We share ideas of what you can bring from Sochi as a gift. Prices for popular souvenirs. Travel tips for where to shop and how to save money.
Goat hair
In the foothills of the Caucasus, goats have long been raised, and local housewives know how to knit light and warm clothes from goat hair. Don't know what to bring from Sochi as a gift in winter? Pay attention to the headscarves, shawls, scarves, sweaters, sleeveless jackets, socks and mittens that are sold in the resort and surrounding villages. All these things will warm you in frost and will last for many years.
Price... A pair of woolen socks for a child costs 80 rubles, for an adult - 200-350 rubles, medical belts made of goat hair - from 1000 rubles.
Advice... A very popular souvenir is goat down blankets. They cost 1800-2200 rubles.
Olympic souvenirs
What else to bring from Sochi in winter? The Olympic Games were held several years ago, but interest in gifts with the symbols of the Winter Olympics has not faded at all. Children love soft toys - hares, bears and tigers. Sports enthusiasts love colorful Olympic jerseys and sweatshirts.
Price... T-shirts with different sports cost 800 rubles, backpacks with Olympic symbols - 1500-2000 rubles.
Advice... A large selection of sports souvenirs in the Sochi Olympic Park.
Krasnodar nuts
What delicious souvenirs can you bring from Sochi? Many nuts are grown in the Krasnodar Territory. Walnuts, hazelnuts, Abkhazian pecans and delicious chestnuts are on sale all year round.
Price... 1 kg of peanuts costs 50-70 rubles, hazelnuts - 250-450 rubles, walnuts - 160 rubles, unpeeled chestnuts - 120-140 rubles, and pecans - 970 rubles.
Advice... A fresh harvest of nuts appears in the Sochi markets in late July - early August, when hazelnuts and walnuts ripen. The prices for nuts are the lowest in September and October.
Honey
You can bring delicious honey from Sochi as a gift. The region is inhabited by the Caucasian mountain gray bee, which is highly valued by beekeepers. In late July - early August, the first harvest of honey is harvested in apiaries in the vicinity of the resort.
The best is considered to be chestnut honey collected in the Krasnaya Polyana area. Also in Sochi you can buy alpine, linden, acacia, blackberry, herb and honey from the Caucasian maple.
Price... A 0.7 kg can of honey costs 350-600 rubles.
Advice... For sweet souvenirs, go to the Sochi markets. Be sure to try honey. Pay attention to the beautifully packaged honey jars with nuts. These are the most popular souvenirs from Sochi, which tourists are snapping up with a bang.
Persimmon fresh and dried
The resort is located in the subtropical zone, so you can bring ripe fruits from Sochi. Fresh persimmons are delicious and contain a lot of healthy vitamins. Minus one - ripe fruits are difficult to bring home without damaging them on the way. In the Sochi markets, they sell exotic dried fruit - dried persimmon. Tourists love the sweet and astringent taste so much that they take kilograms of it.
Price... 1 kg of fresh persimmon costs 55-60 rubles, dried - 300 rubles. A small bunch of dried fruits will cost 100-150 rubles.
Advice... The lowest prices for fresh persimmons are from October to December. In the spring and summer, it is better to buy dried fruits.
Spice
What to bring from Sochi as a present for the hostess? A compact and practical souvenir - Krasnodar spices. These are red and black peppers, fenugreek, dill, sumac, parsley, barberry, coriander, basil, mint and pilaf sets. Take a bay leaf broom. A beautiful green souvenir cannot be compared with a faded lavrushka from a store pack.
Pay attention to the spicy Caucasian sauces. Gourmets really like spicy and sour tkemali... According to tourists, jars with Adyghe salt are popular. The delicious and aromatic seasoning is made from a mixture of common salt, spices and dried herbs.
Price... A bag of spices costs 40-100 rubles, a can of tkemali sauce - 90-200 rubles, adjika 0.5 kg - 400 rubles.
Advice... If you are not a big guru in cooking, buy curly glass jars, in which 7-8 spices are poured in layers. Such a souvenir will cost 200 rubles.
Sulguni cheese
In Sochi, they sell two types of suluguni - ordinary, which looks like Romanian feta cheese, and smoked cheese. Suluguni has a delicate, creamy, slightly salty taste. The cheese is perfectly stored, so it will calmly withstand the long journey home. Pickled cheeses are useful for making baked goods and salads.
Price... Suluguni costs from 380 rubles per 1 kg.
Advice... Choose cheese from the market. There is more assortment, higher quality and lower prices. In addition, any seller will be happy to give his product a try.
Balm "Krasnaya Polyana"
What to bring from Sochi as a gift for a connoisseur of alcoholic beverages? They do quite good at the Black Sea resort balm "Krasnaya Polyana" with a strength of 45%. The drink is infused with eight fruits and 24 medicinal herbs. It has a pleasant taste and aroma. The balm is sold in glass bottles of 0.25 l and 1 l, as well as in ceramic containers of 0.5 l and 0.7 l.
Sochi balsam is considered an excellent anti-cold remedy. It helps to cope with physical and mental fatigue. The magic Caucasian elixir is drunk in small portions, added to tea or coffee.
Price... A 0.25 liter bottle costs 630 rubles.
Advice... Other alcoholic beverages are also produced in Sochi. Pay attention to the aperitif "Aibga", local liqueurs "Krasnopolyansky viburnum with honey", "Mountain cherry on cognac" and "Crimson".
What else can you bring from Sochi
- Krasnodar tea - from 80 rubles.
- Herbal tea - 200 rubles.
- A painted plate with a view of the Sochi Sea Terminal - 300-1500 rubles.
- A large towel with a map of the Black Sea - 300 rubles.
- Souvenirs from Black Sea rapans - from 150 rubles.
- Thermo-mugs with the inscription "Sochi-2014" - from 600 rubles.
- Red and black pumice - 50-150 rubles.
- Churchkhela - 85-200 rubles.
- Jam, jar - 180-400 rubles.
- Wine "Krasnaya Polyana", 0.7 l - 490 rubles.
Travel Tips
- Delicious souvenirs - cheese, nuts, churchkhela, dried persimmons, dried fruits and homemade wine - can be found at the Sochi Central Market. It is located in the very center of the resort. A good selection of goods on the market, which works at 21/2 Vozrozhdenie Street.
- If you decide to bring dried persimmons from Sochi, ask the seller to cut one piece. A quality product does not crumble and does not have mold.
- In Sochi, there is the country's only industrial plantation for growing kiwi. The harvest ripens in the fall. In the velvet season, kiwi prices are halved.
- If you want to bring honey from Sochi, visit the Honey Paradise store, which is located in the Rosa Khutor Group of Companies, on Naberezhnaya Polyanka Street, 2. Here they sell different types of honey, perga, royal jelly, propolis and pollen. On sale there is an original honey soap with medicinal herbs, which contains up to 10% honey.
