What to see in Sochi in 1 day – route, photo, description, map
If you had to stay in Sochi for a few days, then you can devote one of them to sightseeing in the city. There are many of them in the legendary health resort of the former USSR. The Soviet state at one time invested huge amounts of money and attracted large labor resources to turn a run-down village into a flourishing land.
Railway station building
This is the gateway to the city of the sun. The airy architecture of the snow-white building sets the guests in a festive mood from the first steps along the platform. The railway terminal in its current form was built in 1952 according to the project of the famous Soviet architect – Alexei Nikolaevich Dushkin.
The station is 150 meters long. The facade facing the city is an arcade supported by majestic columns. Thanks to the use of sandstone and polished granite, the building retains a seaside flavor.
The walls are finished with colored plaster with marble chips. The columns visually raise the building above the ground, conjuring up the image of the palace from Tales of 1000 and One Nights.
The observation tower, with a star on its spire, deserves special attention. Its height is 55 meters. Three original clock faces on the tower are decorated with 12 signs of the zodiac under their respective numbers. The high-rise building represents the gate to the city of the sun.
The main pedestrian artery of the city originates from the railway station and runs all the way to the Seaport, practically cutting the resort into two halves. Before the Winter Olympics in 2014, the street was a pass for vehicles.
Currently, it is one of the most beautiful pedestrian areas of the resort. People arriving at the station who want to quickly go to the sea walk along this street. On the way, guests will meet a beautiful musical fountain with a waterfall near the Melodiya shopping center.
Here you can find various sculptural groups representing animals – symbols of the past Olympiads, heroes of popular fairy tales, animated series and other figures. Throughout the boulevard there are shady areas where people can relax on picturesque benches.
Buildings filled with numerous boutiques, cafes, restaurants and various service centers continuously stretch along the avenue. Selfie machines are popular, where within a few moments the image of those who want to take a picture is transferred from the screen to photographic paper.
A palm alley, picturesque flower beds, lush shrubs – all this accompanies passers-by up to Kurortny Prospekt, through the underground passage of which you can go straight to the Seaport building.
Dolphinarium
It is worth spending some time visiting the Great Sochi Dolphinarium. Especially it will be a joyful event for children. The Circus of Marine Animals was opened in the Riviera Park relatively recently – in 2012. Today it is the largest dolphinarium in Eastern Europe.
The indoor amphitheater has 1,300 seats with separate comfort zones for wheelchair users who can get into the hall via a special ramp or elevator. The performance includes bottlenose dolphins, seals and other marine animals.
In the pool with an area of 300 m2 and a depth of 7 meters, trained artists feel at ease and show their talents with great willingness. In addition, there are two additional artificial reservoirs for dolphins and three pools for other animals.
Specially allocated areas for photo shoots. You can use the services of a professional photographer. The contact pool for swimming of children with disabilities together with dolphins is very popular. A visit to the dolphinarium will keep the pleasant impressions of the water show in your memory for a long time.
Maritime Station
The construction of the shipping company, which in fact is almost the same age as the modern Sochi railway station, was put into operation in 1955. The administrative building of the port is an architectural monument of federal significance. The façade is a portico, above which rises a three-tiered tower with a peak crowned with a five-pointed star.
At the corners of the base of the tower there are 4 sculptures representing the seasons and cardinal points. On the sea side, in the central part of the building, there is a gallery, which is adjoined on both sides by two-story wings. From the side of the city in the park there is a fountain, the bowl of which reaches 7 meters in diameter. In its center stands the female figure of the goddess of navigation.
The station has a developed infrastructure. Passengers waiting for their passenger ship can admire the steamships of different countries standing on the pier, visit several cafes and a restaurant. Tour guides will not fail to mention that episodes of Gaidai's legendary comedy “The Diamond Hand” were filmed here.
These are the scenes of seeing off and the arrival from the cruise of the main character of the film, Gorbunkov. More recently, sculptures of the heroes of this film were installed near the sea station.
Embankment
The central embankment stretches for 2 kilometers along the Black Sea coast. Residents call this walking route the Promenade. This is a wonderful place to relax for resort guests and local residents.
During long walks along the embankment, vacationers enjoy the seascape and well-groomed territory with lush crowns of southern trees, exotic shrubs and beautiful flower beds.
