even in the middle of summer.
8. Yalta
Ялта | The most popular Crimean resort is exactly as the 2013 Bradt Guide described it: a tourist trap. It’s overcrowded and overpriced – yet the town is rather nice, with plenty of restaurants & cafés and a newly renovated, clean embankment for seaside walks.
Yalta is a great base for day trips to the surrounding castles. Back in the 19th century, it was the cure-all destination for Russian aristocrats with fragile constitutions, which explains the area’s eccentric castles and fancy dachas.
I found Yalta to be quite overrated, but I’d still recommend visiting for the forest-covered mountains that seem to fall into the sea, the local market (the best I came across on the peninsula), and Lenin’s Embankment – where, every sunset, babushkas gather to waltz under the gaze of a massive granite Lenin.
According to locals and returning tourists, the city has improved a lot since the Russian takeover in 2014.
9. Swallow’s nest palace
Замок Ласточкино гнездо | Swallow’s Nest is a mini-castle (yep, it’s not as big as it seems in pictures) at the top of a cliff on Cape Ai-Todor.
Back in the 19th century, there was already a wooden dacha hanging there. In 1912, a German oil magnate built this Gothic-style castle as a gift to his mistress. It was partly destroyed by an earthquake, and the castle we see today dates from the 1970s.
Now it serves as a museum with various small exhibitions and cultural programs. Make sure to go on a sunny day – fantastic views of the coast await you.
10. Sudak Genoese fortress
Судакская крепость | Sudak was a major stop on the Silk Road, and the Genoese built this massive fortress to protect their trade. About 2 kilometers of walls remain to this day, with dozens of towers still standing.
The fortress is truly impressive – I was surprised by its good condition. It was clean and well organized, with museums inside some of the towers. During the high season, a small medieval festival takes place with stalls and performances.
Sudak is an overcrowded little resort, but its fortress is well worth the visit!
I share the behind the scenes of my travels (real-time stories, messy bits etc) on Telegram
11. Livadia Palace
Ливадийский дворец | In my opinion, the must-visit palace in Crimea is Livadia Palace – it’s beautiful and full of history!
You can freely roam around the gardens overlooking the sea and visit a place of major historical significance: the site of the 1945 Yalta Conference. This is where the “Big Three” – Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin – decided on the future of Europe, splitting Germany in two and assigning parts of Poland to the Soviet Union.
A controversial “Big Three” monument, featuring bronze statues of the three leaders, was erected in 2015 behind the palace to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1945 conference. Speculators claim Stalin’s statue is slightly taller than the other two.
One of the many reasons the monument is controversial is the fact that the entire Crimean Tatar population was deported to Central Asia under Stalin after being falsely accused of collaborating with the Nazis. In case you can’t spot the monument, it’s located right here.
12. Vorontsov Palace
Воронцовский дворец | Built by Count Vorontsov in the mid-19th century, this bizarre-looking castle is a blend of Scottish and Oriental styles – quite unique! The palace and its stunning garden, filled with exotic plants, are the main attractions of the Alupka resort.
The interior of the palace is English in style, as Vorontsov was educated in England. Many small trails can be found throughout the park surrounding the castle – take your time to explore!
In 1945, Churchill stayed at the palace. Legend has it he joked that one of the marble lion statues near the entrance looked like him.
13. Kertch
Керчь | Kerch is the first town you’ll come across when entering Crimea. It’s very peaceful during the holiday season compared to the rest of the Crimean coastal towns.
It was once the capital of the ancient Bosporan Kingdom (around the 5th to 2nd century BC). If you’re a history enthusiast, you’ll love it.
Visit the Byzantine church of Saint John the Baptist, dating from the 8th century, climb the 400+ stairs to Mithridat Hill for awesome views, explore the ruins of the Yeni-Kale fortress built by the Ottoman Turks, and check out a few burial grounds of Bosporan kings (Melek-Chesmensky tomb and Tsarsky Kurgan).
There are plenty of ancient Greek and Scythian sites to discover!
14. Foros
Форос | Foros is a popular little resort on the southern coast, renowned for its golden onion-domed Resurrection Church built on a cliff by a wealthy nobleman in the 19th century – after his daughter’s horse went wild and, luckily for her, stopped right at the edge of the cliff.
To get even more scenic views of the coast and church, head to the Baydar Gate, a mountain pass along the 19th-century Yalta–Sevastopol highway. If you’re hiking the Great Sevastopol Trail, you’ll pass right by it. Don’t miss it! (Plus, there’s a restaurant there in case you’re tired of your hiking food)
Fun fact: Gorbachev was put under house arrest in 1991 in his Foros dacha.
15. Golitsyn trail in Novy Svet
Тропа Голицына | Novy Svet was once the property of Prince Lev Golitsyn, a Russian aristocrat and winemaker. He went broke trying to make champagne popular in Russia and was later commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II to build the Massandra winery near Yalta.
Golitsyn ordered a path to be built along the Koba-Kaya hill all the way to Cape Kapchik in preparation for the Tsar’s visit in 1912.
The nearly 6-kilometer-long seaside trail winds through the Novy Svet Reserve by Mount Orel, offering breathtaking views of the coastline the entire way.
16. Gurzuf
Гурзуф | Gurzuf may well be one of Crimea’s cutest little towns. Its winding streets, old wooden houses, and hanging balconies give it a Mediterranean charm. Once upon a time, this is what much of Crimea used to look like.
You could easily spend a couple of days wandering around Gurzuf’s narrow lanes, visiting Chekhov’s dacha, Pushkin’s museum, and enjoying the pebble beach with a view of Mount Ayu-Dag.
17. Feodossia
Феодосия | Founded in the 6th century BC by the Greeks (hence the name), Feodossia later became an important Genoese trading post under the name Kaffa. The Genoese built a fortress to protect their Silk Road commerce – some of the original walls and towers still remain and can be visited.
When the Mongols arrived, they brought the plague. Even today, some districts of the city are called Quarantine and Chumka (“plague”).
In the 19th century, Russian aristocrats built elegant seaside dachas here, including the famous Stamboli dacha.
Fun fact: Renowned Russian-Armenian painter Ivan Aivazovsky was born and died in Feodossia. A museum dedicated to his work houses one of the largest collections of his seascapes.
18. Simferopol
Симферополь | Simferopol isn’t the most touristy city in Crimea, but I think it deserves a place on this list – after all, it is the capital.
The city is actually quite pleasant for a day, with some interesting museums like the Scythian Neapolis Museum-Reserve and the Taurida Central Museum, where you can dive into the Scythian and Greek history of Crimea.
Also, don’t miss the 16th-century Kebir-Jami Tatar Mosque, a remnant from Ak-Mechet, the town upon which Simferopol was later built.
📌 Also worth reading about Crimea
• Traveling to Crimea: visa, safety & access
• How to travel to Crimea from Russia
• Hiking the Great Sevastopol Trail
