How to get to Kamchatka: air tickets and other details. Very useful information The cheapest way to Kamchatka

Kamchatka Airport - Yelizovo, it is located 30 kilometers from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Regular flights from October 30, 2016 until March 25, 2017 fly from the following cities

• Moscow – Aeroflot, Russia and Aurora airlines
• Novosibirsk – Globus airline
• Vladivostok - airlines Siberia, Aurora, Yakutia
• Khabarovsk - Aurora and Yakutia airlines.

From other cities during this period you can only fly with transfers.

On the schedule you can see in what period the flights operate.

From the table above we understand which airlines need to track discounts on air tickets. And it happens quite often that in the period from November to December, airlines offer inexpensive tickets for March. To track prices, it is more convenient to use a metasearch engine - this will save time and provide more opportunities.

The cheapest tickets from Novosibirsk to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and back

departure date	Return date	Transplants	Airline	Find a ticket
		1 transfer
		2 transfers

I would also like to draw the attention of travelers to such a factor as time zones. If you fly from Moscow to Kamchatka on the 1st, you will most likely land the next day. But if you set off on the return journey at noon at 15, you will be in Moscow on the same day, despite the road at 9 o’clock.

Cheap flights to Kamchatka

Where	departure date	Return date	Find a ticket
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Vladivostok
Magadan
Khabarovsk
Moscow
Blagoveshchensk
Irkutsk
Beijing
Seoul
Ufa
Yakutsk
Surgut
Saint Petersburg
Nizhny Novgorod
Kazan
Krasnodar
Mineral water
Samara
Adler
Kaliningrad
Kirov
Rostov-on-Don
Ekaterinburg
Voronezh
Simferopol
Volgograd
Belgorod
Naberezhnye Chelny
Novosibirsk
Minsk
Kursk
Chelyabinsk
Permian
Penza
Krasnoyarsk
Murmansk
Saratov
Omsk
Busan
Tyumen
Orenburg
Arkhangelsk
Izhevsk
Anapa
Stavropol
Magnitogorsk
Yerevan
Ulyanovsk
Ulan-Ude
Riga
Kemerovo
Khanty-Mansiysk
Tomsk
Almaty
Pavlodar
Tokyo
Makhachkala
Osh
Istanbul
Kaluga
Tambov
Norilsk
Bishkek
Karaganda
Kishinev
Shanghai
Tallinn
Astana
Cherepovets
Kyiv
Vilnius
Barnaul
New Urengoy
Chita
Vladikavkaz
Hamburg
Brussels
Tel Aviv
Tashkent
Abakan
Dushanbe
Berlin
Paris

Where is the best place to stay in Kamchatka?

There are a lot of hotels in these parts, from cheap to expensive. Hostels for the less demanding, guest houses, hotels, sanatoriums and recreation centers - they all welcome travelers all year round. When hiking in protected areas, tourists usually stop in tent camps or special parking lots, as well as in shelters and cordons.

Hostels

Hostel Fiesta– A small and cozy mini-hotel where you can stay overnight. The total capacity is eight people. Hostel "FIESTA" is located on the red line of the city, next to two bus stops, which allows you to easily get to any point in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Hostel Milano— Suitable for family holidays and holidays with children. Located in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Conveniently located. Capacity 20 people.

Hostel 24— Located in the very center of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It can accommodate up to 30 people.

Hostels are equipped with everything necessary for living. And employees can always provide information support to tourists.

Hotels

Hotel Avacha— Located in the very center of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and everything you might need is within walking distance. This is a modern hotel with all the necessary infrastructure.

Hotel Geyser— The view from the windows is magnificent - the volcanoes of Kamchatka and Avacha Bay. There is everything necessary for tourists. Located in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Hotel complex Bel-Kam-Tur— is located in the village of Paratunka, famous for its healing springs. All rooms are equipped to modern standards.

Hotel complex Apachinsky thermal springs – Located in the Ust-Bolsheretsky district, the village of Apacha. On weekdays you can get a discount of up to 30%. The windows offer amazing views of the mountains. There is a swimming pool with thermal water.

Guest houses

Guest house Antarius— Located in the Paratunka sanatorium-resort area. Residents have everything they need, plus the crystal clear air, mountainous landscape, and healing waters of hot springs.

Guest House Grushanka— The house is located in the Bystrinsky district, 300 meters from the village of Esso, surrounded by a pine forest. Directly from the house towards the Bystraya River there is a forest path along which you can go to the ecological routes of the Bystrinsky Natural Park (lakes Ikar and Galyamaki, Ulen-gende volcano, etc.).

Guest House Vulcanolo g - Located in the village of Klyuchi. almost in the center. It is 32 km to the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano and 46 km to the Shiveluch volcano. Capacity 14 people.

