Ukraine Travel Tips - Ukraine Travel Guide

After our 5-day trip to Ukraine, we filtered through our experiences and what happened to us and put together this post as tips and a guide for you.

What Do You Need to Go to Ukraine?

Unfortunately, when leaving the country you have to buy a stamp, paying 15₺ under the name of the departure stamp fee.

Since 14 March 2017, entry to Ukraine has been visa-free; you can even enter Ukraine easily with your new ID cards. Let us note here that if you want to enter with your ID, you spend a bit of time at the check. On entering the country they have you fill in a form and stamp it, and you must use the same form when leaving. We crossed with our passports, so there was no need for the form.

Even when leaving Turkey, your return flight ticket is checked and you're warned: you'll definitely be asked for it on entering the country. So you need to have your return flight ticket and accommodation bookings with you, electronically or printed.

Travel insurance isn't compulsory and we didn't get it, but if you like you can get 7-day travel insurance. It costs between 10₺ and 20₺.

Attention, those with cabin baggage only! Don't try to get through with more than one bag; they check very thoroughly at the boarding gate and may charge you extra. Even if it's heavy, make sure it's a single bag and the dimensions are right. Because it's not just the 8 kg rule; the size of your bag matters too, because of limited cabin space on the plane. Applies only to those with cabin baggage.

Changing Money & Buying a SIM Card in Ukraine

If you're wondering how much cash you need to take with you to Ukraine, there's no need to worry about it at all. Those who'd been before had really scared us.

The official currency of Ukraine is the Ukrainian Hryvnia. At the time of our trip the rate was 1₺, 4.80 UAH, but at the time of writing it has dropped to 4.30 UAH. We hope it doesn't drop further by the time you read this.

When we landed at Odessa Airport, at the place selling Lifecell SIM cards we bought a SIM with 10 GB of internet, paying 100 UAH. If you like, you can get 20 GB of internet for 150 UAH. These prices apply at Odessa Airport. In Kiev and Lviv you may find higher prices. You can also buy them more cheaply in the city centre.

Don't hesitate to buy a SIM. The SIMs you buy here are prepaid and they don't ask you for any ID or anything. You buy the SIM, put it in your phone and use it. You'll be saying, "So glad I bought it, what would I have done otherwise?"

We'd only taken euros and Turkish lira with us to Ukraine. At the airport we changed 10€ into 290 UAH and so could buy the SIM. Credit cards aren't accepted and they only take hryvnia. Instead of taking all your money, it's worth bringing 5 and 10 notes. That way you change just enough money for when you urgently need cash.

In the city centre, 10€ gets you about 320 UAH. As in Turkey, there's quite a difference between the airport and the city centre in Ukraine too. In total we changed 20€ and paid for everything we spent in 5 days by credit card. We only used cash hryvnia for the metro, trams and buses, and for museum entry in Lviv and Kiev.

** Before you arrive, download Google Maps to your phone and star the places you want to go; getting around the cities will be very easy. You can explore as you like without needing a tour.

Getting Around in Ukraine

Transport in Ukraine is very affordable and comfortable. We travelled Odessa - Lviv and Lviv - Kiev with train tickets bought on the Ukrainian Railways website. There are 2-person compartments, 4-person couchette carriages, and carriages with only seats, which we'd call pullman.

Intercity transport

If, like us, you love train travel and you're wondering how to buy tickets, in our post Ukraine Travel Guide in 5 Days we've described buying train tickets and the options in full detail.

Getting around the city

In Lviv, Kiev and Odessa, public transport within the city is very widespread. Especially in Lviv and Odessa, trams are very common. A ticket is 5 UAH, and it's up to you to stamp the ticket to show you've used it. You can see it in the picture below.

In Kiev, being a bigger city, the metro is used more. Metro tickets are 8 UAH, and transfers are free. In Kiev, where Russia's influence can be felt, the metro network is very extensive and you can get almost everywhere by metro.

There's also a minibus culture in these cities that really surprised us. Minibus fares, the same as public transport fares, are a very economical option for getting a little outside the city centre. The vehicles are very old and the ride can be a bit rough. :)

Of course, for more comfortable transport you can choose a taxi or Uber. Since we thought we might have trouble agreeing on a price, we generally used Uber. From Odessa Airport to the city centre we paid 120 UAH, and in Kiev, going to the Ukrainian National Open Air Museum, we paid 105 UAH. For long distances, especially if there are 3-4 of you, Uber is very good value.

