Kharkiv Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

Buses go to numerous destinations from the central bus station (tsentralny avtovokzal; 732 6502; pr Gagarina 22; pr Gagarina). The most useful are to Poltava (11uah, 2½ hours, at least eight a day), Dnipropetrovsk (18uah, 4½ hours, 20 a day) and Zaporizhzhya (24uah, 6½ hours, at least two a day).

Autolux (732 5471; www.autolux.com.ua) and Gunsel (719 9719; www.gunsel.com.ua) have overnight trips to Kyiv.

Train

The main station is Pivdenny Vokzal (South Station; 724 4183; Pivdenny Vokzal).

The fast Stolichny Express to Kyiv (72uah, six hours) departs at 7.05am and 4.27pm and goes via Poltava (42uah, two hours). There is also a direct overnight train service (87uah, 8½ to 10 hours) including a few more transit trains.

There are six regular passenger trains to Donetsk (70uah, 6½ to eight hours) and one so-called ‘fast elektrychka’ (electric train) with airplane-style seating (38uah, 5½ hours). There’s also a fast elektrychka to Dnipropetrovsk (25uah, 4½ hours) along with a host of regular trains (35uah, six hours).

Other popular destinations are Moscow (270uah, 11½ hours, several daily), Odesa (100uah, 14 hours, two daily) and Simferopol (95uah, 16 to 17 hours, at least daily).

There’s a handy 24-hour service centre with an English-speaking ticket agent that all foreigners must use – be thankful because the lines are usually shorter here. Look for the sign in English on the right as you walk from the main hall to the ticket booths. The English-speaking agent is on duty during standard working hours.

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Air

Kharkiv airport (775 5343) is served by domestic and international flights. AeroSvit Airlines flies to Kyiv. Kiy Avia (732 8441; vul Sumska 77/79) can sort you out with schedules and tickets.

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