These are not all the possibilities for stopping in Kamchatka. For tourists on this land they do everything to make travelers feel comfortable. To save on accommodation, use couchsurfing, an international hospitality system. If you haven't tried it before, now is the time to start.

Look for inexpensive housing. Use booking systems and.

There are visitor centers in almost every area, where tourists will be provided with all the necessary assistance and assistance in organizational matters. Contact the North Tourist Club with the slogan “tourists, unite!” The head of the tourist club is Alexander Meshchankin (tel. 8 914 784 5162). Here they will give valuable advice on how to independently get to the sights of Kamchatka, and the club has its own hotel fund in different areas of the peninsula and a car park. And if you’re lucky, you can go on a hike with club members, and you can save money on this too.

Combine booked excursions with independent tourism. You are unlikely to get to the Valley of Geysers on your own - you will have to buy an organized excursion. And many attractions can be reached without any problems, which means you don’t have to spend money on intermediaries.

Use public transport - this will help you save money. You can fly to the foot of the Klyuchevsky volcano by helicopter, but you can also take a bus to the village of Klyuchi, and walk the rest of the way. It is quite possible to get around Avachinsky on foot, although trekking poles will be useful.

Another possibility is the village of Esso, an Evenki settlement settled in a very picturesque place, on the site of a volcano that was extinct a century ago. In the middle of the village there is a thermal pool. It is free, so there are many people who want to swim in it. Esso can also be reached by bus.

It is better to order a taxi through the dispatch service. If you catch a car on the street, you risk overpaying.

Getting ready for a trip to Kamchatka gather a group of like-minded people for sightseeing trips. In this case, food and guide services will be cheaper. It may make sense to take some products from home. Kamchatka is a land of imported products (and even local fish is not that cheap), the savings will be noticeable.

And one last piece of advice. The weather in these parts is changeable. In Kamchatka, you simply need good tourist clothing: warm, windproof and waterproof clothing, comfortable, non-slip and waterproof shoes. It is advisable to have a change of clothes and shoes. Additional gear and equipment can be rented on site.

Read about the Kamchatka Territory.

The unique nature and attractions of Kamchatka attract many tourists to the peninsula. Some people go for extreme sports and adventure, some for amazing scenery and inspiration, some for an unusual vacation. However, the Kamchatka Peninsula is not a place where you can fly for the weekend. The inaccessibility and climate characteristics of this region force travelers to carefully prepare and think through their vacation. The weather can disrupt your trip or significantly spoil it, so you need to know when is the best time to go to Kamchatka.

In winter and summer - holidays for every taste

You should not go to the peninsula in the obvious off-season, which in Kamchatka is slightly shifted in time compared to the mainland. This is the spring period from approximately April to June and autumn, starting from October. Due to inclement weather at this time, there is a high probability of spending your entire vacation in a hotel without seeing any of the local attractions. The rest of the time you can fully enjoy the beauty of the region and have a great rest.

When is the best time to go to Kamchatka on vacation depends on the preferred type of vacation: active or passive-contemplative, whether you just want to be in silence in the lap of pristine nature or gain enough impressions to last for the year ahead.

Winter is the most suitable season for fans of extreme sports. Skiing or snowboarding down pristine snow-covered slopes will give you an unforgettable experience. Having reached the top by helicopter, you can slide down to the very coast of the Pacific Ocean or even descend into the crater of a volcano. The ski season lasts approximately from December to May. Snowmobiling and dog sledding are also popular at this time of year. The views of Kamchatka in winter are no less breathtaking than in summer, and swimming in pools with thermal water in the cold season is an indescribable pleasure. For example, the famous Paratunka thermal springs are a real paradise for those who value a combination of comfort and exoticism.

Regardless of the season, it will be interesting to visit the Regional Museum in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the Bystrinsky Ethnographic Museum in Esso, and look into the Itelmen village. In bad weather, it is especially pleasant to sit in a cafe or restaurant and enjoy local seafood delicacies. But going on a helicopter excursion, for example, to the famous Valley of Geysers, can only be done if the weather is good.

The best season for hiking romance

The best time to go on a hike to Kamchatka is, of course, summer. It is short on the peninsula and usually cool, although sometimes the air warms up to +35. But the weather is unpredictable, so when going on a long hike in Kamchatka, you should stock up on waterproof and comfortable clothes and shoes.

Each warm month is good in its own way. In July and August you can admire fields of subalpine flowers, and in September you can admire the riot of autumn colors.

