balaklava naval museum complex (cold war museum)

The museum is under renovation, but opened for visitors who are obligatory guided. ~1,5 km of underground walking allows to appreciate the power of Soviet army and navy.

This is one of the things to do in Krimea you shouldn't miss. It's an old naval base in which nuclear submarines used to be repaired now turned into museum. We had a tour in Russian so can't tell you what would happen should you choose tour in English, but we had fun and it was quite thrilling to walk through the old naval base and had everything explained to us. Only con I can think of is size of tour groups, they are quite huge and you might feel like in a herd.

This place is full of promise and lacking on delivery. The idea of visiting a submarine base carved out of a hillside and unknown to the West for many years is what took me to Crimea; but the experience itself sits bottom of my list of Crimea attractions. When you get there, you'll find the boat tours of the sub canals have been cancelled, access is restricted to a relatively limited portion of the base and many exhibits have been replaced by glorification of the Russian navy. It was like one long cold dank tunnel with some metal tubes, some water in it and some propaganda (no - not a look at old propaganda - real current pro Russian stuff). Perhaps with a dedicated English speaking guide specialising in this place, we'd have had a richer experience - but the trouble right now is that it's hard to find someone who isn't either disgusted by the Russification of the museum, or overly delighted by it, so it will be difficult to get a deep experience with real anectodal colour.I loved the German Hospital in Jersey, a missile silo in Arizona and quite enjoyed Bunker 42 in Moscow but this place was totally lost on me and I'm still trying to work out of it was the Russia vs Crimea thing in the background, the jumble of exhibits without any consistent theme or something else. Probably it was the lack of anything that attracted any kind of empathy. It was too much of 'This missile does this. This submarine does this. The tunnel is this long and this deep. This is an XXX' and not enough 'There were XX workers who spend XXX of every year underground working 12 hour shifts and were not allowed to tell their families what they did. They came from across the USSR and were accompanied to Balaklava by their families.' There was just nothing to generate an emotional reaction.The other thing about museums in the losing side of wars (the Cold War in this case) - they are long on celebrating stamina and pain and short on celebrating achievement which largely does away with any desire to empathise! If you're a tunnel engineer, a torpedo specialist or a Russian submariner you'll probably love this. If you're a layperson looking to understand cold war life - you've probably stil got to come here just because it's a rare opportunity, but set your hopes low and get a really good guide.

We did not know that this existed: a place tunnelled out in a mountain next to the sea where the Russians could hide their entire nuclear submarine fleet. It could also in the case of nuclear war shelter 2,000 persons for over a month. Go with a guide as there is nothing in English but the exhibits are outstanding and the engineering technology was used is incredible. My engineer husband said that the soviets then were the most advanced in the world in metallurgy and welding perhaps developed for the constructions of such sites.

This is an amazing place, really atmospheric and unique. It seems you are part of a spy/ 007 movie. We enjoyed walking along the long underground tunnels. It is quite impressive so put the place in context and keep in mind it was out of reach for anybody until very recently. Nothing is in English so you dont have chance to read much, and we arrive 40 min before clousure (5 pm) so we hurried up but it was a lot of fun! We got there from Sevastopol by public transport. Minibus 20 or 12 left us in a place called km5. It was the last stop and despite nobody speaking English we could communicate enough saying km and showing 5 fingers at the bus stop. In km5 there is a huge market and minibus 9 departs from there to Balaklava. The bus stop is next to where all the electric cars stop. In Balaclava we stopped before the end as there is a closer stop to the submarine base. Otherwhise you can walk from the harbour or take a boat to cross it. The closest bus stop is called something like "obolon" like the beer. People in the bus indicated us where to stop (and they didnt speak English and we didnt speak Russian but they are generally very helpful). When you stop take the street to your right and walk to the end. You will reach the place soon.

If you are on the Crimea Peninsular the Soviet underground Submarine Base is a must see. It is a very easy walk with good access. It provides a wonderful insight into the lengths Nations will go to to try to hold the upper hand. There is a great deal of information in both Russian and English although I would recommend hiring an English speaking guide.

