Route of Health

Odesa

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The dystopian Soviet name has stuck to this 5.5km stretch of sandy, rocky and concrete beaches that form the city's recreational belt. Packed like a sardine can and filled with noise and barbecue smells, the beaches are anything but idyllic, yet this is a great place for mingling with Ukrainian holidaymakers in their element. Starting at Lanzheron Beach, which boasts a wooden boardwalk, the route ends at Arkadia, the newly renovated nightlife hot spot, filled with clubs and fancy resorts.

The route is great for both walking and cycling or there is a park train running frequently from one side to the other. You can also rent a bicycle at Veliki.ua on Lanzheron Beach. The Route of Health can be accessed in the middle via an antiquated Soviet-era chairlift that connects bul Frantsuzsky with Otrada Beach underneath.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Prymorsky Boulevard, Odesa's elegant tree-lined promenade

    Prymorsky Boulevard

    1.64 MILES

    Odesa's elegant facade, this tree-lined, clifftop promenade was designed to enchant the passengers of arriving boats with the neoclassical opulence of its…

  • Three men walking down Potemkin Steps.

    Potemkin Steps

    1.76 MILES

    Fresh from a controversial renovation, which changed its original outlook, the Potemkin Steps lead down from bul Prymorsky to the sea port. Pause at the…

  • Odesa's main commercial street, pedestrian vul Derybasivska

    Vul Derybasivska

    1.67 MILES

    Odesa's main commercial street, pedestrian vul Derybasivska is jam-packed with restaurants, bars and, in the summer high season, tourists. At its quieter…

  • The Museum of Odesa Modern Art, the main base of Odesa biennale

    Museum of Odesa Modern Art

    0.51 MILES

    The war in the east and regular political strife give Ukrainian artists a lot of here-and-now material to reflect on, and the result is often brilliant,…

  • The Odesa Opera & Ballet Theatre building, designed in the 1880s

    Odesa Opera & Ballet Theatre

    1.61 MILES

    The jewel in Odesa's architectural crown was designed in the 1880s by the architects who also designed the famous Vienna State Opera, namely Ferdinand…

  • The two atlantes holding a sphere on the art nouveau facade of Falz-Fein House

    Falz-Fein House

    2.02 MILES

    City tours inevitably stop near this portly art nouveau house with two atlantes holding a sphere dotted with stars, a depiction of the universe as if seen…

  • The statue of poet Alexander Pushkin beside Odesa's Pushkin Museum

    Pushkin Museum

    1.35 MILES

    This is where Russia's greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin, spent his first weeks in Odesa after being exiled from St Petersburg in 1823 by the tsar for…

  • Lanzheron Beach

    Lanzheron Beach

    0.18 MILES

    Perhaps to copy Brighton Beach, New York – where half of Odesa seems to have emigrated – the authorities built a boardwalk at the beach closest to the…

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Nearby Odesa attractions

1. Lanzheron Beach

0.18 MILES

Perhaps to copy Brighton Beach, New York – where half of Odesa seems to have emigrated – the authorities built a boardwalk at the beach closest to the…

2. Museum of Odesa Modern Art

0.51 MILES

The war in the east and regular political strife give Ukrainian artists a lot of here-and-now material to reflect on, and the result is often brilliant,…

3. Panteleymonivska Church

1.12 MILES

Near the train station you can't help but spy the five silver onion domes of this Russian Orthodox church, built by Greek monks with stone from…

4. Pushkin Museum

1.35 MILES

This is where Russia's greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin, spent his first weeks in Odesa after being exiled from St Petersburg in 1823 by the tsar for…

5. José de Ribas Statue

1.38 MILES

José de Ribas, the half-Catalan, half-Irish illustrious gentleman who built Odesa's harbour, is honoured with a statue at the eastern end of vul…

6. Museum of Western & Eastern Art

1.4 MILES

This mid-19th-century palace houses a collection that's both rich and eclectic – apt for a cosmopolitan port city like Odesa. Classical Italian and Dutch…

7. Archaeology Museum

1.51 MILES

Occupying a purpose-built, neoclassical edifice in the historical heart of the city, this half-renovated museum contains a fairly rich collection of…

8. City Hall

1.53 MILES

Located at the eastern end of bul Prymorsky, the pink-and-white colonnaded City Hall originally served as the stock exchange. The cannon here is a war…