Those who like leisurely walks will enjoy a hike for mushrooms and berries (which, by the way, grow in abundance on the peninsula and are much superior in taste to those on the mainland) or a “photo hunt” for representatives of the local fauna. Prepared tourists with plenty of time can afford a long hike with visits to natural parks, volcanoes and thermal springs. The most visited places include:

• Nalychevo Valley,
• Pacific beaches with black volcanic sand,
• Country springs,
• volcanoes, for example, Avachinsky, Plosky Tolbachik, Mutnovsky and Gorely. By the way, in total there are about 300 dormant and 30 active volcanoes in Kamchatka. Even a person with average physical fitness can climb to the top of some volcanoes. The most desperate ones can climb the famous Klyuchevskoy volcano, which frightens tourists with its activity, although without an instructor and some experience in such ascents it is better not to risk it.

Special attention should be paid to the local fauna. In Kamchatka you can get acquainted with amazing animals - European gophers and black-capped marmots, old birds and puffins. Some of them are already accustomed to human attention and are happy to let themselves be fed and photographed. Meeting an ermine, sable or fox is not uncommon on a hike. A must-do for some travelers is to watch bears, of which there are a great many in Kamchatka. It’s not for nothing that the peninsula is called “bear land.” Most often, bears can be observed in the foothills at the height of the Kamchatka summer or on rivers where the bears fish.

A trip to the sights of Kamchatka gives you the opportunity to get in close contact with the amazing nature of the region, enjoy the breathtaking landscapes, and feel like a real conqueror of wild nature. To cover the greatest number of attractions, you can use the services of helicopter companies.

Good timing is the key to successful fishing

Kamchatka, famous for its crabs, fish and caviar, attracts fishermen from all over the world. Fishing in Kamchatka is a great way to combine business with pleasure: enjoy leisurely contemplation of nature and taste salmon caught with your own hands. The pleasure is not free - for each day of fishing you need to buy a special license, and there is a limit on catching fish. True, if fishing is all about the process, you can take a photo with your catch and release the fish back into the sea. A license for this type of fishing will cost less. When is the best time to go to Kamchatka for fishing depends on what kind of fish you want to catch. At the end of August - September, the largest run of coho salmon in the rivers of Kamchatka is observed. In early June, the Chinook salmon fishing season opens; the season closes after the celebration of Fisherman's Day (the second Sunday in July).

If finances are limited, then when choosing a time to visit Kamchatka, you should arrange air tickets in advance. During the so-called low season, prices are much lower and you can save a lot.

When planning a trip to Kamchatka, you should take into account all factors, including the season - and then your vacation will truly be unforgettable, and the impressions from the bearish region will last until your next vacation. And maybe he will be in Kamchatka again?

Watch our new video from the unique tour "Legends of the North"

If fate, a thirst for adventure or work necessity inadvertently brings you to Kamchatka - the easternmost outskirts of Russia - then the locals strongly recommend you:

1. Conquer the volcano

Without exaggeration, Kamchatka is famous throughout the world for its volcanoes. , or the activity of the highest active volcano in Eurasia - Klyuchevsky - was heard by millions of inhabitants of the planet. Hundreds of volcanoes “live” on the peninsula and, if you really want to, and have the appropriate preparation, you can visit any one you like.

The hit of this season can probably be called Plosky Tolbachik. Its famous eruption, which began in November 2012, attracts hundreds of tourists to the peninsula, who not only manage to fry kebabs on it.

The cost of visiting Kamchatka volcanoes varies. For example, you can climb Klyuchevskaya - they only take trained athletes there - for 30 thousand rubles. - and this is far from the limit. And you can visit Avacha for a few hundred rubles by getting to the outskirts of the volcano by commuter bus and continuing your journey on foot.

In any case, no matter which volcano you plan to visit, it is highly not recommended to go there without experienced guides. You need to take with you what your guide recommends - warm clothes, food, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc...

Moreover, when going to the volcano, register with the local search and rescue team - PSO. If an unexpected situation arises, you can always count on the help of rescuers. The squad's phone number is 8 (415-2) 41-03-95.

By the way, among many Kamchatka residents it is customary to communicate with volcanoes - to ask permission from the giant to climb it and thank them for returning safely. No matter what they tell you, climbing any of the volcanoes will not be easy, but the conquered peak and the view from it will more than cover all the hardships of the journey.

2. Visit the Valley of Geysers

The Valley of Geysers, like many of the Kamchatka volcanoes, is known far beyond Russia. However, not everyone has been there...

The fact is that visiting one of the seven wonders of Russia hurts the pocket of the average resident of the country. A one-day helicopter excursion costs 25-39 thousand rubles. If you can afford such sums, fly without hesitation. The nature of the Valley of Geysers is unique. Its area, which is 6 square km, is densely populated with numerous geysers gushing directly from the ground, hot springs, bizarre mud pots, picturesque waterfalls and lakes...

3. Swim in the paratunka

The word “paratunka”, which is unusual for visitors to the peninsula, comes from a proper name (the name of the local village) and has long become a household word.

“Will you go to Paratunka?” - locals often ask visitors, and they only blink their eyes in surprise in response... But having been there, as a rule, they persuade them to take them there again...

