How to get from the Yalta bus station to Ai Petri. Mount Ai-Petri in Crimea: how to get there and what to see

Closer to us, the Iograph spur departs from the Main Mountain Range. Its continuation within the boundaries of Yalta is Darsan Hill, the watershed of the Vodopadnaya (Uchan-Su) and Bystraya (Derekoyki) river valleys. While walking around Yalta, you crossed these rivers more than once.

Right under our feet is the cone-shaped Mount Mogabi, along which we drove while climbing Ai-Petri. Its peak is almost 400 m below the Shishko rock. For some reason, many people think that Mogabi is an extinct volcano; Obviously, this idea is suggested by its regular cone-shaped shape. In reality, it is a remnant of a mountain range, of which there are quite a few on the South Coast. Mogabi hides from us that part of the coast where Livadia and Oreanda are located. To the west of this mountain there is a view of the Miskhor resort area. Cape Ai-Todor with the Swallow's Nest is visible from behind the Mogabi slope.

At your feet below Ai-Petri lies Alupka, and if you look closely you can even see the Vorontsov Palace and Park. And even further east lies our favorite resort, Simeiz, headed by Mount Koshka and the Diva rock.

Turning to the north, you will see in the distance the Bedene-Kyr mountain with white domes - this is a military base. Well, below you you can see the upper station of the Ai-Petri cable car, an oriental bazaar, and countless cafes with oriental cuisine...

But we are more interested in the panorama of the sunny southern coast, which attracts attention for a long time... But then a small cloud covered the sun for a minute, and everything immediately changed: otherwise shadows from the mountains lay, the sea became green, the bright colors dimmed. The panorama is the same, but you see it completely different...

From Ai-Petri you can watch a magnificent picture of the sunrise. But usually an excursion to Ai-Petri is designed for one day, and you can only see the sunset on Ai-Petri... And to completely complement the picture of the Crimean mountains, visit the Grand Canyon of Crimea, better in the excursion program New Crimean Switzerland is exclusive .

About the Ai-Petri teeth and the red flag

In the summer of 1950, Nikolai Pavlovich Antsiferov, a researcher at the Moscow Literary Museum, came to the Yalta Museum of Local Lore. He said that in 1907, as a young man, together with his friend, he climbed to the battlements of Ai-Petri and on one of these battlements he saw the remains of the inscription “Down with Tsarism,” riddled with bullet holes. The young people took pictures of her. After 43 years, Nikolai Pavlovich found an interesting photograph and was now donating it to the museum.

Several years passed until the museum staff managed to find out the origin of this amazing inscription. And it was like this. On the autumn morning of 1905, a scarlet banner fluttered at the top of Ai-Petri, and under it everyone saw the inscription “Down with Tsarism.” This was the time when the first Russian revolution was on the rise. And here, in “blessed Taurida,” so far from the working centers of Russia, next to the Tsar’s summer dacha in Livadia, the ghost of revolution also appeared. The police did not find anyone willing to climb the rock to tear down the banner. Then they decided... to shoot the banner and the seditious words carved on the stone. A machine gun platoon went to Ai-Petri. The flag pole, beveled by the burst, fell, but did not fall into the abyss: the red banner caught on the crevices of the rock. Again and again the lead rain poured down on him and tore him to shreds. They carefully knocked out every centimeter of the inscription on the rock with bullets. But for a long time the fragments of the banner remained red in the crevices of the Ai-Petrin spire, for a long time it was still possible to distinguish the inscription...

Who climbed to the top of the battlement, managed to strengthen the banner in one night and make an inscription, each letter of which was the height of a man?

After a lengthy search, museum workers managed to find one of the participants in this bold demonstration. In 1957, they met him in Moscow: A. A. Teodorovich worked as an employee of the Institute of Medicinal Plants. Here's what he said.

One day, a small group of Swedish tourists appeared on the South Coast and spoke Russian surprisingly well. In Miskhor they found a guide who! led them to the foot of the battlements. Having cut several steps into the rock and attached a hanging cradle, the “Swedes” set up a red banner and made an inscription.

