Kiev Travel Guide - A 2-Day Trip to Kiev

We're in Kiev, the third city of our Ukraine trip! We arrived after a train journey of about 9 hours from Lviv to Kiev. You can find our Ukraine travel guide, where we describe Ukraine in general and how we bought our train tickets, at the link.

The history of Kiev goes back 1500 years. Built on both sides of the Dnieper River, the city's population today is nearly 3 million.

Kiev holds the title of the Soviet Union's third largest city after Moscow and St. Petersburg. As in Bulgaria, it's impossible not to see and feel the traces of the Soviets in the city. Another thing that caught our interest was the city parks of enormous size. The famous writer Goethe once even said: "I've seen many cities with parks in them, but this is the first time I've seen a city inside a park!" Here we fell in love again, both with the parks and with each other!

How Many Days for Kiev?

We gave Kiev exactly 48 hours. We arrived in the city on Saturday morning and left early on Monday morning. When we were first planning Ukraine, people around us said things like "No need to go to Kiev!" We're very glad we didn't listen. We gave it 2 days, but 3 or even 4 days would be fine. Again, travelling at a brisk pace, we covered 3 days' worth in 2 days.

When to Go to Kiev?

There's no time difference with Kiev, but because it's further north than Turkey, temperatures can drop to -10 in winter. Legendary views await those who go in winter. The city is around 20 degrees in summer and drops to around 10 - 15 degrees in spring. Our favourite season is of course spring. Neither hot nor cold, perfect for exploring! We say this because we went in August: the midday heat is brutal.

Where to Stay in Kiev?

We booked our stay in Kiev through Airbnb. In Kiev, where we'd stay 2 nights, the flat we rented was 2 km on foot from the city centre. We usually took the metro to get home. Warm. We paid about 50$ a night for the flat, which was inside a residential complex. And where we stayed was very comfortable, modern and clean.

You can also stay in a hotel if you like. Hotel prices in Kiev start from about 50$ and can go up to 100 - 150$.

How to Get to Kiev, and How to Get Around Kiev?

As we described in detail in our Ukraine post, there are direct flights from Istanbul to Kiev. From Turkey, Turkish Airlines and Ukraine International Airlines fly. If you like, you can also come to Kiev from Lviv or Odessa, combining things differently depending on your route.

Ticket prices vary, but if you buy early from Ukraine International Airlines you can find very good prices. We bought a one-way ticket per person for 19$. Flights take about 2 hours on average.

Airports

For those flying into or out of Kiev, the city has 2 airports. The first is Boryspil Airport, quite far from the city centre, and the other is Igor Sikorsky Airport.

• Boryspil Airport

Boryspil Airport, which we used too, is about 40 km from the city. Between the airport and the city centre you can get there in 30 minutes by taxi, paying 500 UAH. If you like, you can use Uber like us. In Ukraine in general we never used a taxi; we did all our transport by Uber.

We were happy with all of them except the last Uber we used. The reason we weren't happy: since our flight was very early in the morning, the driver asked to change the fare, and since we had to make it, we had to accept. The Uber fare was 400 UAH.

If you like, you can get to the city centre on the bus called Skybus at the airport exit. It costs 50 UAH.

• Igor Sikorsky Airport

Relatively central, the airport is 10 km from the city centre. If you like, you can get to the airport on the buses leaving from Kontraktova Ploshcha metro station. It costs 12 UAH.

If you'd rather take an Uber, it costs 100 UAH.

By train

For those who, like us, prefer the train: as in many places in Europe, the train station here is very close to the centre of Kiev. So how do you come by train from Lviv or Odessa?

Train travel is very common in Ukraine and the ticket buying process is very systematic. We described it in detail here. Without going through all the tickets, let's just describe here how we bought the Lviv - Kiev train ticket and how you should buy it..

Lviv - Kiev is about 550 km, so instead of the bus or similar we decided to travel by train. On this long journey our first priority was to find a night train. We'd save time and also save on accommodation. Killing two birds with one stone is the best way to put it!

To buy a train ticket:

