Vladikavkaz

Vladikavkaz is the capital city of North Ossetia and a major transit hub for the North Caucasus region. Its position on the Georgian Military Highway makes it a staging post for journeys to both Georgia and South Ossetia.

The river Terek and the 1908 Mukhtarov Mosque

Understand

Modern Vladikavkaz was founded in 1784 at the gateway of Daryal Canyon.

Talk

Basically no English is spoken. Do not expect to be able to comfortably move around the city without brushed-up knowledge of Russian or assistance from a translator.

Get in

By plane

• 🌍 Beslan Airport (OGZ  ^IATA) (15 km (9.3 mi) from downtown). (updated Nov 2016)

Airlines	Destinations
Pobeda	Moscow-Vnukovo, St. Petersburg
S7 Airlines	Moscow-Domodedovo
UTair Aviation	Moscow-Vnukovo, St. Petersburg

By train

• 🌍 Vladikavkaz railway station. Trains run daily to Moscow (35 h) and other southern regional cities such as Rostov on Don (13 h), Adler (17 h) and Novorossisk (18 h).  

Get around

See

Monument: 200 Years With Russia

• 🌍 Mukhtarov Mosque. A striking historic mosque completed in 1908. The mosque takes its name from the Azerbaijani millionaire Murtuza Mukhtarov who financed its construction. 
• 🌍 Central Park (Центральный парк культуры и отдыха имени Коста Хетагурова) (by tram route 2 (during autumn-winter season) / 5 (during spring-summer season) to Svobody sq.). (updated Nov 2016)
• Vladikavkaz also has quite a few outdoor sculptures and monuments.

Do

• The Mariinsky Theatre has a branch in Vladikavkaz.

Buy

The main street, Prospekt Mira, runs roughly parallel to the Terek River, and is a pleasant boulevard with shops and restaurants. The railway station is to the east of Prospekt Mira's northern end.

Eat

Equestrian statue of the Soviet military hero, General Issa Pliev, a native of Ossetia and a veteran of the Battle of Stalingrad, among others

• Vogue Restaurant, U. Mayakovskogo, 21, ☎ [phone]. 10.00-24.00. Salads, Pasta, Pizza, Deserts, full bar and shisha. Lots of pretty people who like to stare at foreigners. One of the few places in town with outside seating. 
• Grusha, Ul. Shumlevicha, 41, ☎ [phone]. 12.00-24.00. Excellent Georgia food and shashlik. Loud music. 
• Magiya Cafe, Ul. M. Gorkogo, 9, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 9.00-23.00. Good deserts, light meals, drinks, great coffee. 
• Leonardo Cafe/Gallery, Ul. Revolutsii, 62, ☎ [phone]. 12.00-23.00. Interesting local art. Good meals, good cocktails, basement bar filled with smoke. 

Drink

Sleep

• 🌍 Hotel Imperial, Prospket Mira, 19, ☎ [phone]. directly on the central street of the city. Comfortable, recommended over other options, little bit pricier. Restaurant Bavaria behind the hotel with outside seating and extremely loud karaoke during the summer months. Sauna onsite. 
• 🌍 Hotel Vladikavkaz, ul. Kotzoeva, 75, ☎ [phone], [phone]. Soviet-style in tourist hotel. Cheap, on the river, five-minute walk from the center and across the street from a unique mosque. Not very comfortable but generally has rooms at affordable rates. (updated Aug 2018)
• 🌍 Aleksandrovskiy Grand Hotel, Prospekt Mira 29. Four-star hotel. (updated Nov 2016)

Connect

The city's phone code is 8672.

Go next

• The striking North Ossetian mountains: Tse and Fiagdon in particular. However, all non-Russian citizens are forbidden to travel outside the main towns of Vladikavkaz, Beslan, Alagir and Ardon. If found by local authorities outside the regulated areas you may be subject to a fine and/or deportation.
• Georgia - head south on the Georgian Military Highway to the border post at Verkny Lars and then to Kazbegi in Georgia.
• South Ossetia - head south on the Trans-Caucasian Highway through the Roki tunnel to the disputed region's capital, Tskhinvali.