The guide of this dangerous expedition was a mason from Miskhor I.D. Ananyev (died in 1947), and the “Swedes” turned out to be members of the RSDLP(b), who emigrated abroad and came to Russia illegally in 1905...

As I wrote earlier, it was discussed in the last article, and today we are going to the sights of this luxurious resort. After several gloomy days on our trip across Crimea, the first sunny morning. And we will spend this wonderful day on an equally wonderful place - Mount Ai-Petri.

How to get to Mount Ai-Petri in Crimea

Having quickly had breakfast and packed our things in our backpack, we went to the bus station to take public transport to Ai-Petri.

Bus

WITH Yalta bus station there's a bus coming under № 102 (he first passes by, then stops at the cable car to Ai-Petri, and his final stop is at, everything you need in one set). Flights daily from 06:45 to 21:45, interval 35-60 min 38 rub/person.

WITH bus station "Clothing market"(not far from Yalta Embankment) there is a bus service № 132 . Flights daily from 07:00 to 21:00, interval 20-30 min, fare Yalta-Ai-Petri (lower cable car station) 34 rub/person.

It is very difficult to get to the right stop. On the bus, the bulk of passengers are occupied by visitors, who ask each other almost every 5 minutes whether they will get off soon.

Taxi

Taxi Yalta-Mount Ai-Petri (upper station of the cable car) will cost from 1200 rub/car one way.

Personal or rented car

The easiest way to get there is by car, and along the way you can see the Swallow's Nest and the Vorontsov Palace without having to adjust to the public transport schedule. If you have a license, but don’t have a car, you can easily get one via the Internet in Yalta upon arrival. Directions map below. The serpentine on the Ai-Petri plateau passes through the village of Okhotnichye. In addition, the associated attractions that are described in many excursions in the form of the Uchan-Su waterfall and the Silver Gazebo can only be seen if you drive along the serpentine road by car. It will be about 10 km on foot from the upper station, and you still need to get to the populated area where buses go.

You can also negotiate with the locals about a car from Miskhor ( 1000 rub).

Koreiz (Miskhor) trail

If the cable car is closed, and you do not have the desire/opportunity to rent a car, then you can climb to the Ai-Petri plateau on foot along the Koreiz trail.

From Yalta at the bus station we take the following buses: 107, 128, 142 and get off at the stop Koreiz ( fare approx. 35 rubles).

By the way: bus number 107 after Koreiz turns towards the lower cable car station. You can get off at the next stop after Koreiz - “Burevestnik sanatorium” and walk another 200-300 meters to the cable car.

The Koreiz trail begins immediately after the Koreiz stop, at first it goes more gently, closer to the plateau there will be a good slope.

You will have to cover about 4 km.
Wear comfortable, non-slip, closed-toe shoes
Have water in your backpack!
For the correct orientation in your smartphone, use a MapsMe map.

Excursions to Ai-Petri

Group excursions from Alushta:— up to 40 people, 6 hours

Individual excursions from Yalta:— up to 3 people, 9 hours

Cable car to Mount Ai-Petri

Before we had time to dismount from the bus, a young Caucasian man immediately ran up to us and began to eloquently tell us how to get to the top of Ai-Petri, and what else you can see on the way back, if you don’t go down by cable car. To get more information, I made a very interested face, knowing full well that the young man was not groping himself like that in front of me for the sake of beautiful eyes. The site was almost completely empty when I realized that there was nothing more interesting to get out of the boy. We said goodbye to him and headed to a small building with ticket offices for the cable car right there.

Cost and operating hours of the cable car to Ai-Petri (2019):

Working hours cable car: from 10 to 17- rise, and from 10 to 18— descent.

Price:

400 rub/adult, 250 rub/child one way.
the passage to the cogs from the upper station of the cable car costs separately 100 rub.
attractions at the battlements: walk along hanging bridges over the abyss ( 500 rub), trolls from the top to one of the slopes on the plateau ( 700 m, travel time 1 min, cost 1000 rub.).

