I've been to Abkhazia with my family twice: in 2019 and 2025. And the first time we fell in love with the sea, but the place to live was completely not for us, whereas the second time we fell in love with the place to live, and absolutely not with the sea.

Interesting fact about me: I always take this vacation set with me, consisting of shorts (if I manage to lose weight, every girl has jeans she wants to wear again, and I have shorts that I regulate my figure to by summer), which I bought at 18, and t-shirts that don't wrinkle.After visiting in 2025, I was initially categorically against coming back here, but as I was writing reviews and talking to my husband and kids, who also shared their impressions, my negativity started to fade, and we're already planning our next vacation here, which will probably be next year, but I won't plan it until my son finishes school and there's enrollment...

We drove 1400 km to Abkhazia with the family, and I managed to take a photo at 1000 km, which is around 18.5 hours. But we drove the serpentine road at night, so we didn't stop anywhere, whereas when we were leaving, we drove back during the day, and we only managed to cover 100 km in 6 hours due to constant traffic jams, so it's better to leave at night or evening time.

BORDER OF RUSSIA-ABKHAZIA

Children under 14 need a birth certificate. IMPORTANT: if a child turns 14 directly in Abkhazia on vacation, it's worth getting a passport before the trip. This is for 2025. From 2026, all children under 14 need a passport, and a Russian birth certificate will no longer be enough to cross the border.

Children over 14 and adults cross the border with a Russian passport, which is presented without a cover (this is an important nuance).

If you cross the border with a foreign passport, a stamp will be placed in it, and you will never be able to enter Georgia due to this mark. This is also something to keep in mind, it's better to cross the border with a Russian passport.

You can't stay abroad for more than 90 days.

We crossed the border in our personal car, and all our belongings remained in the car, and at the post, no one rummages through bags, they just ask if we're carrying alcohol, cigarettes, narcotics, and firearms. They trust you. They visually inspect the trunk and luggage, and no one inspects anything further. The driver's passport and license are checked.

I took my kids to the border crossing myself, where in 2019 my kids were still under 14. And all the questions were asked of my daughter, the questions were like: "Who is this person with you?" "What's your mom's name?"... In 2025, my kids were already 14, they were crossing the border with their own passports, but they still asked my daughter the same kind of questions, and they even asked me: "Is this your son's first time visiting Abkhazia?" I shook my head negatively, saying he had been here in 2019, and they replied: "Well, with a passport, it's the first time?"

My son was never asked anything on our first trip, or on our second, my daughter took the heat for all of us.

P.S. If you're crossing the border on a train, border control officers will come into the carriage and check your passports and birth certificates right there.

Once you've passed through control, step out onto the street, where either your car will be waiting for you, or you'll get in and drive on, where the border to enter Abkhazia itself awaits, and you don't need to get out. Just show all family members' passports, ask them to open the rear window to check how many people are crossing the border, and ask them to open the boot.

We drove on, and the most important thing is: if you're driving your own car, you need to pay for car insurance and personal liability insurance (there will be a stall on the exit from the second border crossing where you can buy insurance). Many people skipped it, but it's better not to, as the traffic police would stop us all the time to check the insurance. For the car, it's 1000 rubles, and for personal liability, it's 400 rubles.

There's also a stall nearby where you can buy a local SIM card for 2000 rubles, with unlimited everything. And if you need a connection, it's better to buy a SIM card here, and when you return, you can return it and get 1000 rubles back. We didn't buy a SIM card here, deciding to buy one later, and we made a mistake. The SIM card costs 1000 rubles separately, and you have to choose a tariff that suits you. We didn't buy a SIM card, and we got by with messengers, as there's Wi-Fi everywhere. CURRENCYHere they use Russian rubles, so you don't need to exchange anything, also they accept Russian bank cards or transfers, again, there's Wi-Fi everywhere, and they give you a password so you can make a transfer to a card/account without any issues.

TIME ZONEThe time on your phone will automatically change to 1 hour ahead when crossing the border, BUT, all shops, restaurants, and excursions work on Moscow time. The Abkhazians don't get along with the Georgians due to the war.

LEGEND

Abkhazians have a lot of legends, well, I'm exaggerating a bit, about almost every pebble. And here's a legend about Abkhazia.

When I was reading about the history of Abkhazia, I found this story about how the land was divided among the nations. Apparently, Abkhaz didn't show up on the designated day because he had a guest, and for Abkhazians, hospitality is a sacred thing. He couldn't just leave his guest behind. So, Abkhaz showed up to God the next day to ask for the land, but all the land had already been given out. God decided that Abkhaz's actions were right because the Lord commands us to treat our guests like we would treat God. As a reward, God gave Abkhaz a little slice of heaven on earth, which He reserved for Himself. Ever since then, God lives in heaven, and Abkhazians get to live in their own little piece of paradise.

