Adler occupies the southern part of the Sochi coast. This is the
most resort part of the city, where beach holidays are absolute, and
the sights are few and ordinary, with the exception of the park
"Southern Cultures" — one of the best botanical gardens of the Black
Sea coast. Along with Krasnaya Polyana, Adler became the venue for
the 2014 Winter Olympics, which brought huge new buildings to the
city, which, however, have yet to be used in everyday resort life.
Adler is located in the southern part of Greater Sochi. In the
past, Adler was only called the village located at the confluence of
the Mzymta River into the Black Sea, but now that Adler has grown
due to the resort and Olympic construction, this name is used (at
least in everyday use) for the entire Black Sea coast — from
Kudepsta Khosta district to the Abkhazian border. Modern Adler
consists of several microdistricts: right behind Kudepsta begins a
Resort town — a narrow strip of land, packed to capacity with cafes,
hotels, sanatoriums and other attributes of a beach holiday. Further
on is the Blue Dali microdistrict, where the train station is
located. Beyond it, after the narrow river Herota, is the actual
center of Adler or old Adler, stretching to Mzymta. Beyond Mzymta
begins the Imereti lowland with the objects of the 2014 Olympics.
It is believed that the name Adler came from the Turkish Artlar,
but no one knows exactly where the Turkish toponym came from.
Adler's Russian history begins in 1837 with the construction of the
Fort of the Holy Spirit at the mouth of the Mzymta, one of the Black
Sea fortifications designed to protect these lands from Turkey and
pacify the recalcitrant Circassians. Unlike similar forts in Sochi
and Lazarevskoye, Adler was completely destroyed in 1854, there was
absolutely nothing left of it. Ten years later, peace comes to the
Black Sea coast, migrants from different parts of Russia begin to
travel to the Mzymta valley, but they prefer to settle away from the
coast — for example, the village of Moldovka stands 5 km from the
coast (where the runway of Sochi airport now ends) — or even in the
mountains, in Krasnaya Polyana. At the end of the XIX century, the
entire Sochi coast suffered from malaria, but Adler was in this
sense the most perilous place: the disease was finally eradicated
here only in 1956. It is significant that the road from Novorossiysk
to Sukhumi, laid in 1898, bypassed Adler, so there was not even a
bridge over the river until the mid-1930s.
Adler should not
be considered a backwater in the middle of the XX century, but it
never received the status of a city: at first it was a village, and
in 1961 it became part of Greater Sochi. There is very little
pre-revolutionary architecture here (some of it has been destroyed,
but there was not much from the very beginning), and Stalinskaya
bypassed the city — its weak echo is the old station building,
which, however, is even ridiculous to compare with the Sochi railway
station of the same period. Nevertheless, since the 1950s Adler has
been rapidly increasing its resort popularity, becoming a cheap
alternative to Sochi. This status is only strengthened after the
collapse of the USSR, when private hotels and related infrastructure
begin to grow like mushrooms here.
Preparations for the 2014
Winter Olympics have greatly changed the face of Adler. On the one
hand, there has been a huge development of infrastructure: new roads
and train stations will be the envy of almost any Russian city. On
the other hand, the nature of the Imereti lowland has been lost, a
huge wild beach has disappeared, and in general the situation has
become more urban. In 2020, the territory between the Mzymta and
Psou rivers, along with the Olympic Park, was transferred to the
village of Sirius, the first federal territory in Russia.
Nevertheless, the crowds of vacationers continue to go to Adler,
which is located at a crossroads: near the airport, in one direction
the mountain resorts of Krasnaya Polyana, in the other — the more
pretentious Sochi, in the third — the extremely unaffordable
Abkhazia. And at the same time, it is still quite cheap here, but,
thanks to the Olympics, there are also options for an expensive
comfortable stay. For travelers who are not inclined to beach
holidays, Adler is in its purest form a transit point where it is
convenient to stop, but there is practically nothing to look at,
unless, of course, you look for special ethnographic impressions in
the crowds of vacationers huddling on a tiny dirty beach and eating
kebabs to unbearably loud pop music. However, in winter there is
none of this, and you can see completely different things — for
example, take a closer look at the local population. There are a lot
of Armenians in Adler, and in general they say that the city is
completely non-Russian.
Old Adler is bounded by the Herota River from the north and the
Mzymta River from the south. This is the historical part of the city, in
which, of course, you will find mostly new models, although, walking
through the back streets, you can find a lot of pre-war and post—war
buildings of the 1930s-50s. - mostly light beige two-storey houses
without any decor. This was Adler before the establishment of a large
resort.
1 Adler Lighthouse, 21 Prosveshcheniya str. (embankment).
It was built in 1898, that is, only a few years later than Sochi. It
looks somehow modern and boring from the outside, they don't let you
inside. The height of the tower is 11 m, the range of visibility is 13
miles.
2 St. Sarkis Cathedral, 22 Bestuzhev St.. A modern Armenian
temple (1993-98), which, frankly, looks no more like Armenian than
Russian or some other. Even in Armenia, modern temple architecture looks
different, preserving at least some continuity. However, the shape of
the building is quite interesting. It consists of separate, stepped
tiers forming a mountain — either Golgotha or Ararat. Next to the temple
there is a miniature belfry and several beautiful carved khachkar
crosses. A monument to the passengers of the Yerevan plane that crashed
in Adler in 2006 is also made in the unexpected form of a twisted
khachkar.
3 Church of the Holy Spirit, 22a Kirova Street. The
architecture of this newly-built church resembles an ancient Russian
palace with a teremoch roof. There is not only a church inside, but also
a Sunday school, so it turns out to be a kind of tower with a dome. The
old Church of the Holy Spirit existed in Adler in 1898, it was destroyed
in 1947. A cross remains on the territory of the fortress — a mass grave
of soldiers who died during the Caucasian War of 1877.
4 Holy
Trinity Church, 22a Kirova Street. Adjacent to the previous one. Another
newly built church (1993-98), built as a replacement for the same church
of the Holy Spirit destroyed in 1947. The architecture of the temple is
unlikely to arouse your interest, but the fact of its location on the
site of the old fort of the Holy Spirit is curious, even if nothing
remains of the fort at all.