Very nice Balaclava Bay with hidden submarines base. It is unbelievable how much money and efforts peoples can spend to keep lethal weapons inside the rock.Will be nice, if one decommissioned submarine will be docked inside, ready for exploring by tourists.The area around should be better cleaned, and parking places arranged.

I toured Balaklava with a guide from the ship I was on. I thought it was a very interesting place. Our tour was in English so I don't know what it would have been like without an English-speaking guide. I think it would be well worth seeing because it's a very visual experience. You actually go down into these amazing tunnels and see the submarine canals--although no submarines, as someone else pointed out... It's such an extraordinary thing that the Soviet Union had this hidden facility and until recently the rest of the world didn't even know this place existed.

Don't miss the guided tour of this secret Soviet base for building, repairing, and hiding nuclear submarines during the Cold War. The tour is in Russian, with an appropriately stern Russian guide, so you may not understand much of this, but it is still worth it and you will be able to figure out what was going on here. There is some labeling in English on the later part of the tour. Personal favorite, "Cabinet for Hiding Secret Documents". If you were taught to hide under your desk for protection from a nuclear attack, you will enjoy seeing what it was all about.

The guided visit gave a thorough oversight of the submarine maintenance activities, however of course only in russian language. Fascinating though!

It was only released to public after the collapse of USSR.It is very interesting for those who are keen on military stuff and see how the base was constructed to defense against nuclear explosion or poisonous gas attack.The only drawback is that there is no submarine inside, as all the submarines were disassembled and the metals were sold or money to save Ukraine.

A former top-secret submarine base with lots of facilities - inside a mountain. The museum tells the story about the complex, and about the Cold War. It's a really fascinating place - the only thing missing is a submarine.

Being in Balaklava in the heat of the afternoon, we decided to escape into the museum and go deep into the mountain where it was nice and cool. The price to the museum was reasonable and there are loads of buses that you can take from the main area of Balaklava to get to the museum. I had an extraordinary time inside. We opted out of the massive tour in Russian and went into the museum ahead of them. There's a long interesting tunnel of pictures and information about the history of the area and the plans to use the secret base. Random bits of information are in English, but you get the idea just being inside. There are areas that consist of long tunnels for loading the nuclear warheads and the area where the subs would come for maintenance. We found the guards inside extremely helpful and a rich source of historical information. The only downside was the massive tour groups that buzz through hitting the highlights and overwhelming everything in their path. Try to time your trip into the museum before or after they whip through and know that you will be enveloped by at least one group as the go through. Upon exiting, treat yourself to an ice cream after an hour or so inside the depths of the mountain and rest in a folding chair next to stacks of discarded outer shells of missiles. It's an odd experience.

I have been to this Museum twice now about 4 years apart both times with my daughter. Last time there, there was another musem at the open sea end of the tunnel about the crimean war (it is currently being upgraded) it was full of artifacts, historical pieces and photo's of which I hope they keep. It had a Video with an English sound track. At that time my daughter was about 18 had no interest in the base and had no idea about the crimean war so dad's history lesson 101. This time around more interest, the actual Sub base has improved.(it still looks run down) but if you are over 45 have watched a James Bond film, read a cold war spy novel or was in the military during the 70's and 80's you will get a real kick out of this place. The injanuity of the construction and the sheer sneakiness of it is worth the visit. It just goes to show that all the spy movies and books were not that far off the mark. Just to be able to see where the submarines were kept in complete secrecy is really cool and the size of the place really gets you thinking of what went on in those dark days. The displays and photos are good and plentyful even though they are 99% in Russian there are a few labels in English but it is just still enjoyable. if you have a few hours to kill give it a go. I have been both times in the winter and luckily enough it has been empty but I believe in the summer it can get pretty busy as Balaclava has become a bit of a tourist spot. The town of Balaclava was not even on maps from those days even though we knew where it was because of the crimean war. It also like Sevastopol was a closed town.

Balaklava is a small sea town near Sevastopol. Nature was friend when build that magnific place. Sea, mountains, and a beautiful bay. Inside the bay we can access the Naval Museum Complex. In truth, a secret submarine base with a lot to see. It is a must see in Crimea Region.