Adler is a budget cousin of Sochi, and in reviews he is mostly scolded. In this review, I talk in detail about the pros and cons of the resort, prices in Adler in 2021, give advice and suggest when to go and what to do on vacation.
Adler, Sirius, Imeretinka: how to figure it out
Adler is a resort area in the south of Greater Sochi. Previously, it stretched from Kudepsta to Abkhazia and included the Olympic Park and Imereti Bay, but now its border ends on the Mzymta River. All that is beyond it to Abkhazia itself is the new village of Sirius, which was formed in 2020. It also includes the Imeretinskaya Bay resort and Olympic facilities. However, the people still call this whole region Adler, and someone does not bother and simply says that he was vacationing in Sochi.
In this article I will talk about the Adler Center. If you are interested in the Olympic facilities and the bay, then you need to read about the Imereti resort.
What the resort looks like
Old Adler is incredibly green, just like Sochi. Cypresses, palms, plane trees, oleanders grow on the streets, so there is enough shade and coolness.
Like almost all southern Russian resorts, Adler is built up with typical guest houses, hotels, cafes and shops. It is ugly, however, due to the huge amount of greenery in the village, it is cozy. It is also convenient to relax here, because all the necessary infrastructure is available, and housing is concentrated by the sea - no more than 10 minutes walk to the beach.
There is no remarkable architecture, and there is nothing to admire. Only a couple of pre-revolutionary buildings have survived, there are recreation parks and an embankment - I will write about this in more detail below.
The embankment resembled the Sochi one: it is narrow and almost without shadow, and endless stalls with clothes, souvenirs and beer continuously stretch along it. Even at the end of October, it was crowded in places, and besides, children on scooters now and then strove to knock them down. What's going on here in the summer!
Housing prices in Adler in 2021
Everyone knows that Adler is a budget Sochi. This is true, the prices are lower here. The private sector reigns in Adler: guest houses, mini-hotels, apartments and apartments. On the houses you can see the announcements of the delivery. There are few 3 * and 4 * hotels in the village, and there are 5 * hotels only in the Imeretinskaya Bay.
Prices for holidays in Adler in mid-summer 2021 (room for two / three per day):
| The simplest housing without amenities | from 1 000 ₽ |
| Guest house with amenities | from 1 800 ₽ |
| Decent guest houses | from 3 000 ₽ |
| Apartments by the sea | from 4 000 ₽ |
| Hotel 3 * by the sea | from 4 000 ₽ |
| Hotel 4 * by the sea | from 10 000 ₽ |
If you want to save money, settle further from the beach. Also, prices for hotels and tours fall by half at the end of the season or off-season. You can live in style by the sea in a 4 * hotel in winter!
Attention: One common disadvantage of hotels in the center of Adler is that you can hear the noise of planes taking off and landing in them. Also, we do not recommend settling behind the railway station. According to vacationers, in this area of Adler, because of road junctions and railways, it is difficult to get to the sea, and you can get to the beach only through the station.
During our large-scale audit of resorts in the south of Russia, we found that local hoteliers often deceive vacationers by buying positive reviews on travel sites, including Booking. Therefore, carefully read the reviews before booking, especially negative ones - they will tell you a lot of interesting things. And also look at the owners' responses to criticism: if they are rude, make jokes and run into a tourist, then feel free to walk by. We advise you to always book your accommodation in advance, and not look for it on the spot, otherwise you will get a mediocre option, and even overpay.
Look for hotels on the Hotelluk service - it will be safer and more profitable, because he is looking for discounts on different sites. Find out how to book a hotel cheaper.
Look for housing in the private sector on Sutochno.ru - this is a convenient and reliable service with real photos and reviews of tourists. There you can rent an apartment, room or house directly from the owners. Do not expect to easily rent a house upon arrival at the train station - usually they offer apartments at inflated prices, in an inconvenient area and with a minimum of amenities. Book your accommodation 2-3 months before your trip.
You can profitably buy a ticket to Adler on Travelata - this is a reliable and convenient online store where we ourselves buy tours for our vacation. Find out how to buy tours for less.
