From Wikitravel

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Ю́жно-Сахали́нск), also spelled Uzno-Sakhalinsk and previously known in Japanese as Toyohara (豊原), is the largest city and capital of Sakhalin Oblast, in Southeastern Russia, and a booming oil town.

[edit] History

The city was founded in 1882, as the village Vladimirovka, but was transferred to Japanese control after the end of the Russo-Japanese war. The Japanese renamed the city as Toyahara, and made it the capital of the Japanese prefecture Karafuto occuping the southern half of the island. After the end of of World War II, soviet troops occupied the Japanese part of Sakhalin, and the city was renamed Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk when owership of the city was transferred back to Russia. Apart from a very limited number of Japanese buildings, including the impressive old goverment building, now a regional museum. The main heritage of the Japanese ownership of the city, is a sizable number of Sakhalin-Koreans, deported here by the Japanese in the 1930s, and denied repatriation until the mid 1980s, many have decided to stay on Sakhalin, and around 20.000 reside in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport (IATA: UUS, ICAO: UHSS) fields flights from major Russian cities as well as serveral asian cities. Sakhalins own carrier; SAT Airlines[1], has its main hub here and operates serveral domostic routes, as well as flights to Korea, Japan and China.

• Russia: Aeroflot, Domodevo and Transaero all operates flights to and from Moscow, while Dalavia, SAT Airlines and S7 Airlines all has useful connections to the major far eastern cities; Khabarovsk and Vladivostok.
• Korea: Asiana operates flights to Seoul-Incheon serveral times a week.
• Japan: SAT has frequent flights to Sapporo as well as less frequent ones to Hakodate.
• China: SAT services Beijing and Harbin airports.

[edit] Overland

Further information available See also the itinerary Russia to Japan via Sakhalin for more information on the northern connection between the Trans Siberian railway and Japan

The main link between Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and mainland Russia, are provided by the ferry service between Kholmsk and Vanino on the mainland.

To get to and from Sakhalin island, take one of the scheduled busses, or - leave when full - minibusses between Yuzhno Sakhalinsk and the port towns of Kholmsk and Korsakov for ferry connections with Vanino on the mainland and Wakkanai in Japan respectively. Both the busses and minibusses arrive and depart from the bus terminal in front of the railway station, allthough the terminal is little more than a parking lot. Mini busses are usualy the most convenient, ask around the different drivers, they will point you to the right bus. Journey time ranges between 30 to 60 minuttes for both destinations, depending on the driver and trafic conditions.

[edit] Get around

Intracity transportation is provided by a network of a few public busses, running along the main avenues. And large number of minibusses running in set routes, but with no particular schedule

[edit][add listing] See

• Sakhalin Regional Museum (right) Housed in the the former Japanese regional goverment building, this museum hosts exhibitions about the islands natural and climatic features, as well as the history of Sakhalin

• The Sakhalin Regional Art Museum 137 Lenin Street, was opened in 1989 in the building of the former Japanese bank "Hokkaido Takuseku" from the 1930s. The three permanent expositions include: "Copies of Ancient Russian Frescos", "Art of Japan", and "Art of Korea".

[edit][add listing] Do

• The City Park Go on a stroll in the city park, the largest in the far east. Something of a leisure center of the local population, the park features athletic facilities, adventure playgrounds, a lake with small boats, a miniature railroad for kids, and a zoo.

• Snowboarding Is popular on the island, a limited amount of information on snowboarding around Yuzhno is available on the local snowboarding federations website[2]. There is a alpine skiing facility located close to the city.

• Fishing There are a few guided fishing trips available in English, in the area surrounding Yuzhno Sakhalinsk.

[edit][add listing] Buy

[edit][add listing] Eat

• Black Cat 34A Chekhov Street, Dishes out Russian and European meals, in a pleasant atmosphere.

• Domino Café 65 Popovich Street, is the place to go for a cup of cappuccino or espresso.

• Pacific Cafe 32 Kommunistichesky Avenue, is an expat hangout in the Sakhin center, with reputedly the burgers in town, and some european dishes on the menu.

• The Russian Kitchen 45 Sakhalinskaya Street, serves up Russian and Ukrainian Cuisine, and is a good place for local dishes.

• Toyohara 246A Lenin Street, is a nice place if you fancy some Asian cousine, good chinese style stirfry on the menu.

[edit][add listing] Drink

• Mishka pub, located in the basement of Rubin hotel, is a local expat hangout, mainly people from the oil industry. British style pub with the usual range of alcohol and pubfood. Staff speaks English.

• 777 Is a large club on Chekov Street. two stories with a mix of local and international tunes. There are usually a few expats around, and there is a decent chance of finding the odd english speaking locals here.

• Jamp 56A Mira Avenue, Is a night club with a young crowd.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

Due to the large amount of visitors connected to the booming oil industri on the island, there are are substatial number of good hotels in the city. Room rates however are very expensive, even by international standards, expect to pay atleast 4000 RUB at single room at western style hotels.

• Mega Palace, 4 Detskaya Street, ☎ +7 (4242) 450-450, [3]. Is a massive, spanking new,10 storey luxury hotel located just north of the city center. edit

• Pacific Plaza, 172 Mira Prospekt, ☎ +7 (4242) 450-000. is a central 4 star hotel, opened in 2006..  edit

• Rubin Hotel, 96 Popovich St., ☎ +7 (4242) 42-22-12. Repuditly one of the best hotels in town, has a decent British style pub downstairs. edit

• Monoron, 86 Communist Ave, ☎ +7 (4242) 72-34-53. Seems to be the towns only budget accomodation, with rates on the hotels website starting at 550RUB.  edit

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