** When using Uber, turn off automatic location and drop the pin yourself. This will increase your chances of meeting the driver.

If your flight is direct from Turkey to Boryspil Airport in Kiev, you can get to the city centre by Uber for 300 UAH. If there's no Uber nearby, it sometimes adds the cost of coming from far away to the fare we mentioned above. So getting to the city centre can end up costing you 500 UAH.

Instead of Uber, you can take the buses called Skybus to Kharkivska metro station for 60 UAH. Then, paying 8 UAH, you can go wherever you like by metro.

Buses are the same. The buses are a bit old compared with our country, but within the city that's no problem for you. Comments like "don't use the buses, they're very old" or "the metro is very crowded" and so on, I'd advise you not to care much about them. Also, by using the bus and metro you can make very interesting observations about people's daily way of life…​

Accommodation in Ukraine

If you'll be staying 2 days or more in a city, our advice is to choose Airbnb. In Ukraine there are lots of options close to the city centre where you can have a home environment. Both cheap and more comfortable than a hotel.

We're leaving our Airbnb code here, which gets you a discount. For the Airbnb flat we stayed in in Kiev we paid 40€ a night.

** Make sure where you stay in Lviv is in the centre. Almost everything is in the centre of Lviv; if your accommodation is in the centre, you can reach everywhere within walking distance.

** Since Kiev is a big city, its centre isn't as small as Lviv's. If, like us, you stay somewhere from where you can take the metro to the city centre, you'll be comfortable.

Food and Drink in Ukraine

We've come to our favourite part of Ukraine! You could come here just to eat, friends. :) In Ukraine, known as a country of farming and livestock, meat is very cheap compared with Turkey. In a way we never normally do, we ate out every day. Normally we'd travel buying sandwich ingredients at the supermarket and going to local restaurants now and then. But this place made our heads spin.

There's no need to look for Turkish restaurants abroad as if there weren't any in Turkey. If you do, you'll get thoroughly ripped off in Ukraine, take it from us.

It's a must-try, both for the prices and the tasty meat. We've written below the restaurants in Odessa, Lviv and Kiev where we had the chance to taste the food, with their average prices.

Odessa Handmade Chocolatier: Americano 25 UAH, 4 chocolate balls 65 UAH.

Lviv Cukor - Breakfast: Double Americano 36 UAH, cappuccino 39 UAH, mother with sons breakfast 96 UAH, waffle 79 UAH.

Lviv Beer Theatre: Beer 38 UAH, grilled chicken platter 147 UAH.

Lviv Handmade Chocolatier: Americano 25 UAH, waffle 45 UAH, hot chocolate 36 UAH.

Lviv Meet & Justice Restaurant: Salad 64 UAH, potatoes 48 UAH, shish kebab 255 UAH, drink 35 UAH.

Lviv Open: Whatever you take, per kilo 220 UAH, soup 29 UAH, tea 12 UAH, desserts likewise per kilo 220 UAH.

Kiev Under Wonder - Breakfast: Coffee 20 UAH, omelette 68 UAH, waffle 84 UAH.

Kiev Puzata Hata: soup 19 UAH, main dishes between 30-50 UAH , drinks 13 UAH. ​

Kiev Roshen Chocolate Shop: This counts as personal shopping, but we bought about 500 grams of chocolate. We paid about 150 UAH. Chocolate costs per kilo 300 UAH. Wafers 7 UAH.

Supermarket Shopping: Here, with 1 kilogram of filter coffee, various teas and the things we bought for breakfast at the Airbnb flat, we paid in total 350 UAH.

Cities to Visit in Ukraine

We completed our 5-day programme starting in Odessa, then spending 2 days in Lviv and 2 days in Kiev. If you ask whether the time we gave these cities was enough, 3 days is a better time for exploring Kiev. We couldn't fit everywhere we wanted to see into 2 days. We wouldn't have said no to 3 days :)

Ukraine also has the city of Kharkiv, close to Odessa, one of the places you should go and see.

If you're going in summer, be sure to set aside at least 2 days for Odessa. Because, unlike the other cities, it has the sea and wonderful beaches.

If you're curious about our other posts on Ukraine, you can find them by clicking the Ukraine link.