Adviсe:

take warm clothes and a raincoat with you regardless of the weather, mountains are mountains
It is better to wear comfortable, non-slip, closed-toe shoes on your feet. Even if you don’t plan to walk along forest paths, there are also rocks and roots on the plateau, and after rain it’s also slippery
the upper station of the cable car is full of cafes and shops, you don’t have to bring food and water with you, but the prices are tourist prices, you understand
In winter, the cable car is closed; you can take the serpentine road by car or negotiate with the locals ( 1000 rub/car)

There is no way to get through here as a stowaway, because somewhere in the middle of the yellow booth's route, passengers are transferred, and at the same time, purchased tickets are checked. The same thing happens on the way back. In principle, those who have a car can probably climb the mountain for free along the road. However, I can’t guarantee that some kind of toll barrier hasn’t been installed there now.

We drove the first half calmly, only about a couple of tens of meters above the ground. Moreover, I was pushed into the very center of the crowd so that even through the windows it was difficult to see anything. But this gave me the chance to almost be the first to get into the second cabin during a transfer and take advantageous positions by the window in front.

The second part is more exciting with beautiful views of the sea and a visible rock ahead. During the trip, I heard intriguing stories that the cable car is made in such a way that before the top the cabin rises almost vertically for several meters and hangs for a couple of seconds at the very edge.

I was waiting for this moment with great excitement. I will say that what I heard is partly true. The cabin at the end of the path really goes at a very large angle, rising high above the surface of the earth, but before the top it does not hang, but simply jerks it a little, which is why it is no longer breathtaking, but somehow feels uneasy.

Mount Ai-Petri

The views at the top are amazing. At this height they cannot be different. The wind here is only strong.

There are also plenty of shopping stalls upstairs, you want barbecue, you want Uzbek cuisine, you want sweets, trinkets and so on. While you walk from one observation deck to another, you only have time to brush aside the intrusive offers.

A little to the left there is another observation deck, previously fenced with a fence, in which there was now a gaping hole made by tourists. It is apparently useless to fill the hole, because tourists still “rush” to the edge.

Here you really feel uneasy from the realization that there are no life-saving railings, and beyond the edge there is a sharp cliff of several tens of meters.

I don’t know though... I haven’t checked.

Where we left is not the very top yet. To the very top you still need to walk 700 m to the battlements. It goes along a rocky slope, slippery and muddy after rain. Separate entrance and fee - as much as 100 rubles. In fact, you can see the same thing (according to local traders) if you go a little to the left of the pay-for-passage booth. But curiosity is such a persistent thing, I gave these 100 rubles. and went higher. My traveling companion was stuck at the ticket office, as he already had enough dizzying views.

That day, after the rains, so that the tourists would not break their necks and legs, they slightly shifted their path through the forest along drier paths to the top.

Having got out into the open space, I first looked around the surroundings to see if it was possible to bypass this cash register at all (sorry, hitchhiking habit). Below in the photo, if you look to the right, then from the parking lot with cars there is a wide road to the left. I think if you walk along it for 300 meters, and then turn into a forest to the place where I was standing now, you can get here for free. Anyone who wants can try this out for themselves. But be careful, locals say that there are karst wells in the form of inconspicuous holes.

The first attraction is already visible from below: suspended bridges going from the main rock to a small peak with a cross. For those for whom the adrenaline at the top is not enough, you can walk in equipment under the guidance of an instructor, back and forth 90 meters in total.

It looks harmless in the photo, but quite dizzying up close.

I climbed to the very top and sadly discovered another limiting railing and some kind of iron stump, all hung with ribbons.

I didn’t intend to climb over the fence, so I just walked to the place where it ended. There were plenty of breathtaking views here too.

By that time, the excursion group had approached me. The guide publicly announced that since he understood the curiosity of tourists who strive to climb over the fence, he did so in order to maintain safety and his job. It will still allow everyone to take photos almost at the very top. But only on his terms.

