Sochi or Adler - where is the best place to relax? Our review

Sort tourist reviews on the topic - Sochi or Adler? - not easy, so it was decided to write a small text that clearly explains the difference between the resorts.

And let me start right off the bat? If you do not want an hour, or even traffic jams, to get from Sochi airport to a hotel or apartment, then choose Adler.

Further in the text there are even more comparisons, what is the difference, distributions by categories "who go there, who here" and attempts to solve the unsolvable: Sochi or Adler - where to go on vacation in 2021 ???

We know Sochi and Adler as tourists and as residents - here we spent the winter and spent a short 10-day vacation.

Weather in the resorts

This is how you can sit on the central Riviera beach in Sochi

If there is anything that unites two cities, besides the sea, advertising and unrestricted construction, it is the weather. Well, the climate cannot differ, if the distance between Sochi and Adler is only 30 kilometers. The question "where is warmer" is not even worth it.

• The holiday season - when the heat, the warm Black Sea and the beach are not crowded - begins in June and ends in October.

In winter, everything is better here than anywhere else in Russia: there is no snow (it is only in the mountains), the temperature does not drop to minus even at night, and the sun shines 15 days a month - more than in Moscow in summer.

Average temperature of air and water, ° С

• About Adler in October
• About Adler in November

Vacation prices

Central Navaginskaya street in Sochi

Another question, where is it cheaper - in Sochi or Adler? There must be some differences. Let's make a financial comparison on the four main elements of a seaside trip: transportation, accommodation, excursions, and food.

Prices for tours, flights, train

I do not consider the option "by yourself in the car, and the cat in the trunk", because I have no experience in this. I don't know, fortunately or unfortunately :)

# 1. How much does a summer tour for two cost in 2021?
(flight + accommodation + transfer)

• Sochi: from 42,000 rubles for 10 nights
• Adler: from 45,000 rubles for 10 nights
• Where to look for tours from your city: Travelata or Level.Travel

Try to save money with cashback from Rostourism if you go to the sea before July 2021!

# 2. Airfare prices.

• Both in Sochi and in Adler (there is only one airport): from 8,000 rubles per person from Moscow round-trip during the season.
• We flew in late October for 5,000 rubles round trip from Kazan.
• Where to look for flights departing from the city you need: Aviasales.

No. 3. Train cost.
(I take a standard reserved seat)

• To Sochi or Adler: from 5000 rubles for a round-trip ticket from Moscow. On the way - a day or more. I remember the "glorious" 48 hours in a Kazan-Adler train carriage without air conditioning ...
• Where to look for tickets: Russian Railways website.

Conclusion. The first element did not clarify, the budget for transport is the same plus or minus, let's move on.

Lodging

On the left is the Marriott hotel, the room we rented in Krasnaya Polyana

Sochi or Adler - where is it better to live? The answer can be based on the price tag and subjective impressions of the atmosphere. First, about the first.

Prices for accommodation in Sochi and Adler per day:
(if you go on your own in high season)

Despite the fact that Sochi seems to be a larger city by ear, the number of leased objects here and in Adler is almost the same - this can be seen on the Sutochno.ru service of daily rent (for a short vacation, we look at apartments here).

With regards to hotels, in Sochi there are 5 hotels from international chains (Hayat, Pullman, Park Inn) and, in general, there are more “fives” and “fours”, in Adler there are only 2. Sanatoriums and boarding houses, as a class, seem to have died out, or are available to a limited circle of people - this is how you can book literally 1-2 in each city on the RoomGuru hotel search engine.

By the way, the 2020 season was so rich in tourists and the raised cost of housing that, I'm afraid, the Sochi and Adler landlords might not get used to the "gold" that has rolled over these three months.

The actual view of the Riviera beach

About the atmosphere.
I like the city with the letter "A" more. After a month of "village" life in Adler in Sochi, I got a headache from the turmoil. Noisy, narrow, traffic lights at intersections do not work!

• Sochi is a big city, and there are advantages in this: there are more establishments, parks, shops. But in addition, there is a huge amount of people, dirt, parking problems.
• Sochi is a hilly and green city, this cannot be taken away, but what is it like to overcome all the descents and ascents in the heat - I do not want to imagine :)
• In Adler, however, there is a plain, space, silence (compared to Sochi, there are also a lot of tourists here), and mountains can be seen from the beach. Vacationers for 7-10-14 days often choose Imereti Bay. And the best area for a long stay, in my opinion, is the area of ​​the Imereti port, even in spite of the noise of the planes coming in for landing. In which area of ​​Sochi it is better to relax - a link with a separate article will appear here soon.

Conclusion. In terms of housing, the cities are equal from the financial side - both there and there you can find both a room for 500 rubles a day, and a high-quality hotel (but already for a lot of money). In terms of livability, Adler will appeal to those who are unnerved by the sounds and elements of a big city: car signals, heavy traffic on the road, spontaneous markets, a bunch of tasteless advertisements - everything that is in abundance in Sochi.

Tours

From the port of Adler we rode a yacht / And in Sochi we rented a small car 🙂

Conclusion immediately. In the context of excursions, it makes no sense to focus specifically on Sochi or Adler - they cost the same, regardless of the place of departure. I was convinced of this by comparing the excursion brochures.

The usual cost of excursions:

• Krasnaya Polyana - 800 rubles + surcharge for cable cars
• Abkhazia - 1500 rubles
• Fishing for 3 hours - 1300-1500 rubles
• Boat trip on a yacht - 1500 rubles for 1.5 hours
• Mount Akhun and Agur gorge - 700 rubles
• Horseback riding - 1400 rubles

You can make sure that the price tag is the same on the Tripster website - all the same excursions are collected there (they finally go online!).

