The permanent population of the city counts 88.000 people. During holiday season the number of population increases despite high prices, huge masses of visitors.

In February 1945 Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin—respectively, the heads of state of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)—met at the Black Sea resort of Yalta to discuss the postwar division and occupation of Germany after World War II (1939-1945). In the resulting Yalta agreements, the USSR agreed to help defeat Japan in exchange for several islands in the area, although this was kept secret until later. Critics in the United States argued that too many concessions had been made to the USSR during the conference, making the Yalta agreements a focus of domestic disputes.

The holiday-maker in Ylata can independently see the most bright recreational sights of the southern coast. The Great Yalta is rich with its wonderful palaces, ancient parks ans architectural monuments.

The Palace of Alexander III in Massandra is one of the best architectural constructions on the southern coast of the Crimea, dating from the second half of the XIX century.
The Massandra Palace stands in beautiful parkland on the outskirts of Yalta. It was designed by French architect Bouchart to emulate the style of some of the castles of the Loire valley. Originally built for Prince C.M.Vorontsov, it was acquired by Tsar Alexander III as his summer palace in 1889. After the 1917 revolution it was used as a holiday residence by high-ranking members of the Politburo - Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev all stayed here at one time or another. In the early nineties the palace was designated a museum and opened to the public. The interior has now been beautifully restored. It contains a significant collection of fine art and period furniture in rooms set out to reflect the grandeur of its original nineteenth century owners.

Nikitsky Botanical Garden can impress any visitor with its magic atmosphere.There are more then 28000 trees, flowers and plants from all over the world. Established in1812 by order of Tsar Alexander I, the botanical garden at Nikita is among the oldest in the country. Here you can see a 1000 year old juniper and a 500 year old oak tree, both native to Crimea, as well as many of almost 15,000 species collected from all quarters of the globe. Interestingly, this is one of the few places in Crimea where you can see olive trees.

Mountains
At 1,234m, Ai-Petri is not the highest mountain in Crimea - that honour belongs to Roman Kosh (1,545m) between Gursuf and Alushta, north-east of Yalta. But it's certainly one of the most spectacular, with its sparkling white limestone peak and its jagged `teeth'.
From the village of Miskhor near the Alupka Palace, you can take one of the longest cable-car rides in europe (3.5 km - in two legs) to get to the peak. The route takes you above vineyards and then forest, and finally up the steep rocky side of the mountain, with spectacular views of the Black Sea coast as you go up.

Alternatively, you can take a minibus or taxi up the winding forest road that leads to the plateau behind the summit, taking in panoramic glimpses of Yalta and the sea, and then stopping off at the Uchan-Su waterfall (98m) on the way. Or you can do the climb on foot with a guide who knows the safe way up.

Chekhov's house
After his death in Germany in 1904, the house passed to Anton's sister Masha who resolved to keep it as far as possible exactly as it had been when Chekhov had lived there. After the revolution it was adopted by the Soviet government as a dom-musei (house-museum) . Set in a beautiful garden laid out by Chekhov himself, the house is surprisingly modern-looking from the garden side, with a sweeping arch over the main door. Inside, the rooms still contain Chekhov's turn-of-the-century furniture, the piano which Rachmaninov played and, on the wall, an antique Ericsson telephone. Chekhov's leather coat hangs with other clothes in a cupboard, a reminder of how tall he was - all of 1.86m (6' 1").

Swallow's nest
This a fantastic snow-white castle stuck at the very edge of an unapproachable cliff. Completed in 1912, this has become a true symbol of the Crimea. With towers and spires, resembling that of a fairytale castle, it was used as a set for many films including Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. A long period of time the Swallow Nest had been in an emergency condition, but then it was reconstructed and strengthened in 1970. Nowadays there is an exquisite Italian restaurant there.  The view from the balcony is just majestic. Relax in a cafe and watch small tourist boats arriving in the small bay, where in the first century AD Roman Empire warships were stopping to keep their patrol duties and fight against the pirates.