The developed infrastructure of the coastal boulevard is in no way inferior to world resorts. There are a large number of boutiques, souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants. Many attractions delight both adults and children. Here you can meet the “Gorbunkov family” and take pictures with them.
In the evening, when the sweltering heat leaves the city and cool twilight sets in, it becomes especially lively here. Music, laughter and cheerful voices are heard everywhere. A large number of benches create a pleasant atmosphere for a comfortable stay.
On the embankment there is a concert hall “Festivalny”. Its feature is the absence of a wall from the sea side next to the stage, which creates a picturesque picture during evening performances.
Cathedral of the Archangel Michael
The oldest cathedral in the North Caucasus – the Orthodox Cathedral of the Archangel Michael was built in 1864. It is located at the end of the Central Embankment. The religious building was erected in honor of the end of the victorious war in the Caucasus.
The cathedral went through hard times, when in 1931 the Bolsheviks expelled believers from it and set up a warehouse there, which led to the destruction of the interiors and the destruction of church property. In 1943, the Soviet government, by order of Stalin, returned the temple building to the bosom of the Orthodox Church, though without compensation for the losses brought to it.
Currently, the Cathedral of the Holy Archangel Archangel Michael has regained its grandeur and demonstrates the splendor of Russian religious architecture. The temple is surrounded by a church ensemble, consisting of a chapel, a refectory, a parochial school and a house with a two-story outbuilding. Around the cathedral there is a luxurious park where parishioners and guests of the city like to walk.
Garden of Russian-Japanese Friendship
Very close to Kurortny Prospekt, just above the Sochi Hotel, is the Garden of Russian-Japanese Friendship. The landscape park was opened to the public in 1986. A beautiful Japanese-style park complex was created on 6 hectares.
On its territory there are pagodas, stylized lampposts along paved paths. The central attraction of the garden is a sculpture of a mythological creature – the Japanese dragon.
Professional gardeners constantly look after the plants imported from the Land of the Rising Sun, selected with special care. It is especially pleasant to walk here in the spring, when all the vegetation wakes up after hibernation and begins to smell with incredible aromas.
If you had to stay in Sochi for just a day, then while sightseeing in the center, you can spend an hour visiting this amazing place.
Winter theater
Walking all day in the center, tourists are unlikely to pass by the Winter Theater. It is located at st. Teatralnaya, 2 near Kurortny prospect. The building was built in the style of the best examples of socialist realism in 1938.
The opening of the theater was marked by the premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Tsar's Bride staged by the Moscow Stanislavsky Opera and Ballet Theatre. The perimeter of the theater is surrounded by 88 columns of the Corinthian order. The main portico is surmounted by a pediment with three sculptures depicting the Muses: Terpsichore (architecture), Melpomene (painting) and Thallia (sculpture).
The auditorium, which can accommodate 950 seats, is designed so that the stage is clearly visible from any seat. Above the hall hangs a huge crystal chandelier, which holds about 300 lamps. Tour guides always draw the attention of a group of tourists to Stalin's personal box to the right of the stage. It is designed in such a way that the people sitting in it are not visible.
About ten creative teams work in the theater. The Kinotavr film festival is constantly held here, pop groups, metropolitan theaters and symphony orchestras tour.
Phytopantasy
Author of the photo: Nikolai Nikolenko, Fotokto.ru
Next to the Winter Theater there is an amazing landscaped public garden called Phytofantsia. Each square meter of a small area is carefully landscaped by local dendrologists. The wonderful garden is filled with plants of amazing beauty, among which you can sit on a bench inhaling the aromas of flowering flora.
Phytofantsia Corner is divided into three zones, each of them has its own separate entrance. The first section resembles an ordinary park with shady alleys and narrow paths. It is nice to take a walk and take a break from the sweltering city heat.
The second zone is filled with many flowers and ornamental shrubs among old and young trees. Specially processed chumps play the role of benches. The walls of the square in one place are decorated in the form of interlacing tree roots, in the other part there are shelves filled with household attributes and various items.
Interesting figures of funny gnomes peeking out from under the roots of trees. The pride of the third branch of Phytophantasia is an artificial pond surrounded by a colonnade along which creepers climb up.
In the middle of the reservoir rises an island in the form of a small rocky cliff, to which a bridge is drawn. All these wonders of the magical forest will distract guests from the bustle of the city and allow them to enjoy the cool atmosphere of a romantic man-made corner of nature.
