Sochi is the most expensive resort on the Black Sea. But even there it is really cheap to have a rest! Find out how to wisely save on your vacation. I tell you about the right choice of the season, the profitable purchase of tours and booking accommodation, budget replacement for excursions, and much more.
Season selection
This is the most important moment for those who want to cheaply go on vacation in Sochi! Prices for tours and accommodation in summer and in low season differ greatly - by about 2-3 times, and sometimes even 10 times. This is the Russian south, don't be surprised.
For a beach holiday I advise you to skip the peak of the summer season (July and August) and come on vacation in the first half of autumn. We also prefer to come to Sochi in September and October. The weather is wonderful, the water in the sea is still warm, there are already much fewer people in the resorts, and the prices are lower.
For nature and waterfalls come in the spring. At this time, everything is in bloom, and the rivers are as deep as possible, so the waterfalls, gorges and parks will be especially beautiful, much better than their summer version. Some tourists specially travel to Sochi in the spring to see the blossoming of sakura, wisteria, magnolia and other flowers and trees. Read why it is worth coming to Sochi in the spring.
For rest in Sochi sanatoriums choose off-season or winter. It will be possible to improve health much cheaper.
For winter holidays in the mountains instead of a hotel in Krasnaya Polyana, you can book a hotel by the sea. At this time, accommodation in them is much cheaper. Check out our selection of Sochi hotels with a heated pool - it will be especially pleasant to relax in these in winter.
Resort selection
Greater Sochi consists of many resorts. In addition to the city of Sochi, Adler and the Imeretinskaya Bay, there is also a string of small villages. The most expensive vacation is in the city of Sochi. Rest in Imeretinka and Sirius will be a little cheaper: there are both luxury five-star hotels and high-level "four", "three" and boutique hotels. It is much cheaper to relax in Adler and Lazarevskoye - these are large resorts with a developed infrastructure. But for the most budgetary vacation, it is better to come to the small villages of Sochi: Dagomys, Vardane, Ashe, Golovinka, Loo and others. Follow the links for our travel guides and tips for these resorts. Also see the comparison of the Greater Sochi resorts.
Resorts and beaches of Greater Sochi on the map
How to get to Sochi cheaply
There are many ways, you just have to choose the best one for yourself.
Plane... You can fly to Sochi cheaply from Moscow, St. Petersburg and many cities in Russia. There are many flights, competition is high, so the prices are adequate. In the summer, of course, prices rise, but still, it's not for you to fly to Kamchatka. In low season, you can take tickets from Moscow to Sochi and back for 4,000 rubles, in summer - from 7,500 rubles. Find cheap flights to Sochi with Aviasales and Skyscanner - they compare prices of all airlines. Find out the secrets of finding cheap flights.
A train... Prices are about the same as for a plane, so it's better to choose a flight. However, if all the cheap air tickets have already been sorted out or you do not live very far from the south of Russia, then you can go by train. Tickets from Moscow to a reserved seat or to the upper bunk of a compartment cost from RUB 3,000 one way.
A car... The last time we went south was by car (see the link for all the useful information). I advise you to go by car to Sochi only to those who live not too far away and are going to actively ride around the neighborhood. In other cases, the car can only become a burden: in the summer there are terrible traffic jams on the highway to Sochi, in the city itself, plus problems with parking - in general, there are enough minuses. So think and calculate what will be cheaper: a flight for your whole company or gasoline for the road.
Cheap tours to Sochi
I warn you right away that prices in the south of Russia are very high: vacationing in Turkey is much cheaper.
The cheapest tours from Moscow to Adler and other suburbs of Sochi cost from 20 thousand rubles for two for a week of rest. This is in the low season, in summer it will be one and a half times more expensive. For this price, you will be accommodated in budget guesthouses or in large complexes like Velvet Seasons. As you can see, buying a cheap tour to Sochi is not a problem. You just need to understand that such a vacation will be Spartan simple and ascetic.
If you add 10-20 thousand more to the cost of the voucher, then you can choose a decent guest house or a small hotel with good reviews. A tour to decent four-star hotels in Adler, Imeretinka and Sochi with a high rating will cost from 50 thousand rubles in low season, and in summer - from 70 thousand rubles.
Look for profitable tours on Travelata and Level.Travel - they compare prices of all tour operators. These are convenient and reliable online stores, where we buy our tours ourselves. Find out how to buy tours for less.
Inexpensive housing
For the cheapest vacation in Sochi, come to small villages and check into ultra-budget guest houses. Even in summer you can find a double room for 1000 ₽ per day, it is very cheap. Be prepared that the furnishings of the room will be extremely modest, the bathroom is shared, cleaning - as you are lucky, comfort - at a minimum. This option is suitable only for the most unassuming tourists.
In the off-season, it is very profitable to book rooms in good hotels. For example, for a double room in the wonderful 3 * Grace O'deen Congress hotel in the city of Sochi, we paid only 1900 rubles per day.
