You’ve probably seen a selection of the most beautiful places on Earth: azure water in the Maldives, the beaches of White Harbor in Australia, the salt desert in Bolivia. But once you start planning a trip to see this beauty with your own eyes, it becomes clear: the budget for the trip exceeds all reasonable limits. What to do? Choose more economical options!
We have compiled a list of beautiful places, travel to which will not cost too much, and you will get no less impressions than in China or Mexico.
As thought
The length of the trip is the same in all examples – six days, five nights in a hotel. Prices are given without discounts and bonuses, per adult traveler.
We looked for plane and train tickets on our website, and also booked hotels there. Hotels were chosen with ratings above 8 points and in close proximity to the destination.
However, the amount is indicative: the price may change depending on the duration of the trip, time of year and season. It’s better to book hotels and buy tickets in advance, then you can save money.
Up to 20,000 rubles
Ruskeala Mountain Park, Karelia, Russia
Photo: @irimeiff/@gogotova_anna/Instagram.com
Train tickets Moscow – St. Petersburg: from 1016 rubles one way
Tickets for the train St. Petersburg – Sortavala: from 605 rubles one way
Hotel for 1 person for 5 nights in Sortavala: from 3000 rubles
Previously, marble was mined in the quarry, the main attraction of the park, which was used to line many historical buildings in St. Petersburg, including St. Isaac’s Cathedral. In the middle of the 20th century, the quarry was closed and flooded, and today this place is a beautiful artificial pond with marble banks and clear emerald water. On Friday and Saturday evenings the lights are turned on. For those who like to walk around the quarry, there is an excursion trail along which you can walk around the entire park in about an hour and a half.
If you want to get a better look at the beauty, take a boat and sail through the marble grottoes. If you wish, you can go down into the adit – a vertical shaft in which marble was mined. Entrance there is free, without a guide.
It is also worth looking at the Ruskeala failure, which arose in the 60s of the 20th century due to explosions in neighboring quarries. You can go down into the hole using a special rope; the descent will cost 1000 rubles. After descending, you will walk through the tunnel and find yourself in the very center of marble production. Please note that it is cold in the hole: the ice there does not melt even in summer.
Don’t forget to also look at the Ruskeala waterfalls, located two kilometers from the park.
How to get there
There is no direct route from Moscow to Sortavala; you need to go through St. Petersburg (any train or plane will do, but it’s cheaper by train). In St. Petersburg, at the Ladozhsky station, buy tickets for the St. Petersburg – Kostomuksha train; it runs only on Wednesdays and Fridays. You need to get off at Sortavala station.
There is a regular bus from Sortavala to Ruskeala. The destination of this bus is Vyartsil, it has a stop in Ruskeala.
Lake Ritsa, Abkhazia
Photo: @ananas_mango/@insta_abkhazia/Instagram.com
Flights Moscow – Sochi: from 2113 rubles
Hotel for 1 person for 5 nights in Gagra: from 2169 rubles
High mountain lake Ritsa is one of the most famous attractions of Abkhazia. The lake is fabulously beautiful: the greenish water is so clean and transparent that the bottom can be seen as far as 10 meters. True, you can’t swim in the lake: it’s dangerous, and the water is too cold. To admire Ritsa, you can take a catamaran, and special places have been organized for fishing lovers.
On the way to the lake, you will see several more beautiful natural attractions, for example, Blue Lake, the color of which fully corresponds to its name. According to legend, the water reflects the color of the eyes of an old man who lived in a cave nearby. He let the robbers spend the night, who killed him, after which the water acquired a strange hue. And if we put aside the legends, it’s all about lapis lazuli – the blue stone covering the bottom.
The road to Ritsu also has two waterfalls – Maiden’s Tears and Man’s Tears. The first one is very small, just a few streams flowing from the rock. The second one is bigger and higher. You can also visit another waterfall, Gegsky, where the final scene from the Soviet film about Sherlock Holmes was filmed, but you can only get there by SUV.
How to get there
First you need to get to Adler or Sochi – regular flights fly there from Moscow. If possible, it is most convenient to take a car or taxi further – there is no public transport from Adler to the lake. Another option is a sightseeing bus, a ticket for which will cost 800-1000 rubles.
