Sochi walking tour & city guide

The coast

The seafront promenade, palm-lined parks and the Riviera Park are the center of summer life. The Olympic Park in Adler, with its stadiums and the Imeretinskaya embankment, is south of the center.

The mountains

Krasnaya Polyana, an hour away, is a mountain resort for skiing in winter and hiking in summer, with cable cars to high peaks.

A day in Sochi

Spend the morning on the seafront promenade and in the Arboretum, a subtropical park full of palm trees. The Riviera Park and the seaport are nice for a walk.

In the afternoon, take a trip up to Krasnaya Polyana, the mountain resort built for the 2014 Winter Olympics, where cable cars climb to high viewpoints.

Good to know

Sochi has a subtropical climate and is Russia's most popular summer resort. The beaches are pebbly.

In winter, skiing in the mountains can be combined with mild weather on the coast.

Around Sochi

Sochi stretches for about 140 kilometers along the Black Sea, between the sea and the green Caucasus mountains. Beyond the city center, the Olympic Park in the Imeretinsky Lowland has stadiums, a Formula 1 track and a large musical fountain. Inland, tea plantations, waterfalls and the Agura gorge make good half-day trips. Krasnaya Polyana has ski resorts in winter and hiking trails, alpine meadows and mountain lakes in summer.