Abkhazia's national flag features an open hand, symbolizing friendship and hospitality. The seven stars represent the seven regions of Abkhazia, while the white and green stripes represent the Christian and Islamic faiths that coexist in Abkhazia.

Roads

Infrastructure here is still stuck in the Soviet era, and people say that Russia is pouring a lot of money into restoring the infrastructure, but the roads are definitely better than in my hometown. I mean, we've even got videos online about the state of our roads, and let's just say they're not exactly impressive.

Sometimes, I feel like the locals here are a bit reckless, driving really fast, and the police – yeah, they're still called the militsiya, not the police like we have – they don't even bother stopping them, but they'll pull over anyone from outside the region to check their insurance. They don't even ask for a license, they just need to see the insurance card.And one of the downsides of the roads is that you'll see cows lying on the side of the road all over the place. Apparently, they do that on purpose, as a local told me, to keep the mosquitoes and other insects away from the passing cars. Those cows are pretty clever.

Cows aren't just on the highways, main roads, but on beaches, and near them, as well as on sidewalks, which are pretty much non-existent in the village of Alahadzy.Cows here walk just as freely as those same dogs, which are also super abundant here, and not always friendly, although they don't bite, they can still poop.2025 yearI'd be remiss not to mention the price of gasoline/diesel. In Russia, the price of diesel was 68 rubles 80 kopecks, while in Abkhazia at Rosneft (and I compare prices with the same gas stations) the price is 64 rubles. Of course, we stopped and filled up the tank.2025 yearAnd right across from this gas station is a beautiful building, and I found some info online that it's called "Lunar meadow" and allegedly it was built for V.V. Putin's rest, located on the Fisht mountain

Here, you can't build anything because the slopes fall within the territory of the World Natural Heritage site "Western Caucasus". To get around the restrictions, Putin's ski resort was built disguised as a scientific center "Biosphere".

Right next to this gas station is a Magnat store, which is the same as our Magnit store, at least inside it's the same. There's also a WB pickup point here, but no Ozon.

NATURE

The nature here is just stunning, lots of greenery and mountains. I love mountains, and every year I get a kick out of seeing them, my family just doesn't understand, but I'm genuinely inspired by the grandeur of nature, which people have adapted to by building roads, whereas before the mountains separated many settlements.

2019 год I have to say, I was blown away by the size of the mountains in 2019. It was like being right next to them, you know? Unlike when I visited in 2015, there wasn't a mountain nearby - there was just one far-off mountain that separated the village of Alakhadzy from Gagra. 2025 год My sister was actually visiting at the same time, but she was in Crimea, and we'd compare notes in a group chat. She was jealous of my views, to be honest - I had lush greenery and mountains, while she was stuck in the steppe. So we went rafting on the Bzyb River, and it was an unforgettable experience. You'd float down the river, hit the rapids, and get soaked. It was exhilarating, and if we ever go back to Abkhazia, we're definitely doing it again. 2025 год I highly recommend visiting Lake Ritsa - it's massive, with a stunning color and size. We actually drove past it this year, but we did get to see it from different angles and even from the top of the surrounding mountains. We hiked to the highest point with a paved road to the Alpine Meadows. You can hike to the top on your own, but we were wearing flip-flops, so we're planning to do it again next time to see the clouds below us. 2025 год On the way to the Alpine Meadows, you'll find plenty of waterfalls, and you can even drink from them. In the photo below, we filled up our 1.5-liter water bottle, and I can honestly say it was the tastiest water I've ever had. It's way better than store-bought water, which is probably just filtered but not as pure as mountain water. This water is packed with minerals, so we quenched our thirst and felt good about it. 2025 год2025 годThe most incredible nature and photo locations are in the Ritsa Relict National Park, and it's worth the money to get in. The free attraction is just the "Dевичьи слёзы" waterfall. But you'll have to pay for the other views. 2025 годThere's also the Goluboe Lake, which I've written a detailed review about with plenty of photos. And near the lake, there's a little market where you can buy local products, but I wouldn't recommend buying wine or juice in plastic bottles, and the churchela I got was inside without nuts. The scenery is truly stunning here, especially on the way to the Alpian Lakes, with the mountains, rivers, lakes, and waterfalls. For me, Abkhazian nature is all about these places, and I'd be happy to go back year after year just to drive past the majestic mountains, which are countless and come in all shapes and sizes. But the scenery in the village of Alakhadzy is completely unremarkable, I didn't feel like "wow," and I didn't want to walk around and look around, it's just ordinary greenery that I see at home, and the rivers are covered in algae, which looks nice on photos, but in real life, it's nothing special. When I was resting in the New Afon, I could also enjoy the different types of vegetation and mountains. 2019 годThe only thing that impressed me in the village of Alakhadzy was the flowering cacti, which I've never seen before, and now I have one growing on my windowsill, courtesy of my sister from Crimea, but the one I picked here was discarded by my kids or husband when we were packing up, and I wasn't packing because I had a back injury from a waterslide, which you can read about in my review of the Briiz Beach.But what really stood out to me was the abundance of trees with familiar laurel leaves, which fill the air with that same mouth-watering aroma that adds a touch to many dishes.

