Krasnodar Krai is a region in Southern Russia, bordering Crimea to the west (across the narrow Strait of Kerch), Rostov Oblast to the north, Stavropol Krai to the east, and Georgia and Karachay-Cherkessia to the south. Krasnodar Krai offers travelers Russia's premiere beach resorts as well as some of Europe's tallest mountains in its Caucasian south.

Cities

• Krasnodar — capital and principal city
• Abrau-Dyurso — located between Anapa and Novorossiysk, this town can certainly be called Russian Vine Capital
• Adler
• Armavir (Russia) — founded by Armenians, this is the principal city of eastern Krasnodar Krai
• Anapa — an ancient Pontic Greek port, now a small, family-friendly Russian beach resort town
• Gelendzhik — Small beach town east of Novorossiysk
• Labinsk — mineral waters, waterfalls, lakes, and caves along the Laba river in Krasnodar Krai's southeast
• Novorossiysk — Russia's main Black Sea port, a must for WWII buffs, but it also has some nice sandy beaches
• Sochi — a big resort city located in a simply beautiful area, where Russians come for fun in the sun (and in the nightclubs!)
• Taman — Small town west of Anapa, location of Lermontov's dacha
• Tuapse

Other destinations

• Caucasian Biosphere Reserve — a UNESCO World Heritage site in the breathtakingly beautiful Western Caucasus, home to the newly reintroduced European buffalo
• Krasnaya Polyana — a Western Caucasus ski resort and personal favorite destination of Prime Minister Putin
• Sochinsky National Park

Understand

Krasnodar Krai has the most fortunate climate conditions in Russia. Reasonably, it attracts many people to live there: with over 5 million population it has the 3rd place in Russia after Moscow and Moscow Oblast. The region is famous as "Granary of Russia": its agricultural production is feeding the whole country and being exported.

Krasnodar Krai also contains Russia's largest tourist industry by some measure, catering principally to domestic tourists. The region contains a full 25% of all Russia's registered hotels and resorts. For international travelers, the biggest reasons to visit it are to see the stunning and lush slopes of Western Caucasus mountains and to party po-russky at the beach! Anyone visiting a seaside resort should consider reading Bunin's Sunstroke (Солнечный удар), one of the most beautiful short stories ever written.

Krasnodar Krai encompasses two major distinct climactic regions. The northern two thirds of the region (north of the Kuban River) is covered by Russia's near ubiquitous steppe and has a continental climate. The southern part of the region, however, is much more exotic, ranging from a Mediterranean climate along the Black Sea coast to subtropical in the southeast to high alpine along the border with Georgia and Abkhazia.

Additionally, Krasnodar Krai encircles the enclaved Russian region of Adygea Republic — named for the mountain Adyghe people, also known as the Circassians.

Krasnodar Krai can be divided in three tourist regions:

• The Black Sea coastline ("Russian Riviera")
• The Azov Sea coastline
• Inner Krasnodar Krai

Talk

Everyone, including ethnic minorities, speaks Russian.

Get in

The principal rail service for the region comes from virtually any Russian city through Rostov-on-Don from the north to Krasnodar, Novorossiysk, and as far south as Adler. There are cheap express trains (~18–20 hours) from Moscow and Saint Petersburg to Krasnodar.

Krasnodar airport is serviced by flights from Vienna, Frankfurt, Thessalonika, and Istanbul, as well as by numerous domestic Russian flights. It is also easy to fly to Sochi or Anapa from any major Russian city.

It is possible to arrive at Sochi or Novorossiysk by boat from numerous ports on the Black Sea.

Do

• Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games at Sochi, February 2014

Drink

• Krasnodar tea (Краснодарский чай). This is the only tea sort grown in Russia, being the northernmost one in the world (due to climate conditions, it's impossible to cultivate tea to the north from Sochi). There are several tea plantations in Greater Sochi in Dagomys, Solokhaul [29] (Lazarevskoe district) and Adler. The amount of their production is limited, so it's not easy to meet it outside the region. Baloven (Баловень) tea brand by Dagomys Tea Plant is available at regional shops. Group tours to tea plants are also available. 
• Local alcohol. Surpisingly, Russia is the 11th-largest wine producer in the world, and 60% of all Russian wine is manufactured in Krasnodar Krai. So, there is possible to buy many kinds of this drink, starting from home-made and market-sold wine in no-brand plastic bottles (looks dangerous, but is spoken to be the best one), finishing with premium-class aged wine and brandy in souvenir boxes. To avoid fake brand production buy it at chain stores. 
  • Abrau Durso sparkling wines. Abrau Durso (plant located near Novorossiysk) is the leading and the best-known Russian producer of a wide array of sparkling wines, from odious "Soviet Shampagne" to the exclusive Imperial and Millesime wine collections. The production technology is based on traditional shampagnoise method. Abrau Durso (Абрау-Дюрсо) wine is distributed to all Russian regions and exported. The price varies greatly depending on the collection item. 
  • Abkhazian wines. There are several brands of wine from Abkhazia those are widely common in Russian shops and popular for their inimitative taste. Apsny (Апсны) - red semi-sweet wine from the mix of Cabernet, Sovignon, Merlot and Saperavi grape. Chegem (Чегем) - red dry wine from Cabernet grape. Lykhny (Лыхны) - red semi-sweet wine from Isabella grape. Psou (Псоу) - white semi-sweet wine from Aligote and Riesling grape. 250-500 RUR per bottle. 
  • Brand wines of Krasnodar Krai. The best wine brands in the region are Fanagoria (Фанагория) [1] and Myskhako (Мысхако), both produced in Novorossiysk area and having the wide assortment. 200-500 RUR per bottle. 
  • Brandy. This alcohol drink is called Cognac (Коньяк) at Russian domestic market, but is exported as Brandy due to necessity to follow the copyright of Cognac province of France. Together with Dagestan and Stavropol Krai, Krasnodar Krai is among 3 regions of Russia, those grape is acceptable for brandy production. The factory in Temryuk town located near Taman makes the best brandy in Krasnodar Krai, including the aged and souvenir collection. From 150 RUR per bottle for ordinary drink, to 2,500 RUR for upper-class souvenir bottles. 

Go next

Dombai, perhaps Russia's most beautiful resort, is located in nearby Karachay-Cherkessia in the Caucasus mountains.