• First we go to Ukrainian Railways ' official website, UA . When you click the link, you'll see that the page language is already English. If it's in a different language, let's switch it to English straight away. Don't panic!
• Train tickets go on sale up to 45 days before. So you can't buy tickets 2 months in advance. We bought our tickets for the 22.50 - 07.31 Lviv - Kiev train as soon as they went on sale.
• When buying a train ticket, 2 or 3 options come up. Let's see what they are:
  • De Luxe / First Class Sleeper - You have a 2-person compartment with no one else in it. We can call it the sleeper carriage on TCDD trains. When buying the ticket you can also add bedding and drinks. For 2 people we paid 1700 UAH, 63$.
  • Compartment / Second Class Sleeper - We can call it the carriage known as the compartment or couchette carriage on TCDD trains. There are beds for 4 people in the compartment. There are spaces under the beds and at the very top where you can put your things. Usually groups of 2 or 3 can book the whole compartment. At home people do this often on the Eastern Express or the Lake Van Express. When buying the ticket you can also add bedding and drinks. For 2 people 880 UAH, 33$.
  • Berth / Third Class Sleeper - The pullman carriage on TCDD trains, a carriage with only seats to sit on, as if travelling by bus. A ticket for 2 people 280 UAH, 10.5$.
• As we said above, since it wasn't very expensive, our choice for a comfortable journey was the sleeper carriage. You get personal bedding and towels. With our ticket we also included extra bedding and tea.
• Once you've completed the final step, payment, the ticket is sent to your email address. You can print out the online ticket and board the train with it.
• Some attendants collect the tickets, some check them on the spot and move on, but a comfortable journey awaits you..
• As soon as you board the train, the bedding is handed out. Then let the pleasure of the journey begin. You can't get enough of looking at Ukraine's nature.

By the way, if you like you can go between Lviv and Kiev on fast trains. The trains called Intercity and Intercity+ take 7 hours and 5 hours. On the 7-hour train, a ticket for 2 people is 745 UAH, 28$. On the Intercity+, which is 2 hours faster, a ticket for 2 people is 705 UAH, 26$. The prices seemed a bit strange to us. It seemed very strange to us that the faster train is sold at a lower price.

Getting around the city

Our advice, as with common city transport, is to make the metro your priority! After that you can consider alternatives like trams and trolleybuses. Metro tickets are 8 UAH, and transfers are free. Although we warn you about taxis in Ukraine, if you find an honest one you can travel very economically. By economical, we mean there are fares that may surprise you when you convert them to Turkish lira. Anyone who likes can also use the Uber app like us.

The machine below works with 10 notes. 1 token and 2 UAH drop out. If you don't have a 10, you can get your token at the ticket office.

Is Kiev Cheap, What Budget Do You Need?

We could say it's a notch or two more expensive than Odessa and Lviv. Being the capital, and with city life felt more strongly, the cost of living comes with it.

Kiev Food and Drink Tips

During our Ukraine trip we hardly limited ourselves at all with food and drink. The prices are reasonable and the food is wonderful!

Under Wonder - Breakfast

Since we arrived in Kiev in the morning, we wanted to find a nice breakfast place. On a recommendation we headed to an Italian restaurant called Under Wonder. We felt as if we'd come to a restaurant in a little Italian town.

We really liked the restaurant, and the breakfast was very tasty too. But we don't think the same about its dessert. We don't recommend getting the waffle :) If you like, you can book for dinner here.

Later, for dinner, we met up with our Turkish friends and had a meal that felt like a picnic.

Roshen

Kiev also has a very, very famous chocolate maker. Once again we sighed, wishing we had sweet places like this at home. The factory, founded and built up to the present by the Ukrainian Petr Alekseevich Poroshenko, has chocolate shops in many places in the city. This person is also the president of Ukraine. We can't say every chocolate is wonderful, but some are tasty.

For those curious about Lviv: Lviv Travel Guide!

Puzata Khata

We could say this is the most famous place in Kiev. It works as a self-service. You can take as much of whatever you want.

But here you can find almost all the traditional Ukrainian dishes. Chicken Kiev in particular must be tried. Apart from that you can take whatever you like. The prices are good and it's very tasty!

What Comes to Mind When You Think of Ukraine

• Most people from the Black Sea region saying Ukranya!
• The once-famous footballer Shevchenko
• Especially in Lviv, the delicious coffee, one of the flavours you mustn't leave without tasting.
• Blonde, light-eyed: the people of Ukraine
• The Ukrainian flag: the endless plains that help us understand where it comes from. Especially the Kherson region
• In Lviv, on a par with the one in Vienna, the Ukrainian National Opera House
• We don't really remember it, but the Chernobyl nuclear disaster
• The recent Orange Revolution
• In Ukraine, taxi drivers are even worse than ours. Don't forget to use UBER instead of taxis!
• The farming nation Ukraine! Third in the world in barley exports, fourth in corn and fifth in wheat.
• Ukraine's well-known crazy nightlife

Places to Visit in Kiev

Without going into the details of the places to visit in Kiev, let us give you a brief summary of where we went on which day.

Day one: Bessarabsky Market, PinchukArtCentre, the Golden Gate, St. Sophia Cathedral, the Bell Tower, Independence Square, Khreshchatyk Street, the Motherland Monument, Pyrohiv and the Ukrainian Open Air Museum.