And to be honest, there's not much else to enjoy in the village of Alahadzy when it comes to nature, which is renowned in Abkhazia, but not exactly in this village.

THE BEACH

I mean, we all come to these parts for the sea, to soak up the sun on the beach, and to buy souvenirs from the Black Sea.

And it was the sea that brought us back to Abkhazia, but as it turned out, the sea is one thing, and the entrances and exits to the sea are another, just like the beach coverage.

When we were staying in New Athos, we were blown away by the crystal-clear sea, which was always transparent and had a beautiful turquoise color.

2019I have to admit, swimming in those waters was exhilarating, but also a bit scary. Seeing the bottom as I paddled far from the shore made me nervous, and it only got worse when I spotted all the marine life swimming by. It's way more comfortable not seeing any of that, and when I was far from the shore, I could see how far my body was from the bottom, which only added to my anxiety.

2019 годAnd the secret to such a clean sea in the breakwaters, which were abundant in interesting shapes and just plain concrete slabs.

2019 годAnd there were hardly any waves, which made it easy to get in and out of the water.

2019 годThe beach in New Athos had small pebbles and plenty of broken shells, making it comfortable to walk on, but in the village of Alakadzy, it was the opposite - large pebbles that made it difficult to walk along the coast, and getting in and out of the water.That's the same Abkhazia for you.

In Alakadzy, the waves were strong, and there were no breakwaters. We only swam twice a day during our stay because we didn't want to get in the water too often, it was painful for our feet, and not comfortable at all. Of course, we could have bought special shoes, but I've been putting it off, and besides, people often lose them in the depths of the sea. We often saw shoes scattered on the beach in the morning, but by the time the crowds arrived, they were all gone.

2025 годThe large cobblestones made it difficult to get in and out, and the waves would pull us back when we tried to exit, which was uncomfortable, but looked great on camera, and not so great in reality.And that's why we were a bit disappointed with Abkhazia, our expectations didn't quite match reality, we thought that along the entire Black Sea coast, there would be breakwaters, but it wasn't the case everywhere, and we ended up back in the sea at the village of Volkonka, Lazarevsky district, which had the same uncomfortable entry and exit.One thing that really bugged me about the beach was the piles of cow dung littering the shoreline. It was a total mood killer.

It wasn't just humans enjoying the beach, either - there were animals galore, and some of them were getting up to some pretty unsavory stuff. Not exactly what you want to see when you're trying to relax or swim.

ACTIVITIES

When we visited New Athos in 2019, we didn't do any guided tours, but we did stop by the Ritsa Relict National Park on our way back, and we went back again in 2025.

When we stayed in the village of Alakhadzy in 2025, we did go rafting, the kids even got to try paragliding, and we all had a blast on the saps borads and inflatable rafts...

But to be honest, there were no activities on the beach in New Athos at all. We did find a small beach, and maybe there was another one nearby with some amenities, but not where we were staying.

There were a ton of tour operators in Alakhadzy, all with identical prices - the only difference was who got to keep your money.

Fun fact: Abkhazia used to be one of Stalin's favorite vacation spots, and he had five dachas there (he had 20 in total). We actually visited one of them, which was also used by Khrushchev and Brezhnev. Brezhnev even built a connecting corridor between two of the dachas, but I won't go into more details here. I do recommend checking it out, though - either on your own or with a guided tour.

2025

ACCOMMODATION

We stayed in a room at the Afon Daker mini-hotel in New Athos, which was infested with woodworms - they're like the 'death clock' of insects, and it was honestly the worst place we've ever stayed.

