Everything You Should See in Sochi

The mountain cluster of Sochi is four all-season resorts: Gorki Gorod, Gazprom Laura, Gazprom Alpika and Rosa Khutor. Each has its own tourist and entertainment infrastructure: ski slopes with ski lifts, equipment rentals, spa centers, hotels, restaurants, shops. The resorts are located 50 km from Sochi airport and are combined by road and rail. This area is usually called “Krasnaya Polyana”, because of the nearby village of the same name.

The resorts adjoin each other and visitors can easily move between them. Gorki Gorod, Gazprom Alpika and Rosa Khutor are on the same line along the Mzymta River. Gazprom Laura is built on the neighboring ridge and is away from the other three. The entire infrastructure of the resorts was built in 2014 for the Winter Olympic Games.

Gazprom Laura is the most peaceful and utilitarian of all the resorts. The structure of the mountain-tourist center includes: two spa hotels, a ski-biathlon complex, an entertainment center and ski slopes. The resort has 13 cable cars, one of which is the longest in the Krasnaya Polyana — more than five kilometers.

The resort is suitable for quiet skiing. There are fewer people, wider trails and not so steep slope. 

The length of the slopes is 23 km, seven of which work until eleven in the evening — this is the largest area of evening skiing in “Polyana”. The complexity of the tracks from “green” to “black”, and the level of their training is the highest among the other resorts.

Gazprom is the only place where you can go cross-country skiing. There are Olympic tracks of the ski-biathlon complex Laura.

Sochi Autodrome is the only track in Russia to host Grand Prix of Formula 1. It was designed by Hermann Tilke the author of most of the modern tracks of Royal Races. It was built among the objects of the Olympic Park, with views of the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea. Bolides sweep past the ice palace, the curling center and the main Olympic stadium. Guests can take part in a high-speed race, visit the car museum and spend time in shops, restaurants and recreation area in the park.

There are three features that distinguish the Sochi track from the other tracks. The first it is the newest and most expensive. The second is a turn in the shape of the letter "omega", which, according to the racers, is one of the most difficult in the calendar of Formula 1. The third is a specially developed asphalt coating that increases grip with tires and makes the track one of the safest in the world.

Medoveevka is a mountain village forty kilometers from Sochi. It is former Soviet state farm for honey production. Here is a family brewery Endemic, where craft beer is brewed on spring water. Masters create unusual varieties using the Circassian pear, Krasnopolyansk berries and chestnut honey. Everything is done by hand, from mashing of malt to labeling. Beer is not pasteurized and is not exported outside of Medoveevka.

The hosts will show how beer is brewed and will give for tasting three permanent and two seasonal varieties. Beer will be served with dried meat, smoked cheese and homemade chips. After the excursion in the brewery bar, there will be lunch. In the menu: trout baked with vegetables, sausages from lamb with potatoes with cabbage, shank cooked in dark beer with herbs.

Rosa Khutor is the most visited and developed resort of “Polyana” by the number of tracks. It is located on two levels: Rosa Dolina and Rosa Plato. The first is the embankment of the Mzymta River, where the promenade is located and the ski lifts start on the slopes. The second is the former Olympic Village, converted into hotels and restaurants.

At the Rosa Khutor there are about a hundred kilometers of different levels of difficulty, which serve 28 lifts. Most of them are Austrian-Swiss eight-seat gondolas. The best view opens from the lift leading from Rosa Khutor to Rosa Plato. Moving over a kilometer gap, you can see the embankment of Mzymta River and the panorama of snow-covered mountain ridges.

The highest point is Rosa Peak is at an altitude of 2,230 m. For those who do not ski, there is a walking ticket. You can climb to the observation platform and have breakfast at the Visota Restaurant. The first lifts start at 7:00, and the time of landing of the last guest from the Rosa Peak is 16:15. For all cable cars there is a single ski pass.

The resort has a lot of restaurants, chain hotels, boutiques, rental offices and ski schools. Shops of famous brands, beauty salons, spa centers, banyas, ice palace. Every season offers something new. There is a children's club, three snow parks, a slope for tubing, walks on huskies, sled runs and paragliding. On holidays and weekends, sports and entertainment activities are organized here.

Abrau-Durso is a wine house, founded in 1870. It is located on the shore of the lake of the same name, five hours drive from Sochi. Sparkling wine Abrau-Durso was served on the table of the emperor and during ceremonial receptions in the Kremlin. Pepsi Company imported it to the US and sold it in New York restaurants at the same price as Moët & Chandon and Laurent Perrier.

In Abrau-Durso, champagne is produced by the classical method for more than a hundred years. From the grape juice of the first extraction, the base is first prepared — “a quiet wine”. Then mix different types of wine and form a bouquet of future champagne. The peculiarity of Abrau-Durso champagne is that in addition to the traditional varieties of grapes: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, they also assemble Riesling, Aligote, Pinot Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The resulting wine is bottled and sent to the mountain tunnels for a three-year period.

After three years the bottles are placed with the neck down on a special stand — a music stand. Every day the bottles are turned slightly to gradually get rid of the sediment. In the process it is getting on the cork. This method was invented by Madame Clicquot, and it is called remuage. Further, the disgorging is produced when the bottle neck with the cork is frozen, the retaining bracket is removed and the cork flies. Champagne is clogged with a new cork and wire tie — muzzle.

On the territory of Abrau-Durso hotels, restaurants and spa-centers are build. For the guests there are excursions to the production and tasting of champagne. In the cellars at a depth of thirty meters there is a collection of rare vintage wines that you can try. There is a modern art center, a sailing school and brand shops with products of the wine house. Abrau-Durso is the most visited winery in Europe. 

Skypark is a park of high-altitude entertainment in a half-hour drive from Krasnaya Polyana. Visitors are offered eight rides, six of which are built between the two rocks of the Akhshtyr Gorge, over the Mzymta River. This is a walk along the longest hanging bridge in the world, jumping on an elastic rope from a height of 207 and 69 meters, as well as three types of flights over the gorge on a rope. The other two attractions are rope park and rock climbing with a visit to the cave. On the territory there is a restaurant, a museum and an observation platform.

There are only eight such parks in the world, their feature is bungee jumping. The highest platform, 233 meters high, is located on the TV tower in Macau. Over the thirty years of park history, four million safe jumps have been made. It all starts with weighing and individual selection of the rope. Then it is fixed around the ankles and at the waist. After the jump, each participant is given a memorable T-shirt and a certificate.

Features are special services that can diversify the journey. Add an individual menu, a test drive of a sports car or a master class on helicopter control. Features make the rest individual.