Oksana: "Wonderful location of the hotel" Coral Adlerkurort ": proximity to the sea, dolphinarium and oceanarium. Diverse food for every taste, there is a diet room. Huge pool with sea water."
Anna: "In" Flamingo "frontal view of the pool and the sea, a heated outdoor pool with a view of the sea, jacuzzi, sauna, delicious and varied breakfast."
Svetlana: "Hotel" Medovaya "is a great place to relax. Very beautiful courtyard, large swimming pool."
Food prices in 2021
Judging by our experience and feedback from tourists, it is quite inexpensive to eat on vacation in Adler in 2021. The resort has many canteens, cafes and restaurants with reasonable prices.
You can eat in the canteen for 150-300 rubles per person, in the cafe - for 400-800 rubles, and in the restaurant - from 1000 rubles. On the embankment, they sell hot pies, salted fish and beer for 100 rubles, cocktails for 250 rubles and waffles with ice cream and fruit filling for 300 rubles.
According to the reviews of holidaymakers, tasty you can eat in the cafes "Parmesan", "Vstrecha", "Khinkali Dancing", "Luck", "Chile". We ordered great pizza at Dodo and Sicily - they bake great everywhere. An inexpensive fish restaurant with a fresh catch - "At the Fisherman's".
Delicious and inexpensive in the Melgos cafeteria, but it is hiding in the alleys of the Central Market. Ask the locals! Other good eateries are Bread & Salt, Ratatouille, Patisson.
There is a large selection of establishments in the "Mandarin" shopping center, but the prices are the same as in Moscow mid-level establishments. However, there is an inexpensive snack at McDonald's or KFC.
Food prices in chain stores are slightly overpriced. You can buy cheap fruits, vegetables and churchkhela at the market, if you come to the close - the sellers bargain well.
Beaches and the sea in Adler
The coast is covered with medium and large pebbles mixed with sand, sometimes there are areas of sand. The entrance to the sea is shallow, but rocky. We advise you to swim in aquashuse if you have sensitive legs.
The depth builds up smoothly but quickly, so watch out for small children and do not swim during a storm. The beaches are protected from the waves by breakwater piers, from which the locals fish and the kids jump into the sea.
There are a lot of people on the beaches during the season, so be mentally prepared for this. There is everything for a comfortable stay: shade awnings, paid sun loungers, bungalows, toilets and changing rooms. True, not all beaches have enough toilets and changing rooms for tourists, so queues are formed.
Prices in 2021 on the Chaika beach in Adler (prices differ slightly on different segments of the beach):
- shower and changing room - free of charge,
- umbrella - 100 ₽,
- chaise longue - 250 ₽,
- swing - 1000 ₽,
- tent with two sunbeds - 1500 ₽.
For a walk in Adler on a catamaran, they ask for 300 rubles per hour, parasailing costs 4200 rubles, and going on a jet ski - 1000 rubles per 7 minutes.
The steepest but most expensive beach is Vinograd Beach near the Mandarin shopping center. There is a nice lounge, nice bungalows (4000 RUR per day) and a swimming pool.
The main claims of vacationers to the beaches of Adler are pollution, stench and infection. I read a lot of bad reviews, where tourists accuse the administration of the resort and the owners of guest houses for draining the sewers right into the sea, which is why many in the south catch rotavirus or norovirus. As far as I know, there really is a problem with the drains, but the drains are deep-water, and besides, they pass through the treatment facilities.
We walked the entire embankment in the center, approached the sea many times, and it was pretty clean everywhere. No stench, no floating feces, only sometimes cigarette butts, candy wrappers and natural debris were noticed among the pebbles. Perhaps we just didn't get to the places where it smells ...I think that many tourists mistake storm water for sewage. After rains and melting snow in the mountains, the water is really cloudy.
Leksa: "Every 300 meters, a sewer is drained into the sea, often with a disgusting odor, which is unacceptable for me."
Guestfreeman: "The main disadvantage that crosses everything is the stench of the sewers in the beach area. It starts in the evening and stops in the morning."
