Beach Week: Alushta

Situated about 30 miles east of Yalta, Alushta was founded in the 6th century as a Byzantine city and has since turned into a popular Crimean resort spot. Alushta, located on the road to Sudak, features a rocky beach set against a postcard-perfect backdrop of 5,000-foot-high mountains. The 35,000-person town swells to over 150,000 during the summer, but it's more popular with average, middle-income Ukrainians as the new Russian rich still tend to flock to Yalta.

I visited the seaside town one afternoon on my trek from Yalta to Koktebel, and its beautiful beaches were expansive enough to provide ample room for everyone. The shoreline is still stone-based, but the waves were calm enough that one could easily get in and out of the water. Alushta also lacks the cruise ship traffic of Yalta and Odessa, so the waters seem much cleaner.

Alongside the shoreline, Alushta features every imaginable type of vendor offering everything from fruits and vegetables to dried fish and fancy cheese pastries. Being that it's a lesser-known beach town, the prices for such goods are generally dirt cheap.

Alushta, which means "Place of Winds" in ancient Greek, is not as trendy as the other Black Sea beach towns, but it offers a better beach and just as many activities at a much more reasonable price. Many of Yalta's attractions, like Livadia Palace and the Swallow's Next, are still within reach, as well as the Chufut Kale fortress and other interesting sights. During the summer, the Alushta beachfront also features the wild nightlife, but it's more free-flowing Acapulco than stuffy Hamptons or Yalta.

Alushta Rating: 7 out of 10