Visiting Ukraine without a clue!

Its pretty safe if you don't walk on your own the places with no light at midnight))). Yes there are ATM machines. I would recommend to flu to Kiev, then to Lvov, then to Crimea and on your way back to Odessa. Your return flight can be directly from Odessa.

The distances are huge but that doesn't mean expensive because train / bus fares within UA tend to be very cheap. Eg an 8 hour train journey from Uzhhorod to Lviv costs less than €5.

Even so, i think you are trying to cover too much ground in 2 weeks. Better to start in Kiev, loop down south via Kamyanets Podilsky to Chernivtsi, then up to Lviv via Ivano Frankivsk making an excursion into the Karpaty. Finally back from Lviv to Kiev via Ternopil and Pochayiv. This is more than enough to keep you busy.

Crimea is definitely worth seeing, Odesa is less impressive but in any case I suggest you defer these to another trip.

Hi,
I am doing pretty well the same thing!
The airline thing turned out to be a bummer, flights left an hour before I arrived in London.
So I am now taking a train from London to Paris, night sleeper to Krackow.
Then Slav, the agent in Lviv will arrange my touring around Lviv and Kiev.
Seems enough for 10 days.
Got to leave some time for girl watching and wine sampling!

Hi,
These are the people Andrew and others recomended and they quoted me decent rates.

http://lvivecotour.com/

I'm thinking the same thing. You can get a cheap flight to Poland (rzesow I think its called - don't quote me on that) from there its a short jump across the border. Walk/bus/train. I haven't decided.

But yeah I'd like to do pretty much the same. I'd really like to do crimea though as well as Kiev/Lviv. I haven't sussed it out that much though. Just a thought.

My biggest problem with this is that it is pretty expensive to fly there (even wizz air is expensive). Its about 170-200 pounds return to London.

If anyone can tell me about hopping over the border from Poland that would be great!

I did the loop London - Budapest (Easyjet), Budapest - Lviv (train), Lviv - Rzesów (bus), Rzeszów - London (Ryanair) last month.

Its mostly straightforward. The only slightly complicated part is the border crossing. Coming from Poland, the Ukrainian side is a bit chaotic, with loads of tobacco and booze shops for the Polish tourists heading in the opposite direction. There's a bus station tucked away to the left, with regular buses to Lviv (UAH 15). However, there are no direction signs, almost nobody speaks English, and even when you've found the bus station the bus just says ЛЬВІВ on the front. So you’ll need a basic grasp of the Cyrillic alphabet plus a Russian or Ukrainian phrase book to make progress.

There’s no reason you shouldn’t do this on you’re own if you’ve done a bit of preparation. If this scares you witless, then ask Slav to meet you at the border and he’ll sort you out.

It is very convenient to fly fom London to Kiev, it's cheap with wizzair. You'll arrive to the Kiev international airport, it's pretty far to the city. You can take a taxi (around 26euros) or a bus, i think they leave from the terminal A and cost like 3-4 euros per person, i think the trip takes 30 min.

Then from Kiev you can take a train to Lvov and Odessa. The best is the night train to Lvov that arrives at 6-7 am. From the train station there are trams # 1,9,9A they go to the center.

In Lviv you can find a cheap hostel, i myself stayed in leocity hostel but in private room. dorm is like 6 euros per night (i heard from the staff).

In Kiev i'd recommend TIU KievBackpackers - very central. In Odessa Front page hostel.
They all are TIU brands and it's good.

There are a large number of banks and ATM's so it won't be a problem to change or get money.

As for the safety. I suppose it is safe. Just don't go out alone at night or come back late, or visit the sleeping quarters. Just be careful, avoid strangers and strange looking people, don't hitchhike.

Edited by: isis0911

@isis

I've checked wizz air.The cheapest I could get was over 150 pounds. I am tossing up whether to do it now or later (I will do it - just not sure when). Otherwise I would possibly do that.

I think the other thing about Wizz is they don't fly every day (monday/weds/fri) and is not really working with my schedule (get off on thursday the 1st and have til the 18th for holidays). As they only fly mon/weds/fri it makes it difficult. And as its school holidays they've also marked their airfares up. I was only thinking of going through Poland as it is much much cheaper. As it is with wizz I'd be paying close to 200 pounds to go to Kiev. Where as to Poland is around 80 pounds.

And then I have to get a visa so was wondering about the border crossing before booking and confirming. So I can get my papers in order.

Have any of you done a trip to Chernobyl too?

Hmm if wizzair doesn't fly every day, then yes, it's better to come to Ukraine from Poland. I think there are trains to Lvov. Or you could get a bus. If i'm right, there are buses to Lvov from Rzeszov every hour.

Never been to Chernobyl, my uncle was there, they organize tours there. You can ask about it on the reception or get a free book "Kiev in your pocket" in the tourist information office (it should be free) i'm sure they advertise it.

If you're a EU, USA citizen you don't need the visa to Ukraine, they just put a stamp in your passport on the border when you arrive and leave.
You need the visa only if you're from New Zealand, Australia or Asia/Africa. But if you need a visa i'm sure that hotel/hostel you book can help you with this.