Arboretum Park
Inspection of the botanical reserve will take away from tourists at least 2 – 3 hours + travel time. The world-famous park complex Arboretum is located on 46 hectares of the foothills of Greater Sochi. It is rightly called the green lungs of the resort.
For several decades, trees and shrubs were brought here from almost all corners of the Earth. The fund of the botanical nursery is represented by 1800 species of flora, including 54 varieties of palms alone, 66 varieties of oaks, and 74 pines.
The history of the origin of the park dates back to 1899, when the publisher of the Peterburgskaya Gazeta, Mr. Khudekov S.N., having bought 50 acres of land on Bald Mountain, built the Nadezhda Villa and planted a plum and peach garden.
Subsequently, trees and shrubs from the Crimea, Germany and the Caucasus were brought to the park – about 400 plant species in total. Since then, the atmospheric reserve has been constantly replenished with new representatives of the flora.
The park is divided into two halves by Kurortny Avenue. The exit to the Arboretum to its upper part is through an underground passage under the road. Below the avenue is an aquarium, which is home to almost all types of fish and marine animals of the Black Sea.
If you go up the mountain, then the walk will be quite tiring and will take a lot of time. Therefore, the best option would be to use the cable car. Having risen in the cabin to the observation platform, tourists descend, calmly examining the upper part of the national park.
Here you can see peacocks, parrots and ostriches. At the exit from the underground passage there is a shop where you can buy a variety of souvenirs and seeds of rare plants.
Olympic Park
The park complex is a legacy of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Every year the sports center, located in the Adler district of Greater Sochi, attracts a huge number of visitors. The park is open daily from 8 am to midnight.
On its territory of 200 hectares, the following Olympic venues are located:
The main attraction of the park are the Singing Fountains. The evening show lasts only 1 hour from 18:30 to 19:30 (during the summer from 20:30 to 21:30). In the center of the water complex there is an inclined tower in the form of a cliff. Under it are nozzles that release jets of water.
Throughout the performance, the fountains demonstrate 17 compositions, each with its own colorful water picture. Water expositions are accompanied by various popular pieces of music.
Skypark AJ Hackett Sochi
The park in the sky is located near Adler in the Akhshtyrsky gorge above the Mzymta river valley. The entertainment complex is formed around the longest and highest suspension pedestrian bridge in Europe – Skybridge. Skypark is a joint venture between the New Zealand firm AJ Hacket and Russian businessmen.
The company offers 6 types of entertainment – these are:
- BUNGY 207 – a person jumps down from the platform from the middle of the Skybridge 207 meters high with a halyard attached to the body. In the arsenal of the instructor there are several options for jumps, which are selected from the individual characteristics of the guest. Experienced jumpers during the flight over the abyss have time to enjoy the panorama of the gorge and the mountain river.
- BUNGY 69 is an attraction for less confident pilots. The difference is the height of the platform – 69 meters. It is located at the beginning of the bridge. However, it should be noted that these jumps also quite noticeably excite the nervous system.
- SOCHISWING is a breathtaking flight on the highest swing in the world with the feeling of free fall. The maximum amplitude of the pendulum swing is 170 meters. The speed of movement of a person on a swing can reach 120 km / h. The Sochiswing platform is located at the head of the Skybridge suspension bridge.
- MEGATROLL – the attraction is a flight over the gorge at a height of 200 meters in a special trolley sliding along a steel cable. 2 or 3 people go on a flight at once. Participants of the entertainment can feel like soaring birds in the sky above the Akhshtyr Gorge.
- MOWGLI – Mowgli's attraction is a rope park. Here adults and children learn to walk on a tightrope at an absolutely safe height. Extreme walking involves overcoming minor obstacles. The entire rope system has been repeatedly tested in terms of safety, especially since all participants in the route are fastened with a hanging halyard.
- VIA FERRATA is rope climbing. The route runs from the left bank of the Mzymta River up to the cave. An almost horizontal path awaits guests, turning into a vertical climb along steps carved into the rock. The whole hike is accompanied by an instructor who will lead you to the Liana Cave on a sheer cliff.
Of course, it is impossible to see all the above sights and participate in all the exciting attractions in Sochi in 1 day. Therefore, guests of the resort city will have to choose the best time route for themselves.