Where to go and what to see in Vladivostok

Where to stay

The most convenient option would be to stay in the center of Vladivostok, in close proximity to the railway station. Life is always in full swing here, there are many cafes and restaurants - there will be where to go in the evening after sightseeing. They themselves, however, are dispersed throughout the city, so you should not get attached to them when choosing a home. But car traffic, which is always busy throughout Vladivostok, is especially inconvenient in the city center: there are many one-way streets, car flows are looped, so you can only move without problems on foot.

Within walking distance from the train station, you can stay at the Azimut hotel in a double room for 7,000 rubles a day or in a five-star Lotte for 16,250 rubles, or you can choose a less luxurious option and spend the night at the Teplo hotel, paying 3,700 per night in a standard double room. rubles. There are even cheaper options here, however, without a window.

A daily payment for a bed in the Luna Hostel will cost 800 rubles, here you can also take a double room for 2,000 rubles. A night in a double room at the Gosti hostel on Orlina Sopka, the highest point in the historical part of Vladivostok, costs from 3,000 rubles, a bed in a common room - 900 rubles.

If you are planning to travel to Vladivostok with a large company and / or want to cook for yourself, you should stay in an apartment. Depending on your preferences in terms of location and available amenities, you can choose a place ranging from 1,928 ("In the center of the VVO") to 18,000 rubles per night (Tigrovaya Apartments). The cost decreases as the area of the apartments decreases and their distance from the center. On Airbnb, you can grab a room in the center for 1,500 rubles per day, or you can rent an apartment overlooking the Golden Bridge for 5,805 rubles per night.

What sights of Vladivostok to see

Golden Horn Bay

Vladivostok stretches on both sides of the bay, which the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky in 1859 chose to establish a military post. She reminded him of the Golden Horn in Istanbul, and the count suggested to America through the Crimea to call this place the same. The coasts of the bay were in hills and cliffs, so the land had to be artificially leveled and expanded to accommodate commercial ports.

The cable-stayed Golden Bridge, built for the APEC summit in 2012, has been laid across the bay and has become the main visual symbol of Vladivostok. A photograph in front of it will immediately let your friends know where you are.

Funicular

The only funicular in Russia that operates as a public transport. It appeared in Vladivostok on the initiative of Nikita Khrushchev in 1962 - after the head of state visited the United States and conceived Cities, poets, airplanes. Just as Vladivostok barely turned in San Francisco to make Vladivostok the second San Francisco.

At the upper station on the Eagle Hill there is an observation deck with an excellent view of the Golden Bridge. Going down to the lower station, you can continue walking in the center of Vladivostok. The distance between the two stations is 183 meters, the journey will take only one and a half minutes. If you don't want to take the funicular, you can use the parallel stairs.

House-Museum of Vladimir Arsenyev

The house-museum of the geographer, ethnographer, writer and ethnographer Vladimir Arsenyev, who studied the territory of Primorye, is located in the apartment building of Andrei Zhukov. Arseniev was here for the last two years of his life, from 1928 to 1930. His family occupied only one of the four apartments in the house, but later it was decided to give the entire building as a museum. Memorial rooms have been created in the premises with the furnishings as close as possible to the years of the life of a local historian.

This is one of the four sites of the Museum of the History of the Far East named after Vladimir Arsenyev. It appeared in 1884 - just four years after Vladivostok received the status of a city. As it grew, the museum expanded, incorporating the entire history of Vladivostok's development. Here, for example, there is a metric book, which contains records of the first baptisms, weddings and funerals of city residents, or the personal seal of the military governor of the then Primorsky region, Pyotr Kazakevich.

You can read about the house-museum of Vladimir Arseniev and get information about excursions on his website.

Primorsky Oceanarium

The Oceanarium opened in Vladivostok in 2016. By the standards of our time, it is completely new, but it has already become legendary - if only because in the Far East there was nothing like it and is not present. Representatives of all oceans and climatic zones of the planet are gathered under one roof.