Paratunka are pools with hot water that flows directly from the ground, located in the open air. They bathe in such springs all year round. Last winter, during the Epiphany frosts, I had the opportunity to take a tourist from Krasnodar to one of these places.

What is this?! Climbing there at minus 20?! Are you crazy? Take me back,” the young man was indignant.

Having persuaded the guy to get into the water, we couldn’t get him out of there for a good half hour... It’s not cold to soak in the hot thermal water even at minus 40...

By the way, staying in such sources for a long time is harmful to health. Therapeutic “baths” are good in small quantities - 10-20 minutes each. Popular among tourists are both human-equipped thermal baths - with comfortable swimming pools, cafes, sun loungers and changing rooms - and completely wild natural puddles...

4. Go fishing in Kamchatka!

Perhaps every second man and even many women are interested in fishing in Kamchatka. In the region they catch sockeye salmon, chinook salmon, chum salmon, halibut, flounder, smelt, greenling and many, many other species of fish. Fishing here can be done in the seas, rivers and lakes. Some of the caught prey cook fish soup, while others take a photo with the trophy and immediately release it into the wild.

According to fishermen, sitting on the banks of a picturesque river surrounded by gray volcanoes and catching a 20-kilogram Chinook salmon is a pleasure that cannot be expressed in words...

5. Try local caviar!

A favorite delicacy of many, red caviar, is sold today throughout Russia. But it is mined mainly in the Far East. Kamchatka is no exception. Residents of the peninsula believe that ours, Kamchatka, is the most special and the most delicious caviar.

True, you shouldn’t count on the fact that you can eat it here with spoons. - golden. But we still recommend it - it’s too good! A fresh slice of white bread, buttered and topped with caviar is one of the best breakfasts in the world! Where to buy caviar and where not, ask the locals.

6. Ride... dogs!

Dog sledding is a traditional Kamchatka winter activity. Laikas, husoks, and malamutes are harnessed to sleighs called sledges. They are driven by an experienced driver - a musher. To perceive this kind of entertainment as cruelty to animals is wrong. Sled dogs are unusually hardy and such walks are a joy for them.

Every year it takes place in Kamchatka. Its four-legged participants cover almost a thousand km on their way.

If you want to “ride” a dog, then an unusual one-day “excursion” will cost you 2-4 thousand rubles.

7. Master skiing and snowboarding

Even if you are not a sporty person at all, and the word “extreme” makes your knees shake and your head spin, we still recommend trying at least one of these sports. Many people ski in Kamchatka, and at any time of the year. The youngest athletes are barely three years old, and the oldest are well over 80. You can ski on boards or skis both on equipped bases and on wild slopes. At the first, for the convenience of beginners, there are always trainers who will teach you the basics of extreme sports for a reasonable fee. By the way, their role can be performed by experienced athletes - completely free of charge. All .

The so-called heli-skiing is also popular in Kamchatka - here athletes are thrown by helicopter onto the wild slopes. True, such a sport is available either to wealthy people or to those who know how to save money well. A day of skiing will cost you several tens of thousands of rubles.

8. Get acquainted with the culture of the indigenous people of the peninsula

The indigenous population of Kamchatka are by no means Russians. From time immemorial, Koryaks, Itelmens, Evens, Aleuts, Chukchis lived here... Now the number of these peoples, unfortunately, is rapidly falling, many traditions are being forgotten. But meeting representatives of these small nationalities is unlikely to leave you indifferent. Shamanic rituals, unusual outfits made of fur and animal skins, throat singing, playing tambourines, rituals and legends, ethnic dances - all this will allow you to travel back in time and plunge into a completely different Kamchatka - mystical and completely unknown.

Tourists are happy to come to the national Kamchatka holidays - Alkhalalai, and also visit ethnic villages and camps.

9. Swim in the Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean, sometimes roaring wildly, sometimes splashing playfully, sometimes mysteriously silent, is a mesmerizing sight in itself. Not everyone dares to swim in it - the water is not at all warm even in summer. Therefore, if getting into cold water is a dubious pleasure for you, walk barefoot on the unusual black ocean sand, breathe in the fresh salty air and be sure to watch the sunrise or admire the sunset here. You definitely won't regret it!

10. Fall in love with the peninsula

They say that anyone who has visited Kamchatka at least once will never forget it: some adore the peninsula with all their hearts, others remember it like a bad dream.

But if you love wild, untouched nature, and yours, you will probably fall in love forever and madly with this strange, not understandable to everyone and, perhaps,...

