Colorful Rostov-on-Don is drowning in the aromas of mulberries. A pleasant itinerary for several days through cozy parks, fashionable places and historical locations can be found here, here and here. If you’ve already visited everything in the city, it’s time for easy day trips in search of fishing shanties, a theme park, a Soviet bunker and many other unusual locations. For such trips, it is better to choose a car to save time and get to the most beautiful places. Renting a car on OneTwoTrip in Rostov-on-Don will cost 3,400 rubles* per day.
The cost of an air ticket from Moscow to Rostov-on-Don starts from 4600 rubles* per person round trip.
Where to stay in Rostov-on-Don
Hotel “Old Rostov” – from 1900 rubles* per night per person;
Radisson Blu Rostov-on-Don – from 7700 rubles* per night per person;
Bla Bla Hostel – from 450 rubles* per night per person.
Day one: journey towards Aksai
Photo: Rost.galis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aksai is a small town about 30 km from Rostov-on-Don. We leave the city along Sholokhov Avenue, which turns into Aksaisky near our destination, and then turn towards Aksai. The journey will take no more than 30 minutes. In the city we find Grushevskaya Street, where a fortress with a customs outpost of the 18th century is located. Let’s walk through a network of basements with casemates and cells for seized property. And then we’ll sit in the gazebo on the shore of the pond and take pictures in the weeping willows. The customs house is the only remaining part of the fortress of St. Demetrius of Rostov, the most powerful of the southern fortifications, from which the name of the city of Rostov-on-Don came.
Inspection time: 40 minutes. Entrance: 150 rubles*.
On the next street let’s look at Aksai Military History Museum — there is a army equipment.But the main attention is immediately drawn to a unique underground bunker to protect the Soviet commander’s headquarters from nuclear attacks. You can only walk through the giant abandoned labyrinths made of concrete and metal with a guide. Therefore, it is beneficial to take a comprehensive ticket for all exhibitions.
Time for inspection: one and a half hours. Entrance with excursion: 270 rubles*.
From Aksay we reach Starocherkasskaya in 25 minutes. The center of the historical capital of the Don Cossacks has the status of a historical and architectural museum-reserve. See the palace of the Efremov atamans, the Military Resurrection Cathedral, the fortress house of Kondraty Bulavin, several more colorful buildings and a modern recreation park. Local restaurants serve Don specialties: fish, cheese, liqueurs and teas.
Time with inspection of the palace exhibition: two and a half hours. Entrance to the palace: 260 rubles*.
City Novocherkassk 36 km from the old capital, founded by Ataman Platov and proclaimed the world capital of the Cossacks. The historical center is rich in ancient Cossack mansions. It is worth visiting the grandiose Ascension Cathedral with its solemn blue and gold interiors.
The return to Rostov-on-Don will take an hour and a half. We’ll end the evening with a walk to the legendary restroom on Gazetny Lane. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a cafe here, where the futurist poet Velimir Khlebnikov read poetry. Then the room changed its status several times, becoming a public catering facility for a while, but this did not in any way affect the exhibitions that regularly take place here. And in the neighboring yard, nicknamed “Draft”, rappers gathered and the group “Casta” was formed. You will be able to dine spectacularly in the interior restaurant “Society of the Well-Fed”.
Day two: journey towards Taganrog
This is the longest and most intense route, so it is better to leave early. You will get to the first stop – Archaeological Museum-Reserve “Tanais” – in 50 minutes.
Photo: Kolidzei/shutterstock.com
Visitors to the complex can walk along wooden platforms directly above the excavations of the ancient city from the times of the Bosporan Kingdom.
Inspection time:hour Entrance: from 110 rubles*.
Photo: Vladislav Sinelnikov/shutterstock.com
After 30 minutes along the highway towards Taganrog – stop at Sambek Heights. The modern military-historical museum complex of the Great Patriotic War combines a memorial of Glory, a memory lane, an exhibition and a garden. Instrumental music can be heard in the space, complementing the grandiose atmosphere of the place.