If you want to get there cheaper and by public transport, you will have to go from the Abkhaz city of Gagra. You can also stay there for the night. In summer, a train runs from Adler to Gagra three times a day. Travel time is about two hours. Minibuses or tourist buses go from Gagra to the lake. Regular public transport does not go there. And the most convenient way, of course, is to go by car. The road to Ritsa goes along the gorge of a mountain river, so it is no less beautiful than the lake itself.
Another option is to take bus No. 173 to Sochi, which stops directly opposite the airport exit. It will take you to the border (Psou),
where you will go through passport control, and after the checkpoint you will see in the parking lot many passenger buses and minibuses that take tourists to Gagra and other resort towns.
Up to 30,000 rubles
Oludeniz, Turkey
Photo: @birhayalinpesinde/@lena_bazhenich/Instagram.com
Flights Moscow – Dalaman: from 11695 rubles
Hotel for 1 person for 5 nights in Oludeniz: from 4501 rubles
The Oludeniz resort, whose name translates from Turkish as “dead sea,” is nothing like its Israeli counterpart. The Turkish Sea is alive, bright and incredibly picturesque, and the word “dead” in the name in this case is used to mean “calm”. People come here to swim in the lagoon, lie on the white sand beach and paraglide from Mount Babadag, which towers above the resort village. To the south of the village there is a nature reserve and a beautiful secluded bay.
The beaches in Oludeniz are sand and pebble: there is sand near the sunbeds, and large round pebbles near the water. These beaches are considered the most beautiful in Turkey, receive Blue Flags and are regularly included in ratings of the best beaches in the world – and no wonder. The sea here is an unrealistic bright turquoise-blue color, and the nature around is amazing in its beauty. There are three beaches in total – Belcekiz, Laguna and Kidrak. The longest is Belcekiz, and the most popular is Laguna, which turns into a sand spit. There is a protected area on the spit, and the beaches in the depths of the bay are private, some of them belong to hotels.
The National Park and Blue Lagoon attract many tourists. The reserve is surrounded by pine trees, and in the lagoon itself the water is very salty, clean and so warm that you can swim here even in winter. It is quite shallow and there are no waves – an ideal place for families with small children.
How to get there
During the holiday season, charters fly from Moscow to Dalaman. There are also regular flights via Istanbul.
You can get from Dalaman to Oludeniz by public transport only through the city of Fethiye. First you need to get on the bus (flights are operated by Havas and Muttas). The flight schedule is usually adjusted to the aircraft arrival schedule. The bus stop is located at the entrance to the terminal. The ticket will cost 4 euros, the travel time is a little over an hour.
In Fethiye, the bus will drop you off at the bus station, but to Oludeniz you need to go not from there, but from the Erast shopping center, which is located nearby. Dolmushi minibuses leave from the center to the resort every 15-20 minutes. For 2 euros and 25 minutes of travel, this Turkish minibus will take you to Oludeniz.
Seven Rila Lakes, Bulgaria
Photo: @best.of.bulgaria/Instagram.com
Flights Moscow – Sofia: from 8972 rubles
Hotel for 1 person for 5 nights in the vicinity of the Rila National Park: from 3018 rubles
The natural pearl of Bulgaria, the high-mountain Rila Lakes are located at an altitude of 2100-2500 meters above sea level. The landscape around is unearthly: not too much greenery, mostly mountains – and, of course, clear water in which the sky is reflected. The lakes are glacial, so the water is very cold: you won’t be able to hold your hand for even a minute. In general, there is no question of swimming.
The park has several trekking routes, both long and one-day. You can easily walk around all the lakes in a day. The main system of Rila lakes includes seven – Rybnoe, Dolgoe, Trefoil, Gemini, Kidney, Eye and Tear. Tear is the highest and purest, the water is so clear that it allows you to see far into the depths. Lake Eye is a perfect oval shape. Lake Pochka is shaped like this organ, and its shores are the steepest of all the lakes in the group. Gemini is the largest lake in the park. The shamrock also has this name because of its shape; This is the lake with the lowest banks. The smallest lake is Rybnoye, and the lowest lake is Nizhneye. Water flowing from other lakes collects in it, and the German River originates.
Beyond the lakes lies the way up to the mountains. In 8-9 hours you can walk along it to the Rila Monastery.
How to get there
There are regular flights from Moscow to Sofia, but the further path is not easy: the Rila Lakes are not a popular tourist destination, and you will have to make transfers to get to them by public transport.