5 Bestuzhevsky Park and monument to
Bestuzhev, Bestuzheva St. A small square adjacent to the beach on one
side and the Armenian Cathedral on the other. This is also the location
of the fort of the Holy Spirit, but the obelisk installed in the park
does not remind of it, but of the death of Adler's most famous founder,
the writer and Decembrist A. A. Bestuzhev—Marlinsky, demoted by the tsar
to soldiers and died either during the landing in Adler, or shortly
after. The body was not found, the place of the monument is conditional.
The monument was erected in 1957, although the first bust was installed
back in tsarist times, in 1913. An ancient cannon is installed nearby —
another reminder of the fort of the Holy Spirit.
6 Adler port point
building, 1-3 Prosveshcheniya str. (embankment). One of the few
pre-revolutionary buildings in the area, it has now been turned into a
restaurant. The style is very characteristic of old Sochi: gray stone,
windows of different sizes and mostly geometric shapes that form into a
cute, almost fabulous house.
7 The building of the children's music
school, Kirova str., 26. Another pre-revolutionary building and,
perhaps, the only one that can be accurately attributed to historical
ones. A typical two-storey mansion, complemented by semicircular door
niches in the spirit of modern architecture. The October cinema is
attached to the side (according to various sources, 1928 or 1936) — a
one-story and rather atypical building for this kind of institution.
8 Olympic Rings (Lenin and Aviation streets interchange). Huge rings
where each continent is represented by its own color. It is beautifully
illuminated at night.
The Blue Distances microdistrict is separated from the center of
Adler by the Herota River. The name of the neighborhood is usually
associated with a good view of the sea from the local hills. There is
also a version about the rich (once) thickets of mimosa, the leaves of
which have a blue hue. The neighborhood is characterized by boring late
Soviet and post-Soviet buildings. Tourists come here either for
entertainment (to the Resort town), or for panoramic views that are not
found in other parts of Adler. You may also be interested in the name of
the local river. The most cultured version says that it originated from
the tenth company (X company) stationed here, although evil tongues
offer other options and consider this name to be the best characteristic
of Adler as a whole.
9 Observation deck, Golubye Daly Street
(Izumrud bus stop). The best views are from the roofs here. If you did
not get to the roof, just walk up one of the streets: for example, Blue
Dali Street, which intersects with Lenin Street 700 m west of the
railway station, is great.
The Imereti lowland, located between the rivers Mzymta and Psou in
the southeastern part of Adler, has always been a marshy swampy area
where migratory birds nested. At one time, the issue of creating a
nature reserve here was discussed. At the beginning of the 20th century,
Old Believers who returned from Turkey settled on the southern outskirts
of Adler and began to engage in agriculture. This initiative was
successfully developed in the Soviet years, when the entire coast up to
the Abkhazian border was occupied by state farms and numerous drainage
channels regulating water flow appeared. In the early 2000s, the Imereti
Lowland was chosen for the construction of the Olympic Town and the
Coastal Cluster of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which led to radical
changes: only the Southern Cultures Park survived, state farms were
destroyed, canals were filled in, the ground level was artificially
raised, and a cargo port was built at the mouth of the Mzymta to service
construction. Now it is a separate village Sirius — the first federal
territory in Russia. Unfortunately, it has already lost its unique
nature and former charm. In the bright future, there will be something
in between a university campus and a high-tech center, but it is
difficult to predict how it will look and how interesting it will be to
the traveler.
10 Park "Southern Cultures" , Krasnaya Gorka str. /
Tulipov str. ☎ +7 (8622) 40-01-73, +7 (8622) 40-02-57. 9:00 – 17:00. 250
rub . The park was founded in 1910-11 on the estate of General D. V.
Drachevsky, who, like many Sochi summer residents, wanted his house to
be surrounded by subtropical plants. The famous park designer of that
time A. E. Regel was engaged in the design, but he did not even come to
Adler, entrusting the creation of the park to the local gardener R. F.
Skrivanik. The owner of the estate also apparently did not follow the
process very closely, as a result of which the cottage building (now
destroyed) turned out to be on the edge of the park, and ponds, alleys
and stairs formed an independent ensemble, not at all similar to a noble
manor. This is one of the differences between the "Southern Cultures"
from the Sochi arboretum, where the owner's cottage is located in the
very center. Another difference is the location on a flat terrain,
thanks to which you can generally arrange a pond here and do not have to
climb uphill all the time, as is usually the case in the botanical
gardens of the Black Sea coast.
After the revolution, the park was
nationalized and turned into a state farm. In the late 1930s, Far
Eastern plants received from China and Japan as payment for the
Sino-Eastern Railway were planted here, including cherry trees, which
now delight Sochi residents with their spring flowering. After the
collapse of the USSR, the park was in a deplorable state, but it seems
that it began to revive on the eve of the Olympics. About 1400 species
of various trees and shrubs grow here, and almost the entire flora of
the subtropics is represented. A rose garden, a large collection of
conifers (sequoias, cryptomeria, cypresses, Lebanese and Himalayan
cedars), rhododendrons, liquidambers, tulip tree, Japanese cherry,
magnolias, laurels. Going down the stairs and walking along the shady
alleys, you can see a large bamboo grove, a tea house, two ponds with
rare aquatic plants (water lilies, lilies, lotuses). Also on the
territory of the park you will find a water tower built in 1910, similar
to an old transformer box — a rare monument of the early 20th century
for Adler.
The entrance to the park is located at the end of Krasnaya
Gorka Street. You can get here by buses heading towards the Olympic
Park, or you can walk across the Mzymta River on the pedestrian bridge
at the end of the Adler embankment.
The Olympic Park begins with
the Olympic Village, which is closely adjacent to the park "Southern
Cultures". These are several blocks of modern houses that are pretty,
but architecturally trivial. Then there is the Olympic Center proper — a
circle with a diameter of 1.2 km, inside which there are arenas for
competitions: a direct road leads here from the Olympic Park railway
station. Even further east are the hotels, the village of Nekrasovka
built for the Olympics — rows of neat new houses, where residents of the
Imereti lowland were relocated, and the state farm "Russia" — in the
past one of the state farms, then a resort village, and now it is
unclear what, since little remains of the wild beach that once stretched
for kilometers. The Imereti lowland ends with the state border and the
village of Veseloye, where the border crossing to Abkhazia is located.
