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Evpatoria and Alushta: why we removed these guides
Editorial Position
Updated:8 min1,602 words

Evpatoria and Alushta: why we removed these guides

Here there used to be five pieces: thirty attractions in Yevpatoria, twenty-five attractions in Alushta, fifteen day trips from Alushta, twelve Yevpatoria beaches, and twelve all-inclusive beach hotels. All five have been removed, and along with them the sections for both cities have been closed across all language versions.

If you came here looking for a vacation in these cities, the answer is simple. Both cities are on the Crimean Peninsula (Ukraine), temporarily occupied by Russia. For this territory, lists of tours and hotels are not a "cheaper vacation option"; they are exactly what European law calls services directly related to tourism activities, and have been prohibited since 2014. There are no hotels, beaches, or tour programs in this text.

💡 At a glance:

  • why "all-inclusive" and "day trips" are exact terms in the prohibiting rule
  • what is known about ports, airports, and consular protection on the peninsula
  • which EU and Turkish coastlines remain in our live sections
  • Last updated: 09/2026

Why we deleted these guides

Yevpatoria and Alushta were sold in our catalog as a budget alternative to Yalta. The logic was simple: the same sea, the same season, cheaper lodging, and shorter distances. That led to the set of formats we have now removed: two attraction catalogs, a selection of day trips from a single starting point, and two beach lists, one of which was built around hotels with all-inclusive dining.

None of the five texts mentioned the legal status of the territory. At the same time, our own site structure maintained two separate sections for these cities, meaning the catalog treated them as full-fledged resort destinations. Both sections are closed, and redirects from them lead to this page.

Let us be specific about the money. Any hotel, tour, or beach chair rental in the occupied territory operates within a system that the international community does not recognize. A visitor's money directly supports that system.

Why this is not a "cheaper option" but a prohibited service

Article 2d(1) of Council Regulation (EU) No 692/2014 prohibits providing services directly related to tourism activities in Crimea or Sevastopol (EUR-Lex, consolidated version). The ban on foreign investment and on such services, including the maritime sector, was introduced by Council Decision 2014/933/CFSP of 18 December 2014 and Regulation (EU) No 1351/2014 (text of the regulation). This framework never provided for a transition period.

Now, what exactly counts as such services. An analysis of the analogous Russia-wide rule explicitly lists: services of travel agencies and tour operators, the work of tour guides, and advertising services related to these services (Skadden, 11.2025). Online platforms, booking, and ticket sales are named separately. Our deleted texts fell into this list almost verbatim: the day trip selection performed the work of a guide and an agent, the hotel list with dining performed the work of a platform, and both together were advertising for each. For the peninsula, the same logic applies under its own, earlier regulation.

The Russia-wide ban was added to the Crimea one only in late 2025: Council Regulation (EU) 2025/2033 of 23 October 2025 replaced paragraph 2 of Article 5n of Regulation 833/2014, and the transition period for previously concluded contracts expired on 1 January 2026 (EUR-Lex).

What is known about the situation on the peninsula

Crimea's ports and airports are closed, consular protection cannot be provided on its territory, and entry from Russia violates Ukrainian law and leads to a ban on entering Ukraine and possible criminal prosecution (German Embassy in Kyiv). We state this as a fact and do not explore options: there is no practical information about getting there in this section.

There is also something the resort lists never mentioned. On 15 December 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/77/229 on the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, by 82 votes to 14 with 80 abstentions. It specifically emphasized that conscripting residents of the peninsula into Russia's armed forces is inadmissible as contrary to international humanitarian law (UN Digital Library). The text about beaches and the text about conscription describe the same shore in the same year.

What this means for you as an EU reader

Item

Status 09/2026

Source

Status of the territory

Part of Ukraine, temporarily occupied by Russia; the 2014 "referendum" has no legal force

A/RES/68/262

Services related to tourism on the peninsula

Prohibited by Article 2d(1) of Regulation 692/2014, with no transition period

EUR-Lex

What falls under services

Per the analysis of Article 5n of Regulation 833/2014: travel agencies, tour operators, guides, advertising of these services, platforms, and ticket sales

Skadden, 11.2025

Ports and airports

Closed

Auswärtiges Amt

Consular protection

Cannot be provided

Auswärtiges Amt

Travel to Russia in general

"Travel to the Russian Federation is advised against"

Auswärtiges Amt

Where to go instead

The query was about an affordable seaside destination with a sandy beach, on-site dining, and a short transfer. The live sections of the site answer that: Bulgaria and Montenegro for a budget coastline, Turkey for a long season and the all-inclusive format, Greece and Cyprus for warm water into late autumn, Croatia and Albania for those looking for a less crowded coast. We cover all of these destinations without a single caveat about territorial status, because no caveat is needed there.

The legal framework for this entire block is set out in the text on the status of the peninsula, and the neighboring resort text in this section is our position on Yalta. The editorial team's overall decision is collected in the section hub.

Where we stand

We believe the "all-inclusive" format in occupied territory is the most honest illustration of the problem with the entire genre. Such a text promises the reader that they will not have to think about anything: meals, beach, itinerary, and transfers have already been arranged for them. In our assessment, that promise is precisely what makes the list a statement: it removes the question of the place along with all the other questions.

We decided not to keep these materials even in abridged form and not to name a single property from the previous lists. That is why hotels in this text are mentioned only in general terms, without names.

We write about a state and its policies, not about people based on their passport. There are people in Russia who came out against the war and received prison sentences for it. Our decision not to publish guides to Russia is about money, sanctions, and reader safety, not nationality.

Publication date: September 3, 2026. Last updated: September 3, 2026.

⁉️🤔 Frequently asked questions

These cities were considered affordable, so how can budget travel hurt anyone?

Price does not change the legal picture. Services related to tourism activities in Crimea and Sevastopol are prohibited under European law regardless of their cost, and the status of the territory is determined by a UN General Assembly resolution, not by a price tag.

Why did you close the city sections too, and not just the texts?

Because an empty section with a resort's name continues to assert the same thing as the list inside it. Both sections are redirected here in all language versions, so the reader gets an explanation rather than a list of zero entries.

You also deleted the material about excursions, which did not include a single hotel.

Yes. An excursion list is the work of a guide and an agent, performed by a text. That kind of work is explicitly named in the list of services from the Skadden analysis of Article 5n of Regulation 833/2014. The absence of booking links changes nothing about that.

What about the people who live there?

We do not make them the subject of the text and we do not attribute anything to them.

In short

Yevpatoria and Alushta are located on the peninsula temporarily occupied by Russia, whose status is affirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262. Services related to tourism activities in Crimea and Sevastopol have been prohibited by Article 2d(1) of Regulation 692/2014 since 2014, with no transition period. The work of tour guides, agency services, and advertising are explicitly listed in the Skadden analysis of Article 5n of Regulation 833/2014. The peninsula's ports and airports are closed, and consular protection cannot be provided there. Where we stand is addressed to the state that occupies the peninsula, not to the people living in these cities. Viable Black Sea and Mediterranean destinations are listed above.

How you can help

We do not collect money and receive nothing from the links below. These are official websites of organizations working with the consequences of the war:

Sources

Link check date: 03.09.2026.

tourism.com.de Editorial Team
tourism.com.de Editorial TeamTravel editorial team: research, fact-checking, updates→ All publications

A small editorial team writing guides for independent travel. We travel ourselves, but we haven’t been everywhere, so we check prices, opening hours and how to get there against official sources.