Traveling in the North Caucasus is the best thing that can happen to you. If your mind is free from myths and stereotypes, go for it! And we will help you to do everything beautifully, clearly and safely. Read our guide.
#NashKavkaz
As soon as I got my license and bought my first car in 2016, I went on a trip to the North Caucasus. My story is simple: I came, I saw, I fell in love. I fell in love with autotravel, fell in love with the Caucasus. And now every year (or even not once) I gather a team of friends and go on expeditions to the most beautiful places in Russia.
In the fall of 2018, I outfitted another trip to the mountains under the slogan #NashKavkaz... We went to break stereotypes and open this corner of our country to the general public. In a month, we traveled through all the republics of the North Caucasus, visited the most beautiful places and proved that our southern regions are a safe and immensely interesting place to travel.
Do you want to be convinced? Read our travel tips for the Caucasus!
Our travel team:
Why go to the North Caucasus
- Admire landscapes of fantastic beauty.
- See the highest and most majestic mountains of Russia - neither the Urals nor Altai even stood nearby.
- Enjoy the beautiful mountain roads.
- Breathe clean air, live and walk in nature.
- Dispel a million myths and make sure that the kindest, most cultured and pleasant people in Russia live in the Caucasus.
- Good to save! Here you are not Georgia, not the Alps and not New Zealand - the same beauties are given almost for nothing.
Traveling in the Caucasus by car
To travel around the Caucasus, you need a car. The ideal option is to drive your own car. This is the only way you can see all the beauties, get to the most remote and secret places, be mobile and free to plot any routes. Without a car, you will not see even half.
It is best to drive an off-road vehicle - there are many places in the mountains where only a four-wheel drive car in a low gear will go. Don't have your own all-terrain vehicle? It does not matter - go on a trip in a regular car, and on the spot, if you wish, take excursions in jeeps to hard-to-reach places in the mountains. It won't be that interesting, but it's better than nothing.
Roads in the Caucasus mostly good, all major roads have perfect asphalt. There are many bad, broken dirt roads in Dagestan between small villages in the mountains, but there is always an alternative good road.
Petrol... The problem with low-quality gasoline is only in Dagestan - there are no real filling stations of famous brands, but only endless Likoil, Lukkoil, Rusneft and other "mutants" mimicking them. Alas, there is a real danger of pouring burned fuel into the tank of your car, which will instantly disable your engine. How to avoid problems and find good-quality gasoline, I told in a separate report about Dagestan.
DPS... There are many police and other security officials in the Caucasus. Get ready that at almost every post (and there are a lot of them here) you will be checked documents and asked about the route. For the rest: if you don't break it, you won't stop.
Our experience... We made both trips to the North Caucasus in the UAZ "Patriot" - on it I travel all over Russia. This is the ideal car for traveling in the mountains: super cross-country ability and huge capacity. There was only one place where I could not drive this car because of the low hanging wires.
When to go
The mountains are beautiful and good at any time of the year, but still the best period for traveling in the Caucasus is mid-spring or autumn.
During the golden autumn I spent both of our expeditions: the trees are burning with gold and crimson colors, the sun is warm, be healthy, and there are few tourists even in the most pop places like Elbrus or Dombay. In general, the trip in September-October has some advantages.
In the spring nature will be completely different. If you want to see the green Caucasus, come in May.
In summer there will be a lot of tourists and too hot, but you can safely spend the night in a tent.
Winter it is warm in the mountains, but at this time all roads to hard-to-reach places will be covered with snow, trekking is impossible and there is a danger of avalanches.
Safety
The republics of the North Caucasus are, in my opinion, the safest regions in Russia. Unexpected, right? But my experience, the opinions of local residents and the ratings that I happened to find on the Internet prove this fact.
Good news:
- The crime rate in the Caucasus is low, you can safely leave your car in the mountains and go hiking. Checked several times, local residents confidently state the same.
- People in the mountains are sympathetic, attentive and hospitable. Especially in Dagestan: for each mountaineer, mutual assistance has been pumped up to level 80. Have a problem? Any passer-by will do everything to solve it.
- In Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan there are a lot of security officials and road posts. These people do not sit in their pants, but really maintain security, so you feel very calm in these republics. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them to the military or police - they will help with advice.
But there is bad news too... Alas, things are not so good with security in the Caucasus.
