The best tourist villages in the world and how to get to them from Russia

The settlement of Siwa itself is located among dense palm groves bordered by gardens and olive groves. Near the oasis, you can also see the impressive ruins of the ancient fortress city of Shali. The people inhabiting Siwa have their own culture and customs, they speak not only Arabic, but also their own Berber language.

Hotels of various categories work for tourists in the oasis. The nearest airport is Marsa Matrouh, a 3.5–hour drive from the oasis. Regular flights from Cairo fly here from May to October.

The rest of the time, you can get there by direct bus from Cairo or Alexandria. Departures are daily, but you will have to spend 7-8 hours on the way, because the distance is almost 800 km from Cairo (a little closer from Alexandria).

THE ROCKY VILLAGE OF KANDOVAN IN IRAN

Kandovan village in Iran. Photo: Flickr

Village Kandovan is one of the few high–altitude ancient villages in the world where people have been living continuously for many centuries. Its cone-shaped dwellings, resembling caves, are carved into the rocks. Some archaeologists estimate the age of the settlement itself at 7000 thousand years. The village still retains its identity, and its inhabitants lead a “primitive” lifestyle, as UNWTO experts put it.

In 1997, the village was included in the list of cultural heritage of Iran. Its residents decided to make a living from tourism and preserve their traditional homes and lifestyle, the outflow of residents to large cities has significantly decreased.

The similarity of stone houses to beehives also prompted the local community to sell honey to travelers. You can spend the night in the beehive house. The village of Kandovan is located an hour’s drive from Tabriz, where there is an international airport. That is, you can fly here not only from Tehran, but also, for example, from Istanbul. From Russia, the way lies to Tehran, and then by plane to Tabriz.

KAZAKHSTAN IS CALLING TO VISIT THE SNOW LEOPARD

Kazakhstan village Saty is located on the territory of the Kolsai Kolderi National Park, whose territory stretches along the northern slope of the Tien Shan. The park is home to many rare and endangered species of animals, in particular, the Tien Shan brown bear, snow leopard and Turkestan lynx.

The villagers keep small livestock farms and poultry farms, grow vegetables and fruits. All dishes offered to tourists are prepared from local products.

UNWTO notes Sata’s outstanding marketing activity in attracting tourists. The popularity of this place is “read” even on the map – it is replete with hotels and guest houses. According to Astana Times, there are 90 guest houses and 30 hotels in Saty. Compared to 2019, their number has doubled.

Over the past five years, convenient eco-trails and walking paths have been built on the territory of the village and next to it, a road to the lower Kolsai Lake has been equipped.

You can get to Saty via Almaty, where there are many direct flights from different cities of Russia. The road will take 3.5 – 4 hours, the path passes among picturesque landscapes.

THE TURKISH VILLAGE OF SHIRINJE AND THE TOURIST KINDERGARTEN

Shirinje Village. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Shirinje, a former Greek settlement founded in the V century BC, is located on the Aegean coast near Izmir and the ancient city of Ephesus. Shirinje was recognized as an important historical site in Turkey back in 1984, as it preserved the traditional architecture of houses and the structure of the settlement. Currently, writes Hurryiet Daily News, the village attracts up to 4 thousand tourists a day (the most popular time to visit is spring).

The village is also important for the implementation of educational initiatives in Turkey: scientific and national and international events are held here, summer educational programs for young people work.

By the way, a very unexpected initiative has been implemented here – a free kindergarten has been opened, where women working in tourism can send children from 3 to 6 years old. This makes it possible to solve the personnel problem and at the same time gives Shirinja “points” in all international projects that take into account the social component.

From Izmir airport it takes about 50 minutes to get here, from Bodrum – about 2 hours on a good road, which is a separate object of attraction for tourists: really beautiful views open from the window.

By the way, you can go to another interesting tourist village in Turkey with a unique architecture of houses from the resorts of Antalya (and at the same time take a boat ride on an underground lake) – we wrote about such a route here.

CULINARY DELIGHTS OF UZBEKISTAN IN THE VILLAGE OF SENTOB

The mountain village (aul) Sentob is located near the Aydarkul reservoir surrounded by high mountains, near Lake Fazilman, at an altitude of 1,650 meters above sea level. The village originated more than 2000 years ago, now 2024 people live there.

Local residents are engaged in beekeeping, grow apricots, mulberries and walnuts, produce dairy products, collect mountain herbs for the purposes of folk medicine. Tourists can also buy all this.

The village of Sentob is known for its authentic cuisine, so the bet is made on the development of gastronomic tourism. Tourists, in particular, can take master classes on traditional Uzbek cooking here.

The tradition of mentoring “ust-shogird” is encouraged in the village. State support is expressed in the support of craftsmen: if they agree to teach young people, they can apply for financing the repair of their workshops and the purchase of tools. Local artisans create accessories made of sheep’s wool, intricately decorated clothes and decorative items.

You can get to Sentob from Samarkand or Tashkent (there are direct flights from Russia to both cities). According to the map, Samarkand is much closer to the village, but the mountain road makes a big detour. It takes about 3.5 hours to drive from Samarkand, about 5 hours from Tashkent.

THE MOST BUSINESS VILLAGE IN ETHIOPIA

Located near the waterfall Lefis the village of the same name stands out not only for its authenticity (this is enough in Ethiopia), but also for the initiative of local residents. The success was the result of efforts consciously aimed at doing business and attracting tourists. The idea also came from the local community.

As a result, the village works as a full-fledged “tourist enterprise”, created by the residents themselves and with the help of their own initial investments. Tourists are met by local guides, women are engaged in the production and sale of handmade products. Artisans who make souvenirs from bamboo and local herbs were not too lazy to go to India to improve their skills. Now they regularly participate in fairs and exhibitions in the capital of the country – Addis Ababa.

The centuries–old local tradition of holding a riding festival has also become one of the key tourist products. The event is accompanied by various ceremonies and traditional folk folklore performances. Here tourists can try out Ethiopian equestrian sports.

The village is located in the center of the country, 170 km south of Addis Ababa, but you will have to spend more than 3 hours on the road. The nearest airport from the village is Hawassa. Several daily flights there are operated by Ethiopian Airlines on a DHC-8 Dash 8 plane. A ticket costs about 8.4 thousand rubles one way. It is also about 2.5 hours to drive from this airport to Lefis, but in Havassa itself you can see hippos. 

By the way, here we have already written what else you can do in Ethiopia.

FROM YANGTZE TO TIBET: CHINA’S OUTSTANDING TOURIST VILLAGES

China in 2023 is represented by four best villages at once.

The village of Huangling (Huangling) is located among the picturesque landscapes of Jiangxi Province. The local community maintains and preserves 43 ancient buildings and 32 areas of intangible cultural heritage. The village will be interesting to tourists, including because of the bright holidays, festivals and dance shows held here.

Huangling Village. Photo: Wikimedia commons

Since 2015, the annual celebration of the harvest, which is traditionally dried on the roofs of houses, has been revived here. In 2022, this event attracted more than 700 thousand visitors.

It is better to visit the village in spring or autumn. You can get to it by arriving at the airports of Jingdezhen (Jingdezhen) or Huangshan (Huangshan). Or by high-speed train to Wuyuan Station from Beijing or Shanghai and surrounding cities. Next – by car. In all cases, the journey will take 1-1.5 hours.

In another Chinese tourist village Xiajang (Xiajang), where the centuries-old traditions associated with the manual collection and processing of tea are preserved, tourism is viewed pragmatically. This area of the economy (in addition to the tea business) allows residents to get additional income and fight poverty.