About tour: Crimea, due to its diversity, has been a favorite area for filmmakers almost throughout the history of cinema. Many famous movies have been filmed in different parts and townships of the peninsula, locations for shooting movies about the romanticism of the Wild West have been placed in Crimea as well. And the most suitable landscape for filming westerns is the vicinity of the White Rock (Ak-Kaya) not far from Belogorsk (which native Crimean Tatar name is Karasubazar).
Ak-Kaya is a vertical sheer cliff of white color with an almost flat top, towering over the valley of the Biyuk-Karasu River. The cliff is only 100 meters high, but it looks really impressive in contrast to the surrounding wide plain. Ak-Kaya is completely composed of limestones and sandstones which are fossilized remains of ancient mollusks and fish, giving the rock a snow-white color and reminding the times of the Mesozoic era, when Crimea was the bottom of the ancient warm Tethys Ocean.
From ancient times to the end of the Middle Ages, this area served as a fortress. Archaeologists have unearthed about twenty cams of primitive people and bone remains Neanderthals at the foot of the White Rock.
For many centuries, fateful historical events and legends have been happening around the White Rock. For instance, they say that during the times of the Crimean Khanate, people sentenced to death were pushed from the top of the 100-meter cliff. Also there are rumors which yet can hardly be confirmed, that there is a secret hole in one of the caves that reaches up to Feodosia, and a chest with gold in another grotto is kept to this day.
The sheer white cliff, grottoes and quaint stone formations combined with the surrounding flat landscape are very atmospheric and “cinematic”. The White Rock served as a spot for filming such well known Soviet movies as "The Man from the Boulevard des Capuchins", "The Headless Horseman", "The Chief of the Redskins", "Mirage".
If you come to the White Rock early in the morning, you can often see aeronauts in air balloons or even keep them company. There is also an opportunity to take a horse ride or ATV (quad bike) ride along a lot of local routes.
After climbing the White Rock and observing its surroundings, we will visit the gigantic 800-year-old Suvorov oak — a natural botanical monument, under which crown, according to legend, Russian commander Alexander Suvorov negotiated with the envoy of the Turkish Sultan in 1777.
Then we can have lunch in an excellent ethnocafe in Belogorsk, and visit, if you wish, the Taigan Lions Park.
If our way back lies to the Southern Coast of Crimea, then we will be able to drive it on the old mountain road Belogorsk—Privetnoe (formerly Uskut road) — one of the most picturesque roads in Crimea, the asphalt surface of which quickly turns into a narrow rocky, very difficult and quite dangerous but very beautiful road all along the way.
Timing: from 09:00 to 19:00, other time agreed with the customer.
Tour outline (some of the listed sights to choose from):
Ak-Kaya Mountain (White Rock).
Taigan Lions Park.
Belogorsk—Privetnoe mountain road.
Price includes:
Driver and guide service (up to 10 hours).
Transportation service (comfortable SUV, prepared for rough terrain).
Additional expenses (optional):
Lunch (from 250 ₽ per person).
Taigan Lions Park (Belogorsk): adult — 1 000 ₽, child from 3 to 10 — 500 ₽.
Air balloon flight — from 5 000 ₽ per person for a flight about 1 hour long (generally, it should be booked in advance; cost depends on the number of participants; flights are operated only under favorable weather conditions).
Horseback riding — from 800 ₽ per person (depending on duration and route).
Quad bike ride — from 1 700 ₽ per person (depending on duration and route).
