Things to do in Odesa
-
7-Kilometres Bazaar
The sprawling 7-Kilometres Bazaar on the city's southwest edge is probably the largest market of any kind in the former Soviet Union. Nicknamed the tolkuchka or tolchok (both meaning 'push' in Russian), its appeal lies in its sheer size, rather than in its shopping selection, which mainly entails row after row of the same old cheap knock-offs and junk. The official name has to do with its location about 7km outside the city.
reviewed
-
A
Arkadia beach
Lots of people do swim at Odesa's crowded, dirty beaches in summer, but that's not really what beach life here is about. With its English, Victorian-style sideshows and lines of cafes, bars and clubs, the most popular beach, Arkadia, is for hanging out - seeing and being seen. As you travel down the boulevard, enjoy the views of the old sanatoriums.
reviewed
-
B
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin Museum is where Alexander Pushkin spent his first days in Odesa, after being exiled from Moscow by the tsar in 1823 for radical ideas. Governor Vorontsov subsequently humiliated the writer with petty administrative jobs, and it took only 13 months, an affair with Vorontsov’s wife, a simultaneous affair with someone else’s wife and more radical ideas for Pushkin to be thrown out of Odesa too. Somehow, he still found time while in town to finish the poem ‘The Bakhchysaray Fountain’, write the first chapter of Eugene Onegin and scribble the notes and moaning letters found in this humble museum.
reviewed
-
Vul Gogolya
While building buffs are liable to find unheralded architectural gems along any street in the centre, the mother lode is on vul Gogolya, where the city's best 19th-century architects were apparently in a contest to create the city's most elaborate buildings. With its odd patterns, bright colours and eccentric balconies, No 14 is probably the most eye-catching, followed by No 6, where a row of gods supports the 2nd-floor balcony.
The street's namesake, Nikolai Gogol, lived at No 11 for several months in the 1850s - just one of several prominent names to have had an address here.
reviewed
-
C
Panteleymonivsky Church
You can't help but spy the five silver onion domes of the Russian Orthodox Panteleymonivsky Church, built by Greek monks with stones from Constantinople in the late 19th century. According to legend, every time the Soviets painted over the church’s elaborate frescoes, the frescoes would miraculously reappear. While the Soviets eventually succeeded in covering them up, many of the frescoes are once again visible thanks to vigorous restoration efforts.
reviewed
-
D
Statue of the Duc de Richelieu
On bul Prymorsky, you'll find the statue of the Duc de Richelieu, Odesa's first governor, looking like a Roman in a toga, at the top of the Potemkin Steps. The view from here is of the passenger port, the towering Hotel Odessa and the Black Sea. The view, however, is probably better from the bottom of the steps, where the designers' optical illusion takes effect: the stairs seem higher than they are, thanks to a gradual narrowing from bottom (21m wide) to top (13m wide).
reviewed
-
E
City Garden
Odesa's main commercial street, pedestrian vul Derybasivska, is jam-packed with restaurants, bars and, in the summer high season, tourists. At the western end of the street is the pleasant, recently reconstructed City Garden, surrounded by several restaurants. You'll find various touristy knick-knacks for sale here and you can get your photo taken with a monkey or a snake, but the main draw is people-watching.
reviewed
-
F
Turkuaz
While many restaurants on vul Derybasivska overcharge tourists for mediocre food, Turkuaz continues to dish up mouth-watering kebabs, Turkish salads and draught beer at extremely sane prices. Punctuate the experience by launching heavenly wisps of melon- or apple-scented vapours skyward from what, at 40uah, must be Odesa’s most reasonably priced kalyan (hookah pipes).
reviewed
-
G
Potemkin Steps
The Potemkin Steps are the site of one of cinema's most famous scenes - in the Battleship Potemkin. They're in the renovated, most beautiful part of town; the Prymorsky bulvar, a pedestrian zone with replica antique lamps. At the eastern end, you'll pass the pink and white colonnaded Odesa City Hall, originally the stock exchange and later the Soviet HQ.