The underground forces bubbling under the surface of the peninsula have created unusual and picturesque landscapes and natural phenomena. Combined with the local cool climate, this gives an amazing combination of heat and cold, ice and fire: geysers, fumaroles, thermal springs, smoking craters of volcanoes - and at the same time glaciers, snow-capped peaks, cold mountain lakes and the ever-turbulent Pacific Ocean. People come here for the amazing, lunar and Martian-like landscapes that formed around volcanoes over millions of years. And the volcanoes themselves (active or extinct), which can be viewed both from afar and in close proximity, are no less interesting.

Locals

The population of Kamchatka is generally friendly and has a positive attitude towards newcomers from other regions. Here, instead of the usual surprised address to the traveler, “You, damn it, can’t sit at home!” people ask with interest about where you have already been and where you are going, and advise what else you can see.

The main occupation of the locals is working in the fishing industry.

They make a living both on legal fishing boats and fish factories and by poaching. In addition, some of the residents of Kamchatka serve on submarines (there is a submarine fleet base in Vilyuchinsk), guide tourists and hunters through the mountains and forests, engage in agriculture with varying success (the products grown in the greenhouses of the village of Esso are especially famous), and some representatives of the indigenous The population also breeds deer.

Price issue

Kamchatka seems unattainable and expensive to many. This is both true and false. Of course, it is located far from the rest of Russia, there are few roads, transport links are not developed, and those who are too lazy to plan their own route and want maximum comfort (as far as comfort is possible when climbing mountains and volcanoes) will have to shell out a decent amount of money. However, if you spend more time and mental effort on preparing and exploring the region, then the trip will not cost much more than a hike somewhere in central Russia.

We can say that there are two types of tourism in Kamchatka - either very expensive or very cheap.

The first includes car rental for the best possible access to attractions, guide services, helicopter excursions, overnight stay in a hotel or at an equipped camp site. The second is the use of regular buses, hitchhiking and walking, studying the route from reports of other travelers or conversations with them, spending the night in a tent or visiting local residents. However, you can combine both of these methods and find for yourself a reasonable balance of financial costs and results obtained.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the products. They are, oddly enough, not much more expensive here than in the rest of Russia. Only dairy products and fruits are noticeably expensive. And the main food of a traveler with a backpack - buckwheat, rice, stewed meat, condensed milk, tea, sugar - is only 15-20% more expensive in Petropavlovsk.

How to get to Kamchatka

In 2009, Kamchatka jeepers from the “Square Wheel” club drove from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Magadan (and further to Vladivostok), but not many will be able to repeat this feat: although Kamchatka is a peninsula, it is separated from the mainland by hundreds of kilometers of impenetrable forests and mountains and swamps.

Several airlines fly to Kamchatka, and thanks to the competition that has arisen between them, from time to time it becomes possible to find inexpensive tickets.

Thus, in 2009, several airlines held massive ticket sales: for example, Rossiya offered to fly to Kamchatka from St. Petersburg for 4.8 thousand rubles and from Khabarovsk for 2 thousand rubles, and Yakutia - from Moscow for 5 thousand rubles (one way prices including all fees). Such promotions usually take place in the off-season (autumn and winter), and tickets need to be purchased two or three months before the flight. So if you want to save money, keep an eye out for sales announcements.

The main Kamchatka airport is located near the city of Elizovo. The airport building is small. On the first floor there is security screening, ticket registration and baggage check-in, and on the second floor there are ticket offices. There are two stops in front of the airport. One for buses in Elizovo, the other for buses in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Usually buses to Petropavlovsk go to the 10th km bus station, but there is also bus number 104, which goes to the very center. The cost of travel from the airport to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is 30-40 rubles.

As for water transport, previously a passenger ship sailed from Vladivostok to Kamchatka, but now, alas, only cargo ships and cruise ships with foreign tourists enter the port.

Theoretically, you can get to Kamchatka by hydrostop (that is, on passing ships) from Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Vanino, but this, of course, is not easy and will take a lot of time: you need to get into the port, look for the right ship, and negotiate with the captain.

Transport on the peninsula

There are no railways in Kamchatka, and roads are few. The main Kamchatka route resembles the shape of the letter “c” and runs from south to north from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Ust-Kamchatsk through Yelizovo, Milkovo and Klyuchi. In the southern part of the route, a road branches off from it to the west - to the village of Oktyabrsky on the shore of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, and further north to the west the road goes to the village of Esso. The road is paved only up to the turn to Oktyabrsky.

South of Petropavlovsk there are roads to the village of Termalny and the city of Vilyuchinsk (this is a closed city, and you cannot get there without a pass). In addition, there are a number of small roads in the vicinity of cities and towns.

The main intercity transport in Kamchatka is regular buses.

They cost more than in other Russian regions. For example, a ticket for the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Esso bus (500 km) costs 950 rubles, and a ticket for the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Klyuchi bus (600 km) costs 1,200 rubles. However, it should be taken into account that most of the popular attractions of Kamchatka are located near Petropavlovsk, so using buses will not be too burdensome for the budget. Trips to the nearest villages and cities, where routes to volcanoes begin, will rarely cost more than 50 rubles. As for long distances, you can save money by hitchhiking.

