The Altai Territory is a region located in the south-east of Western Siberia. Two regions of the Russian Federation - Kemerovo and Novosibirsk, and two republics - Altai and Kazakhstan - were located on a vast territory. The distance from the capital of Russia is about 3.5 thousand kilometers. But, despite such remoteness, a huge number of tourists come here every year. Here, ideal conditions for recreation: a variety of reliefs, an abundance of natural water bodies, clean air and the availability of infrastructure for a variety of types of recreation. The nature of the Altai Territory is striking in its beauty and diversity.
Mountains, lakes and forests
The total area of the Altai Territory is about 168 thousand km 2 , on this territory are mountains, plains, taiga and steppes. The region is saturated with water resources: 13 large lakes and 17 thousand rivers. And yet most of all appreciate this part of Siberia for its natural gifts. There are a lot of deposits of minerals and therapeutic natural mud, the flora and fauna are rich. In the Altai Territory, in natural conditions, plants and animals listed in the Red Book can be found. Rest in the Altai Territory is pleasant at any time of the year. The climate in this area is moderately continental, with a pronounced summer and winter season. In the warm season, they come here for walking, bathing and wellness procedures, and in winter lovers of skiing and tobogganing tend to the snow-covered mountain slopes.
Opportunities for tourism
In the warm season, vacationers prefer hiking or treatment at local sanatoria. Many travel companies offer their clients worked out routes of different levels of complexity. On foot here you can travel in various localities, enjoying the taiga forests, mountain trails or steppe plains. The nature of the Altai Territory seems to have been created for various types of tourism. Horse tours, which many local holiday homes organize, are also popular. Extreme enthusiasts will surely be interested in rafting - in the region there are a lot of rough mountain rivers. You can try to conquer the airspace: delta and paragliding are the popular destinations in this region. From December to March all the local ski resorts are open, on the improvement of the slopes and descents they are no different from the elite foreign.
Reserves and zakazniks
An interesting fact: the nature of the Altai Territory is unusually beautiful - this is mostly reserved areas. But if you believe the experts, then in the natural form of the landscape remained very little. The most noteworthy is the Tigirek Reserve - it is the most famous, the largest and at the same time the youngest, created only in 1999. The protected natural park occupies about 42 thousand hectares. The reserve is located at mid-altitude, in the area, on the recognition of tourists, quite strongly reminiscent of the Alps. Here you can observe a wide variety of flora and fauna. You will find a greater variety only in the Barnaul Arboretum. Here, on the territory of about 10 hectares, there are more than 1000 different kinds of trees, herbs and shrubs brought from all over the world. Having visited the exhibition hall of the arboretum, you can see almost the entire green world of our planet in a few hours. The wildlife of the Altai Territory is also the zakazniks, in which large enough populations of birds and mammals live. The most interesting for tourists is the swan reserve. In this unique place, in addition to these royal birds, many other birds also nest, but the zakaznik is famous for it thanks to the swans.
The unique nature of the Altai Territory is the wealth of the country
Altogether, there are about a hundred natural monuments in the Altai Territory. Agree, this is an impressive figure, even for such a large enough territory. There are interesting places to explore for every taste: caves, mountains, lakes, clean rivers. Many vacationers are interested in trips to the springs (there are among them holy sources) and other natural resources. The most famous are the mountains: Sinyuha, Devil's finger, Kolokolnaya, Kameshok. If we talk about lakes, it's Black, Buldyuk, Kazachka and Chertovo. The diverse nature of the Altai Krai is represented by such sights as the caves of the Metlevo plateau, the Silurian section of the Tigerek, the log of Terrible, the community of halophytes on the shore of Lake Burlinsky.
How to organize a holiday in the Altai Territory?
If you believe the reviews of tourists who have visited these places, it is enough to come here for one weekend, and definitely will not want to leave. For one trip, even stretched for several months, to inspect all the sights and simply beautiful places is impossible. Rest in the Altai Territory is famous for its opportunity to do business itself. Just imagine - a few days you spend in the hike, then go on excursions, and then find a couple more days for recovery or active sport. Attention: in some areas of the Altai Territory hunting, fishing, picking berries, mushrooms and medicinal plants are allowed. It is most convenient to purchase an organized tour in the direction of interest from an official tour operator. If you want to do your favorite hobby yourself, pre-arrange all the necessary documents and find out whether the desired type of fishing is actually allowed in the selected region.