After hearing this, I decided to join the group; I couldn’t miss such an opportunity. We stopped right at the place where the iron thing was sticking out. Here the guide climbed over the fence and allowed only two people from the group to go with him to take a photo. Naturally, I squeezed into one of the next couples. Here's proof of that.

And while all this was happening, someone from the crowd asked about the very iron thing that the guide was leaning on at that moment. He said that this was another attraction. From this iron pillar down (naturally in the opposite direction from the cliff) there is a troll, down which you can “lower” everyone in just 1 minute.

I received my portion of photographs and set off on the way back.

The day was in full swing and I still wanted to have time to see the Vorontsov Palace. Therefore, we rejected the idea of going down on foot along forest paths.

Those who wish can go down faster paths directly from the plateau to Miskhor, for example (see MapsMe maps). But apart from the sources and views, there is nothing special there. We didn’t waste time and returned the same way – by cable car.

As I said above, Vorontsov Palace is the final 102 bus. Therefore, we went to the stop at the cable car and, after waiting for the required bus, we went to, which I will tell you about next time. Good weather on Ai-Petri!

To get to a coral reef, you don’t have to travel to distant countries. It is enough to visit the Crimean mountain Ai-Petri, which, according to some scientists, is an ancient reef that rose from the bottom of the sea. This seemingly inaccessible jagged rock can be reached by car. Two roads lead to a 1.2-kilometer height: a serpentine road from Yalta and a mountainous, but flatter road from Bakhchisarai. After visiting the Khan's Palace, the Assumption Monastery and Chufut-Kale, Andrei Pripisnov and I chose the second route. By the way, there is also a third one - by air, by cable car from Miskhor.

Route: Bakhchisarai – Tankovoe – Kuibyshevo – Golubinka – Sokolinoe – Ai-Petri peak – Yalta

BELBEK GATE

On the plain it is sunny, but in the mountains there is fog and rain, the climate is different there

Having passed Bakhchisarai, behind the village of Zheleznodorozhnoe we turn left into the valley of the Belbek River, and find ourselves in a large canyon, the edges of which are marked by separate mountains with flat tops. This is the so-called Belbek Gate. These places were densely populated in ancient times. Here on that peak on the right is the Byzantine Suyren fortress, behind it is the cave city of Mangup, the capital of a principality known in the Middle Ages, on the left is the cave monastery of Kachi-Kalyon and the ancient settlement of Kyz-Kermen...

The road we are driving along was laid by Russian sappers at the end of the 19th century under the leadership of engineer-Colonel Shishko, who blended it so well into the terrain that in Soviet times it was only slightly widened and covered with asphalt.

The local more temperate climate without constant southern coastal disasters and the abundance of water allow us to grow excellent harvests in the gardens we pass by. We stop at a grandmother who sells dogwoods to compare the taste of garden berries with wild ones. Yes, garden dogwood is twice as large, but the taste of the one growing in the forests of the South Coast is more tart and rich.

Behind Sokolin, a mountain serpentine begins, densely surrounded by beech forest - it’s difficult for two cars, not to mention buses, to pass each other at turns. On the left is the Grand Canyon - a narrow gorge 300 meters deep, behind which are the ruins of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, on the right is the Silver Waterfall.

Menacing rock walls facing the sea

We don't have time to rush to visit these attractions. This requires time, and we don’t have much of it - we need to get to the top of Ai-Petri before dark, and the weather at a thousand-meter altitude is too changeable, and it’s already starting to rain. By the way, in such weather, visiting the canyon is very dangerous due to rockfalls.

Finally, when the turns straightened slightly and the heads, having taken a vertical position, ceased to resemble Chinese bobbleheads, giant puffball mushrooms suddenly appeared in front of us. These are the white domes of the Simeiz Observatory, which means they are almost there.

HIGH MOUNTAIN TABOR

We turn to the cable car station and, before reaching it, we stop at the very edge of a 1.2-kilometer cliff. A panorama of the southern coast of Crimea unfolds before us, like a wide-screen film in an American drive-in theater. In the foreground is the beautiful Yalta, behind it is the silhouette of Bear Mountain protruding far into the sea.

