Today we bring to your attention a gulbari from Tatyana Perova himera2102. And we will walk around “little Greece”, which is better known as the village of Vityazevo! Well, let's take a look at Anapa.
— I’ll say right away that when traveling with a three-year-old child, you feel like you’re in a fairy tale, because the first thing that catches your eye is the characters of cartoons, fairy tales, amusement parks, knightly tournaments, zoos, etc. But I will try to combine modern Anapa, fairy-tale characters and ancient Gorgippia, so don’t judge strictly!
That’s how the stars aligned... and Vanyusha and I took me to the “Pearl of the Black Sea” - Anapa, and specifically to its part, the village of Vityazevo. We went by train, the time there took 30.5 hours from the Moskovsky railway station in Tula to the Anapa railway station, located in Dzhemete, and 10 minutes from it to the guest house in Vityazevo. The train back took longer - 32 hours.
There are plenty of guest houses, hotels, and sanatoriums in the small village to suit every taste, color and price. It was like that for us.
How it happened that Vityazevo is considered small Athens, I had a hard time imagining, but I still imagined it.
Now I will try to convey to you all the love of the residents for their native land.
I'll start with a little history, otherwise we simply won't find a connection between the 17-kilometer coastline and Greece. But there is a connection! And it came to us already from the 4th century BC.
Anapa is a city founded on the ruins of the first Greek settlement in the Northern Black Sea region, namely the city of the Greeks - Gorgippia. This settlement was formed on the coast of Anapa Bay at the beginning of the Great Colonization of the Black Sea coast by the Greeks. It all started with him. The Greeks settled here so well that they still make up 70% of the population, and their descendants build houses, embankments, and hotels in their own style. This was reflected in the image of villages and cities in Anapa Bay. But despite all the beauty of individual buildings, there is no common image of cities and towns, moreover, there is no unity in the most beautiful streets. Even “little Athens” - Vityazevo, where they at least somehow tried to make the embankment and the path to it in the Greek style, is far from an example to follow. They are trying, building and erecting new buildings, but so far they lack a common... unified... whole. Therefore, I had to photograph individual houses, which were often quite far from each other.
When is the best time to go?
The climate at the resort is moderate. According to reviews from vacationers, the weather in Vityazevo is warm in winter—the temperature stays above zero. The beach season begins in May and ends at the end of September. Most tourists come to the Black Sea in July and August.
Weather in Vityazevo in high season:
- June - air temperature +25...+26°С, water temperature +22...+23°С
- July – air temperature +28…+29°С, water temperature +24…+25°С
- August – air temperature +29…+33°С, water temperature +26…+27°С
- September - air temperature +24...+25°С, water temperature +23...+24°С.
Advice . If you don’t like crowds of holidaymakers and can’t stand the heat, relax in Vityazevo in June, late August or September.
Irina Yashchenko: “May is the beginning of the tourist season, there are few vacationers. The water is cool but clear. I swam with my baby every day.”
- How to get to Anapa
- How to go south by car
Sunset in Vityazevo. Photo: Mika Stetsovski / flickr.com / CC BY 2.0.
How to get there
The village of Vityazevo is located 12 km north of the beautiful resort town of Anapa. From the north it is washed by the Vityazevsky Estuary , and on the eastern side the village is surrounded by thousands of hectares of vineyards.
Buses and minibuses run regularly in the Anapa-Vityazevo direction. Travel time is about 30 minutes. The route of the regular bus passes through the longest street in Anapa - Pionersky Prospekt.
In the summer months, the following services run from Vityazevo to different areas of Anapa:
- bus number 23,
- minibuses No. 23, 114, 128.
The main street in Vityazevo runs along the beach to the highway leading to the airport and is called “Chernomorskaya”. There are many small shops and large shopping centers where you can buy everything you need.
Paralia is home to cafes, restaurants, discos and nightclubs. The embankment is the center of evening and night life in Vityazevo.
Tips for choosing housing
Presentable 3-4* hotels are located in the center of the village and cost from 3,500 rubles per day. According to reviews from vacationers, you can live inexpensively in Vityazevo in guest houses, recreation centers and in the private sector. Prices for double rooms in a simple guest house start from 700 rubles per day. For accommodation with breakfast they ask from 1300 rubles.
It’s hard to find hotels locally - book your accommodation on Hotelluk in advance. This will be more reliable and profitable, because he is looking for discounts on different sites. Find out how to book a hotel for less.
Photos of rooms and apartments that are posted on the Internet often do not correspond to reality. When booking, ask the owner to give you an online tour, for example, via WhatsApp, and unnecessary questions will disappear by themselves. To avoid buying a pig in a poke, look for private accommodation on Sutochno.ru - this is a convenient and reliable service with real photos and reviews from tourists. There you can rent an apartment, room or house directly from the owners.
When booking accommodation, do not trust that “the sea is 5-10 minutes on foot.” Vityazevo was built away from the coast, so it is quite far from private buildings to the beaches. Calculate distance and time yourself using interactive maps.
The center is quite noisy, but the private buildings are very quiet and peaceful.
Near Vityazevo there is a salty estuary with healing mud. Some tourists go there to make appliques. We do not recommend renting housing near the estuary. It is far from the sea, and there is an unpleasant smell.
