You can relax in Sochi in different ways. Option one – as was customary with our parents: lie on the city beach in a dense ring of lazy sunbathers, take a photo with a parrot and go on a boat trip, eat hot corn for the year ahead, spend the day in a water park and buy unnecessary trinkets in a shopping center. Or you can relax like in sunny California – modern, stylish and with drive. Today we will tell you how.
Park instead of air conditioning
In summer, Sochi is literally surrounded by greenery, and when the sun is especially hot, it is better and more pleasant to hide in the cool shade of trees than to lock yourself in an air-conditioned room. There are many parks in the city, but I especially want to highlight, firstly, “Potseluevsky Square” near the central registry office. The name speaks for itself – you should go here to walk hand in hand along the shady alleys, find a secluded bench and sneak a kiss. Well, the Sochi Arboretum is perfect for a long and educational walk. The huge botanical garden with an area of 49 hectares is divided into two levels: the Upper Park and the Lower Park, which are connected by a funicular. The Upper Park offers panoramic views of the city, and in the Lower Park you can go to the aquarium and sit by the pond with water lilies. The living beauty of various plants from all over the world is emphasized by architectural structures: rotundas, gazebos and sculpture ensembles. Entrance ticket costs 250 rubles.
Bicycle instead of a bus
Taking a taxi at the resort is expensive, and from the inexpensive means of transportation it is better to choose the most environmentally friendly one, especially since the city has all the conditions for this. There are many private bicycle rental points where you can rent a simple model for the day for 200-300 rubles or a fancy one with an electric motor for 1000 rubles. On the long, long embankment there is a dedicated path for those on wheels, and there are many of them here: in Sochi they ride bicycles, skateboards, longboards and scooters, whatever they prefer. Join the movement, put on a straw hat and glasses with colored lenses and drive along the sea towards the slanting rays of the setting sun.
Sea waves instead of sea walks
You can’t walk past the seaport of Sochi without hearing ten offers to take a boat trip “right now”, “inexpensively”, “with champagne” and “with music”. But you still pass by the barkers straight to the Burevestnik Group piers. A wakesurfing school has been operating there since last year, meaning you can ride behind a boat on a wave. If you haven’t done this before, it’s okay, the instructors will show you and explain what’s what. A boat with all surfing equipment and an instructor costs 8,000 rubles per hour, so it is better to join groups of 4 people, firstly, for the sake of economy, and, secondly, 15 minutes of riding is enough for your legs to get tired and your brain to be filled with serotonin from the bright sun, warm salty water and almost real surfing.
Do not follow, but explore
The entire city coast of Sochi is a long pebble beach with sun loungers, umbrellas, and thousands of tourists. At the height of the season, the phrase “there’s nowhere for the apple to fall” is not an exaggeration. Instead of experiencing discomfort from crowds of people, it is proposed to get a double dose of pleasure from a trip along the picturesque serpentine road and searching for wild beaches. If you rent a car and move northwest towards Tuapse, right outside the city a highway will begin, running along the sea on one side and the forest on the other. The road either climbs up the rocks – there you will come across observation platforms on cliffs with panoramic views, then descends to sea level – and this is where you need to look for exits and run for a swim on a wild beach. It will be no less exciting to go on a similar journey by train – the railway also runs along the coast, passes through picturesque places and stops at small stations a stone’s throw from the sea. For those who are interested, in a place called Loo, which is about forty minutes from the center of Sochi, there is a semi-wild nudist beach.
Interesting excursions from local residents in Sochi
Free dolphins instead of a dolphinarium
There are a lot of dolphins living in the waters of Sochi. Unfortunately, some of them were unlucky – they were caught, perhaps rescued, but not released. Be that as it may, there are also many dolphinariums in Sochi, but #Sochifornia is for those who value their freedom and respect the freedom of others. See dolphins in their natural habitat, just spend a lot of time somewhere on a pier or promenade away from the seaport and you are sure to see a few blackbacks with large fins. The time you spend staring out at the sea and watching them play carefree will give you more positive emotions than watching memorized tricks in the pool.
Don’t forget about the details
I would especially like to note how the street food genre is developing in Sochi. Cold kvass and corn, of course, have not gone away, but now their rows have been diluted by stylized surf eateries with cool grilled sandwiches and trendy mobile coffee shops SURF COFFEE, equipped in old-school vans, here, for example, you can get a large mango latte and lime-coconut handmade chocolate. What a pleasure it is to search and buy the ripest fruits and herbs at local markets, just take a canvas bag with you for them so as not to hoard plastic bags.
Perhaps some tips will seem obvious to you, and some little things will seem insignificant, but they are the ones that create the impression of a vacation and they are the ones that teleport you from Sochi to Sochifornia!
