🌋 Kamchatka Travel Tips (Part 2) — How to Spend Your Free Day

During my six-day trip to Kamchatka, I only booked four day tours—mainly to keep buffer time in case of bad weather. And it turned out to be a good idea! One day was canceled due to rough seas, and another due to military exercises. I recommend keeping your schedule flexible, especially for sea activities, which are often canceled last minute. Here’s what you can do on a free day: 🦞 Seafood Markets Search “Farmer’s Market” on your map 🗺️. Both seafood markets are located in lively areas. Though called seafood markets, they also sell vegetables, fruits, bread, cheese, honey, souvenirs, and alcohol 🍷🧀. They’re quite similar, so just pick the closest one. Don’t miss the “White Bear” dairy products—their ice cream, milk, and yogurt are delicious! But watch out for a very sour unsweetened yogurt called Кефир. Its packaging looks similar to milk (Молоко), so read carefully before buying 🥛. There are also plenty of banks nearby where you can withdraw cash. Check my previous guide for more details. 🛒 Supermarkets If you want to explore big supermarkets, search for “SHamsa”. I went three times in six days—there are several branches around the city. You’ll find a wider variety of yogurt, drinks, beer, and kvass—all cheap and tasty. Their ready-to-eat section is also great 🍻. 🧖 Russian Sauna (Must-Try!) I stayed at Klyuchotel—a hotel that looks plain but offers an amazing breakfast and even has its own sauna! You need to book in advance. Unfortunately, I found out too late and missed it 😢. Instead, we went to “Наши бани” in the northwestern suburbs. They have four private sauna rooms, each fitting up to 10 people. Prices range from 2000 to 3000 rubles per hour. Each room has a bathroom, fridge, and free herbal tea, wool hats, and birch branches 🌿. Contact the owner via WhatsApp (see Fig. 5). I booked same-day in the morning, but it’s safer to book ahead. 🏛️ Museums Volcano Museum: Heard it’s quite small, so I skipped it. Far East Museum: Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Entrance is 200 rubles, and you can rent an English audio guide. It’s worth a visit—the first floor has a small war exhibit (Russia-Ukraine and the Kuril Islands), and the basement displays indigenous and Tsarist naval history. 🍽️ Restaurants I’ve marked all the popular restaurants on the map. I highly recommend “Sovetskyy”, a Soviet-style restaurant where you can’t go wrong with anything—try the borscht and dumplings! Their lemon tea is amazing too 🍋. There’s also a small indoor market nearby with plenty of goods. ⛪ Churches You can visit the two churches when passing by. They’re nice—just remember not to take photos with a camera and keep quiet. ⛰️ Mishin Hill Observation Deck Go on a sunny day! You can either: Hike up the wild trail from the front (takes about 30 minutes—a bit tiring but the wildflowers are beautiful 🌸) Take a taxi up the dirt road from the back. A round trip with waiting time costs around 1500 rubles. Or take a taxi to the foot of the hill (about 200 rubles) and walk up. 🌊 Black Sand Beach A taxi driver charged us 4000 rubles for round trip + one hour waiting. It wasn’t my favorite, but my mom thought it was very photogenic 📸. 📱 Communication Use a Russian translation app. I found Apple’s built-in Translate the best—Yandex Translate also works. Download both and use conversation mode. Most locals in service industries don’t speak English, so translating directly to Russian is more efficient. However, tourists from Moscow or St. Petersburg often speak some English. They’re friendly and will help translate if they see you looking confused 😊. #Kamchatka #KamchatkaTravel #Citywalk #TravelRussia #FreeItinerary