Eastern Approaches

Introduction

Crimea is one of Britain’s most ‘familiar’ places. From the mid-19th century when names such as Sevastopol, Balaclava and the Light Brigade became household words, to the mid-20th when Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt met at Yalta to redraw the map of Europe for the next four decades, Crimea has shaped our history.

Never a centre of civilisations, Crimea is a place where other peoples, other civilisations met and mingled to influence events around them: Scythian, Sarmatian, Greek, Roman, Persian, Byzantine, Soghdian, Khazar, Mongol, Armenian, Genoese, Jewish, Turkish, British, German, Russian – there is even a tiny Spanish community! It was from the port of Caffa in Crimea that the Black Death entered medieval Europe to wipe out a third of its population. It was in Crimea that the last descendant of Genghis Khan’s once mighty empire met its end when Catherine the Great annexed the Crimean Khanate in 1783. It was in Crimea that the modern British army was born. It was in Crimea that post-War Europe was formed. Crimea is truly history’s meeting place.

The setting is quite magnificent: bay after bay with great limestone mountains, flanked with rain forest, that plunge directly into the Black Sea in immensely high cliffs. Inland, the mountains give way to limitless steppes stretching to endless horizons, punctuated only by the occasional burial mounds of ancient nomadic warriors whose magnificent treasures now grace the Hermitage and other museums. These landscapes provide a setting for an astonishing variety of cultural remains: Greek and Roman ruins, rock-cut mountain-top Jewish cities, exquisite Byzantine churches, spectacular Genoese castles, Armenian monasteries, Ottoman mosques, Tatar palaces, English stately homes.

The tour begins in the splendour of Odessa, now reclaiming its position as Queen of the Black Sea, with an excursion to the great Ottoman fortress of Ak-Kerman overlooking the mouth of the Dniestr River.

Information

Extra Notes

Visa procurement is included in the tour price.

Accommodation

Comfortable 3-4 star throughout: renovated 3 star Hotel Brisol, Yalta (4 nights); new Lydia Hotel, Theodosia (3 nights); 3 star Sevastopol Hotel, Sevastopol (3 nights); 4 star Londonskaya Hotel, Odessa (3 nights).

Travel

Flights on scheduled Ukraine International via Kiev. Internal travel is by comfortable air-conditioned coaches, with occasional minibuses for brief excursions on smaller roads.

Local Conditions

This tour is not considered strenuous. All overnight stays bar one are for two or more nights, although some of the days entail long drives. There is some walking around cites and sites, never more than 2 hours. Weather is expected to be warm,  possibly hot.
Whilst all efforts will be made to cover the itinerary as advertised, local conditions might entail minor modifications. In particular the order of some of the sightseeing might change, to benefit from weather, new opportunities and other variables. The sightseeing listed here only represents the minimum.