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Destinations > Far East

Vladivostok

One of the most remote outposts of the empire, the final destination of the famous Trans Siberia, the largest seaport, and base of the country’s Pacific Fleet 

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The End or the Beginning

Contrary to all documentary claims that Vladivostok is the final destination of the Tran Siberian railway, the city’s residents are convinced that Vladivostok is the beginning of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Indeed, why, if the sun rises in the east, transport routes are counted from the west? No one has yet found a logical counter-argument, so all that remains is to agree with the residents of Vladivostok: the Trans-Siberian Railway starts from Vladivostok. So that no one would think to argue with this, a monument-steam locomotive – an old locomotive from the Second World War and a stylized kilometer pole with a mark of the distance to Moscow are erected near the Vladivostok railway station.

short city information

LOCAL TIME
UTC+10
CLIMATE
Humid Continental
POPULATION
about 600 thousand people
HOW TO GET
8,5 hours by plane from Moscow
SPECIAL POINT OF ENTRY
Sea port
HIGHLIGHT
Russky island, Vladivostok Fortress, S-56 submarine

types of tourism

A lady with binocular sightseeing

Excursion

A man wearing a cap showing a fish in his hand

Fishing

A volcano and the sea

Nature

Two jars with caviar, black sturgeon caviar and red salmon caviar

Culinary

Russian San-Francisco

A Crucial Point on the Russian Map

The peculiar terraced landscape and the location between the Amur and Ussuri bays and the Golden Horn Bay allowed the famous traveler Nansen to compare it with Naples. In 1930 Nikita Khrushchev wanted to build a second San Francisco out of the city on the hills. Not to say that the idea of the Soviet leader was fully realized: in the end, Vladivostok is atmospheric, distinctive, and unlike anything else. Up today in the center of the city, near the water, you can see the boulevards built up with century-old buildings. In 2012, the APEC summit was held in Vladivostok – for this event, many new objects and attractions were built in the city, including the two- kilometer cable-stayed Golden Bridge over the bay.

Aerial view of a lighthouse located on a small peninsula
A cable-stayed bridge at night
People taking rest on embankment with wooden floor cover
A view of the sea from a top of a green hill

Main sights

Enough Suggestive to Be Impressive

Admiral Fokin Street is called the Vladivostok’s Arbat. It takes 15 minutes to walk along up to the Vladivostok Fortress – the only 19th-century fortification in Russia. A wonderful view of the Amur Bay opens from the territory of the outpost, and exactly at noon, a signal shot from a cannon is fired from here.

On the shores of the Golden Horn Bay in Vladivostok stands the most dangerous Soviet submarine of the times of the Great Patriotic War, practically untouched by time. The S-56, which made a record by crossing over three oceans and sinking many Nazi ships, is now open to tourists. Climbing aboard the famous submarine, you can completely immerse yourself in the atmosphere of a dangerous and heroic era – some of the compartments have been preserved in their original form.

The “green” monument of Vladivostok is Admiral Square, planted over 100 years ago. Its main decoration is the Nikolaevsky Triumphal Gates. A beautiful building in the Russian-Byzantine style was built in 1891 for the arrival of Tsarevich Nicholas.

The Colourful Arch or Triumphal Gates built in the Russian-Byzantine style
A young man wearing a cap in front of a submarine
A naval ship in front of a cable-stayed bridge in fog
A metal arm of a bench made in a shape of spiral
A large room with a giant aquarium and giant whales on the ceiling

The capital of Primorye is rich in museums: the history of the Far East from ancient times till present days is introduced in the Arsenyev Museum. Masterpieces of Russian and foreign painting are exhibited in thePrimorsky Art Gallery. There is also a Botanical Garden in the suburbs of the city, where lotuses and rhododendrons grow among the fir trees.

Far Eastern cuisine

Seafood  Goodies

Located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean the city can offer the freshest gifts from the sea. All sea areas of the Japanese sea and the south coast of the Okhotskoye Sea are incredibly rich in seafood: here you can find scallops & mussels, oysters & anadara, corbicula & spisula, sea urchins & trepang, crabs & shrimps, squid & octopus, and algae – well-known seaweed (kelp). Not even speaking about sea fishes.

The unique natural conditions of the Pacific regions of the Far East have formed a set of taiga and marine species of flora and fauna with an unusually high concentration of biologically active substances. The use and combination of these ingredients in the daily diet is the concept of the Far Eastern regional cuisine.

The best fish market in the city is situated in Sportivnaya Market – the largest market in Vladivostok and the favorite one among locals. Don’t miss out to try all sea delicacies!

Chocolate sweets with nuts cut into pieces

Bring a souvenir

Famous   Sweets

The must check place there is the Prestige store – the brand store of the Vladivostok’s candy factory Primorskiy Konditer. A cozy two-story shop on Aleutskaya Street is always crowded with visitors, as both guests of the city and the townspeople themselves strive here for the freshest local delicacies. The confectionery factory has been operating since 1906. Chocolate is made on natural cocoa beans.

You cannot visit Vladivostok and miss an opportunity to try the Bird’s Milk sweets from Primorsky Confectioner. In Soviet times, it was those sweets along with red caviar and dried smelt that were in great demand as a gift from visitors from Vladivostok. The recipe has not changed since then, which is why the freshly made Bird’s Milk candies forever captivate the heart.

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