All the structures of the Olympic Park are made in high-tech style
and generously covered with glass or white plastic or both at the same
time. If you like this architecture, take a look at the Fisht central
stadium, which was planned to be open, but then they still sealed the
hole in the roof, so that from above it now resembles a computer mouse,
although according to the creators it was supposed to symbolize the
snowy peaks of the Caucasus. Equally mixed feelings are caused by the
ice palace resembling a CD player with the extremely original name "Big"
(according to the original plan — a frozen drop). The perception of the
Adler Arena skating stadium is more unambiguous - it is a uniform
aircraft carrier, and the Iceberg Winter Sports Palace completes the
composition — a solid hi-tech in the shape of a square with depressed
sides. As an entertainment, you can also explore the world's only Ice
Cube curling stadium and try to find at least something related to the
cube in its shape.
In the center of all this splendor is a
large playground designed for the Olympic flame and official ceremonies,
and a little to the side of it is a patch of greenery, the Old Believers
cemetery preserved in the park. If the future of Olympic facilities is
uncertain, then the cemetery that survived the Olympics will probably
remain here forever.
Nizhneimeretinskaya Bay (formerly the state
farm "Russia") is a modest resort village on the shore of the bay of the
same name. Imereti is called one of the nationalities living in Georgia,
and this word itself means "that side" in Georgian. Buses and minibuses
from Adler run to the village. If you are driving to the village of
Veseloe, then, before reaching the border crossing on the Psou River,
turn right at the Cossack Market onto Tavrichesky Street and after a
couple of kilometers you will get to Nizhneimeretinskaya Bay. The wide
pebble beach provides all the possibilities for relaxing at sea. The
undoubted advantages of this place are less crowded beaches, cleaner sea
water and lower cost of living compared to Adler.
1 Museum of the History of the Adler district , 9 Tavrichesky str.
(village of Veseloe). ☎ +7 (8622) 40-54-28. Tue–Sun 10:00 – 18:00.
Museum of Local Lore: larger than in Khost, but smaller than in Sochi.
The most interesting part of it is the ethnographic part, which tells
about what different peoples went to Adler at the end of the XIX
century.
2 Park of Culture and Recreation, Romashek str., 1
(center). ☎ +7 (8622) 40-41-65. June-August 10:00 – 23:00, September-May
10:00 – 18:00. 10 attractions and a dance floor. The rides are closed
during the off-season.
3 Ferris wheel "Five stars", Primorsky Park,
on the embankment. one ride: 250 rubles, 1 hour of skiing: 350 rubles,
VIP cabin with champagne: 1500 rubles for two. A new Ferris wheel with
glazed cabins. According to the owners, it is the third tallest in
Russia, making a full turn in 15 minutes. It is actually visible from
anywhere in Adler. There are about a dozen attractions nearby, but they
are already aimed at the youngest visitors.
4 Children's
entertainment complex "Madagascar", Kuibyshev str., 35 (center). ☎ +7
(8622) 40-80-08. Mon 12:00 – 22:00, Tue–Sun 10:00 – 22:00. All kinds of
children's attractions, swings, carousels. Children's cafeteria.
Entrance to the park is free, opening hours: 8:00 – 22:30, but almost
all structures can only be viewed from the outside. They are allowed
inside only for pre-planned events: for example, the Bolshoi Ice Palace
hosts home matches of the Sochi hockey club. The Iceberg Winter Sports
Palace and the Shayba Ice Arena host rare musical and theatrical
productions. On the territory of the park you can ride golf carts and
excursion steam locomotives, bicycle rental, electric bicycles, electric
tricycles, bicycles, children's electric cars, segways, roller skates.
Formula 1 circuit , Triumfalny passage, 1 (Olympic Park). ☎ +7
(862) 241-90-50. The track is laid through the entire Olympic Park and
is used for the Formula 1 Grand Prix competitions. The rest of the time,
excursions are arranged at the racetrack: Sat and Sun, 500 rubles
(Wed-Fri - for groups of more than 20 people). You can also ride along
the track with a professional racer (from 3000 rubles per lap) or try
yourself as a pilot: a master class costs from 6000 rubles and up to
infinity, depending on which car you want to drive and how many laps to
drive.
5 Sochi Park Theme Park , Olympic Avenue, 21 (Imereti lowland,
next to the Olympic Park). ✉ ☎ 8 (800) 100-33-39. 11:00 – 19:00.
Adult/child ticket: 1500/1200 RUB, 5% discount when buying online;
family ticket: 4000 RUB. An entertainment park with attractions:
carousels, roller coasters. This is a Russian version of Disneyland,
though on a smaller scale. Show programs are scheduled depending on the
season. There is also a dolphinarium and the Experimentarium Museum with
interactive exhibits that offer to explore, pull, and solve puzzles in
every possible way. The park is famous for three of its attractions:
"Firebird", "Quantum Leap", which calls gravity into question, and the
roller coaster "Serpent Gorynych".
6 Adler Aquarium Sochi Discovery World Aquarium, Lenin str., 219a/4
(Resort town). ✉ ☎ +7 (8622) 46-33-56, +7 (8622) 46-35-85. Wed-Sun 10:00
– 18:00. Adult ticket: 1100 RUB, children's ticket (4-11 years old): 600
RUB, children under 4 years old free, discounted: 500 rubles. The
largest aquarium in Russia. There are 30 aquariums on the territory of
6,000 square meters, with a total volume of 5 million liters of water.
They are home to about 4 thousand fish, more than 200 marine and
freshwater species. There are several interesting solutions that you
will not find in every aquarium, even large and foreign ones — an
acrylic tunnel that creates the effect of presence, a rainforest with
about the same effect, as well as feeding carp and seals, which does not
create any effect, but always pleases children.
7 Dolphinarium
"Aquatoria", Lenin St., 219/2 (Resort town). ☎ +7 (8622) 46-33-03. From
800 rubles. 50-minute performances with dolphins take place all year
round. The pool is 20 meters wide and 6 meters deep. Bottlenose
dolphins, belugas and sea lions participate. Several performances a day,
not every day in winter: check the schedule.