- The main problem - Wahhabis... Extremists hide in the forest and pose a threat, primarily to the locals. Of course, the likelihood of a meeting is low, so it is stupid to refuse a trip to the Caucasus because of the Wahhabis.
- Fools on the roads... There are reckless people in the Caucasus, but rumors about them are greatly exaggerated. Here, although they violate, they do it not for the sake of show-off, but for their own convenience. They usually violate them carefully and do not create any danger on the road. Nearly. Believe me, in comparison with the Kuban and Crimean people, Caucasians are ideal drivers.
- Wild animals... There are many bears and wolves in the Caucasus and you can easily meet them. Locals in their lives meet bears more than once, the beast sometimes even enters the villages, but it behaves well and does not row. We did not meet predators, but we found the freshest bear trail in the mountains (we quickly faded from there, what can we hide).
But the bottom line is still positive! I boldly affirm: I feel calmer and safer in the Caucasus than in Perm, St. Petersburg or Moscow.
What to see in the Caucasus
We looked at dozens of sights of the North Caucasus - there will be a large report-list with photos, coordinates and maps.
The most beautiful places in the Caucasus:
- Dzhily-Su tract (KBR),
- Dombay with its lifts and four picturesque gorges around it: Alibek, Amanauz, Gonachkhir and Dombay-Ulgen (KCR),
- Mount Toguzkolbashi (KChR),
- Sofia saddle (KCHR),
- Zelenchuk temples (KCR),
- Bermamyt plateau (KCR),
- Lago-Naki plateau (Adygea),
- City of the Dead Dargavs (North Ossetia),
- Tower complexes Egikkhal, Targim and Vovnushki (Ingushetia),
- Mountain roads east of Lake Kezenoy-Am (Dagestan),
- Karadakh gorge (Dagestan),
- Saltinsky underground waterfall (Dagestan),
- High-mountain villages of Dagestan,
- The abandoned village of Gamsutl (Dagestan),
- Derbent is the oldest city in Russia (Dagestan).
As you can see, the undisputed leaders in the beauty of landscapes are Dagestan and Karachay-Cherkessia.
If you are a fan of Lermontov's creativity and a big fan of the "Hero of Our Time", you will be curious to see the map of the Pechorin and Lermontov routes in the Caucasus.
Where to live
We rolled the tent on both of our expeditions empty - only a couple of times we had to spend the night in the car, all the other nights we spent in hotels. There are no problems with housing in the North Caucasus. Almost not. In the popular and hackneyed tourists of the KCR, KBR and Adygea, there is more than enough housing: any options for any money, everything is on Booking. In Ossetia, Chechnya and Dagestan, housing is already more difficult, and in Ingushetia it’s just a pipe. But you can get out, I will give advice on each republic:
KCR, KBR and Adygea: all accommodation is booked on Booking.A large selection of tourist centers, guest houses, hotels, apartments.
North Ossetia: the easiest way is to stay on the outskirts of Vladikavkaz and make daily trips to the mountains.
Ingushetia: there are only 5-7 housing options for the whole republic and not a single decent one. We saw the whole republic in one day, and spent the night in a hostel in Nazran (not so-so place). Rest in Ingushetia →
Chechnya: I recommend staying at a motel on the highway, and not in Grozny - it's cheaper and you don't need to waste time getting around the city. You can drive to the mountains from the motel. On Lake Kezenoy-Am, accommodation is expensive: from 2500 rubles for a double room.
Dagestan: in Derbent, Makhachkala and other cities on the shores of the Caspian Sea, the choice of housing is very large, in the mountains it is extremely scarce. To explore mountainous Dagestan, it is convenient to stay in Gunib and drive around the surroundings. Didn't find a place to live or didn't have time to return to civilization in the evening? No problem! Any family in mountain villages will gladly shelter and feed you. In Dagestan, the level of hospitality is simply off scale.
I really do not recommend renting apartments directly from private owners (for example, through Avito). You will either be slipped a bug, or they will break your brain with all sorts of nonsense - do not even try! Remember: Booking, motels or appointments - only this way and not any amateur activity.
Clothing and equipment
Haven't you been to the mountains or autotrip yet? No problem, I will teach you how to pack your suitcase in half an hour. Here I will give only the most important tips, see the links for detailed lists:
- What to take on a trip
- Equipment for autotrip
- How to collect a first aid kit for the trip
Remember the main rule in the mountains: there is never too much fleece! "Decathlon" will help you: take fleece pants and sweaters of different densities, windbreakers, a hat and cap, more thermal socks, shorts and T-shirts.