Tabor on top of Ai-Petri. The white triangular building is the cable car station.

The jagged peak of Ai-Petri is very close, but to get to it you need to enter the small Las Vegas resort surrounded by a fence with entertainment venues, which, with the presence of a huge tent, resembles a mobile circus town and a gypsy camp at the same time.

They ask us five hryvnia for entry and parking. As a former local who climbed here for free in the “stagnant” years, this offends me a little (another paid entrance to Proval!), especially since it is not the Crimean Tatars who take tribute, but it seems like Chechens who came from God knows where.

Having met the controller with a black beard and his companion and finally feeling like we are in an oriental bazaar, we begin to bargain: “Okay, Abdurahman and Muhamed, we are journalists, we’ll write about you, give us a discount.” They consult with their “field commander” and let us in for free. Muhamed runs after him and, out of breath, asks to cross him out of the notebook. We're doing him a favor (he goes by a different name here). The guy sighs with relief. “You’ll have to watch the car for this!” - Having become completely impudent, we shout to him. He waves his hand in agreement.

From here a breathtaking panorama of the southern coast of Crimea opens, from Mount Ayu-Dag in the east to Mount Koshka (Simeiz) in the west.

We pass through a gauntlet of shops and eateries that look like props. The smell is like backstage at a circus, which is not surprising: there are dozens of horses, there are even camels. We refuse to ride on horseback to the Three-Eyes Cave. The guides immediately lose interest in us, but one of them, still trying to interest us, lays out his last trump card: “This is the writer’s favorite cave...”. The writer's name is carried away by the wind, we have no time to ask him again. But what! Abreks are abreks, even though now they are extras in a film about robbers or Basmachi, but they learned about the writer - the tourism business forced them.

Behind the fence the path to the top of Ai-Petri begins. It’s late and the booth at the next entrance to Proval is empty. Savings again - two hryvnias per brother. It's not a long walk, but it's not possible to go quickly - the path is slippery, its stones are polished to a mirror shine by thousands of tourist feet. Here is the famous jagged peak, reproduced on thousands of postcards since Tsarist times. From here you can see the missing western part of the panorama of the South Coast: Gaspra, Koreiz, Miskhor, Alupka, Simeiz, Blue Bay...

HUNDRED NIGHT TURNINGS

The top of Ai-Petri is considered the best place in Crimea to watch the sunrise. Which, however, can be argued - on the eastern side of Demerdzhi above the Khapkhal tract it is also not weak, and on Babugan Kush-Kai, Karabi-Yayla and Karadag...

But we were destined to see the sun set. Here it is as fast as on the entire Southern Coast: as if someone invisible turned off the light and left only a faint illumination in the Sevastopol area. And we, like an ant in a cartoon, have to get to our anthill, and, like in a cartoon, the anthill seems close, but we still have to run and run to get to it. So is Yalta, here it is, under your feet, directly to it no more than three kilometers, but to get down to it you need to drive twenty kilometers along a rather dangerous, unlit mountain serpentine at night, and even in the drizzling rain.

The very first 180-degree turn makes you respect this rally track (Antique Rallies were held here), and there are about a hundred such turns where cars pass each other end-to-end. It was hard to believe that here Sergei Malik reached speeds of up to 200 km/h in Formula 1600. True, on straight sections, but still.

We fly past the Uchan-Su waterfall and the “Lesnoy” and “Kara-Gol” restaurants, famous in the “stagnant” years, where people flew from Moscow by plane to spend a couple of days hanging out. And, finally, the Crimean pines parted, and like an inverted starry sky, the Southern Coast began to sparkle before us with myriads of lights. And for some reason I remembered Mayakovskoye - “Please give me a chervonets!” Yalta".

CREW. Andrey Pripisnov (car owner), Alexander Elchishchev.
AUTOMOBILE. Five-door hatchback VAZ-21140 2003.
ROUTE. Traveling around Crimea. Mountain road Bakhchisaray - Yalta with a stop at the top of Mount Ai-Petri (1234 m).

