Kiev, Ukraine

TomSweeney

Hi ,
Heading to Kiev at the end of the month.
We won't be going to Crimea or any "unstable" region, but for anyone that has been to Kiev, how is it security wise ?
We won't be going out on the piss, so will be pretty cautious at all times.
What about money ? is credit cards accepted everywhere ? should I bring some Ukrainian money just in case ?


We are going to Chernobyl for a day trip too, but it is organised and we'll have a guide.
Not too worried about the old "glow in the dark" ...

Kevski

TomSweeney wrote: »

Hi ,
Heading to Kiev at the end of the month.
We won't be going to Crimea or any "unstable" region, but for anyone that has been to Kiev, how is it security wise ?
We won't be going out on the piss, so will be pretty cautious at all times.
What about money ? is credit cards accepted everywhere ? should I bring some Ukrainian money just in case ?


We are going to Chernobyl for a day trip too, but it is organised and we'll have a guide.
Not too worried about the old "glow in the dark" ...

I can’t offer any advice but I’d be really interested to hear more about the Chernobyl trip when you get back as it’s somewhere that I’ve wanted to visit for a while. Please post back here about it!

grimm2005

Heading in May myself, any recommendations would be great. Going to do a day tour of Chernobyl as well. Decided to go with this group due to very positive reviews: http://www.chernobyl-tour.com/

cdeb

Was there last March; no security issues whatsoever. Protests in the central square are more an issue, and there was some random police checks in town blocking off streets as a result. But Donbass is miles away - Dublin to Germany kind of distance. No practical security impact on Kyiv.

Very friendly people; head down a local pub some evening and you may get chatting to locals.

Use an ATM to get money; many smaller places (eg subway shops - and the subway itself I think) will be cash only. Also, the balance of my Chernobyl tour was cash only.

In terms of recommendations - the Lavra complex is a must; the underground shrines, the churches (head into mass some day; you can pop in and out at leisure - it's what the locals do) and the miniature museum.

The victory monument of course, though the exhibits inside are all in Ukrainian. Great view from the top

Wouldn't bother with the Chernobyl museum; it's all in Ukrainian again and you'll hear it all on the Chernobyl tour (which is a must - maybe even a two-day trip)

The Gorodetsky House is amazing, though there was a police block last year stopping me getting to it.

On the island in the river is a miniature Kyiv, with small-scale replicas of its notable building; kinda cool.

There's a great Georgian restaurant on a corner of Maidan, the central square - cheap too.

If you like football, take in a Dynamo Kyiv game; bit weird to be in a 90%+ empty stadium for a match too

The subway stations are predictably great; some of the escalator trips last five minutes

Above all, just wander around; some of the architecture is amazing

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Ukraine is a very interesting country.

I've been to Chernobyl twice, amazing trip - definitely worth doing.

There's a lovely little city called Lviv that's worth visiting too. About 6 hrs by train from Kiev or a cheap internal flight (if you go with Motor Sich airlines, they use amazing small turboprop planes that you wouldn't see usually anywhere else!)

The metro is cheap and reliable, easy to get around the city.

Never felt unsafe during my time there at all.

Enjoy the trip.

TomSweeney

Kevski wrote: »

I can’t offer any advice but I’d be really interested to hear more about the Chernobyl trip when you get back as it’s somewhere that I’ve wanted to visit for a while. Please post back here about it!

Yes I will !
and thanks all for the great posts!


One more thing, I want to bring my good camera (Canon 5D III) - should be fine yeah as long as I am discreet ?

I think I'll get insurance just to be sure ...

Curb Your Enthusiasm

TomSweeney wrote: »

Yes I will !
and thanks all for the great posts!


One more thing, I want to bring my good camera (Canon 5D III) - should be fine yeah as long as I am discreet ?

I think I'll get insurance just to be sure ...

Yeah, you won't have a problem at all with photography. People in the Ukraine generally mind their own business. People can come off as quite 'cold' and a bit unfriendly but that's just their culture I think.

TomSweeney

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

Yeah, you won't have a problem at all with photography. People in the Ukraine generally mind their own business. People can come off as quite 'cold' and a bit unfriendly but that's just their culture I think.

Yeah, I found the same with Germans, but lovely people under the hard exterior.

cdeb

Definitely bring a proper camera for Chernobyl anyway; there are areas you can look at but can't go into (some of the buildings have started to collapse), and there are communist propaganda signs on top of some of the buildings, which a mobile phone zoom simply won't do justice to.