8 Amphibius Water Park,
219a Lenin St. (Resort town, Vesna building). ☎ +7 (8622) 46-33-55.
July-August 10:00 – 22:30, June and September 10:00 – 18:00. Adult
ticket: 800-1200 RUB. The water park is located next to the
dolphinarium. There are 15 attractions, a restaurant, a bar, a pizzeria,
a children's cafe.
9 Terrarium, Prosveshcheniya str., 219 D (Resort
town). ☎ +7 (862) 264-76-67. 9:00 – 23:00, feeding of animals at 19:00.
200 rubles. Birds, lizards, snakes, turtles and toads. Nothing unusual,
it's not worth going on purpose.
By plane
1 Sochi Airport (IATA:AER). A couple of kilometers
east of the city. Planes land and take off right over the houses. The
airport consists of a single terminal built for the Olympics. The
interior is very beautiful, spacious and modern. Free Wi-Fi.
The
train runs from the airport 8 times a day with an hour interval in the
middle of the day and practically does not run either in the morning or
in the evening. All trains go to Adler train station (9 minutes), after
which they continue to move towards Sochi or Krasnaya Polyana. How to
get to Adler: 70 rubles .
Buses: buses /minibuses 105 will take
you to the Adler railway station, which then go to Sochi, and all buses
that have the Novy Vek / Rynok bus station (135, 173, etc.) go directly
to the center of Adler, if desired, you can walk to the center of the
kilometer 4. In the direction from Adler, buses 105 and 135 go to
Krasnaya Polyana. Movement interval: 15-30 min. Tickets are twice as
cheap as for the train.
A taxi to Adler will cost less than to
any other area of Sochi, but it is still recommended to order a car in
advance so as not to bargain with taxi drivers calling sky-high prices.
By train
Adler station is the terminus for all long—distance
trains arriving in Sochi, with the exception of the Moscow-Sukhumi
train.
Commuter trains reach Sochi (with stops in Khost and
Matsesta, about half an hour), Krasnaya Polyana (that is, the Rosa
Khutor complex, with an intermediate stop at the Esto-Sadok station - in
Krasnaya Polyana itself, 50 minutes) and the Olympic Park station, three
kilometers from the Abkhazian border. Some trains go further west, to
Dagomys, Lazarevskoye or even Tuapse. On the Adler-Sochi section, the
average travel interval is 1-2 hours, in other directions — several
trains per day.
2 Railway station (Adler Station) , Lenin Street,
113. ☎ +7 (8622) 45-06-06. It is located a little away from the center,
which is a kilometer and a half away: you can drive three stops on any
bus except those that go to the airport.
The new station building was
built for the 2014 Olympics and can be considered one of the most
successful examples of modern Sochi architecture. Inside, the
four—storey train station looks like a shopping mall: in the center
there is an atrium with escalators, along the perimeter there are trendy
shops. One of the exits goes down to the sea, and from the height of the
third floor there is a great view of the entire nearby coast. On the
fourth floor there is a food court: several fast food establishments
(including Subway) and a cheap home-cooked cafe with a meager
assortment. The old station building — private Stalinka — has been
restored and preserved for history: there is a high-comfort waiting room
(200 rubles / hour, 2016) and the dining room "Old Station" (tasty, but
prices are higher than in the average Adler dining room).
3 Olympic
Village. The intermediate stop is in the northern part of the Olympic
town, not far from the residential buildings built for the participants
of the Olympics. All trains going to the Olympic Park stop.
4
Imereti Resort (formerly Olympic Park). The final station of the
trains from Sochi. Not just a station, but a huge train station, built
in approximately the same style as Adler. Solar panels are installed on
the roof of the building.
By bus
Intercity buses end their
route at the Sochi bus station: with rare exceptions, they do not go to
Adler. There are passing buses in Sukhumi, but where they stop in Adler
and whether they stop at all is not known for sure (most likely, they
stop only at the airport). All other communications are suburban or,
given the status of Greater Sochi, inner-city: these are routes with
three-digit numbers. The most convenient way to get from Sochi is by bus
/ minibus 124, which comes to the center of Adler. Another popular
route, 105, will take you only to the railway station. If you are
traveling from Abkhazia, just cross the border to Psou and take any
minibus: it will definitely take you to Adler.
5 Novy Vek bus
station (Adler-rynok, Trud), Demokraticheskaya str. This stop is
sometimes called Adler bus station, but there is no bus station here.:
It's just a stop at the Novy Vek shopping center. Moreover, throughout
the territory of Greater Sochi, the word "bus station" means only and
exclusively the Sochi bus station, located in the Central district. Bus
135 to Krasnaya Polyana and a number of other routes with a terminal in
Adler depart from the Adler bus station.
✦ The station bus stop
complex. There are bus hubs on both sides of the railway station. From
the sea side, you may need minibus No. 100 going to the Olympic Park and
further to the Abkhazian border, and No. 135 to the airport and Krasnaya
Polyana. Most routes to the city center stop from the city side, as well
as No. 105 to Krasnaya Polyana; from here you can also go to the
mountains by private minibus (see Krasnaya Polyana).
1 Novy Vek shopping center, 52 Demokraticheskaya str. (center).
10:00 – 22:00. A medium-sized shopping mall.
2 Plaza City shopping
center, Kirova str., 58 (center). ☎ +7 (8622) 96-88-17. 10:00 – 22:00. A
new shopping mall with a food court and a multiplex cinema.
3 Market, Demokratika str. (south of the Novy Vek shopping center and
bus station). It is very chaotic and colorful.
4 Mandarin shopping
center, Bestuzheva str., 1 (near the mouth of the Mzymta River). ☎ +7
(8622) 35-55-66. A large shopping and entertainment center with a
variety of shops, restaurants and cafes, its own concert venue and even
a swimming pool.
The basis of Adler catering is not even souvlachnye, but ordinary
canteens with distribution and a typical set of dishes. The prices are
low.
Cheaply
1 Dining room "Valentina", Kuibyshev St., 51.
7:00 – 21:00. An inexpensive dining room with a huge menu: only 10 types
of soups. Good quality.