Day two: The Podil district, the Chernobyl Museum, Kontraktova Ploshcha, Andriyivskyy Descent, St. Andrew's Church, the Children's Park, Volodymyrska Hill, the upper funicular station, St. Michael's Golden-Domed, Mariyinsky Palace, Mariyinsky Park, Arsenalna metro station, Hidropark.

We start the places to visit with the parks and islands in Kiev.

Kiev's Islands

• Trukhaniv Island: We couldn't visit this island because we ran out of time. We realised you need at least 3 days for Kiev.
• Hidropark: We found a wonderful place in the park, where sweet old ladies and gentlemen dance as a weekend activity. You can also come to the park and enjoy sunbathing by the lake

Bessarabsky Market

We love wandering colourful markets.

Pinchuk Art Centre

It wasn't open when we went, so we couldn't stop by. It's one of the must-visit places for fans of contemporary art. We heard: "With its own impressive collection and constant major exhibitions, this art centre is definitely worth seeing." A home of 21st-century contemporary art and an open platform for artists, artworks and society.

The Golden Gate

The Golden Gate was built inspired by the city-wall gate of the same name at Yedikule, from the time of Constantine.

St. Sophia Cathedral

St. Sophia Cathedral, which has one of the largest museum areas in Ukraine, has come down to us from the 11th century. In the 18th century restoration work was done in keeping with Ukrainian architecture. And in 1990 it was
added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Bell Tower

We climbed the Bell Tower of St. Sophia Cathedral, on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It's one of the symbols of Kiev and Ukraine.

Khreshchatyk Street

Khreshchatyk Street is considered one of the city's most interesting tourist streets. It's one of the spots most visited by people living in the city and by tourists like us.

Podil and Andriyivskyy Descent

Podil is one of Kiev's oldest districts. Until the middle of the 20th century it was occupied mostly by merchants and craftsmen engaged in trade and industry.

However, in the mid-1960s it lost its former splendour and locals began leaving their homes.

In the early 1980s Podil found new life with a huge reconstruction of pre-revolutionary houses, where galleries, museums and restaurants opened.

The bell tower behind the Ferris wheel was demolished but has been preserved. Its last restoration was paid for by the Ukrainian national minister who also owns the blue building next to it now.

Andriyivskyy Descent is the busiest street in the Podil district. The street turns into a fair with souvenir stalls, paintings and handmade products.

In addition to many architectural sites, old churches, museums, private galleries and theatres, many shops of Ukrainian designers, vintage stores, boutiques and creative shops are also in the Podil district.

Chernobyl Museum

Sadly, the Chernobyl Museum was closed when we went. The museum is 300 metres from the Podil metro and tram stop. ,

Children Landscape Park

This wonderful, wonderful children's park is where Peizazhnaya Alley meets Desyatinny Street in Kiev. The park was designed by the sculptor Skretutsky.

St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral

Built in 1108 by Prince Sviatopolk, the building was destroyed by the Soviet regime in the 1930s for having no historical value.

The rebuilt cathedral was completed in 2000. With its sky-blue exterior and shining golden domes, it has become a highlight of the cityscape, ancient and newly rebuilt. A stark reminder of Stalin's inhumane policies stands on the right as you leave the church.

The Motherland Monument

We caught a glimpse of this monument on the way to the Ukrainian Open Air Museum and wanted to stop on the way and take a photo. If you have time, stop by!

The monument is part of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War and symbolises what people achieved during the war. The monument's grandeur is truly impressive. At its heart is a female figure with a 40-metre sword in her hand; the monument's total height is 102 metres and it weighs 500 tonnes.

Ukrainian National Open Air Museum - Pyrohiv

The Pyrohiv Museum is classed as an "Open Air Museum" because it's far from the centre of Kiev. The museum's official name is the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine.

An architectural site covering 150 hectares, it has more than 300 works in total from all of Ukraine's ethnographic regions. You'll learn the facts about the way of life of Ukrainians living in villages in the 17th-19th centuries.

Houses, churches, windmills and even a school were found intact in different regions of Ukraine and moved here. Over time everything has been restored, and many buildings are used as mini museums showing interiors, clothing, embroidered shirts, carpets, textiles, ceramics, paintings, work tools, furniture, tableware and musical instruments.

If you like, you can ride horses and have a picnic on the grass.

Workshops and products for sale are displayed in representative houses brought from different regions of Ukraine. Once again we were enchanted watching the children's workshops, this time pottery.

These shirts we saw everyone wearing are worn especially on Independence Day. One of the symbols of Ukraine.

At the grills, shashlik comes first. They make it from beef, chicken and pork.

On the savoury side there are salads, potato fritters, manti, mushrooms and delicious compotes.

At the dessert stand there's a kind of cheese pancake called syrnyky, waffles and the local baklava.

For those curious about Lviv: Lviv Travel Guide!