Gurzuf

General information

Gurzuf - a small urban-type settlement on the Black Sea coast on the southern coast of Crimea, 12 kilometers from Yalta (Gurzuf on the map of Crimea. Here, on an area of 5 km2, a little more than 8,900 people live. For several years the village belongs to Greater Yalta.

Having emerged in the VI century as a powerful fortress, Gurzuf in our time has become one of the most famous Crimean resorts, primarily because of the world-famous International Children's Center "Artek" (in Soviet times, the Pioneer Camp "Artek"). But Gurzuf is visited not only by children, and there are plenty of places and activities for adult tourists.

Rest in Gurzuf

The main thing for which most tourists go to Gurzuf is clean air, saturated with coniferous aroma, and many small pebble beaches. The village is suitable for almost any holiday, but it is worth considering some features of both the local service sector and the gurzuf landscape.

Mountainous terrain, often found large pebbles on the beaches, as well as the lack of shallow water – all this is not very suitable for the rest of elderly tourists and parents with young children. Unfortunately, the height differences between the beach and residential areas in Gurzuf are quite large, and accommodation on the first line from the beach is out of the question. Wherever you stay, you will in any case have to overcome the maze of streets and a considerable height difference. But worse is that back to the hotel/accommodation will have to climb up under the scorching sun, and when you get to the place of residence, you will again want to plunge into the cool water.

But this is perhaps the only inconvenience of the resort is more than compensated by its advantages and does not prevent you from having fun and interesting time in Gurzuf. The atmosphere of the tourist area of the village is different from most resorts of Crimea, and some tourists are called romantic or compared to Europe. Indeed, narrow cobbled streets and almost European architecture, many shops and cafes in the labyrinths create a completely different mood, especially during evening walks. By the way, along the beach there is a pedestrian street and an embankment, where it is very pleasant to walk in the evenings. And Gurzuf is distinguished by a large amount of greenery and the presence of parks.

Several sanatoriums are waiting for fans of recreational recreation. Only you need to take into account the fact that the service and treatment in them is often worse than what the websites of these institutions promise. Young people can easily find entertainment for themselves in Gurzuf. These are primarily two small disco bars on the embankment, a night club and one of the largest Crimean discos "Iguana". But all this is not enough to call the resort youth. For passionate fans of scuba diving in the village there are two diving centers, far from being characterized as modern and well equipped.

In general, Gurzuf is perfect as a holiday destination for parents with teenage children, young people and adult tourists.

Gurzuf Beaches

There are no sandy beaches in Gurzuf, only pebbles. There are no shallow beaches for the youngest children, and basically the depth begins immediately, and after 3-5 meters the water already reaches the chest. Gurzuf beaches are equipped with everything necessary for recreation: there are changing rooms, toilets (for a fee), rental of sun loungers and umbrellas. A lot of traditional beach Entertainments are offered. Sparsely populated in the high season they can not be called. There is an embankment along the public beaches (Pushkin embankment, embankment on the map), where it is pleasant to walk in the evenings, and there is almost all the tourist infrastructure and entertainment of the village.

The entire coast of the village is divided into short and narrow pebble beaches by breakwaters, rocks and cliffs. Almost all of them belong to some sanatorium, hotel or boarding house, but access is basically not limited. i.e. there are no big problems with getting to the shore, as, for example, in the neighboring village of Parthenite.

However, the north-eastern part of the village is almost entirely occupied by children's camps, and accordingly access to them is limited (beaches with limited access are marked on our map of Gurzuf in red). This is all the coast from the center along Leningradskaya Street. Only one beach in this part is available for visiting – Gurzuf stones (aka Gurov stones, Beach on the map). This beach is almost not equipped and there is no infrastructure except for a couple of cafes, but it is much less crowded.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the beach of Chekhov or "Chekhov". This is a small rocky beach in the Bay in the area of the attraction "Chekhov House Museum", and you can get to it by buying a ticket to visit the courtyard and Chekhov Bay for 60 rubles. This place is not particularly convenient, because here even the coast is rocky and there is nowhere to lie down for sunbathing, but the water is considered the cleanest in Gurzuf. The beach closes along with the museum at 19 hours.