2 Cafe-canteen "Bagration", ul. Karl Marx,
2a. Good reviews.
3 Cafe "Zvezdnoye", Prosveshcheniya str., 27
(center). 9:00 – 23:00. One of the many dining rooms on the city beach.
Inexpensive food, grilled.
4 Suvlachnaya AinoƩ (Enos), Kuibyshev
str., 27 (center). ☎ +7 (918) 402-61-54. Shawarma, souvlaki and a simple
assortment of Greek dishes. Visitors are praising.
5 Canteen
"Smile", Kirova str., 35. Hot dishes: 150-200 rubles. A dining room with
delicious food near the center of Adler.
6 Delicious and the point,
Bestuzheva str., 1 (embankment, shopping center "Mandarin"). Around the
clock. A view of the sea is not the most familiar attribute. Wi-Fi.
7 Patisson dining room, 27A Democratic Street. ☎ +7 988 233-93-37.
6:30-22:00. A dining room with a large work schedule. There is a very
large selection of first and second courses, as well as sweets.
Average cost
8 Cafe "Meeting", Kirova street, 35. 10:00 – 1:00.
Modern European cuisine. Good reviews.
9 Cafe "Mayak", 35A
Prosveshcheniya str. (next to the lighthouse). ☎ +7 (8622) 44-41-86.
10:00 – 24:00. A cozy cafe with service on the city embankment. Food
reviews are somewhat contradictory, but all visitors unanimously praise
the fried lamb. Live music in the evenings.
10 Suvlachnaya
Santorini, Lenin St., 19a. ☎ +7 (918) 306-33-77. 10:00 – 1:00. This
souvlachnaya proudly calls itself a restaurant of Greek and Italian
cuisine. In fact, there is no Greek cuisine here (except for the
ubiquitous souvlaki, of course), but there is a basic set of Italian in
the form of pizza, salads and pastas. Good reviews.
11 Pizzeria
Capri, 219 Lenin Street (between the boarding houses "Vesna" and
"Coral"). ☎ +7 (918) 610-77-77. A cafe in the Resort town with excellent
pizza and Italian cuisine.
Expensive
12 Frau Marta Brasserie,
Prosveshcheniya str., 7. 11:00 – 23:00. A restaurant with German
cuisine, excellent business lunches. Recently, the pathetic and boorish
service has been noted.
13 Teremok "Once upon a time", 50/7
Demokraticheskaya str. (center). ☎ +7 (918) 901-49-69. Cafe: 9:00 –
23:00, restaurant: 11:00 – 2:00. Hot dishes: from 400 rubles. The
restaurant is in Russian folk style, offering dishes of Caucasian
cuisine. Russian cuisine is not disdained here either, although the
situation and the price level are more reminiscent of some
tourist-favored town in Central Russia.
14 Restaurant "Laluna" (La
Luna), Tavrichesky str., 1 (Imereti lowland, state farm "Russia"). ✉ ☎
+7 (928) 459-22-29. Dinner 1500 rubles (without alcohol). Caucasian,
European and Russian cuisine, a lot of meat dishes and seafood (please
note that the price for them is indicated on the menu for 100 grams).
1 Rock bar "Triangle", Kirova str., 56 (near the market). Around the
clock. A democratic rock and roll club with its own concert venue. Every
weekend there are concerts by local and sometimes not so local bands.
According to the reviews of visitors, the kitchen is so-so, although the
food prices are quite humane.
2 Irlansky pub O'Sullivan's , 65 let
Pobedy str., 69 (Imereti lowland, opposite the Radisson Blu Paradise
Hotel). ☎ +7 (928) 667-73-77. 12:00 – 23:00. 420 rub per pint of
Guinness or Kilkenny, hot: from 500 rub. One of the few similar
establishments in the Imereti lowland, and in the whole of Adler. Beer.
Wi-Fi. Parking space. Live music on Fridays.
Prices for hotels in Adler have the same seasonal character as on the
entire coast. In winter and summer they differ almost twice, but the
summer margin is uneven, so that hotels can easily move from one price
category to another for no apparent reason. Prices in the off-season are
shown here. In summer, ordinary hotels will cost more, but you can
settle in the private sector: Adler is literally hung with ads for
housing and lined with those who want to rent this housing.
There
are hotels in all parts of the city: the center, the Imereti lowland, as
well as in the Resort Town of Adler between Herota and Kudepsta, where
there are sanatoriums, boarding houses, a dolphinarium and a water park,
as well as other typical resort entertainment. In addition to these
obvious advantages, the Resort Town has its disadvantages: the beach
strip is narrower than in the center of Adler, and the cost of living is
higher. The hotels of the Imereti lowland were built for the Olympics.
Many of them belong to high-class business hotels, but there are also
relatively inexpensive options
When choosing accommodation in the
central part of Adler, remember that it is located directly under the
airport glide path. Planes land and take off around the clock, and in
the most inconvenient case, they will also shine their headlights
through the window. If you want to sleep in silence, you'll have to
close the windows.
Cheaply
1 Olga Hotel, 33 Chkalova str.
(Resort Town). ☎ +7 (918) 900-93-92, +7 (918) 303-04-46. Double room:
from 1000 rubles. Mini-hotel. A three-storey house near the shore. Good
reviews.
2 Guest house "On Ulyanova", Ulyanova str., 10 (center). ☎
+7 (918) 309-05-70, +7 (8622) 40-23-30. Double room: from 1000 rubles.
In the center of Adler, it consists of three buildings. Rooms of
different categories.
Average cost
3 The Uyut Hotel, 113A
Prosveshcheniya str. (Resort town). ☎ +7 (988) 238-92-86, +7 (988)
237-68-25. Double room: from 1500 rubles. A year-round private hotel.
Rooms of the categories "standard", "suite" and "studio" are offered for
accommodation. All rooms are equipped with amenities. There is a large
heated swimming pool on site, even in winter, as well as a dining room.
4 Almira Hotel 3*, Bestuzheva str., 8 (center). ☎ +7 (8622)
69-35-15. Double room: from 2250 rubles. Not a bad hotel in a great
location. There is a private equipped beach 200 m from the hotel.
7-storey building, some rooms have a view of the Armenian church.
