Sochi: subtropical sun at the foot of the Caucasus

Russia's only subtropical city, Sochi hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics thanks to proximity between Black Sea beaches and snow-capped Caucasus peaks.

The waterfront is explored on foot; for the Olympic Park and mountains a train or car is needed.

The Sochi waterfront, with its subtropical gardens and palms planted in the early twentieth century, starkly contrasts with the colder image associated with the rest of Russia.

Continuing southward, you reach the Olympic Park, built for the 2014 Winter Games, with venues still visitable and a Formula 1 circuit constructed within it.

Heading inland, the Krasnaya Polyana cable car takes you to ski stations that hosted the downhill racing, just over an hour from the coast.

Toward evening, Sochi Arboretum, a botanical garden founded in the late nineteenth century, offers a walk among subtropical plants with views over the Black Sea.

The combination of beaches and ski slopes at such close proximity made Sochi an unusual but deliberately strategic choice for the 2014 Winter Olympics, capable of hosting both ice and snow sports within a few kilometers.

Sochi's subtropical climate, rare for Russia, depends on the natural protection offered by the Caucasus Mountains, which block cold currents coming from the north.