In order not to overpay and not be deceived by cunning Kuban residents, search and book accommodation only on reliable services. I recommend Hotelluk for searching hotels and guest houses, as well as Sutochno.ru and Airbnb for renting apartments and houses. These are reliable and user-friendly sites that we use ourselves. There you can read reviews about housing and compare prices in order to ultimately choose the best option. I strongly advise against looking for housing on the spot using advertisements, through barkers at train stations or booking on local unknown sites - so you will not have any guarantees about the quality of housing, the final price and the fact of settling in general. Find out 10 ways to book a hotel cheaper and check out cheap hotels in Sochi.
On Sletat.ru you can book a hotel at the price of a tour operator, sometimes it turns out much cheaper than on Booking. Just uncheck the "Flight included" checkbox in the search form - you will be shown only hotels, not flight packages. Hotelluk is also able to find discounted hotels with tour operators. For example, we caught a good discount for the Sochi Park Hotel 3 * in Imeretinka - for a double room we paid 1400 rubles per day.
If you are relaxing with a family or a large company, then instead of a hotel, it is better to rent an apartment - it will be more convenient and cheaper. See 6 cool apartments in the center of Sochi.
Excursions and attractions
Are you planning to actively ride around Sochi? Right! We ourselves have traveled everything there by car, and as a result, we wrote for you about the 20 coolest places in Sochi. Read it! In the meantime, let's think about how to save money on vacation.
Your own car will help out a lot: you can easily get to any place, and also save good money on excursions, especially if you have a large company. Do not spend much on gasoline, the distances there are still small. Most beautiful and interesting places can be reached by any car.
If you are not going on vacation by car, then I advise you to rent a car... For a company or family, it will definitely be more profitable than buying excursions, besides, it will be much more comfortable and faster. I recommend renting a car at Myrentacar.com, because they have the best prices, a convenient website and transparent conditions. Renting a budget car costs from 1000 rubles per day, a crossover - from 2200 rubles. For example, two tourists will pay an average of 2,000 rubles for each excursion. If there are about five such trips on vacation, then 10 thousand rubles will come up.Instead, you can rent a car for three days, visit all interesting places on your own, spending RUB 4,500 (RUB 3,000 for a car and RUB 1,500 for gasoline). And if we are talking about a family or a large company, then the benefits will be even more tangible.
If you definitely do not need a car, then order excursions online on Sputnik or Tripster. There you will find a large selection and, most importantly, see real reviews from tourists about each program. This will greatly increase your chances of going on a really good excursion. The cheapest way is to go on group excursions: for example, a trip to Krasnaya Polyana costs from 600 rubles per person, to waterfalls - from 800 rubles, to Abkhazia - from 1300 rubles. Individual excursions are more expensive.
Food
In Sochi, Adler and other resorts, you will find many inexpensive canteens and cafes. Sounds great, but there is one unpleasant nuance. In our south, it’s easy to run into a bad establishment, where they cook badly, are rude, do not comply with sanitary standards and cheat. Therefore, carefully choose public catering based on the recommendation of friends or reviews on Yandex and other maps. Keep in mind that many establishments buy good reviews on Yandex, so you should be able to calculate fake reviews and pay close attention to negative ones - it is there that the whole truth will be painted in the brightest colors.
We often ate at the Patisson and Coriander canteens in the center of Sochi, as well as at Did Everyone Eat Right by the Seaport. In canteens, we spent about 300 rubles per person.
Everywhere in the resorts of Sochi you can find the usual large chain supermarkets. To save money, you can rent a house with a kitchen on Sutochno.ru and cook on your own, unless, of course, you are not afraid of the prospect of spending part of your long-awaited vacation at the stove.
Buy food and drinks from the supermarket before going to the beach. At hawkers and in kiosks by the sea it will be more expensive.
Transport
Even if you come on vacation by car, it is better to use buses or taxis to get around the city. This way you don't have to look for parking and pay for it. The bus fare depends on the distance and does not differ from the average prices in Russia. It is cheaper and more convenient to order a taxi through the Yandex application than to bargain with bombils on the spot. To travel to neighboring resorts and beaches, as well as to Krasnaya Polyana, use buses or trains. See the timetables and routes of transport on the same Yandex.
Summing up
So, we made sure that it is absolutely possible to have a cheap vacation in Sochi.
Take a look at our example. For 8 days of rest in Sochi and Imeretinka at the end of the 2020 velvet season we spent 27 800 ₽ for two... We lived in three- and four-star hotels, actively visited attractions, ate in cafes and canteens, or ordered food delivery to the hotel. I have not included here just our gasoline costs, because for most tourists this is irrelevant. And after all, we still stayed in good hotels, and if you choose guest houses, then the budget will decrease even more.
The main rules for those who want to cheaply go on vacation in Sochi:
- Come whenever you want, but not in summer! Best in the velvet season.
- Choose for recreation not the city of Sochi itself, but Lazarevskoye, Adler, Dagomys and other small resorts.
- Consider what is more profitable for you: go by car, train or fly. Buy air tickets for the summer as early as possible.
- Check out the last-minute tours on Travelata and Level.Travel. Often, a vacation in Sochi on a voucher is cheaper than flights and hotels separately.
- Look for housing on three services at once: Hotelluk, Sutochno.ru and Sletat.ru. This will help you quickly find the best deal and watch out for discounted offers.
- Travel to the sights with your own car or rented car - it is cheaper than excursions.
- Eat in canteens and inexpensive cafes.
- Get around the city and between resorts using public transport.