Attractions and entertainments in Gurzuf

Although Gurzuf itself can not surprise vacationers with a variety of historical and cultural structures, not so far from the resort there are several famous attractions, where fascinating excursions are organized. First of all, this is the Livadia Palace, AI-Petri - a famous mountain with a viewing platform located on it, the Massandra winery and the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. If desired, vacationers can get to all these places on their own, since they are all located in Greater Yalta. You can also go to Yalta itself and get acquainted with its sights. In Gurzuf itself, the doors of three houses-museums are open for guests of the resort: artist K. Korovin, writers A. Pushkin and A. Chekhov (see the sights of Gurzuf, what to see).

The infrastructure in the village is well developed, including tourist. There is even a tourist area formed by the embankment and pedestrian street (a section of Leningradskaya Street is closed to traffic). There are plenty of cafes, canteens and restaurants in the village. Most of them are located on or near the waterfront. Among the most visited establishments: "Venice" and "sommelier" – restaurants offering fine Italian dishes, as well as "Tavern" – a cozy dining room known for home cooking. Catamaran, billiards, water skiing, horse riding, fishing and many hours of hiking on the trails of Ayu-Dag, a nearby mountain, are the entertainments that are available in Gurzuf for every vacationer.

Children's Entertainments here, oddly enough, are almost nonexistent. With children you can have fun on the beach; on the embankment you can rent children's cars and the simplest attractions; on the beach itself there are inflatable slides, rides on bananas and catamarans, but it is better to go with children for entertainment in Yalta.

Shopping in Gurzuf is not particularly developed: there is not a single shopping center here. You can buy the most necessary in one of the small local shops or in tourist shops, but for serious shopping it is better to go to Yalta.

Accommodation and hotels

Guests of the resort will not be difficult to choose a place where you can stay for all the rest. There are more than 20 hotels, mini-hotels, villas, apartments and guest houses for them, and even more are offered in the private sector. The price range allows you to find both a budget and an expensive option. The most comfortable conditions are offered by "Villa Michel", "Onegin Terrace" and Familiya– three luxurious, not cheap hotels. Accommodation in local sanatoriums, private sector or boarding houses is less comfortable, but noticeably cheaper. "Gurzufsky" and "Pushkino" - sanatoriums, which are most often chosen by vacationers. Of the boarding houses, preference is given to the "sea breeze". The cheapest option is to rent a room in the private sector away from the sea.

As for choosing a place to live or a hotel, we recommend taking it not too far from the sea. At the very least, try not to pick up housing further than 300 meters from the sea, otherwise you will have to constantly go down and up on foot to the beach, which is quite tiring in the heat. In addition, even if the map housing is located at a distance of 300 meters from the beach, it is likely that in fact you will have to wade through the narrow labyrinths of the streets of Gurzuf twice as much. And yet, try to settle closer to the embankment (this is the area of the south-west) and away from children's camps, because they will have to go around for a very long time to get to the beach.

When searching for hotels in Crimea on Booking.com you will most likely receive a message- "no options found". This is a limitation booking.com because of the sanctions. But to get around it and book accommodation in the Crimea is very simple, you just need to turn on the "traveling for work" tick. Read More Here - How to book a hotel in Crimea on Booking.com despite the sanctions.

Find and book hotels, apartments or apartments in Gurzuf through the following websites or Hotellook search form:

• 🛌 Search for hotels in Gurzuf on Yandex.travel
• 🛌 Search hotels on Ostrovok.ru
• 🛌 Search for affordable housing in Gurzuf on Sutochno.ru

Hotels in Gurzuf on the map

Weather and tourist seasons in Gurzuf

You can come to Gurzuf for rest at the end of May, but the water is still too cold for swimming at this time. It does not warm up to a comfortable temperature until mid-June, and it is at this time that the main high season begins, peaking in July and August. The high season continues until the end of September.

Current weather in Gurzuf and forecast

Useful tips

• Car parking. If you are going on vacation in Gurzuf in your car, keep in mind that parking a car for free is a big problem, there are almost no places. And do not leave the car for free in the sleeping areas, because the locals do not always like it and they can harm the car. Paid parking is available here (from 300 rubles per day), also some owners can provide you with a parking space upon check-in.
• Children's camps and beaches. In the part of Gurzuf, where children's camps are located, it is very difficult to get to the sea, because the passage is blocked everywhere and access to children's beaches is strictly prohibited. It is better to settle in another, southwestern part of the village.
• Entertainment in Gurzuf not much, but you can always go to Yalta by suburban bus, the road takes 40 minutes.