How not to catch an infection at sea
Intestinal infections are a really big problem in southern resorts. Rotavirus and norovirus are more often picked up by children and are seriously ill, but adults also suffer from them. Be sure to collect a first-aid kit for rest and do not forget the compulsory medical insurance policy. Young children need to be vaccinated against rotavirus.
In order not to catch an intestinal infection in the Black Sea (and indeed in any sea, even abroad), you need to follow the basic rules of hygiene:
- Do not swallow seawater.
- Wash fruits, vegetables, and hands thoroughly before eating. Wash with running water or bottled water, not in the sea!
- Drink bottled or boiled water.
- Do not buy food from street vendors.
- Do not take perishable food to the beach.
- If you cook yourself, be hygienic and boil and fry food well.
- Make sure your child does not put stones, sand, dirt, or dirty hands in his mouth.
Excursions and entertainment
Adler is unremarkable. For architecture lovers there is nothing interesting left here: only the old railway station, the newly built Church of the Holy Spirit, the lighthouse, the building of the port station on the embankment and the pre-revolutionary terracotta-colored building of the music school on Kirov, 26.
Take a walk at the resort you can go along the embankment, in small squares and in the park of culture and recreation. If you like beautiful parks and plants, we advise you to go to the arboretum - Sochi and Southern Cultures.
Tourists love to walk in SEC Mandarin" - there are many cafes, restaurants and entertainment. For example, there is a karaoke, indoor pool, nightclub and billiard room. In general, this is not a shopping center in the usual sense, because there are very few clothing stores there. Rather, it is a resting place with entertainment and walking areas.
If you want to actively relax, rent a jet ski, try parasailing - flying on a parachute, which is attached by a cable to the boat, ride "bananas", catamarans and yachts. Swim in the open sea and look for dolphins.
With baby go to the aquarium, water park "Amfibius", terrarium, monkey nursery. But it is much more interesting to take children to the rides in Sochi Park, which is in the Imeretinskaya Bay. Find out how to relax in Adler with children.
In general, all the most interesting is concentrated not in Old Adler, but outside of it. According to reviews, vacationers usually take excursions or go on their own to "Skypark", Krasnaya Polyana, Olympic Park, Sochi and Abkhazia - these are the most attractive places for tourists.
Lily: "We visited an excursion to Krasnaya Polyana. We were lucky with a guide. Comfortable bus, 50 passengers, including those with small children, a new federal highway laid among the mountains to the Olympics, no serpentines." More about the excursion →
When is the best time to go
Adler has a warm subtropical climate. The beach season lasts from May to late September - early October, but swimming is comfortable from mid-June. In mid-June in the afternoon + 25 ... + 28 ° С, and the temperature of the sea water is about + 23 ° С. In July and August it gets hot + 30 ... + 35 ° С in the shade. Due to the complete calm and high humidity, the heat is felt more strongly, but in the sea it is very comfortable + 26 ... + 27 ° С. Find out if it is worth going to Adler and Sochi in the summer.
In the velvet season, I advise you to come with small children, elderly tourists and those who do not tolerate the heat. The whole September in Adler is warm: the air is warmed up to + 25 ° С, and the sea up to + 23 ... 25 ° С.
We were in Adler at the end of October, and even then it was still very warm. I walked in a dress and a hat, because without her, my head baked great. However, a cool breeze was already blowing, reminiscent of the end of the beach season. Despite this, the tourists were sunbathing and even swimming.
Nika: "The weather in June was almost perfect, the only thing was it rained twice. On other days, the sun was almost always shining during the day."
Lorena Mil: "We had a rest in September. The weather was wonderful, quite summer. The sea is warm, there are not so many people as in the high season, therefore the prices are lower than in summer."
According to vacationers, Adler is a good alternative to expensive Sochi. Here are the reasons tourists have in favor of a vacation in Adler in 2021:
Brad Pitt: "I remember Adler for its breathtaking nature! I don't know what vegetation is in paradise in heaven, but if there is paradise on earth, it is Abkhazia and Sochi."