reviewed
-
H
Museum of Western and Eastern Art
The Museum of Western and Eastern Art has one of three known versions (most likely not the original) of Caravaggio’s brilliant painting The Taking of Christ. Housed in a beautiful, if run-down, mid-19th-century palace, the museum’s collection also includes canvases by Canaletto, Rubens and Hals.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
I
Opera and Ballet Theatre
One block north of vul Derybasivska, on vul Lanzheronivska, sits the city's architectural jewel, the Opera and Ballet Theatre, designed in the 1880s by the architects who also designed the famous Vienna State Opera, namely Ferdinand Fellner and Herman Helmer. You can take a tour of the theatre or, better yet, take in a performance.
reviewed
-
J
Odessa Philharmonic Hall
The best regional orchestra within the former Soviet Union is the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, led by charismatic and energetic American conductor Hobart Earle, a former student of Leonard Bernstein. This orchestra accounts for half the symphonies put on at the Odessa Philharmonic Hall.
reviewed
-
K
Top Sandwich
Odesa’s best budget eatery assembles a wide selection of sandwiches and shawarmas and also cooks up Ukrainian classics like borshch and varenyky (dumplings). At 6uah, the beers are the cheapest on vul Derybasivska. There is a new outlet at vul Derybasivska 18 and another at vul Preobrazhenska 42.
reviewed
-
L
Vorontsov Palace
At the western end of bul Prymorsky, back up the stairs and to the right, is the derelict Vorontsov Palace. This was the residence of the city's third governor, built in 1826 in a classical style with interior Arabic detailing. The Greek-style colonnade behind the palace offers brilliant views over Odesa's bustling port.
reviewed
-
M
Kasylysa
A brace of bold, themed restaurants grace the corner of vul Havanna and vul Lanzheronivska. This is the Russian rendition. If you’re one of those who thinks you haven’t travelled until you’ve eaten something bizarre, their ‘warm salad of cut bull’s testicles’ is for you.
reviewed
-
N
Friends and Beer
This charming re-created USSR-era living room littered with photos of Russian film stars is proof that ‘Retro Soviet’ doesn’t have to mean political posters and Constructivist art. The huge TV screen is possibly not authentic for the period, but it’s great for sports.
reviewed
-
O
Captain Morgan
Captain Morgan (the name is pirated) is one of those cosy club–bar hybrids where it takes a critical mass of only about 20 people to get the party started. Capable DJs spin all night and there’s a downstairs lounge that’s as funky as it wants to be.
reviewed
-
P
Pulcinella
The bright teal interior gives this place a seaside Mediterranean feel, but it’s the scrumptious five-course meals that will really make you feel like you’re in southern Italy. The culinary highlights are the lasagne and the brick-oven-fired pizza.
reviewed
-
Q
Passazh
Passazh is a swanky covered shopping arcade, which is the best-preserved example of the neo-renaissance architectural style that permeated in Odesa in the late 19th century. Its interior walls are festooned with gods, goblins, lions and nymphs.
reviewed
-
R
Tavriya
This squeaky clean food mecca in the basement of Odesa’s Galareya Afina mall has instantly become the city’s most popular eating option. It consists of a Ukrainian-food stolova (cafeteria), a pizza and pasta bar, and a large supermarket.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
S
Zara Pizzara
This pizzeria has an enviously located summer terrace, real Italian-style thin-crust pizza loaded with toppings, and hefty calzones. What sets it apart is that it actually opens before 9am for breakfast. For that we’ll excuse the overpriced beer.
reviewed
-
T
Fat Mozes
Sounds like a New York deli, doesn’t it? However, apart from the roast-beef sandwiches, it isn’t quite. The atmosphere is more of a cosy, unpretentious bistro, serving an eclectic mix that includes souvlaki, goulash and Jamaican chicken.
reviewed
-
U
Odessa Fine Arts Museum
The Odessa Fine Arts Museum, located in the former palace of one Count Pototsky, has an impressive collection of Russian and Ukrainian art, including a few seascapes by master talent Aivazovksy and some Soviet realist paintings.
reviewed
-
V
Klarabara
Tucked away in a quiet corner of the City Garden, this classy, cosy, ivy-covered café and restaurant is awash with antique furniture and fine art. It serves European fare with Thai touches, plus brilliant Turkish coffee.
reviewed
-
W
Mick O’Neill’s Irish Bar
This long-standing Irish pub is a great place to start an evening and an even better place to finish it, as it’s the only outdoor patio on vul Derybasivska that’s open round the clock.
reviewed
