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Whether it is just a weekend away or a trip of a lifetime, you can rely on Castaways world-wide travel to make it possible. In 40 years trading, we have built a reputation for excellence, service and attention to detail.

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2-10 Cross Road

Tadworth KT20 5UJ

United Kingdom

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Your tailor-made holiday, we are the experts in creating individual itineraries to meet your every wish..

All our holidays include individual transfers in a high quality vehicle from the airport to the hotel and back again at the end of the holiday.  The transfer is exclusively yours and is not shared with other clients on the same flight.  You can relax in comfort and enjoy the scenery.

If you prefer, our airport car hire arrangements are streamlined.  We transmit your licence and personal data when the reservation is made to simplify and fast-track formalities when you arrive.  In Mallorca, we even meet and walk you to your hire car.  Alternatively, we can have the car delivered to your hotel and collected at the end of the holiday.

You can see more of your destination on a two or multi-centre holiday.  Combine the coast with the countryside or simplicity with luxury.  Drive yourself, let us arrange rail travel, or use our private transfer service.  You could even combine several of our destinations.  Our easy driving tours will take you to the most interesting regions and you can travel for any duration from a few days to several weeks.  We make it possible wherever you want to go.

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Krasnodar: A hot spot for Cossacks, bourgeoisie and outdoor fans

For five years in a row this southern city has topped the ranking of Russia's best places to live , and it is not surprising. Krasnodar’s main street is so green that walking along it feels like a stroll in the park, local eco-friendly food is served on tables in restaurants, and a high-speed train will take you to the Black Sea coast in just 2 hours.

I usually visit new Russian cities by taking the train. This time, it’s Krasnodar, the unofficial capital of the Russian south, about 1,300 kilometers from Moscow. My comfortable double-decker train from Moscow arrives, after 19 hours, at 5:30 a.m. I’m shocked: it’s already + 28 Celsius and the sun is rising. Summer in Krasnodar is so long that even September is warmer than May. 

Next to the train station I see a small Lenin statue surrounded by minibuses, as well as their drivers and passengers. Apart from that, the streets are empty. The small houses along the main streets hide themselves behind big fences and vine tendrils, just like in the south of Europe. 

More than 830,000 residents live in Krasnodar, but at 6 a.m. you will hardly see even one of them. The city is quite young; founded in 1793, but the settlement only obtained official city status in 1867, exactly 150 years ago.

The street signs sometimes mention a place called Yekaterinodar. That’s the old name of Krasnodar, which means ‘gift of Catherine.’ Actually, two Catherines decided the city’s fate: Catherine the Great gave the land to the local Cossacks to build a fortress. And St. Catherine of Alexandria is the patron saint of the city. In 1930, Stalin tried to erase all memory of the city's imperial past, so Yekaterinodar became Krasnodar – ‘a red gift.’ 

Nevertheless, Krasnodar retains memories of its historical past. Instead of English, the street signs are doubled with their pre-Soviet names . Lenin Street used to be Sobornaya (Cathedral) Street, and Sovetskaya Street was called Grafskaya (Palatine).   

Fur hats and horses for the strong

For centuries Yekaterinodar was the military headquarters of the Kuban Cossacks . After the Russian-Turkish and Russian-Polish wars in the 18th century, the Black Sea Cossacks were granted their own lands in the Kuban region by Catherine the Great, where they founded a military fortress and their own capital. It was considered as a gift of honor for their help on the battlefield.

After the revolution in 1917 the Cossacks set up their own republic in Kuban, but in the 1920s they were deported by the communist government, which viewed them as a threat. Many also died of starvation in the Soviet famine of 1932–33. Only later in the 1930s did the repression stop, and soon after the Cossack organizations began anew.

Today, the Cossacks are still classified as an armed organization, but more often they present themselves as keepers of old traditions. They've opened museums, and they dance and sing at every major traditional festival. Also, the  Kuban Cossack Choir tours the world.  

Between steppes and Vienna

Walking through Krasnodar today you won’t meet many Cossacks, but you will see a lot of small sculptures , friendly people in shorts, summer dresses and a light smile on their lips. I suppose it’s because of the weather. While in Moscow we have about 1,730 average sun hours per year, Krasnodar enjoys more than 2,100. A good reason to smile, isn’t it?

There's a surprise in the city center around Krasnaya Street and Zhukov Square . While you will recognize a monumental post-Soviet colorful mosaic on the left, there's one bourgeois town villa after another on the right. Neo-classicism, Art Nouveau, and many more early 20th century Western Europe architecture styles are delights for the eye.

