Top 10 sights in Kamchatka

If you are going to visit Kamchatka, then naturally you are interested in what you can see in this amazing region. We have prepared a list of the best places that are usually included in summer tours to Kamchatka or are visited by tourists on their own. This list includes objects that meet the requirements of accessibility, popularity, beauty and interest for tourists. Of course, there are many equally beautiful and interesting places in Kamchatka, but which are almost impossible to reach - we do not consider such objects here. And also we don't consider here objects of more complex types of tourism, such as hiking in Kamchatka with backpacks or mountaineering.

You should definitely visit the city center, where you can walk along the embankment, along Nikolskaya Hill, be surprised at the monuments dedicated to the Crimean War of 1853 in Kamchatka, throw stones into Avacha Bay, from the opposite bank of which Vilyuchinsky volcano looks out.

Doubtless it is worth visiting the observation deck on the Mishennaya hill, from which a view of the whole city and the surrounding volcanoes opens up. Tourists are rarely taken here, because the big buses simply cannot come here due to too sharp turns of the serpentine road. But if you spend the night in the city, we recommend visiting this place on your own by taxi or on foot.

According to one version, Vachkazhets is a mountain range not related to volcanism. According to another version - an ancient volcano, from which the most beautiful mountain circuses remained after a powerful explosion. In any case, Vachkazhets is completely different from other objects of mountain tourism in Kamchatka. There are no lifeless spaces of active volcanism, but just the opposite - a very living nature and a real paradise for people keen on botany.

In terms of difficulty, excursions to Vachkazhets are easier than most Kamchatka routes. Hiking trails here are not to the heights, but are to the waterfalls and mountain circuses. As a smooth climb, the birch forest is replaced by elfin woods, and then by alpine meadows, where you can observe a huge variety of subalpine flowers throughout the summer.

Volcanoes Avachinsky and its neighbor Koryaksky can be seen from almost anywhere in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The first acquaintance with them takes place even on the plane - during the landing approach they can be observed through the porthole.

There are two main routes to this area. Option light is an excursion to the foot of the Avachinsky and Koryaksky volcanoes with a mini-ascent to the mountain Camel. Practically any tourist will cope with such a route; a walk with a mini-climb will take no more than 3 hours and will allow you to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

This is a classic sea excursion on a yacht with seafood tasting. You will see Kamchatka from the sea, get acquainted with sea birds that have chosen the coastal cliffs, and if you are lucky, you will also see marine mammals. In such excursions they always feed fish soup from fish caught by tourists, fresh crabs, and sea urchin caviar.

The duration of the sea trip to the island of Starichkov is 5-6 hours. But if this is not enough, then you should pay attention to a longer excursion - to Russkaya Bay, which will take a whole day.

Do you like fishing? Then go for a three-day rafting on the Bystraya river!
The river is calm enough, here helmets and wetsuits are not needed, but a few small rapids will still add adrenaline. All species of Pacific salmon come to spawn in the river, but most of all the loach, grayling and rainbow trout are caught, and in August and September the coho salmon pecks well.

Rafting on the Bystraya River is a real water hike with overnight stays in tents on the banks of the river, with an evening bonfire, with baking fish in the coals.
During the rafting on the river bank you can often observe bears, but almost always from afar, as they try to avoid people.

You can watch brown bears at close proximity on the Kuril Lake; about 200 individuals gather here during the spawning season of the sockeye salmon. You can watch the bears here from a distance of only a few meters, while tourists are always accompanied by an inspector of the South Kamchatka reserve.

Helicopter excursion is an expensive thing, but besides Kuril Lake, the excursion route includes two more landings - in the caldera of the Ksudach volcano with magnificent panoramic views and on the Khodutka hot springs where you can bathe.

Excursion to the famous Valley of Geysers is also a helicopter. The route similarly consists of three landings: in the Valley, in the caldera of the Uzon volcano and on the Nalychevo hot springs. But, in addition, on the way flying around the Karymskiy and Maliy Semyachik volcanoes is performed.

In the Valley of Geysers, you are sure to see one of the most unique natural phenomena in the world - geyser gushing. In the Caldera Uzon, extraordinary landscapes await you. And at the end you can bathe in the healing hot springs of the Nalychevo Valley.

Tolbachik is rightfully one of the most interesting places in Kamchatka.
Here you will see the endless moon landscapes of lava and cinder fields. On one of the cones of the Northern Breakthrough of the 1975 fissure eruption, heat still persists, and you can set fire to a dry branch or paper, putting it between hot rocks. There are cracks in the lava flow of the 2012–13 fissure eruption, over which you can fry sausages or boil a kettle (but the heat of the lava cracks is gradually reduced and it is impossible to predict what will happen next season).

Climbing into the crater of the Mutnovsky volcano is perhaps the easiest of all, and in time it will take only 1.5-2 hours. And in the crater you will find one of the most powerful fumarole fields in the world, bubbling mud pots, unusual colors mountain slopes with an overhanging glacier. According to many people, Mutnovsky's crater is as beautiful as the Valley of Geysers and perhaps even superior.

On the way to the volcano, there will also be a lot of interesting things: stunning Martian landscapes, a huge canyon called "Opasny" with an 80-meter waterfall, the caldera of Gorely volcano looking like a black desert, the Vilyuchinsky pass overlooking the volcano of the same name.