How to spend 5 hours in Sevastopol, Crimea

In one of my previous posts - How I got to Sevastopol (Севастополь), Ukraine (Україна), I told you about how I traveled to Crimean Peninsula and Sevastopol in particular. In this post I'll share with you what I saw for an afternoon in this Black Sea city.

Sevastopol region occupies the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, bordering on the north-east by Bakhchisaray district, on the south-east - the Bolshaya Yalta and on the west and south by Black sea. There are 4 administrative districts on the territory of Sevastopol region: Balaclava, Gagarin, Lenin, Nahimovskiy.

Artbuhta in Sevastopol - view from the sea 

Sevastopol scenery includes numerous bays, deep ravines and mountain valleys. Within the region there are more than 30 bays. The largest of them are: Sevastopol bay, Yuzhnaya bay, Streletskaya bay, Kruglaya bay, Kamyshovaya bay, Kazach’ya bay and Balaklavskaya bay. Sevastopol Bay and Yuzhnaya bay divide the city into North, South and “Korabelnaya “ side.

Docking ships in Pivdenna bay 

It turned out that the hotel where I was staying  is far from the city center, but despite the busy schedule I decided to spend an afternoon walking around Sevastopol. There are two options to get to downtown - a taxi for about 10-15 € or bus for about 1 €. Taxi will save you about 10 minutes, but you will not be able to mix with the local people and feel the atmosphere more closely.

A nice place with view of Pivdenna bay

I started my little tour from the junction of "Velyka Morska" St. and "Admirala Oktyabr's'koho" St. I went on "Suvorova" St. and down to the "Pivdenna Bay ( Pivdenna Buhta) " , enjoying the view of the bay and docking ships. I continued along the bay in the direction to the "Monument of Admiral Nakhimov". 

Afghanistan war memorial - Sevastopol

So, unnoticeably I was in front of The Black Sea Fleet Museum . The entrance fee for the museum is about 2 €. Museum is not large, and it took me less than an hour to see it. The exposition is about the Naval history and I saw rare books, awards weapons, ship models, documents, unique paintings and battle flags. If you are interested in military history and navy, this is one of the places that you have to stop in Sevastopol.

The Black Sea Fleet Museum

When I finished with the museum, I went to the harbor (Hrafska Prystan) to take a guided boat tour in Sevastopol Bays, where the Russian and Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet is based. You could find more details in my post - Must sea in Sevastopol - The Black Sea Fleet or watch videos I made. 

Sevastopol - port entrance

After the tour around the bay, I walked near "Prymorskyi" Blvd. and Artillery Bay (Artbuhta). There is a wonderful Panorama of the Sevastopol port entrance with its Monument to the Scuttled Ships, which were sunk during the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War. 

The area near Primorskyi blvd.

Artillery bay, Artbuhta - Sevastopol

The area around Artbuhta is a very pleasant place to walk , where there are numerous places to eat , enjoying the great views of the bay. This is the place where you can try the traditional “Kvass”, right on the street.

Street vendors selling Sevastopolskiy Kvass

Ukrainian non pasteurized beer

If you love dolphins, you may visit also the Sevastopol Dolphinarium, which is located on the Artillery Bay Coast. The entrance fees were:

• Adult - 8 €.;
•  Children (from 5 to 14 years) - 4 €;
•  Photos with dolphins: your camera - 8 €, dolphinarium’s camera – 12 € and 16 €;
•  Swimming with dolphins: 47 € for 5 minutes.

Sevastopol dolphinarium

Basically, that was all, I was able to see for one summer afternoon in Sevastopol.
If you have such short experiences in this place, please share it in the comments below.