Hitch-hiking— the optimal way to travel around Kamchatka in two cases: first, when traveling long distances, when the ticket is too expensive; the second is in situations where there are no buses at all on the road you need, although there will be few cars.

But in general, hitchhiking in Kamchatka is good.

In approximately 50% of cases the first car stops, in another 50% of cases the third or fourth one stops. It is rare for more than five cars to pass by without stopping. True, the further you get from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the fewer cars there are on the roads (sometimes you can wait several hours), but they also stop better. Since there is little in Kamchatka, you can sometimes travel here in a way that hardly anyone would allow on the mainland: in the back of a truck, in the trunk of a jeep, with five or six people in the back seat.

In addition to ordinary roads in Kamchatka, there are winter roads, which can be driven only in the cold season, as well as all-terrain and tractor roads, accessible only to particularly passable modes of transport. Many of them are marked on maps. There is neither a winter road nor any other road to the Valley of Geysers other than a pedestrian one.

Region information

Kamchatka is visited by thousands of tourists every year, and many local residents love to explore their native land, so finding useful information about routes and natural attractions is not a problem. Perhaps, only inexperienced hikers or lovers of something extreme and unusual may need a guide. As for standard tourist routes, they have already been traveled many times and described by many travelers.

There is a lot of useful information on the Internet; fortunately, thousands of tourists visit Kamchatka every year. In addition, much information about the nature and history of the region can be found in the region's bookstores. By the way, it is rare to see such a quantity of local history literature anywhere in Russia. It seems that in the bookstores of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky there are more books about Kamchatka than in the capital’s bookstores about Moscow.

Climate

The climate in Kamchatka is harsh, especially in the north, but you most likely will not get there. Winter is very snowy and long (people here like to talk about cars that need to be dug out of snowdrifts almost every morning in winter), but it is not the coldest: in February it is usually from 10 to 15 degrees below zero.

Summer is short and rainy, the warmest month is August. As in many northern regions of Russia, a popular joke in Kamchatka is: “Did you sunbathe this summer?” - “No, I was busy at work that day.” However, even in September and October there are positive temperatures on the plain, so you can still travel comfortably at this time.

What to watch

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. For tourists, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the starting point for traveling around the peninsula. In addition, the city itself has several interesting sights that you can spend a day or two exploring.

Local residents call Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky “Peter” or simply “the city” (although there are two more cities in Kamchatka - Yelizovo and Vilyuchinsk).

“Peter” is located on the eastern shore of Avacha Bay and stretches along the coast for 15 kilometers. One street runs through the entire city parallel to the shore, which has different names in different sections (Pobedy Ave., 50 Let Oktyabrya Ave., Leningradskaya St., Leninskaya St., etc.) and on which most of the important city objects are located. Buses run along this street from south to north, so despite the length of the city, getting around is quite convenient. The northern end is the 10th km bus station, the southern end is the areas of SRV (ship repair shipyard) and ZhBF (tin and can factory). You need to look at these signs when boarding the bus. Many buses in the city go to the “10th km” bus station, located at the entrance to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky from the city of Elizovo and the airport of the same name. The identification mark is the word “Bus Station” on the sign of a city bus. From here buses go to Termalny (via Paratunka), Elizovo, Milkovo, Atlasovo, Klyuchi, Esso, Oktyabrsky, Ust-Kamchatsk.

From many points of the city (but best of all from Mishennaya Sopka) the surrounding volcanoes are visible: in the north the Avachinskaya and Koryakskaya Sopka, in the southwest, on the other side of the Avachinskaya Bay, the Vilyuchinskaya Sopka.

Sights of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Lenin Square, Lake Kultuchnoye and the embankment. The geographical and party center of the city is Lenin Square. On the square itself, of course, there is a monument to Ilyich. If you stand with your back to the leader of the world revolution, then on the right there will be Lake Kultuchnoye and the monument to Saints Peter and Paul, after whom the city is named, and straight ahead - the embankment of Avachinskaya Bay, with street cafes, benches and a beach, which, however, is rarely filled (water The bay is usually cold even in the hot summer).

Marine Station. Located on Vokzalnaya Square. There has been no passenger traffic here for a long time, but the four-story building itself deserves attention: broken windows, garbage and dirt. Lovers of picturesque ruins should come here for an hour or two.

Target hill. The best vantage point from which you can see almost the entire city. There is a road leading to the top from the north - you can either walk or catch a ride (buses do not go along it). At the top there is a weather station and a television tower.

Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. Located between st. Mirror, etc. 50 Years of October. It began to be built in 2002, but at the time of my trip to Kamchatka last fall it had not yet been completed. Perhaps it will already be completed by the time of your visit. However, services are already sometimes held there.