In Alakhadzy, we stayed in a cozy little house at the Sabina guesthouse, which was just a minute's walk from the beach. It was a great location, and the place had everything we needed - except for a pool, which was a bit of a letdown.

FOOD

When we stayed in New Athos, there was only one restaurant nearby, which was located right next to the highway. We ended up eating there most of the time, but when we visited the nearby village, we were spoiled for choice - there were tons of restaurants, cafes, and shawarma stands to choose from.

I'm not a big fan of cooking on vacation, so it was great to have so many options for eating out.

SCAM ALERT

I'll get to the not-so-fun part - it seems like almost every local wants a piece of your wallet. Restaurants are notorious for overcharging, you can read about it in the reviews on restaurants, cafes, and shashlik in a separate section, written on 20.08.25; 22.08.25; 24.08.25; 26.08.25; 29.08.2025 and 1.09.26.

When buying honey in the Ricin Relict National Park, you'll pass by many beautiful spots selling honey, but be sure you'll be sold a different type of honey than what you chose, and at an inflated price. That's what happened to me in 2019 - I bought 'tasty' honey that I personally selected, but what I brought back was rancid and tasteless. I even got to keep the clay pot, which they offered to take back and refund the money, but I kept it because it's pretty.

At the market near the blue lake, they offer wine for you to taste, along with juices, and I tried the wine, the kids drank juice, but we ended up buying the wrong drinks. They're actually different, because I opened the wine for a taste test on the first evening after arrival, they probably offer you real homemade wine and juices, but sell powdered versions instead. The same thing happened with the churchoela I bought - it was empty inside.HOWEVER, (at the market near the Blue Lake) the industrial wine is cheaper than in stores. For example, Absynthe and Lychny wine cost around 340 rubles in stores in the village of Alakhadzy in 2025, but here it was only 300 rubles.

The biggest scam was from this kid who runs around the village of Alakhadzy and ties strings around your wrist, saying nice things and making wishes... and then asks for money. WHAT I BROUGHT BACK FROM ABKHAZIAI brought back wine from Abkhazia in plastic bottles, even though you're not supposed to transport it across the border, but since no one checks your luggage, it's possible to do so. We ended up throwing half of it away a week later because it had gone bad and smelled like vinegar. The orange marmalade wasn't tasty, it felt like a 1:4 ratio, just colored water with pulp inside. The beer was for my sister, and I also brought her rocks from the coastline, which I always bring back from my trips because she asks for them. Magnets my son brought for his friends, and he also brought bracelets for the girls. The lavender wand is for me and my mom, and the churchkhela. Honey and quince jam, which I've been wanting to try for a long time.

Churchkhela and other Eastern sweets always remind me of the southern coast, and that's where I always gorge on them. People who like accessories will also love it here, as there's a lot of cool stuff, and the farther you go from the sea (I'm talking about the village of Alakhadzy), the cheaper the bracelets are. I really wanted to buy myself a bag, but I'm a total bag lover, but because of the rude behavior of the seller, I didn't, but I'll definitely buy something from the straw. I, on the other hand, got myself a pink bracelet with a starfish, which I've been wearing in the city and every time I look at it, I'm transported back to my trip. VERDICT

Do I recommend it or not?

Alright, I'm glad I left my review of Abkhazia for last, after publishing other related reviews. Honestly, I wouldn't have recommended visiting here initially, but after the initial negative emotions have faded, I can now recommend visiting this country, despite the downsides of being scammed and dealing with locals who sometimes openly say they're not happy to see us, as we're just making them money from May to September.

2025 yearThe beaches, as it turns out, are all different, with varying surfaces and the presence or absence of breakwaters, which affect the cleanliness of the sea itself.

2025 yearAnd if I told everyone in 2019 that Abkhazia has crystal-clear blue water, because that's exactly what it was in New Athos, then in 2025 I was disappointed in the sea, as it's no different from the ones I've been to before, in terms of cleanliness and the entry/exit with massive cobblestones that cause pain.2019 yearI both love and hate Abkhazia in some moments.It's a bit different from our countries, where we're used to a different approach and mentality, but I guess that's our problem, not theirs, as they have their own laws and rules, and we're the ones visiting them, after all. As the saying goes, 'you don't bring your own rules to someone else's monastery.'PLUSthe seathe mountainsbeautiful natureMINUSES

it takes a long time to get thereborder crossing and backlocals aren't always friendlyarchitecture is outdatedthere are cows and dogs everywhereEven though there are more downsides than upsides, I still give it 4 stars, because this is my review and my subjective opinion.

Thanks for reading, everyone ^-^