I head on to the  Krasnodar Memorial Museum , founded in 1879 by Evgeny Felicyn, a local Cossack military, scientist, historian who was dedicated to social causes. Except for the exhibit, you should check out the surprisingly rich décor inside the  Bogarsukov villa , where the museum has been located since the early 1960s. And do not lose sight of the ceiling! There you’ll find Caucasian scenes from the steppe, as well as gold and silver ornaments á la Vienna .  

The town’s green thumb

Where else to go in Krasnodar? Locals have a clear answer: walking along  Krasnaya Street , which crosses the entire city center and passes almost all important sights, including the  statue of Catherine the Great  and the local Triumphal Arch . A long green stripe leads to the city theater and a square with a monumental Kuban flag. 

Close to the middle of Krasnaya Street I need a rest, a coffee and a snack. No problem, there are dozens of cafes. My personal tip: try the  Guryevskaya kasha  in the southern Russian coffeehouse chain  ‘Khlebnye  istorii ’ . This is not what you often find on a menu, and it’s tasty and healthy.

Now, the lower part of Krasnaya invites you on intensive shopping tours, and will surprise you on the weekend. On Friday evenings starting at 8 p.m. the street is closed for cars and public transportation to give pedestrians, joggers, bikers, skaters, musicians, artists and all the people without a car more space to enjoy the weekend . 

Walking along the opposite side of Krasnaya Street, you make a circle and reach the route’s starting point through the city’s heart –  the Catherine Garden . The old trees remember Krasnodar’s Cossack leader, whose house used to stand across the road in the 19th century – locals believe the young city once started from this place 150 years ago.

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Krasnodar, Russia

Tours, Attractions and Things To Do in Krasnodar

Here we are in the South of Russia. Welcome to Krasnodar, a major economic and cultural center of North Caucasus, also called “the capital of Kuban”. Krasnodar, perhaps, is one of the most interesting resort towns of the Russian Federation. It is a relatively young city founded by the Cossacks in в 1793 on the lands granted by Ekaterina II (hence its former name was Ekaterinodar). Later, when the Soviet system rose to power, the city was re-named to Krasnodar in 1920, and it preserved this name up to date.

Krasnodar is a center of the Russia’s southern touristic zone, located of the right bank of the Kuban River, 120-150 km from two warm seas – the Black and the Azov. It is an interesting fact that the city is located in the golden section of the Earth, almost in between the equator and the North Pole, right on the 45th parallel, also called “the Golden Line” or “the Life Line”. There exists an opinion that the living conditions in these latitudes are most favorable for human.

In spite of the city’s “youth” Krasnodar has many historical landmarks, while its architectural look is various and represented by different styles from Baroque and Classicism to late Modern. In Krasnodar, there is one of the largest Russian churches – Saint Catherine’s Cathedral, built as early as in 1914 and survived by a miracle under the Soviet power. It is also worth while visiting the Krasnodar main Orthodox Church – Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Interesting and dramatic, was the fate of this, one of the Russia’s most beautiful churches, an example of Russian and Byzantine templar style. Alexander Nevsky Military Cathedral was erected in April 1853, but later on, in year 1932 it was blown up by the Communists. And it was not until May 2006 when the inauguration ceremony of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral built anew took place.

Nowadays the Krasnodar architectural variety combines the harmony of old and modern structures. Now, next to the churches there are also modern high-rise buildings (the Marriott Hotel”), shopping and entertainment centers (“Red Square”), modern concert halls (Palace of Arts “Premiere”), restaurants, and night clubs. The city also strikes with its numerous museums, theaters, art galleries. Particularly, if you find yourself in Krasnodar, we recommend you to visit the Krasnodar Regional Art Museum named after F. A. Kovalenko to enjoy a rare collection of Russian avant-garde and Dutch art of XVI century, and also attend concerts of SSAI “Kuban Cossack chorus” to listen to Kuban Cossack, Russian and Ukrainian folk-songs.

Two Krasnodar unusual landmarks enjoy wide popularity among tourists and local community: the Monument to a purse and the Monument to the doggies in love. Do you want to turn round? Then you are to the purse. It is enough to rub your purse over it, and you will have more money. But if you are unlucky in love, then the loving couple of dogs will help you, you should stroke their small paws and love will certainly come to you.