The total area of the oceanarium is almost five football fields. In 135 aquariums live the inhabitants of the waters of the Japanese, Okhotsk, Bering seas, Lake Baikal, the Amur River and Lake Khanka, cold polar and warm tropical seas, open expanses of the ocean. Dolphins perform in the arena pool under the strict guidance of professional trainers. The inhabitants of the aquarium delight not only tourists, but also employees who have the opportunity to study the representatives of the aquatic fauna.

Tickets can be purchased on the aquarium's website.

Butterfly House "Delight"

Sights of Vladivostok: the house of butterflies "Rapture"

The local butterfly house is the only such establishment in the Far East. The beauties can be observed in their natural habitat: the required temperature and humidity are maintained in the room, there is a large amount of greenery and water sources. In such conditions, butterflies feel comfortable, so they move freely and can even sit on the visitor's nose. In addition to the butterflies themselves, the museum contains unique shots of rare species, as well as information about the researchers who studied them.

The Vostorg butterfly house is located in the building of the seaside oceanarium. The site contains up-to-date information about its expositions.

Military Historical Museum of the Pacific Fleet

Military History Museum of the Pacific Fleet

Officers of the Siberian naval crew lived in the building, filled to the brim with exhibits, from the beginning of the 20th century until the transfer for the needs of the museum in 1997. Members of the Military Council of the Pacific Fleet and renowned naval commanders stayed here. Subsequently, the once living quarters were occupied by objects brought from the Russian Museum in Port Arthur and from expeditions to Kamchatka and the Kuriles: weapons, flags and ship steering wheels, including Japanese, as well as medals and orders. Some of the personal belongings of prominent guests - for example, their military uniforms and souvenirs received from trips abroad - are also included in the museum's funds.

Everything that the Pacific Army can boast of over the past 70 years of its existence is collected here. In addition to the extensive collection in the museum building itself, the open-air exhibits are worthy of attention: a Japanese mini-tank, a submarine and others. The museum's website contains all the information about the expositions.

Vladivostok fortress

The 100-kilometer-long structure, which encircles the city in a circle, impresses with its impressiveness, despite the fact that its construction was never completed due to the outbreak of the First World War and the October Revolution. The naval fortress of Vladivostok was the most fortified of the fortresses of its time. Includes about 120 objects: forts, strongholds, coastal and land batteries, powder magazines, barracks, wings, radio stations.

Now the Vladivostok Fortress has the status of a federal museum-reserve. Most of the forts are abandoned, but in some of them you can still see military signalmen. To inspect all the objects of the fortress, you will have to go around the whole city without exaggeration. For your convenience, you can use the map on which the boundaries of the fortress are marked.

Where else to go in Vladivostok

Admiral Fokin Street

It is called the local Arbat: only pedestrians can move along it. True, Admiral Fokin Street is much shorter than a Moscow pedestrian - less than a kilometer. In 2011, a major reconstruction was carried out on the Vladivostok Arbat, which changed the architectural composition of the street. Alleys appeared on both sides of the pedestrian zone, closer to the houses, and fountains were renewed in its central part, benches and lanterns appeared.

Nowadays Admiral Fokin has mini-hotels, shops, cafes and pastry shops, and in the summer the pedestrian zone is filled with the songs of street musicians.

Cafes and bars

Its best cafes and bars are concentrated in the center of Vladivostok. In the homeland of the Russian group "Mumiy Troll" there cannot be an institution of the same name. This bar has gathered within its walls a huge number of musical groups from all over Russia and has become one of the symbols of Vladivostok.

Another similar symbol is the Pan-Asian restaurant Zuma, which is often impossible to enter without prior reservation of a table, especially on weekends. First of all, seafood dishes, especially crab, are worth trying here. And the Studio Café, rated the best by local news portals and Tripadvisor, is famous for its signature desserts.

Tokarevskaya cat

I have not been to the Tokarevskaya cat - I have not been to Vladivostok! The lighthouse, which has been pointing the way for sea vessels for about 150 years, stands on the spit of the same name - the place where the Pacific Ocean begins. By the way, there is no hint of a cat family in the name of the scythe: a sandbank was called a cat in the 19th century.

