If you expect to read a report on Alushta, it's better you find something else. We just stayed there and there's little interesting to see in the town itself, but you can find lots of worthwhile spots in a close distance.
Alushta is a middle-sized town located to the west of Yalta. It's better to stay there rather than in the most famous Crimean resort as Alushta is much cheaper than Yalta and still you can have excellent day trips.
How to get there
First you have to get to the Crimean peninsula, which means the main city of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea - Simferopol. This town has nothing to offer for tourists, so don't waste your precious time there and immediately transfer to any destination, be it Alushta or anything else. To Simferopol you can get by plane. Among air carriers who fly to this destination is a low-cost Air Baltic and Russian national airlines Aeroflot. There are also many charter flights from several European countries.
You can also do as we did - fly to Odessa and then take a night train to Simferopol. Trains in Ukraine are dirty cheap. A sleeper (4 persons in compartment) from Odessa to Simferopol (12 hrs) cost 75 grivna ($1=5 grivnas). The platskartnyy sleeper (open compartments sleeping 6 persons) are even cheaper - 45 grivnas. When planning to come to the Ukraine by train you have to bear in mind that trains there are snail-slow but, on the other hand, are rarely late. You don't have to take food with you. It's easily available from babushkas (old ladies) on bigger stations and most locals buy food from them.
We arrived in Simferopol at about 6 a.m. There are several possibilities to get to Alushta. The most popular are marshrutka buses. They are fast and cheap. But our Ukrainian friends whom we met on the train told us the road from Crimea to Alushta is very picturesque and trolley buses offer a slower ride during which its possible to savour the untouched beauty of Crimea. Trolley buses are on average half the price of marshrutka and an almost 2-hour ride to Alushta cost 6 grivnas.
Favourite spots:
We had several day trips when staying in Alushta for three days.
On the day of our arrival we went to Aju Dag mountain. It's on the way between Alushta and Yalta and a ride on a marshrutka costs 10 grivnas (the same fare is to Yalta, although it often depends on the driver how much he tells for a ride). It's good to know that when you want to get off the marshrutka you have to tell the driver either when you get on or a moment before the place where you want him to stop the bus. We didn't know exactly where the mountain was so we asked the driver to stop in the most convenient place. Again it prooved it's useful to speak Russian. English is practically useless in the Ukraine.
To climb the mountain we had to buy a ticket (4 grivnas). The ranger also checked if we had proper shoes and apparel to climb the mountain (it's a steep ascent and it's considerably colder on the top). You have to start the ascent so that you're able to climb down before dusk.
What's really great:
The second day was quite busy, but it's possible to see all these things, even if you use public transport.
We started with Lastochkino gnezdo (Swallow's nest). It's a castle built on a steep cliff near the town of Gaspra. It's very easy to get there by public transport from the bus station in Yalta. The trip takes less than half an hour and costs next to nothing. It's much better to see the castle from the sea. In order to do so you can take a small ferry either to Yalta or Mischor. If you chose the latter option you can take a cable car from Mischor to the top of Aj Petri mountain. It's a great experience and you can catch excellent vistas when you go up.
Aj Petri is often shrouded in clouds abscuring the view of the Black Sea, but in my opinion it's an advantage rather than a problem. On the top you'll fill as if the mountain was immersed in milk.
There is a Tartar settlement on the top and locals offer food and drinks. There are also "attractions" such as camels and bears.
Of course you can stay at a hotel with prices starting at 100 grivnas per person per night. But a much better solution is to stay with the locals. Most of the people living in Crimea offer rooms to stay for reasonable prices. The most attractive advantage of homestays is the fact that you can see how the local people live. It's good if you speak at least a little Russian.
If the latter option seems interesting to you don't bother about how to find private rooms. It will be homestays that will find you. You're more than likely to be approached at a train or bus station (wherever in Crimea) and offered a room or a flat to stay at. You should know it's better you haggle. If you say you're going to stay for at least four nights you should expect the price to drop at least by one fourth. Always ask about hot water as it isn't a standard in many private flats in Crimean towns.
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