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[[File:Locator map of Krym province.svg|right|thumb|350px|Map of Crimea within [[Ukraine]].]]'''Crimea''' or the '''Autonomous Republic of Crimea'''. Crimea is a peninsula in the Black Sea, south of Ukraine and west of Russia. The capital is [[Simferopol]]. Sovereignty and control of the peninsula became the subject of the ongoing 2014 Crimean crisis, a territorial dispute between [[Russia]] and [[Ukraine]]. Russia and local authorities consider it as a part of the Russian Federation, while most other countries consider it part of Ukraine. It As a traveler, Crimea is very safe but the political dispute restricts your means of access. The peninsula is located on now controlled by Russian authorities, so you'll need a peninsula in Russian visa to visit and it is currently only feasible to access by the Black Sea in Kerch ferry via Russia (the South of border with Ukraineis only open to those with Ukrainian passports or those with a special permit which in most circumstances is more difficult to get than just going through Russia). The capital ferry costs 150 Rubles ($3, May 2017) each way and passengers pay separately from cars so it's not easy to hitchhike on. Entering Crimea via Russia is illegal according to Ukrainian laws, but there is [[Simferopol]]no way the Ukrainian authorities would ever know as long as you exit Crimea back through Russia. Crimea You'll have to show your passport to buy the ferry ticket, but there is more Russian culturally than rest of Ukraine no border control or anything between Russia and everybody speaks Russian thereCrimea.

Especially in summer certain parts of the peninsula are full of tourists , mainly from Ukraine and Russia. Along with plenty of beaches , Crimea has a very rich history. It's well worth exploring the southeast coast where mountains meet the sea, and the many historical landmarks scattered throughout the territory. If you're curious about people's opinions on Russia/Ukraine, it's advisable to do more listening than talking, or at least understand your driver's stance before you state your own opinion. A majority of Crimeans are very happy to be a part of Russia and will be even happier to tell you about that, but certainly not everybody has this mindset.

[[User:n0id|n0id]] was told by Ukrainian hitchhikers that it is very difficult to hitch in Crimea, because there are mostly tourists driving around and locals will expect you to pay. Also, due to the tourism, there are very good & reasonably cheap bus connections between the cities in the Southern part. On the other hand, the experience showed that it hitchhiking is not that difficult at all. A few times people stopped and asked for money, but disappeared quite fast quickly when told we were hitchhiking. Some of the people picking us up were wondering why we were hitchhiking at all and referring to the cheap buses. However, it is probably indeed better to hitchhike in the inside of the country than on the road along the coast, since there we waited the longest. [[User:tbf]] would absolutely recommend hitchhiking in Crimea; it was far easier to hitchhike in Crimea than any other part of Ukraine and was comparable to the rest of Western Russia. Even hitchhiking with two males, we were almost always picked up within 15 minutes and saw many other hitchhikers on the road (May 2017).

==AccomodationAccommodation==Sleeping out in a tent is usually no problem outside of cities. You can camp on many beaches along the coast, although in the touristy parts some beaches are not for free. Only between [[Nikita]] and [[Sevastopol]] it is said to be more difficult, since there are many resorts and private beaches which could make it harder to camp out directly at the sea. If you look, you'll always find a place, though. There are also very interesting abandoned catacombs to explore and camp in/near. One entrance is just a few hundred meters east of the village Kamenskoe. On hot summer days, the catacombs are always cool and the entrance provides a nice place to set up a tent without baking in the sun.