Restaurant, bar, swimming pool, billiard room, sauna and steam room. The
Mandarin shopping and entertainment center and the Mzymta embankment are
not far from the hotel.
5 Berezka Hotel, 38 Stanislavsky str.
(Imereti lowland). ✉ ☎ +7 (988) 134-98-65. Double Junior Suite: 2200
rub. A new hotel on the left bank of the Mzymta River in close proximity
to the Olympic facilities. Cafe-dining room, Parking, shuttle service,
Wi-Fi. Junior suites and suites.
6 Azimut 3* Hotel, 6 Continental
Ave. (Imereti lowland). ☎ +7 (8622) 43-38-17, +7 (8622) 43-38-32. Double
room: from 2100 RUB (with advance booking). A dozen eight-storey
buildings on a huge fenced territory, where there are five small pools,
playgrounds, a pond with ducks, low ornamental palm trees. It takes 20
minutes to walk to the sea from the hotel; 10 minutes to the Olympic
Park railway station. You can pay for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the
local canteen (they feed normally), you can eat in cafes and restaurants
located on the territory — however, they do not always work. There is no
entertainment. The standard rooms are cramped, and the audibility
between the rooms is excellent. Wi-Fi is claimed throughout the
territory, but is practically not caught anywhere; there is a computer
in the lobby for general use.
7 Apart-hotels "Velvet seasons",
Olympic ave. 1 (Imereti lowland). ✉ ☎ +7 (8622) 45-49-55, 8 (800)
55-040-55. Standard without power: from 2,100 rubles; from 4,100 rubles
for "all inclusive". A whole hotel city of typical low-rise buildings is
located between the Olympic Park and Abkhazia. It consists of the
quarters "Catherine Quarter", "Chistye Prudy", "Alexandrovsky Garden".
There is a common infrastructure: a fitness center, playgrounds, sports
fields; bicycle rental, segways. Parking space. Wi-Fi. You can rent an
apartment with a kitchen or eat in a restaurant. You can rent daily, you
can arrange a long-term lease (for example, for the whole summer).
8
Villa Bossa, Kievskaya str., 35 (Resort Town). Double room: from 2000
rubles, without breakfast. Mini-hotel, 10 rooms, ten minutes to the sea
(you can not go directly). The reviews are mostly good, but they also
note that the rooms are rarely cleaned or not cleaned at all.
Expensive
9 Tulip Inn Omega Sochi, Olympic ave. 3 (Imereti
lowland). ✉ ☎ +7 (8622) 62-72-72, +7 (8622) 43-38-91. Standard: from
4,200 rubles. A 4* chain hotel near the Olympic Park. Wi-Fi, gym,
restaurant, lobby bar, secured Parking. It takes about 15 minutes on
foot to the sea, there is no pool. The hotel is more for business
travelers.
10 Hotel "Weiler" (Weiler Hotel), Lenin street 282/1
(Resort Town). From 3,800 rubles for a double room. 29 rooms, good
reviews, although sometimes they complain about problems with Wi-Fi.
11 Hotel "Radisson Blu Paradise Resort & Spa Sochi" 5*, 65 let Pobedy
str., 50 (Imereti lowland). Double room: from 6000 rubles. One of the
two Radissons in the area. The first line by the sea.
12 The
Radisson Blu Resort & Congress Centre 5* Hotel, 1a Golubaya str.
(Imereti lowland). ☎ +7 (8622) 96-81-00. From 6000 rubles. Another
Radisson in this area. The first line is by the sea, but there is no
beach nearby.
13 Bogatyr Hotel 4*, Olympic Avenue, 21 (Imereti
lowland). From 4,500 rubles for a double room. The hotel is built in the
form of a fairy-tale castle and decorated accordingly. The second line
is from the sea, but right in the entertainment "Sochi Park".
14 Hotel "Bridge Resort" 4*, Figurnaya str., 45 (Imereti lowland). ☎ +7
(938) 440-01-00, +7 (8622) 95-80-00, +7 (928) 450-04-06. Double room:
from 5000 rubles. 5 minutes to the sea, equipped beach.
Sanatoriums and boarding houses
15 Pension "Burgas", 233 Lenin
Street (on the border with Khostinsky district, near Kudepstinsky
viaduct). ✉ ☎ +7 (8622) 90-28-00, +7 (8622) 90-27-00, +7 (8622)
90-21-51. From 2000 RUB/person with meals (2014). 385 rooms: single and
double rooms of the 1st category, studios, suites and VIP suites of the
highest category. Free Wi-Fi.
16 Boarding house "Fregat", Lenin
Street, 219. ☎ +7 (8622) 46-34-55, +7 (8622) 46-34-57. 15- a
three-storey complex on the beach, located in a resort town.
17
Sanatorium "USSR" (formerly Aeroflot), Lenin St., 217-a. ☎ +7 (8622)
46-05-17, +7 (8622) 46-29-81. From 2000 rubles/person
18 Sanatorium
"Yuzhnoye Vzmorye" (sanatorium of atomic scientists), Kalinina str., 1.
☎ +7 (8622) 69-15-40, fax: +7 (8622) 40-09-73, +7 (8622) 40-02-68. From
3,100 rubles/person. The sanatorium "Yuzhnoye Vzmorye" was opened in
1964, where, in particular, post-flight rehabilitation of astronauts was
carried out. Since 2000, it has the status of an Endocrinological Center
and an Endoecological Rehabilitation Center. It has its own park, almost
like in an arboretum, a spacious beach, a tennis court and so on.
Rostelecom, Lenin St., 2 (near the central post office).
8:00 – 20:00. Free Wi-Fi with good speed.
Wi-Fi is also found in
urban cafes, although less often than we would like.
1 Monkey nursery, Veseloe village (10 km from Adler, near the
Abkhazian border). 10:00 – 17:00. 200 rubles. The Scientific Research
Institute of Medical Primatology, which has been operating since 1927,
is famous for preparing monkeys for space flights, although more often
they do more prosaic and rather cruel things here - testing new drugs
and vaccines on primates. The enclosures contain a dozen and a half
species of monkeys (more than 3,000 individuals). The duration of the
tour is 1 hour. Be prepared for the fact that the monkeys are begging
for food, and their living conditions are not the best.