You can get to Tokarevskaya koshka by personal transport or by bus (get off at the Mayak stop). When the spit is not hidden under water, you can walk to the lighthouse on foot. However, even at high tide, the passage is available - however, you have to walk ankle-deep in water. If you are lucky, you can see spotted seals swimming up to the spit here.

Nikolaev Triumphal Gates

This gate is also called the Arch of the Tsarevich. Such arches were erected in those cities of the Far East, through which the then-future Emperor Nicholas II passed. Vladivostok was the first to meet the Nikolaev Arch of the Tsarevich after his trip to Asian countries. By his arrival, an arch was erected near the intersection of Svetlanskaya and Prudova streets. The arch stood for more than 30 years, it was demolished when the government changed in the country and all the symbols of tsarist Russia turned out to be objectionable.

Only at the beginning of the XXI century, the church gave the go-ahead for the restoration of the arch. It was opened in 2003 - in the year of the 135th anniversary of the appearance of the object and the 85th anniversary of the death of the last Russian emperor. Now the arch stands in a different place - on Peter the Great Street.

Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theater

Sights of Vladivostok: Primorskaya Stage of the Mariinsky Theater

This is one of the most modern theaters in Russia and the Asia-Pacific region, built in preparation for the APEC-2012 summit. Six years later, the site was recognized the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theater, recognized as the best theater venue as the best theater venue at the first international professional music award BraVo.

The technical capabilities of the Primorsky Mariinsky Theater allow it to show a wide range of productions - from opera to ultra-modern performances. The large hall of the theater is intended for large-scale opera and ballet performances, large-scale symphony and choral concerts, while the small hall hosts chamber opera performances, concerts, creative meetings and autograph sessions.

Now the theater is closed, you can follow the news on the website.

Russky Island

The largest Russian island in the Pacific Ocean. The first people appeared here RUSSIAN ISLAND back in the Neolithic era. For a long time, the island was a closed territory with a large number of military facilities, but now it is open to the public. So you can go to the beaches, stroll around the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University and look at the Voroshilov battery - a coastal tower battery, an exhibit of the Military Historical Museum of the Pacific Fleet.

A bridge leads to the island, which is now the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world. It offers a gorgeous view of the ocean.

What to bring from Vladivostok

Seafood

In Vladivostok, you can and should not only eat seafood - caviar, scallop, crabs - but also take it with you. It is more profitable to buy them from private traders - for example, through ads on Instagram using the hashtags #crabvladivostok, #scallopvladivostok or #seafoodvladivostok.

But if you want to be sure of the quality, go to one of the fish markets or to specialized stores - for example, FishStoreVl or Fish Island. When choosing, the first thing to ask is when the seafood was caught: the fresher it is, the better.

Souvenirs with Cupid and Timur

The tiger Cupid and the goat Timur are the inhabitants of the Primorsky safari park, who, unexpectedly for all the staff, became friends. The whole country watched the relationship between the predator and the artiodactyl. Unfortunately, Timur's goat is no longer alive, but love for them is still alive, so souvenirs with this theme are often found in local shops in the city center.

Striped vest

In Vladivostok, as in any decent port city, vests, flags and other paraphernalia of sailors are sold on every corner. All tourist shops in the city center are filled with them.

When choosing, pay attention to the quality of the product: a polyester vest is cheap, but after the first wash, you are unlikely to want to put it on. Clothes made from natural fabrics are somewhat more expensive, but they will keep the memory of the trip for a long time. In the same souvenir shops, you can take a picture or a model of a ship in memory of the city on the Pacific coast.

Urban Merch

If you want to bring something original from Vladivostok as a souvenir, contact the shops of the author's city merch. It often contains motives of Asian food: due to its proximity to Asian countries, some products from there in Vladivostok are sold in any store. For example, in "Kolko" you can buy a T-shirt with the words "Thank you for the snacks" or "Give us back the melonia" (this is ice cream). And there are also brooches with crab and postcards with author's images of city views.

"Ussuriyskiy balsam" or "Captain's rum"

From the capital of the Far East, local bitters are often brought as a gift: "Ussuriysky balsam", "Golden horn", "Captain's rum", "Antlers on honey" and others. They can be found in many grocery stores.