Time with the museum: hour. Entrance: from 110 rubles*.
We drive past Taganrog and make several short stops. Twenty minutes later – the ramparts of Pavlovsk Fortress on the Gaevka farm with views of the Miussky Estuary. Another half hour along the North-Western Highway – the pseudo-Gothic Lakiera estate in the village of Zolotaya Kosa, from where dizzying romantic views of the Taganrog Bay open up. On the way back to Taganrog along the road along the coast – Petrushinskaya Death Beam — sad, devoid of any pathos, this memorial preserves the memory of the victims of the Nazis among the Jewish population.
Inspection time: two and a half hours.
On a city tour of Taganrog we visit the observation deck with a view of the work of dock cranes in the port, at home of A.P. Chekhov and Faina Ranevskaya and go down the famous Stone stairs to the embankment. And at sunset we climb into the fishing slums – Bogudonia. Once upon a time, poachers fled from here, leaving their dilapidated houses and fragile boats in the rocks. Today, the area, tangled in the remains of fishing gear, is being washed out to sea. A unique place, with atmospheric angles, will captivate you for at least an hour.
Time for the entire walk: from three hours.
The return to Rostov-on-Don will take two hours. The evening can be spent at an exhibition of contemporary art or a performance at the art center Makaronka. And go down to the river along the streets with one-story houses. Quick dinner – inexpensive and satisfying Chinese food from Kannam Chicken on Beregovaya, 12.
Day three: journey towards Azov
Nice and cozy Azov is located about 40 km along the Western Highway from Rostov-on-Don. All attractions are located within walking distance of each other. We will definitely visit the modern interactive Azovsky museum-reserve, which displays the remains of ancient animals, and also tells about the main milestones in the development of the region.
Photo: VPales/shutterstock.com
Time for inspection: hour. Entrance: 160 rubles*.
Photo: VPales/wikimedia.org
Then we will look into the Powder magazine from the time of Peter I, where the historical situation is recreated, and we will climb the fortress rampart of the Azov semi-bastion , from the height of which the river valley is visible. Alas, the 15th-century fortress that provided Russia with access to the Sea of Azov has been destroyed. But the museum reconstructed several objects here.
Time for both objects: hour. Entrance: cellar – 80 rubles*, fortress – 30 rubles*.
It’s nice to spend the middle of the day walking along the sandy beaches Taganrog Bay, what located on Pavlo-Ochakovskaya Spit an hour’s drive from Azov.
On the way back at the entrance to Rostov-on-Don, you can stop near the expressive equestrian sculpture Tachanka-Rostovchanka and visit the significant WWII memorial “Kumzhenskaya Grove.” And if you have time, get acquainted with the Cossack life in the neighboring ethnocomplex “Kumzha”. Dinner at the restaurant “Crayfish and Reptiles” will allow you to appreciate the famous Rostov delicacy.
Time: from an hour. Admission: free.
Day four: journey towards Moscow
We move along the highway until the turn to the city of Belaya Kalitva. Before reaching it, we turn according to the navigator into the field onto the well-worn road to the mountain Two Sisters. Spectacular views are guaranteed: from the top of a high, steep cliff you can see a panorama of a green valley through which a blue river winds.
After 65 km, near the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky there is a landscape park “Loga”. A large-scale thematic space was built by a Rostov businessman using his own funds. Now on the site of the old landfill there is a huge castle, waterfalls, singing fountains, a zoo and hundreds of characters from fairy tales and fantasy. A river flows through the park, and cafes and entertainment are organized on the fortress walls.
Entrance: free.
And in the evening in Rostov-on-Don you need to go down into the underground passage on Budenovsky Prospekt in the Central Market area to look at a unique mosaic of scenes from “Quiet Don”.
*Prices valid at time of publication
Preview photo: Yuliya Shauerman/shutterstock.com
