... Hotels in Yalta, Ukraine

City information

Overview of the city

Yalta is the most famous city of Crimean peninsula. It goes without saying, that this town, located on the Black Sea Southern coast, is one of the most picturesque ones in the world. Its miraculous transfiguration from a small fishermen village into a prestigious resort took place instantly in 1838 (when Yalta gained a city status) as Yalta was the favorite place of the Tsar family.
The attractiveness and beauty of Yalta have no connection to the geographical position and climate of the city. The best season in Yalta is the beginning of Autumn, so called “velvet season”. This saying was born in the beginning of the century and depicted the early Autumn season when almost all members of so called “working class” were leaving the town and Yalta was flooded by people of liberal professions: artists, painters, poets, writers etc. Working public was called “cotton” public and the latter one was called “velvet” public. Hence the name of the season.

Local attractions of the Big Yalta region

One of the most picturesque places of the town is the Embankment place. All year round and in summer in particular, this place is crowded with tourists, totally satisfied with their holidays and the atmosphere. There are a lot of restaurants, bars, and cafes on Embankment area facing the sea. And all this is framed with Palm trees and with beautiful Crimean mountains on the background. Such a beautiful scenery!
Roman – Catholic castle, located near Uchan – Su River, not far away from Yalta, was built in 1914 according to the project of famous architects Komornitskiy and Krasnov. Armenian Church and several Orthodox churches give the town the sense of medieval times. One of the milestones of Yalta history is the building of the former palace of Bukhar Emir, built by architect Tarasov in Mauritanian style in 1907 – 1911. Renowned Yalta habitat was founded to safeguard the uniqueness of Crimean mount woods.
If you take a route that leads from Ai-Petri plateau to Yalta you will come to the famous “Silver Pavilion”. The “Silver Pavilion” is located on a small observation plateau on the very top of Pendicul Mountain (865 meters). From there you will be able to enjoy the magnificent view of Crimean mountains that may seem unreal because of its beauty. If you follow the route down the hill, you will get to a picturesque Karagol mountain lake, on the bank of which a small wooden restaurant is cozily located. In 7 kilometers from Yalta the highest waterfalls in Crimea , Uchan-Su waterfall, is located. There is a small track that leads to the foundation of the Uchan-Su. The streams of water fall with a pleasant noise from the height of 100 meters. The waterfall is especially superb in the seasons of heavy rainfalls and melting of snow.
One of the most visited sights of Yalta is “Glade of Fairy Tales” that is a museum of floristic and of characters of fairy tales, presented in sculptures of various forms and shapes. There is also a small zoo located in the foot of “Krestovaya” mountain that means “Cross” in English.
For those who love sports, Yalta horse –riding club “Carrier” offers various kinds of activities, such as horse riding, scuba – diving, hiking for adults and children , mountain cycling and even car riding.
Upper Massandra place of Big Yalta region hosts a famous palace of Alexander the Third, the one of Russian Tsars. The beauty of the palace is well known almost all over the world. During the Soviet times the palace was used as the General Secretary’s dacha. Nowadays, Massandra Palace is one of the most popular places of interest on the Southern Crimean coast.
Massandra vine factory with its vine cellars and vine tasting halls is one of the most visited places on the whole peninsula. Vine of Crimea is well known and respected all over the world.
Another place of tourist interest is Nikitsky botanical gardens (founded in 1812). The gardens, where nature, history, art and science are combines, are the most famous and popular ones among all the parks of the Southern coast. Its collection includes more than 28 thousand of samples of plants, gathered from all the parts of the world. Martian Cape is a tiny cozy piece of untouched nature, located near Botanical gardens.
It is also worth to visit Nikita cleft, located not far from Nikita village, in the mountains. This cleft with its romantic natural décor of greenery and rocks was used as place, where a lot of Russian/Ukrainian adventure and fairy tale movies were created. There is also a Geodynamic model of Crimean peninsula

Celebrities

Prolong several centuries, Yalta was the main cultural and art center. In the past it was the place where dwellers and visitors of the local palaces and villas socialized. There were also a lot of famous people (writers, poets, artists etc.) who visited, lived and loved this place. One of these celebrities was a beloved Russian writer Tchekhov A. P., who lived and worked in this nice southern town. The house, he lived in while staying in Yalta, is now one of the local attractions. This house became a museum of the famous writer.