The problem of recreational space formation around rural settlements is considered in the paper. According to the authors recreational space of the village is a combination of recreation lands and recreation facilities around the village. It has a zonal structure (near, intermediate, far zones) which is determined by the discreteness of recreational time, physiological peculiarities of a person, also the ways of movement in space (walking, using transport). Recreational zones have a recreational "specialization". In the near zone there are the main places of recreation for the local population, in the intermediate zone there are the main recreational lands, in the far zone there are the distant recreational lands. Recreational space used by the local population has its own local names. The behavior of non-local tourists before the 1990s was defined by the zonal structure of the local recreational space. The emergence of new forms of settlements (holiday villages) leads to the formation of new recreational areas of holiday village recreation, which leads to the transformation of the prevailing local recreational space. For holiday village recreation is characterized by the absence of the intermediate recreation zone, which is associated with a high degree of motorization. The research was conducted at the local level by spatialtemporal analysis methods of territory development (the end of 19^th century - the modern period), as well as questionnaires of local residents and tourists. Refs 31. Figs 4. Tables 2.