Food

LA coffee on Navaginskaya street

By this section, you probably already guessed that the two resorts do not differ in terms of food either. The only thing that I noticed is that coffee in Sochi is cheaper - apparently because there is no monopoly of the Surf chain there (two coffee shops for the whole of Adler).

• Lunch for two in the dining room - 500-600 rubles
• Cappuccino, 0.4 from a coffee shop - 210 rubles
• Hike to a cafe for two - 1000 rubles
• Prices in stores are slightly higher than in the regions, but they do not reach Moscow.

Well, of course, there are more establishments in Sochi. In addition, if in Adler vegetarians and vegans need to select dishes for themselves in traditional cafes, then in Sochi there are enough places with vegan cuisine. For example, Plants & Friends - highly recommend, or desserts in Namelaka (the latter is in the food mall Gastroportwhere there are a lot of great places). And do not forget coffee, coffee in a coffee shop LA coffee! In Adler, I will advise you to drink coffee in Surf or Karma Is an inexpensive cafe with modern cuisine, but I didn't like the food, only coffee. Nice burgers - in Burger, and the rolls, which are not ashamed to eat and two at a time, in Bakery.

Beaches and sea

The central beach in Sochi is almost no different from the beach in Adler (next to the Mandarin shopping center)

Where is the best beach - in Sochi or Adler? And-and-and-and, yeah, they are similar too! :) Everywhere the beaches are pebbled and free, and the pebbles are large. In some areas, sand is brought, not golden, but black or gray, but the entrance to the water is still rocky. And I must say that the sandy layer greatly spoils the transparency of the water and creates turbidity. Another common misfortune of the beaches is a sharp depth, I don't know why many people write that there is a gentle entrance.

Rate the quality of Adler beaches - here is a YouTube video that Igor filmed this season:

In general, the beaches of Greater Sochi (which includes Adler) have reached a new level, they are finally taken care of: sun loungers and umbrellas are rented out (200-300 rubles per day), embankments with cafes run along, there are free showers, changing rooms, toilets ... There are playgrounds in Adler, in Sochi - sports grounds and cool public areas (for example, on the Riviera beach).

Prices for water activities:

• Sap-boards - 700-800 rubles per hour
• Walk to the dolphins - 500 rubles

Conclusion. There are stones everywhere, somewhere black sand. Pure-pebble beaches clearly benefit from the beauty of the water, and in this vein, the beaches of the Nizhneimeretinskaya Bay of Adler are good. A big plus is that they are not disfigured by the breakwaters that are often found in Sochi.

Where is the best with children?

I noticed that families with children still choose Adler. So if you have a need for new acquaintances, and a child has a daily small talk with other small ones, then you should go to the local beaches.

I believe the following facts help parents to stop at Adler:

- There are no stairs, descents, ascents and easy access to the beaches = no need to suffer with a stroller or "I want to handle, I don't want to climb."
- There are more modern housing near the sea and fresher hotel rooms (in the Nizhneimeretinskaya Bay), because basically everything was built for the Olympics.
- It's quieter and calmer here, there are fewer taverns with "Accountant, my dear ..." all night long.
- Sochi Park and the Singing Fountains are here, after all!
- The road from the airport takes 15-30 minutes by taxi.
- Clean, clean sea.

Sights

Climbed Rosa Khutor (view from the very top of the Stone Pillar)

And where is it more interesting - in Adler or Sochi? Well, in a big city, leisure will be more varied - that is, in Sochi. As a last resort, although there are large malls with all the popular shops here. A variety of cafes and restaurants are also on the side of Sochi.

Adler

Adler's advantage is its close location to Abkhazia (literally bordering) and in a direct route to Krasnaya Polyana (40 minutes by car, and you are there).

Of the places valuable for tourists:

• Olympic Park, its facilities and the Singing Fountains
• Formula 1 track
• Sochi Park Amusement Park
• Southern Cultures Park
• Embankment along the sea - from Abkhazia to the port
• "Nearby" - Abkhazia and the mountains

Even if you plan one item per day, you get bored quickly. So at the end of the holiday, the holiday-makers notice every new pebble on the embankment and know all the Chacha traders by their names.

Sochi

What to see in Sochi?

• Abandoned sanatorium Ordzhonikidze
• Arboretum with cable car
• Main pedestrian street Navaginskaya
• Park "Riviera
• Embankment along the sea and the seaport with the station building
• And in general, there are many spaces for walking.

In the vicinity, in 30-50 minutes by car, you can get more interesting things - Orekhovsky waterfall, Stalin's dacha, Agurskoye gorge.

Bottom line: where is better - in Sochi or Adler?

So we got to that glorious part of the text when the pros, cons, disadvantages, advantages - everything is sorted out. It remains to summarize. In my opinion, it is better to go to the sea in the summer to Adler. But, as one person says, you draw the conclusions yourself, and here are the objective facts.

Sochi or Adler - where is the best place to relax?

In Sochi, if ...

• … You need an active city rest.
• ... I want a nostalgic flair of the USSR and an older contingent of holidaymakers.
• … To walk a lot in parks and spend the heat in the shade of dense trees.
• … I plan to have a new establishment every day.
• … To leave the vacation fit and physically hardened - steps and hills will help you with this.

In Adler, if ...

• ... need a quiet holiday, as much as possible during the high season in summer.
• ... the accessibility of the beaches and the absence of tedious descents and ascents is important.
• ... the road to the airport should take no more than half an hour.
• … A trip with a child.
• … I want to contemplate the mountains around the clock.

Use the block of useful links below to move from reading and thinking to taking action! :)