The most convenient way is to travel by train. At Sofia Central Station, take a ticket to Dupnitsa. There are 9 trains departing there every day. From Dupnitsa you will need to get to Sapareva Bani by bus, and from there find a ride or a taxi to Panichishte – this is the closest settlement to Rila Park.
You can immediately take a bus from Sofia to Sapareva Bani, but it runs only once a day.
The most convenient way to get to the lakes themselves is by chairlift from the Pionerskaya hut, which is located not far from Panichishche. The lift operates from 9:00 to 18:00; it is advisable to return to the descent by 17:00. The lift takes about half an hour to get to the lakes. You can also walk, but a couple of kilometers to the lakes will take several hours.
Up to 40,000 rubles
Lake Bled, Slovenia
Photo: @mamanacestach/@weawayagain/Instagram.com
Flights Moscow – Ljubljana: from 12028 rubles
Hotel for 1 person for 5 nights in Bled: from 9261 rubles
Lake Bled is located at the foot of the Julian Alps at an altitude of 500 meters above sea level. It is fed by hot springs, but the water here is not too warm: in summer it warms up to a maximum of +24°C. However, there are plenty of swimmers here during the season (from July to September). There are two city beaches on the lake – equipped (entrance opposite the Park Hotel) and unequipped (opposite the Villa Bled Hotel).
Water from the springs is also supplied to hotel pools, so in addition to the beauty of nature, you can get a full-fledged spa treatment. In the middle of the lake there is a picturesque artificial island with a real medieval church.
The nature here seems untouched by civilization: the lake is crystal clear and surrounded by forests. Tourists come mainly to thermal resorts and to see the sights of the town, but there is something to do in Bled for lovers of active recreation. In cold winters, the lake becomes a huge natural skating rink, and in the summer you can rent a boat or canoe, go fishing, ride a bike along the shores, or play tennis. There is even a golf club here, which is considered one of the best in Europe. It is open from March to November.
How to get there
Several regular flights fly from Moscow to Ljubljana all year round. The city of Bled, located on the lake of the same name, is located just 32 kilometers from Ljubljana airport, and if you take a taxi or rent a car, the journey will take only 25-30 minutes.
Public transport to Bled has transfers. At the airport you will need to take a bus to the town of Kranj, and then from Kranj change to a bus to Bled. Buses on both parts of the route run every hour, the entire journey will take about an hour, excluding transfers and waiting time.
If you are traveling to the lake from Ljubljana, you can choose a bus or train. Both types of transport go to Bled without transfers.
Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
Photo: Razvan Ionut Dragomirescu/Shutterstock.com
Flight Moscow – Zagreb: from 6013 rubles
Hotel for 1 person for 5 nights in the Plitvice Lakes region: from 9080 rubles
Plitvice National Park is one of the most beautiful natural attractions in Europe. In 1979, this forest complex and a system of 16 interconnected lakes were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The lakes are famous for their amazing colors – from azure to green, gray and blue. The colors constantly change depending on the amount of minerals and microorganisms in the water, the weather and the angle of the sun’s rays. You cannot swim in the lakes, and this somewhat disappoints tourists, but it leaves the water in pristine purity.
There are 8 walking routes in the park, which differ in length and complexity. The shortest is only 3.5 kilometers, and the longest is 18.3 kilometers. The optimal route C is 8 kilometers long and can be completed in 4-6 hours. It starts from Entrance 1 and includes a trip across the lake on an electric ferry and back to the start on a panoramic bus. Along the way you will see all the main attractions: the canyons of the Upper and Lower Lakes, waterfalls, including the largest Great Falls at 78 meters high, and caves.
The price of entry to the park depends on the season and how many days you purchase a ticket for. The park is huge, so it’s best to spend a couple of days here. A ticket for 2 days in high season (July 1 – August 31) costs 400 kuna, or almost 4000 rubles.
How to get there
Plitvice Lakes are located quite far from the usual tourist places in Croatia. The most convenient way to get to them is from Zagreb, which is easily accessible from Moscow by plane.
From Zagreb airport you need to get to the bus station by bus, and then transfer to a bus to the lakes (carrier Autotrans). The schedule and prices can be viewed in advance on the bus station website. 10-20 flights depart daily in the direction of the reserve (the number depends on the season). The journey will take about two and a half hours.
Ask the driver to stop at the entrance to the National Park in advance, otherwise you will have to walk quite a long way from the stop.
Convenient website for booking hotels – OneTwoTrip.