You can get
to the kennel by buses 133 and 134, go to the stop "Monkey Kennel", near
the entrance of the institute, from which another 1.5 km walk to the
aviaries themselves.
2 Trout farming (Adler Trout Breeding Plant)
45 Forelevaya Street (Cossack Ford village, 12 km towards Krasnaya
Polyana). ✉ ☎ +7 (988) 400-48-16. 200 rub . The largest fishery in
Russia contains 131 trout lakes and 6 more with carp. Guides talk about
trout farming, fish care, feeding, and if desired, you can go fishing.
Rainbow trout are grown for up to 4 years, during which time the fish
gains weight up to 12 kg. You can buy amazing smoked trout at the outlet
store; a small cafe serves freshly caught fish dishes. They get to the
nursery by bus to Krasnaya Polyana (105, 135) — the Trout Farm stop.
3 Akhshtyr cave (in the rock above the trout farm). 160 rubles . The
cave is located at an altitude of 120 m above the level of the Mzymta
River. Somewhere below, the old road to Krasnaya Polyana passes through
a small tunnel, and a new highway is built on the opposite shore and is
also hidden by a tunnel. The cave goes deeper into the mountain for more
than a hundred meters. It begins with a low corridor, behind which there
are two more spacious halls. Panoramic views of Mzymta are also
interesting. A primitive man's campsite was found in the cave. It is
believed that Odysseus fought the Cyclops Polyphemus here, although
according to legend it was on the island and generally not so.
How to
get there: next to the Canyon restaurant in the trout farm there is a
single five-storey building (45 Forelevaya Street). It needs to be
bypassed on the left: at the back of the five-story building there is a
pointer to the cave. A steep and poorly cleared trail about 800 m long
leads up. You can combine a visit to the cave with a "Sky Park", which
is still 300 m up through the forest. By car, go along the Cossack Ford
– Galitsyno road; about halfway there will be a lapel to the cave. Bus
131 from Adler runs along this road once a day.
4 AJ Hackett Sochi
Extreme Entertainment Sky Park (Mzymta Valley one kilometer behind the
trout farm). 10:00 – 17:00. Admission is 1000 rubles, rides are paid
additionally. The suspension bridge at an altitude of 200 meters above
the gorge is claimed to be the highest in Russia. In addition to walking
on the suspension bridge, you can try bungee jumping (one to a depth of
69 m, the other more than twice as deep) and the world's highest swing,
visit the Mowgli rope park or megatrolls, which allows you to fly over
the gorge at speeds up to 150 km/h, as well as an interactive bungee
museum- jumping.
5 Psakho Canyon (20 km north of Adler). A beautiful
gorge of a mountain river, with a waterfall and a yew-boxwood forest.
Wooden decking is laid along the riverbed. It is recommended to visit
the canyon in dry and warm weather: the stones can be very slippery.
A convenient route starts from the Galitsyno—Lesnoye road one kilometer
north of Galitsyno (auth. 131). This is the so-called wet Psaho Canyon.
After walking 1.5-2 km along it, you will also see a dry canyon — a
narrow rocky fault with magnificent mountain vegetation. You can start
or finish the route in the village of Krasnaya Volya in the Khostinsky
district — 4-5 km away along a trail or dirt road.
6 Trinity St.
George Monastery , Lesnoye village (20 km north of Adler). It was
founded in 1999 on the site of an abandoned recreation center. The
monastery buildings are an example of Orthodox architecture at the
beginning of the third millennium, and the trend presented here can be
called radical. For example, the tent church of the icon of the Mother
of God "Semistrelnaya" has seven faces and seven arrow-shaped window
openings according to the number of arrows pierced into the Virgin (this
unusual plot is quite typical for Russian iconography). Also pay
attention to the multi-tiered chapel, inspired by the images of Novgorod
churches. All this is the work of local architect Fedor Afuksenidi.
A
dirt road leads to the village of Lesnoye from Galitsyno (auth. 131).
You can combine a visit to the monastery with the Psakho Canyon.
7
Nameless Waterfall (50 km northeast of Adler). It consists of three
steps with a total height of 75 m and is located in a very picturesque
place on the southern slope of Mount Aibga, on the very border with
Abkhazia. Nameless is comparable in size to Polikar Waterfall, which is
on the opposite side of the mountain from Krasnaya Polyana — only it is
even more difficult to get here. Firstly, this is a border zone, that
is, everyone except residents of Sochi needs a pass. Secondly, the road
to the waterfall (4 km, hardly passable for jeeps) starts from the
village of Aibga, where a long and also not very good road leads from
the most Cheerful, that is, the Abkhazian border crossing (in fact, this
is a continuation of the road to the monkey nursery). An SUV is
recommended. The village itself is a real lost world: it is impossible
to believe that administratively it is still the territory of Sochi. The
few inhabitants of the village will gladly sell you honey or homemade
cheese. Feb 2016 edit
South of Adler there is a border checkpoint to
Abkhazia. Keep in mind that the Veseloye railway station, where trains
to Abkhazia stop, is unsuitable for boarding and disembarking — a ticket
from or to it may be sold to you, but it is located among military
units, and it is problematic to get into the city from it at best.
In the Middle Ages, a Genoese Layso trading post (Liyash [source not
specified 1203 days]) existed on the site of the modern settlement.
Subsequently, the settlement was known as the Abkhazian village of
Laesh.
At the end of the XV century, the Northern Black Sea
region, including the Genoese colonies, was captured by the Ottoman
Empire, which established its dominance in this region for almost four
centuries.
The Russian Fortification of the Holy Spirit was
founded on June 18, 1837, on a vast plain near the mouth of the Mzymta
River. The fortification as part of the Black Sea coastline lasted until
1854.
Before joining the Russian Empire, these lands were under
the administration of the Abkhazian Sadz princely family Ardba. The
princes at the mouth of the river had a pier through which they
conducted trade with Turkey. In Turkish, this area was called Artlar
("islanders", or the proper name "Aler").