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. A small church 200 m south of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity. It looks quite unusual for a church: a two-story white building with arched windows and a flat roof on which a dome is installed.

In addition, the city has local history And art museums, as well as Museum of the Institute of Volcanology(the latter can be accessed only by prior appointment in a group of ten people or more).

Accommodation, food, communication

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky does not pamper tourists with either a large number of hotels or their cheapness. Despite the huge number of foreigners visiting here, there is not a single hostel in the city. Most places to stay overnight are pompous and expensive hotels.

However, hanging around in the city, of course, makes no sense.

The main place to stay overnight in Kamchatka is a tent. Some go straight from the airport to conquer tourist routes, without even stopping in Petropavlovsk, and the presence of thermal springs on many routes allows hikers to wash and do laundry even in winter. However, if you still decide to stay in Petropavlovsk, then the cheapest hotel that I found is the home hotel (Ponomareva St., 12) on the southern outskirts of the city (go towards SRV or ZhBF to the Sadovaya stop "), where you can spend the night on a bed in a 4-bed room for 400 rubles.

Nutrition. There are enough grocery stores in the city, but I found the best selection and reasonable prices in the Shamsa supermarket at the exit from the city towards the airport, next to the 10th km bus station. This is a large shopping center where you can buy almost everything. By the way, there are only two “Shams” in Kamchatka - the second is in the city of Elizovo.

Internet. The Internet in Kamchatka is expensive, traffic is taken into account in all places. A pleasant exception is the Regional Scientific Library in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Karl Marx St., 53, stop “Regional Library”). In the Internet center there you can access the World Wide Web for free for half an hour.

Other sights of Kamchatka

The natural attractions of Kamchatka and methods of transportation to them are described in detail by experienced tourists on the Internet, so I will not talk about them in detail. I will only note that in the descriptions of many routes there are notes “Drop-off is carried out in a rented car.” In reality, renting a car can be completely avoided by using buses and hitchhiking. Pedestrian trails usually start from settlements or objects located on highways, and either buses or local residents go there in cars, which will most likely give you a lift. If the road leads to a tourist site, traffic there increases on weekends.

Many Kamchatka routes are designed for very dedicated hikers who are willing to spend several weeks reaching the top of a volcano or geyser.

For those who are traveling to Kamchatka for the first time and for a short period of time and want to see as many interesting things as possible, we should recommend the following routes: volcano Avachinskaya Sopka(2-3 days), volcanoes Mutnovskaya Sopka And Burnt Hill, and Verkhne-Paratunskiye And Dacha thermal springs(4-5 days for all objects, including travel time from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky), Blue Lakes(1-2 days). These routes are described in detail, do not require special equipment and are passable even for the most inexperienced tourists.

It’s worth mentioning separately about the highly promoted Valley of Geysers.

If you definitely want to visit it, you need to decide what you would like more - time or money, because there are two options: either walk to it for 9-10 days (one way) from the village of Milkovo, or order a helicopter from a local travel agency excursion (will cost around 22-25 thousand rubles per person). I would like to note that many visitors to the Valley of Geysers were disappointed: it is, they say, too civilized, there are wooden platforms and paths all around, it is not possible to spend the night and walk uncontrollably around the territory. In addition, helicopter excursions last a maximum of a couple of hours. So it’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth it to rush to the valley or whether it’s better to spend the money and time you have on visiting other, no less outstanding attractions.

The cities and towns of Kamchatka, with the exception of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Esso, which will be discussed below, are not very interesting.

Most of them are rows of Khrushchev buildings or rickety wooden houses. However, lovers of post-apocalyptic landscapes should go to the village of Oktyabrsky on the shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk or Ust-Kamchatsk on the Pacific coast. Cemeteries of ships and boats, rusting port facilities, heaps of rotting fish left behind by poachers - there will be plenty of material for photos in the style of “trash from the Russian outback”. Local joke: a Japanese tourist comes to Ust-Kamchatsk and, looking around, asks: “Oh my God! What happened? "War?" - and they answer him: “No. Perestroika!

However, its promotion, as in the case of the Valley of Geysers, does not correspond to its real interest. There are few attractions here: only a few museums, of which the most interesting ethnographic(Naberezhnaya St., 14a, Wed. - Sun. 10.00-14.00, 15.00-18.00, ticket price 40 rubles) and a huge thermal pool in the middle of the village. Nevertheless, there are always a lot of tourists here, including foreign ones, thanks to which the infrastructure is well developed: even by the thermal pool there are benches and changing cabins. In addition, there are more than ten hotels in the village, of which the cheapest is “Romashka” (Mostovaya St., 9), where you can spend the night for 350 rubles (a bed in a triple room). Next to this hotel, by the way, there is a stand with a map of the village, which shows all the attractions and hotels.

