Soviet posters about vacations (PICS)
In the USSR, citizens were guaranteed the right to work and vacation. The state also took care of how and where the population could best spend their vacations. We explain how it worked.
Vacations and holidays were always meant to be spent with the whole family.
Many dreamed of a vacation by the sea and sought to get a coveted ticket to Crimea or Sochi. Or if they couldn’t, they would go there "as savages", without any official tickets or accommodation (which was actually very much frowned upon).
People would also go on trips along the country’s numerous rivers.
Children, meanwhile, would spend their vacations in pioneer camps – the most famous of them was ‘Artek’ in Crimea. In addition to beach vacations, they would attend various clubs and sections and go on excursions around the peninsula.
Hiking trips around the country were also very popular – people would travel by car, bus, train or even by foot, ride in kayaks, boats and ships in order to hike and climb mountains in the south and the Far East. And, for rest, they would stay at the many specially built tourist centers.
In the mid-1970s, more than 300 such routes were developed in the USSR. Thanks to such active recreation, it was possible to see the entire country.
For a Soviet person, propaganda always reminded people that a vacation was also necessary to gain strength before new labor exploits.