REFERENCE

ROAD BAKCHISARAI - YALTA

Distance 74 km. Having driven 5 km after the last houses of Bakhchisarai towards Sevastopol, you need to turn left at the fork after the village. Zheleznodorozhnoe, near the railway station Siren (Syuyren). The landmark is an obelisk in honor of the soldiers-liberators of Crimea. The road is replete with mountain serpentines, so before the trip you need to check the effectiveness of the brakes. It is advisable to have “foglights”. Remember: the climate in the mountains is different than on the plain.

AI-PETRI

Mount Ai-Petri, the symbol of Greater Yalta, is famous for its jagged peak (its height is 1234 m). Located above Yalta and Alupka. Translated from Greek - Saint Peter (most likely because of the temple located here, whose ruins were seen by travelers at the beginning of the 19th century). At the top there is a cable car station, a whole entertainment town with souvenir shops and restaurants. The cost of entering and parking a car is 5 hryvnia (1 hryvnia is equal to approximately 4 rubles). A visit to the top costs 2 hryvnia (prices have probably changed).

CABLE CAR

The top of Ai-Petri can be reached by a 3-kilometer cable car from Miskhor. Rise time - 20 minutes. People who are afraid of heights should keep in mind that the last, highest section, 1.7 km long, has no supports (it is the largest in Europe), and the trailer sways a lot.

CAVES

35 caves have been explored on the Ai-Petrinsky plateau (yayla). The deepest of them is Cascade (246 m), the most accessible is Trekhglazka. A half-hour horse route from the town at the top has been organized to the latter. Excursion hours are from 8.00 to 20.00 daily. The cost is 40 hryvnia (to be clarified, the price was given during our trip). There are enough horses for everyone - there are several dozen of them here.
© Alexander Elchishchev
Photo and route diagram by the author

GPS g. 44.448960,34.056196 (format used in online maps)
GPS g.m. 44°26.937", 34°3.717" (format used in navigators and geocaching)
GPS g.m.s. 44°26"56.26", 34°3"22.31"

Life here begins at 9 am, when the first tourists arrive.

Do you want a minimum of queues, a quick run through the main attractions, while maintaining your mental health? Come to Ai-Petri with the first car of the cable car. At this time, there are still almost no loud barkers, from whom you so want to run away from this beautiful place.

Kinds

Behind the pine forest you can see vineyards and the sea. And then along the steep cliff the trailer jumps onto the very rock. At the very top the feeling is indescribable. Firstly, there is always a cold wind blowing. Secondly, it's scary there. You can stand at the fence and be afraid. Because Alupka below is so small, small, and the sea merges with the horizon... It happens that the clouds lie below the top, and you can admire the white sea of water vapor, above which the sun rises.

And even if it’s very scary, it’s still beautiful there, you can stick closer to the ground and look down there.

Even higher than the cable car station! More beautiful! Even scarier!

At the top station there is some kind of platform for a panoramic view, but don’t be too lazy to go up to the battlements of Ai-Petri, the views there are even better. You can climb to the battlements using a paid path (through the market, 100 rubles per adult, free for children) or a free path, bypassing the market to the north through the stables and then directly to the battlements, if you don’t mind looking at the thousand-year-old yew and Stephen’s maple. Payment is not for the fact of climbing the battlements, but specifically for passing along a short path, i.e. No one is asking for tickets upstairs.

Free and paid routes to the teeth of Ai-Petri:

Ai-Petri on an interactive panorama

The image in the panorama can be moved with the mouse cursor, as well as zoomed in and out (with the wheel).

Ai-Petri is the leader in the number of permitted paid places in Crimea. It's very beautiful here.

Views from the battlements. This is a real observation deck!

It’s especially great to be here in clear weather.

With clouds, expectations may not be met.

Rope bridges

The rope bridges were recently installed, reinforced, insured, and priced at 500 rubles. And this is in September 2015, almost no longer the season; in the summer, they say, walking over the abyss costs much more.