In the vicinity of the village of Esso there is Bystrinsky Natural Park. In Esso, it’s worth going to the park office (Solnechnaya St., 19), where you can learn more about its attractions and get route maps along it.

If you do not want to travel on your own, then local travel agencies will offer many different options for exploring Kamchatka with experienced guides and tour guides. In the summer there are horse and sea rides, in the winter there are tours on snowmobiles and dog sleds, and all year round you can be taken to various interesting places by helicopter. There are also jeep and ATV tours, fishing tours, organized river rafting and other types of tourism. A one-day horse or car excursion costs about 2-3 thousand rubles, a half-day sea excursion 1.5-3 thousand rubles. Helicopter excursions are expensive, although they only last a few hours. You are unlikely to find anything cheaper than 20 thousand rubles per person.

Instead of a conclusion

In Kamchatka you strongly feel the isolation of this region from the rest of Russia. Even Sakhalin, despite being an island, is not so isolated: from there at least ferries run daily to the mainland. You can only fly from Kamchatka by plane, so for its residents the rest of Russia seems somehow distant and ghostly. They call it “mainland”: “flew to the mainland”, “brought from the mainland”, etc., although formally, of course, Kamchatka is also part of this continent.

Nevertheless, even here, on the edge of the earth, there is life and civilization, and although many are leaving here, those who remain say that they are happy and would not exchange Kamchatka for anything else. You can understand why they think this way when you come here and see all the beauty here.

Limited number of participants in the group - only 48 people

How to get to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

There are no rail or road connections between mainland Russia and the Kamchatka Peninsula. You can fly directly from Moscow to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in 8 hours 20 minutes. To get there from St. Petersburg you will have to make a transfer in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk or Vladivostok, from where there are direct flights to the capital of the Kamchatka Territory.

Regular passenger traffic by sea between Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Russian Pacific ports was discontinued in the 90s.

Read more about how to get to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

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Transport

The main attractions of the city are conveniently located in its tourist center, and at the same time very compact - so it’s quite possible to get an idea in general terms during a walking tour.

In addition, you can get around Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky by buses, minibuses, affectionately called “mikriki” here, or taxis. "Mikriki" ply along all the more or less significant streets of the city; boarding is carried out according to the “all-Russian” type: wave to an approaching car with the desired number on the windshield, climb inside and give the driver money for travel (30 RUB for any distance) and announce the desired drop-off point in advance and loudly. Buses move mainly along the central streets of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, but there are also suburban ones. A bus ride within the city limits will cost 25 RUB; the fare must be paid to the driver upon exit. A taxi trip around Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky will cost between 200-500 RUB. Prices on the page are as of November 2018.

Maps of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Hotels

Cuisine and restaurants

Fish and seafood are the basis of local cuisine. Everything here is fresh from the abyss - fresh, simply prepared, but very tasty. Another “trick” of the gastronomic Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the abundance of establishments friendly to Japanese and Korean cuisine. The sushi here is simply excellent - a particularly striking contrast with the assortment of Moscow's pompous sushi restaurants. At the same time, the prices are more than reasonable - on average 400 RUB for a fixed sushi lunch. One of the most popular restaurants is “Yamato” in the “Planet” shopping center on Lukashevsky Street. You can taste Korean dishes at the Korea House restaurant on Leninskaya Street - in addition, it is located in a stunningly beautiful historical building with panoramic views of the bay. For great seafood cuisine, go to the San Marino restaurant on Karl Marx Street - by the way, in addition to delicious fish dishes, you can try elk and reindeer meat here.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Shopping and shops

From Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky it is worth bringing carved wood and bone products (mammoth tusk, walrus tusk, whalebone, bighorn sheep and elk horns), fur and leather items of clothing - from cute covers for mobile phones to “coachman’s” bear coats, in which The most severe frost is not scary. Interesting things can be found among the national attributes of the aboriginal population - all kinds of images of totem animals, amulets and amulets, hats, costumes, tambourines and home decoration items, as well as jew's harps. In addition, it is worth paying attention to hunting trophies - animal skins, antlers and stuffed animals.

You can purchase the above in the souvenir section of the good old GUM - the main department store of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, in art salons and private souvenir shops in the historical center of the city.

Guides in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Entertainment and attractions of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

The main attractions of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: Theater Square, the former Lenin Square (with a statue of the leader and a monument in memory of the tragically interrupted circumnavigation of the 18th century under the leadership of Jean-François de La Perouse), monuments to Vitus Bering (it was from here that the expedition to the shores of America started) and more to one “circumnavigator” Charles Clarke, the Maksutov Battery memorial complex in honor of the heroic defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky from the Anglo-French troops during the Crimean War of 1854.