Maykop is the capital of Adygea, a small republic in southern Russia nestled between the Caucasus foothills and the Kuban steppe. The city sits on the Belaya River at the northern edge of the mountains, and its name comes from the Adyghe word for "valley of apple trees" — the surrounding hills are still full of them.
The town itself is modest, with a centre laid out around broad Soviet-era boulevards and a handful of mosques reflecting the Circassian heritage of the Adyghe people. The National Museum of the Republic of Adygea has an excellent collection of artefacts from the Maykop culture, a Bronze Age civilisation discovered in burial mounds nearby — the goldwork is surprisingly sophisticated for its age, and the museum puts it in context that makes the discovery feel genuinely remarkable.
Most visitors pass through Maykop on the way to the Caucasus mountains to the south. The Lago-Naki plateau, about an hour's drive into the mountains, is a karst highland with hiking, caving, and winter skiing. The Rufabgo waterfalls and the Khadzhokh canyon near the village of Kamennomostsky are the most popular day trips from town — a series of cascades through a narrow limestone gorge that requires a few hours of easy walking.