After the final
consolidation of the Russian Empire in the Northern Black Sea region in
the 1860s, the name Adler was assigned to the settlement. Adler comes
from a distorted ethnonym of the Dzhigeti family Aryd. After
establishing close relations between the Turks and this tribe, the
former brought them closer to their pronunciation by adding the Turkic
suffix of the plurality "ler/lar" to the base of "Aryd", resulting in
Artler, which means Aredov, i.e. the place of residence of
representatives of the Abkhazian princely family Aryd'ba.
In
1910, the Drachevsky Park (now the Southern Cultures Park) was laid out
in Adler. In 1927, the summer cottage village of Adler was formed, which
seven years later was transformed into a work settlement.
On June
20, 1934, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee decided: "In
connection with the allocation of mountains. Sochi to move the center of
the Sochi district to the village of Adler as an independent
administrative and economic unit, while preserving the former name of
the district."
In 1961, the coastal settlements of Lazarevsky and
Adler rural districts of the Krasnodar Territory were liquidated and,
together with Lazarevsky, it was incorporated into the city limits of
Sochi.
Adler is located in the humid subtropical zone (Cfa according to the Köppen climate classification). Adler's climate is significantly influenced by the sea (it is cooler in summer, it warms in winter) and the mountains (they protect from cold northern winds). The climate is very humid, especially along the coast, and similar to Sochi, is observed in neighboring Abkhazia, as well as in the southeastern United States (Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia). The maximum precipitation falls during the winter period of the year, mainly in the form of rain, less often snow. Winters are warm, summers are hot and humid. Due to the proximity of the sea, high summer temperatures are somewhat adjusted downward and are favorable for nature and humans. This type of climate is suitable for the growth of various subtropical and temperate crops. Since Adler is located on the northern border of the subtropics, frosts and snowfalls are occasionally possible here in winter, but they are extremely rare on the coast and last for one to five days, in some years they are absent altogether. Adler has a long summer (mid—April — October), a moderate autumn (November — January), a short winter (February — mid-March) and a short spring (mid-March - mid-April). In Adler, the daily temperature differences are higher than in Sochi Center, when during the periods of the breakthrough of cold air masses through the Caucasus, the temperature in Adler remains 2-3 ° C higher.
On January 16, 2012, it became known about the complete closure of
the Adler landfill of solid household waste (MSW), which over 50 years
of existence had become obsolete, spoiled the appearance of the resort
and worsened the environmental situation.
On the eve of the Sochi
2014 Olympic Games, 6,700 trees and shrubs were planted on the territory
of the Imereti lowland, and an ornithological park was opened, which has
several clusters throughout the lowland (since 2020 it has been located
on the territory of Sirius village).
In the summer of 2012, the
Adler sewage treatment plant complex was put into operation.
The Adler inner-city district of Sochi, 17 km long along the Black Sea coast, has many different attractions. Adler sanatoriums offer treatment with Adler silt mud, hydrogen sulfide-enriched Matsesta water. The resort has a large number of accommodation facilities, ranging from hostels to large chain hotels.
The largest number of sanatoriums and boarding houses are located
here — Izumrud, Izvestia, Adler-resort resorts, USSR, Zelenaya Gorka,
Orbita, Vesna, Yuzhny and Znanie. This part of the resort has the
largest number of private hotels, bars and cafes, as well as food and
souvenir shops, and the beach is within walking distance.
The
main attractions of the Resort town are: The largest aquarium in the
South of Russia "Sochi Discovery World Aquarium", the famous Adler
Dolphinarium, the Amphibius water park, as well as the Adler pump room
with therapeutic mineral water.
There are many private hotels, inns and large wellness centers in this part of the district, such as the Yuzhnoye Vzmorye sanatorium, the Adler military sanatorium, as well as large shopping and entertainment complexes. The main attraction is the city embankment.
Tourism occupies an important place in Adler's life. The largest
number of tourists come here in summer. Adler has a very convenient
geographical location, which is why many guests of Sochi stay here; from
the center of Adler to the Russian-Abkhazian border about 8 km, to the
center of Sochi — 25 km, and to the ski resorts of Krasnaya Polyana — a
little more than 40 km.
The Olympic Park (since 2020 it has been
located on the territory of Sirius village) has become the most
significant attraction of the entire city of Sochi. In February 2014,
part of the Olympic competitions was held here, the other part at the
ski resorts of Krasnaya Polyana. Major city and international events are
held in the park. Here you can skate in the Olympic ice palaces, attend
the Ilya Averbukh ice performance, participate in sports and
entertainment flash mobs, visit the automobile museum or be a spectator
of Formula 1 at the Sochi Autodrom. In 2018, the Fisht Olympic Stadium
hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Also located in Adler are the
Akhshtyr Gorge, the Adler Trout Farm, the AJ Hackett Sochi Skypark, the
Adler Monkey Nursery, and the Three Sofias Ostrich Farm. The Adler
District History Museum has a large number of exhibits. Opposite the
museum there is a park named after the writer Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, whose
life is connected with the history of Adler. A theatrical performance is
shown at the Mandarin Hall during the summer holiday season.
Adler is home to Sochi International Airport with the Airport railway
terminal.
The most popular transport for moving around the resort
is a taxi, due to the fact that public transport does not go everywhere
and is often crowded, traffic jams are very common. For trips to the
Center of Sochi or Krasnaya Polyana, you can use the Lastochka electric
train, which also takes you to the Airport, the Olympic Park and Tuapse.
Sochi International Airport receives and sends dozens of flights
daily to different cities of the country and abroad, the most popular
domestic routes are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk
and Kazan.
Adler Railway Station is the largest railway station
in the country. It was built according to a special project for the
Sochi Olympic Games, the standard capacity is about 6.5 thousand (up to
25 thousand) passengers per hour, accepts and sends trains to many
Russian cities, the final destination for most fast and passenger trains
of the southern (Sochi) direction, with the exception of those further
to Abkhazia.
The Izvestia bus stop is a station in the Resort
town.
Adler is home to the Orthodox churches of the Holy Trinity and the Holy Spirit. The Armenian Cathedral of St. Sarkis is in operation. In 2014, the Orthodox church of the Miraculous Image of Christ the Savior was consecrated, and since 2020 it has been located on the territory of Sirius village.
Adler is the birthplace of Michael, a character in the TV series "Univer".