- Private sector in Vityazevo
- Private sector in Anapa
Hotel "Aurora" in Vityazevo (Photo: booking.com / Hotel Aurora)
Anapa Oceanarium photo
Conger eel in a large aquarium:
And this is a crab among seaweed:
The Anapa Oceanarium is located in the cultural and entertainment marine complex, which opened in 2010 in the center of Pionersky Prospekt.
Black Sea sharks:
In the dolphinarium you can watch performances of dolphins, walruses and fur seals.
The aquarium contains representatives of marine fauna - sharks, rays, fish, crabs and other inhabitants of the world's oceans.
The Black Sea is the warmest sea in Russia. On the surface, the water temperature throughout the year ranges from +6°C in winter to +26°C and warmer in summer. The area of the Black Sea is 413 thousand square meters. km, maximum depth is 2212 meters, but only the upper layer up to 200 m deep contains marine life. Below in the sea depths live only bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide.
The waters of the Black Sea are home to about 2,000 species of fauna - from the simplest to mammals. There are 180 species of fish, including horse mackerel, flounder, katran shark, mullet, sturgeon, red mullet, sea dragon, blenny and others.
Blenny fish:
Sea catfish:
In the Black Sea there live 3 species of dolphins out of 48 known - the bottlenose dolphin, the Azov dolphin and the white-sided dolphin. The warm waters of the Black Sea are home to about 200 species of mollusks, the most common are rapana and mussels, 3 types of jellyfish, crabs, and shrimp.
Sea cat fish:
In the underwater world of the Black Sea there are about 100 species of plants, some useful edible ones, as well as poisonous ones. Agar-agar is obtained from red algae - this is a valuable product for confectioners.
The Anapa resort is a wonderful children's and family resort in Russia, one of the best on the Black Sea coast, one of the largest resorts on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus.
Reviews of hotels Vityazevo
“Emerald” 3*: “Great - large area, two swimming pools.” Vadim.
Holiday: “We have never been greeted so hospitably anywhere before. The location is excellent, everything is within walking distance, the sea is a 10-minute walk.” Veronica.
“Constantinople” 3*: “Advantages: wet cleaning every day, cozy room with a balcony. Your own beach, sun loungers. Playroom for children, clean swimming pool.” Olesya.
“Chernomorsky”: “There is a shady pine yard with a swing, a lot of roses, a closed area, you can let the child go alone. The pool is clean, the area is well maintained.” Anna.
“Venus Resort” 4*: “A good option for a holiday with small children - it’s very close to the sea, there is a swimming pool with a shallow section for children.” Moscow.
“Aurora” 4*: “I liked absolutely everything! I recommend it for a family relaxing holiday. The food is excellent, the room is clean and there is everything, right down to sockets near the bed.” Valeriy.
Excursions and entertainment
There are two amusement parks in the village with prices ranging from 150 to 250 rubles. While vacationing with children in Vityazevo, visit the Dolphinarium and Olympia water park, go to Anapa and get acquainted with the sights of the large resort.
The infrastructure of the village is completely focused on tourists. The central streets are bustling with activity. In restaurants near the Paralia shopping and entertainment street, the music does not stop until 2-3 am. There are many retail outlets, food stalls with fruits and places where kebabs are prepared everywhere.
According to reviews from vacationers, excursions to the mud volcanoes of Taman, the African Village, the Lion's Head Castle, Dobrodeya Park and the Bolshoy Utrish Nature Reserve are popular from Vityazevo.
Guest: “The excursion to the Angel Wing waterfall is very beautiful, like all the local waterfalls.”
Anonymous: “A sightseeing tour of Anapa is conveniently like “galloping across Europe.” In one day, everyone saw what they wanted.”
Water park "Olympia" in Vityazevo (Photo: olympia-anapa.ru)
Road to Bolshoi Utrish
Bolshoi Utrish is a peninsula, a cape with a former fishing village, as well as a nearby island on which a lighthouse is installed.
You can get here by minibus or car. Bolshoi Utrish is located 15 km south of Anapa.
Here, in the foothills of the Caucasus, there is the Utrish Nature Reserve with unique forests that create a healthy climate in the Anapa resort - one hectare of relict juniper releases up to 30 kg of volatile substances that kill the staphylococcal bacillus, disinfect, purify the sea air of the Anapa resort and the surrounding area, which has a very beneficial, healing effect on vacationers.
There is a cozy pebble beach with a gentle entry into the sea, clean sea water. There are cafes and a local market in the village.
Many vacationers come to the reserve by the sea. You can rent a catamaran, scooter, scuba gear.
Bolshoi Utrish beach photo:
Entrance to Bolshoy Utrish by private car is paid, there is parking for cars:
You can also get here from the pier in the center of Anapa by boat, combining a boat trip with a visit to the Utrish Dolphinarium, where Black Sea bottlenose dolphins and fur seals show tricks in the water and give children boat rides.
Next to the dolphinarium there is an Aquarium, the exhibits of which are caught directly from the sea. In huge aquariums with a capacity of several hundred liters with clear sea water, the real life of the inhabitants of the Black Sea is presented.