“You can go there for free! At 8 am or in the evening after 6 pm, well, yes, without insurance, just step over the fence...” incites the local Tatar.

There are also three caves on Ai-Petri - Geofizicheskaya, Yalta, Trekhglazka (not to be confused with Trekhglazka on Chatyr-Dag), entrance to each is 150 rubles. In our opinion, these caves are significantly inferior in terms of entertainment to Mramornaya and Emine-Bair-Khosar.

Tatar market

At the top there is a completely different climate and a different world, while you stand in line for two or three hours to descend (during the peak season - August), you can eat sweet baklava, drink aromatic herbal tea, wrap yourself in a fluffy scarf to your taste and choose one of the most beautiful plates from one and a half hundred.

“The fly in the ointment” is the disgustingly annoying Tatars.

Tatars tempt you to take a photo with an eagle or a monkey, ride horses, ride ATVs and, of course, eat... Despite all the promises, the quality of the cuisine is far from ideal. In addition, there are no sources of drinking water here; all the water is imported and therefore questionable. However, at the market you can choose souvenirs to suit your taste. Bargain.

An Asian teahouse, an oriental bazaar with southern sweets and baklava, plates with Tatar patterns and many, many sheepskin coats, scarves and felt boots - not surprisingly, downstairs people sunbathe in swimsuits, but here you want to wrap yourself in a blanket. Take something here in advance to protect yourself from the wind so as not to waste money.

Everything at the bazaar is bright and colorful, you can’t help but stop and stare!

There are also delicacies: honey with nuts, pine cone jam...

Cable car

Cable car with an intermediate station. A pendulum-type cable car means that the cars do not move in a circle, but towards each other. Starts working at 9 am. There are 4 carriages and an intermediate station where you need to change trains. Keep your tickets until the end of your trip.

Large trailers will lift 40 people each to a height of 1000 meters, first along a wooded slope - the “Fairytale Forest”, in which many Soviet fairy tales were filmed, then higher and higher, to a mountain between steep cliffs. The Yalta cable car does not compare in sensations with the cable car on Ai-Petri.

The queue for it in August is scary, but it's worth it. And while you’re standing there, you can look at all the souvenirs in the numerous stalls. A significant drawback is that organized tourist groups go without a queue, which is somewhat strange.

Ai-Petri lower station: N44°25.527" E34°04.229" (44.425450, 34.070483)
Upper station Ai-Petri: N44°27.100" E34°03.623" (44.451667, 34.060383)

And in August 2013, an accident occurred on the Ai-Petri cable car, one of the cabins stalled and passengers were taken off from a height of about 50 meters. I think people have had too much extreme sports for the rest of their lives and I wouldn’t want to be in their situation.

The line down is even longer than up, and everyone is tempting you to go down by bus. Do not give in to the provocations of barkers! The cable car is taxiing. Guides line up in advance while their tour groups walk around. Then 20 people arrive and the whole line looks at the group angrily. You should keep this tactic in mind and alternate walks towards the end.

Ai-Petri is the most popular mountain in Crimea and is considered one of the calling cards of Crimea.

If you climb to the top of Ai-Petri, you will see from above the view of Greater Yalta and the endless expanses of the sea. For those who don’t want to climb the mountains, there is a good offer: rest in boarding houses and sanatoriums of Crimea with a view of the majestic Ai-Petri battlements.

Photo by Ai-Petri:

This is interesting:
1234 meters - height of the massif;
1052 mm of precipitation falls on the plateau per year. This is one and a half times more than in Yalta;
50 m/s - the winds blow with such force on the plateau;
40-50 m - the height of each of the four large teeth.

Ai-Petri: historical excursion

The mountain received its name “St. Peter” from the ancient Greeks. At the top there was a monastery. In the old days they really liked to build churches in hard-to-reach places. Scientists have proven that the Ai-Petri mountain range is a typical coral reef in origin. Millennia passed, and as a result of the weathering of rocks, the famous teeth were formed. The top of one is crowned with a flagpole; on the other, after filming the film “The Children of Captain Grant,” a wooden cross remained. It gives the area a mystical look.