Instead of heavy, uncomfortable and non-breathable trekking boots, it's better to go for trail sneakers - these are the best shoes that humanity has invented. Trekking poles will come in handy for your hikes.
Your own kettle or boiler, a set of mugs, tea, coffee, porridge in bags and all sorts of cookies - this simple set will brighten up your trip, warm, invigorate and saturate you every morning and evening.
Food
Before traveling to the North Caucasus, according to the old tradition, we bought half of the supermarket: canned food, pates, biscuits, cereals, dried fruits, nuts, bars and other supplies. During any road trip, my trunk looks like a food closet in a bunker in case of a nuclear war. If in Altai food was briskly jumping into our camp pot - just have time to replenish it, then in the Caucasus we ate mainly in a cafe.
I recommend that you cook to a minimum and go to a cafe more often - I have five reasons for this:
- the food is delicious,
- fed cheaply
- save time,
- the diet will be varied,
- a cafe is not a problem to find.
On average, you can eat per person for 200-300 rubles, in Dombai and Terskol it is more expensive, these places are spoiled by tourists. In Vladikavkaz, you can eat delicious barbecue for 600 rubles per kg - just fantastic. In Dagestan, in any village, any hostess will feed you from the heart for free.
But take a small set of products:
- canned food, cereals and water supply in case of emergency;
- nuts, muesli, chocolate, dried fruit for a hike or trip;
- porridge in bags for a quick breakfast at the hotel.
Do you want to know what and how do Chechens, Dagestanis, Ossetians and other peoples of the Caucasus eat? Read Arzamas's excellent material on this topic.
How much money do you need for a trip
Few! Compared to the expenses that a trip to Europe or even to the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory requires, a trip to the North Caucasus is inexpensive.
There were three of us on this expedition. We spent exactly one month in the Caucasus, plus the road from Perm (almost 3000 km) took 3-4 days one way.
Costs per person per month:
- Accommodation - 17,300 rubles.
- Meals in a cafe - 9800 rubles.
- Products - 6500 rubles.
- Mobile communication - 300 rubles.
- Missing medicines in the first aid kit - 1000 rubles.
- Sights and lifts - 2700 rubles.
Car expenses (total amount):
- Gasoline in the Caucasus - 15,000 rubles.
- Gasoline for the round trip - 25,000 rubles.
- Car repair and maintenance during travel - 1100 rubles.
Of course there were more travel preparation costs: car maintenance, buying clothes and equipment - but all these expenses are related not only to this trip, so we don't count them, but we keep them in mind when planning the budget.
I recommend buying inexpensive clothes and equipment at Decathlon. For all clothes, sleeping bags, tents, bowlers, chairs, awnings, shoes and so on, you need to spend two hundred thousand for two, but all this stuff will serve you on many trips.
The most expensive thing on this trip is gasoline. But if your car does not have a consumption of 13-20 liters per hundred and you do not need to travel 6,000 kilometers to the Caucasus there and back, then your trip will be much cheaper.
Cultural program
There is a category of vacationers who come to the Caucasus (and anywhere) only for three things: booze, barbecue and a bathhouse. Basically, such people go to Dombay, a little less to Arkhyz and Elbrus, in other places they are almost never found. I hope your interests, as well as ours, are broader than this list. If so, then take note of useful books, films and articles that will help you get to know the culture of the peoples of the North Caucasus better.
What to read:
- "Hero of our time". M. Yu Lermontov.
- "Prisoner of the Caucasus". L. N. Tolstoy.
- "Hadji Murad". Tolstoy.
- "Caucasus". A. Dumas (travel notes).
- "Letters from Dagestan". Bestuzhev-Marlinsky.
See also the list of books in this LJ note and in the comments to it.
For a list of books about the Caucasian War, see Arzamas.
I recommend an excellent resource about the North Caucasus: etokavkaz.ru.
What to listen to:
Arzamas prepared excellent material on the traditional music of the Caucasian peoples.
What to see:
- "Prisoner of the Caucasus" 1996, Sergei Bodrov (senior).
- "Ashik-Kerib" 1988, Sergei Parajanov (based on Lermontov's poem and Azerbaijani fairy tale).
From documentaries I can recommend Anton Lange's tape "Ridge. Kakaz from sea to sea". I will not say that the film came out excellent, but you will not find anything better about the Caucasus on YouTube.
