Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Russian: Ю́жно-Сахали́нск, YOOZH-nuh suh-khah-LEENSK), also spelled Uzno-Sakhalinsk and previously known in Japanese as Toyohara (豊原), is the largest city and capital of Sakhalin Oblast, in the Russian Far East, with a population of around 173,000. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is a booming oil town. While the city in general looks quite rough, it does have some beautiful buildings from the Japanese period, as well as some state-of-the-art buildings.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons contributors.
The city was founded in 1882 under the name of Vladimirovka and originally populated by liberated convicts, but was transferred to Japanese control after the end of the Russo-Japanese war. The Japanese renamed the city as Toyohara, and made it the capital of the Japanese prefecture Karafuto occupying the southern half of the island. After the end of World War II, Soviet troops occupied Karafuto, and the city was renamed Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk when control of the city was transferred back to Russia. Little remains of the Japanese administration apart from a very limited number of Japanese buildings, including the impressive old government building now used as a regional museum.
Intracity transportation is provided by a network of a few public buses, running along the main avenues, and large number of minibuses running on set routes, but with no particular schedules. A single bus ticket costs 20 руб as of 2017.
The drab rows of Soviet-style concrete buildings that make up much of the island's capital are really not that interesting for travellers, especially not the ones who have been adventurous enough to come here in the first place. On the other hand, there should be enough to entertain you for a day while you get your bearings and organize things to venture out into Sakhalin's great outdoors — and you really owe it to yourself to get out there if you have come this far. If you're short on time and only here to catch a ferry, skip these sights and hike up Chekov Peak — the trail head is a muddy dirt road just behind the Santa resort, the whole hike takes around 6 hours if you're in reasonable sh…
1 Chekhov International Theatre Center (Сахалинский театральный центр Чехова), Kommunistichesky pr 35, ☏ +7 4242 42-5262. Really not that much "international" about it, this theatre is in a rather unusual (for a frontier region) building covered by mosaics in the socialist realism style (1964). The theatre's roots are in the 1930s. It sometimes has musicals and concerts on the repertoire, if sitting through 2 hours of Russian is not your thing. (updated Feb 2020) 2 Sakhalin Regional Puppet Theatre (Сахалинский театр кукол), Ul Karla Marksa 24, ☏ +7 4242 42-3498, moroz_a_k@hotmail.com.
For a Russian mid-sized city, eating out in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is on the expensive side. There are however cheap cafés here and there. In general you can choose between Russian, Japanese and Korean cuisine, although other Asian food is also available. Local seafood is surprisingly hard to find in restaurants, but is readily available in the market (mentioned in the Buy section) and its eateries. 1 Kolobok Café (кафе «Колобок»), Ul Lenina 220a, ☏ +7 4242 72-56-54. 08:00—19:00. (updated Feb 2020) 2 Smak Café (кафе «Смак»), Khabarovskaya ul 84а, ☏ +7 4242 72-47-05. 09:00—19:00. average dish 350 руб.
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is a rather youthful town, so the nightlife is rather happening considering its size. Hotels do usually have bars, and these are the places to go if you want to meet expats. If the weather is nice, an alternative to the bars listed here is hanging out with the locals in the beer tents dotted around Gagarin Park. Don't miss the local beer. 1 Khinkalnaya Kazbegi (Хинкальная Казбеги), Sakhalinskaya ul 113, ☏ +7 424 260-44-77. Fresh beer from the local brewery. 2 Mishka Pub, Ul Chekhova 45, ☏ +7 4242 422811. noon-midnight (weekends till 01:00). Located in the basement of the same building as the Rubin hotel, this is a local expat hangout, mainly people from the oil industry.
While outwardly looking like a tidy and safe city, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk does have a reputation of street crime. Downtown is safer than the rest of the city.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
In Jul, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk typically sees ~25°C daytime highs and 12 rainy days.
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