Near the Yalta-Alushta highway there is a weather station, one of the oldest on the Crimean Peninsula, built back in 1895. At the beginning of the twentieth century, under the leadership of K.F. Lewandowski, research activities were carried out here to study the wind rose and atmospheric electricity. In addition, the station took seriously work in the field of natural sciences: soil science, biology, astrophysics.

Options for getting to know Ai-Petri

The Ai-Petri Plateau stretches in a long strip between Yalta and Foros. The mountain range is distinguished by the unusual structure of its peaks: the sharpness of their teeth stands out among the rest of the peninsula. This place is unique and picturesque. Each vacationer can choose their own option for exploring the plateau. What do you prefer: admiring the beauty of the Crimean mountains from the sea, going up by cable car, or reaching the peaks on your own? Each method finds its admirers.

The peaks appear in all their glory during a trip along the Yalta-Alushta highway. When staying in Miskhor or Koreiz, you can rent an apartment with a view of the mountains and admire the battlements from the window or veranda.
In the picturesque village of Miskhor, a cable car begins that will take you all the way to the Ai-Petri battlements. From an altitude of just under one hundred meters above sea level, the first part of the journey upward begins in a small cabin. At an altitude of 391 meters, passengers transfer to the carriages of the upper section and overcome the longest section in Europe with a length of 1,670 meters. The journey takes 15 minutes. Breathtaking! The views of the coast from Gurzuf to Foros are enchanting.
Real tourists climb the plateau on foot. Well-marked hiking trails lead upward from the village of Miskhor. Independent ascent takes from 2 to 4 hours. For careless vacationers, local residents offer to climb up in jeeps for a reasonable fee.

Note:
in the northeast of the battlements you can walk through a relict yew grove. The oldest tree, the berry yew, is more than 1,000 years old. A real giant!

Video review:

Operating hours of the cable car

The cable car starts operating at 10 o'clock every day. Tourists can go up until 16-00, descent is organized until 17-00. One cabin, more reminiscent of a tram car, can accommodate up to 30 people at a time. It is worth keeping in mind that it is better to arrive in the first half of the day; there are always many people who want to go up.

Ticket prices:

adult - 350 rubles;
preferential and children's - 250 rubles. During periods of large influx of tourists, prices may increase.

Advice from experienced tourists:
Even in the summer on Ai-Petri, take warm clothes, a windbreaker, pants, and sneakers. The winds at the top can be very strong.

Entertainment and relaxation

The plateau has a large number of equipped cafes and places to relax. Visitors are offered dishes of Crimean Tatar cuisine: belyashi, kebabs, shurpa, ochpochmak.

There are convenient viewing platforms for photo sessions and selfies. The best shots are taken on the suspended walkway in front of one of the large battlements.

Those interested are offered horseback riding and jeep riding. Professional guides are ready to take you on a tour of the surrounding area and tell interesting stories about Ai-Petri.

There are also more extreme entertainments. For adrenaline lovers, there is an attraction at the top: with the help of a safety net, walk along a suspended bridge over the abyss between the battlements!

Speleologists climb the plateau to visit the caves. There are three of them in the vicinity: Yalta, Geofizikov, Trekhglazka. The latter was named so due to its three entrance holes. Inside, tourists can expect giant calcite growths, stalactites and stalagmites, an ice skating rink and a huge snowdrift. Even on the hottest July days, the temperature in the caves remains at +4°C.

How to get to Ai-Petri in Crimea

It is convenient to get to Ai-Petri from the resort city of Yalta. You need to take bus route No. 27 or 32 to the “Ropeway” stop.

By car you travel from Yalta in the direction of Miskhor; the cable car station is located in the center of the village. For a walk, you can park your car in a paid parking lot.

Ai-Petri on the map of Crimea

GPS Coordinates: N 44 26.831 E 34 03.107 Latitude/Longitude