Vladikavkaz

Laidback clean town. Small and tidy. Very quite. Nothing much to see, but ok to stop for 1 day before exploring the region.

Although I didn't like it, it's very atmospheric place: rooms remind about Soviet legacy and have a great view of Terek river.

Excellent hotel, great breakfast, nice new rooms.

Yes, this is a former Soviet hotel. But the lobby and restaurant have been renovated, and provide a large and welcoming space. The room itself has Soviet era furniture, but that gives it a retro charm. I found it to be quite comfortable. WiFi is fast and breakfast is good. The staff was very attentive, and they were quite patient with my poor Russian language skills. The hotel is right downtown, too. Very convenient.

The motorists are polite - they slow down and stop for pedestrians crossing. This is an Ossetian town, and this means you cannot expect a taxi driver to take you over the border into Ingushetia as there is enmity between these two republics. Google Maps shows the route from Vladikavkaz to Armkhi in Ingushetia as a simple north-south direct route, but since the Ossetian taxi drivers will not cross the border, this route is practically unusable. The area along the river is well set out. It has wide walkways on both sides with music (mainly crooners using English) from loudspeakers along the path to ease your passage.