Welcome to the Free Hearted Don Land!
Rostov region is a territory with an ancient history. This is not an "open-air museum", but a living land, saturated with meanings and inhabited by more than 4 million people.
The uniqueness and originality of the Don land is in the richness and generosity of its culture and traditions but also in the colourful combination of different natural areas. These are boundless steppes, green forests and mountain ranges, picturesque river valleys and sea coastlines.
All year-round, you can open and discover new sides of the Free Hearted Don Land. We invite you to see it with your own eyes! We assure you that the acquaintance with the Don land will leave a trace of incredible beauty in your heart, which will beckon you to return.
Facts and figures
Successes and achievements
- Winner of the MICE battle among the regions of Russia within the all-Russian day of MICE-2019 (October 10, 2019, Moscow);
- 1st region where the all-Russian MICE DAY was held (May 31, 2019, Rostov-on-don);
- Winner of the II degree in the category "Best brand of the region" according to the results of the all-Russian competition in the field of event tourism "Choice of the year" within the IX Tourist forum "Open Crimea" (October 29-30, 2019, Simferopol);
- Winner of the II degree in the category "Best historical reconstruction" based on the results of the all-Russian competition in the field of event tourism "Choice of the year" within the IX Tourist forum "Open Crimea" (October 29-30, 2019, Simferopol);
- Included in the "Golden twenty" - the first group of the National tourist rating-2018;
- Included in the Golden League ≪Best of the best≫ National rating of development of event tourism in Russia (NTR);
- 1st place in the top 3 best Wine Festivals of Autumn 2019 in Russia according to the AA "Turstat" - festival "Donskaya Loza" (September 28, 2019, H. pukhlyakovsky);
- 6th place in the rating of the tourist portal Travel.ru among the most budget travel cities in Russia;
- 8th place in the ranking of the 25 Best Russian cities for Travel – Rostov-on-Don;
- Top 5 most popular Russian regions for foreign tourists in 2019 according to research by the map service Maps.me;
- Top 100 popular tourist brands in Russia in 2019 ("Azov", "Donskaya ukha", "Don crayfish") according to the National CEC "Rating" and the Federal magazine "Rest in Russia".
Hotels and exhibit space
- There are 550 hotels in the Rostov region, the total number of rooms in the region is 11,2 thousand rooms;
- There are 232 hotels in Rostov-on-Don, the total number of rooms in the city is 5,3 thousand, including:
• «five-star» category - 7 (number of rooms 352),
• «four-star» category-28 (number of rooms 1040),
• «three stars» category - 42 (number of rooms 1772),
• «two stars» category - 32 (number of rooms 516) - There are more than 250 multi-format exhibit and event-spaces in the Rostov region, including 196 in Rostov-on-Don.
«Platov» international airport
- The first airport built from scratch in the modern history of Russia
- The largest in the southern Federal district and the best in Russia in terms of transport security
- Capacity – 2 000 passengers per hour and 5 million passengers per year.
- Open for regular flights from December 7, 2017
- 30 Russian and international airlines, 40 + destinations to fly
- Distance from «Platov» airport to the centres of some of the largest cities in the Rostov region:
• 26 km to Novocherkassk;
• 40 km to Rostov-on-don;
• 80 km to Azov;
• 100 km to Taganrog.
Interesting facts
One of the natural wonders of the Rostov region is the largest population of wild Shrenk's tulips in Russia. In spring, in the valley of the Manych river, along with other tulips, they cover the entire steppe with a colored carpet. Exactly from here they were taken to Europe in the XVII century.
Also here, in the South-East of the region, you can find the largest salt lake in Europe — Manych-Gudilo. In the middle of the lake is located Vodny island, famous for the presence of Don Mustangs, wild horses — donchaks.
In the West of Rostov region is adjacent to the Taganrog Bay of the Azov sea. It's smallest sea on the planet, the depth of which does not exceed 13.5 meters. In terms of the number of fish per unit area, the Azov sea is in 160 times larger than the Mediterranean sea.
The bathing season on the coast lasts 120-140 days. The sun shines over the Rostov region 2.05-2.15 thousand hours per year.
Don valley is the birthplace of Russian grapes. Only in Rostov region wine is inscribed in the culture of people in they're way of life. Indigenous sorts of grapes are: red — Tsimlyansky black, Krasnostop zolotovsky, Maruskin; white — Puhljakovsky, Sibirkovy and others.
Tourist zones of the Rostov region
- The tourist centre of the South of Russia, which has saved the cultural and historical heritage, magnificent architecture, the spirit of merchants and traditions of hospitality
- Rostov-on-don this is the capital of gastronomic of the South of Russia
- Convenient location, transport accessibility
- Well-developed infrastructure, high-level exhibit spaces and hotels
- The unique atmosphere and cultural traditions of the Lower don
- Taganrog is a picturesque southern resort town founded by Peter the I
- Chekhov’s homeland and Faina Ranevskaia
- Corporate events based on horse and yacht clubs
- Teambuilding at the European level of karting tracks
- The territory of 7 rivers and picturesque nature
- A lot of archaeological sites – more than 400 mounds, sites, settlements, places of battles
- Corporate events based on the unique Loga Park, a true masterpiece of landscape art, and the southern bird Park Malinka
- Gastro events based on the restaurant of author's cuisine the "Teterev"
- The territory of Cossack history, life, and folklore
- Don nature, rich lands, and fishing
- Tours on yachts, rafts, and boats on the Don River and the North Donets river
- VIP-level thematic events based on the unique Utkino country club
- A variety of activities - archery, horse riding, riding tours, ATV, bicycles, etc.
- The atmosphere of calm, clean air, beautiful and majestic places, sung in the novel by Mikhail Sholokhov
- Event tours for ethnographic holidays of the Sholokhov Museum-reserve-festival Sholokhovskaya spring, Cossack's stage combat, Kruzhilinsky talks, Karginskaya fair
- Team buildings and theatrical team games with immersion in the Cossack life of the XX century - wheat harvest with sickles, work with flails and millstones, participation in ancient rituals, etc.
- The territory of ecotourism, fishing, and the world's best crayfish
- One of the largest lakes in Europe – Manych-Gudilo, in the middle of which the island has been inhabited by a herd of wild horses – Don Mustangs - for more than half a century
- Eco-routes with fishing on the Manych River, Proletarsky and Veselovsky reservoirs
- Russian "Loire's Valley" cradle of the Russian grape, the area of autochthonous
- Tasting of unique autochthonous grape varieties – Siberian, Krasnostop zolotovsky, Tsimlyansky Black and others.
- Enogastronomical tours to the homeland of Russian grapes, culinary duels, and masterclasses
- Tours to the world's northernmost ancient wine terraces above the Don.