As for on the street - yeah, just bring a backpack and keep it in there. Kyiv is just a normal European city; there's nothing inherently more dangerous about taking a photo in Kyiv than there is in Dublin.

irska1700

I would like to have more info about places to stay there and general about public transport, saving tips.
Can you wrotte about your trip after you come back.
Thank you.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

We stayed at the new Ibis at Kiev Railway Station which was a very handy location, few mins from the metro station and 1 min walk from where our Chernobyl tour picked us up. Was only about €50 a night and was lovely, brand new building so everything was immaculate.

https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-A034-ibis-kiev-railway-station/index.shtml

We used Chornobyl-Tour both times we visited and they were very good. https://chernobyl-tour.com/english/

cdeb

Hotel Ukraine in the centre of town was grand; as central as you could get and great views over the main square.

batgoat

I ended up renting an apartment for a few days when I was staying there. Was pretty dirt cheap. I never used a credit card there tbh. Spent a grand total of about 60/70 when I was there. One warning. If converting to local currency. Aim low as it's a pain in the ass to change it back and I didn't manage to with my remainder.

Chernobyl Tour is superb, be sure to talk lots to the tour guides. They told me some great stories about their youth and weird antics that going to Ukraine entails. You can also do tours of Yanukovych's house.(When I was there it was just a guy who took over the house who was doing the tour)
https://greentourua.com/tours/mezhyhirya-residence-tour/


In Kiev, be sure to go to Babi Yar, the Great War Museum(Massive statue that has a museum within it, it's very cold war), the Catacombs. The latter has a lovely bakery near the top of them.

Only thing I'd be careful of is street sellers, they sell a load of fake tat. You'll see lots of supposedly Nazi era cameras etc. You'll see street acts such as people dressed as animals. Walk the other as they will try to extort you after taking a photo with them. There's guys with monkeys who do the same.

But in terms of feeling safe, I did. Metro is really cool to go around in as it's very Soviet era. Loads of shops etc within the Metro system too. Food is lovely. Try to go with a few words of Ukrainian though as it's pretty challenging to get around without the language.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

If you're into aviation or Soviet era planes there's an amazing little-known aviation museum a few mins from the city centre. A few cents to get in and some amazing aircraft.

http://aviamuseum.com.ua

TomSweeney

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

If you're into aviation or Soviet era planes there's an amazing little-known aviation museum a few mins from the city centre. A few cents to get in and some amazing aircraft.

http://aviamuseum.com.ua

That is top of our list!!


A colleague was telling me that cops are very corrupt and try and bribe you for money ?

anyone can confirm ?

propenda

TomSweeney wrote: »

That is top of our list!!


A colleague was telling me that cops are very corrupt and try and bribe you for money ?

anyone can confirm ?

Hi, i am from Kiev. Its not true.

propenda

also you can visit Mezhygirya National Park(Yanucovich house)
http:// www. mnp. org.ua/contacts/?lang=en

propenda

Park Kiev Rus - http / parkkyivrus. com/en

propenda

https /www. google. com/maps?ll=50.424356,30.69214&z=17&t=m&hl=uk&gl=UA&mapclient=embed&cid=6229173674877131177
tanks cemetery

cdeb

TomSweeney wrote: »

That is top of our list!!


A colleague was telling me that cops are very corrupt and try and bribe you for money ?

anyone can confirm ?

Didn't encounter it myself anyway. Even when being turned away at the police checkpoint in front of the Gorodetsky house (and trying to play tourist-dumb and just walk through anyway)

(It turns out it's now used as the Presidential residential building actually, which would explain the police checkpoints - similar to Downing Street in London. You can just about see it from the checkpoints, or you can just look at the picture below)

propenda

https /www. google. com/maps/place/%D0%9A%D0%B8%D1%97%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0+%D1%84%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%86%D1%8F/@50.4343139,30.5276967,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xc67381c8cfcd2304!8m2!3d50.4343139!4d30.5276967

Kyiv fortress

Curb Your Enthusiasm

TomSweeney wrote: »

That is top of our list!!


A colleague was telling me that cops are very corrupt and try and bribe you for money ?

anyone can confirm ?

Great! Enjoy it!!

Nope, been twice and never experienced anything like that.

dohouch

Have intentions of visiting myself.

If you want to catch up with Ukrainian history, I did, and be grateful for "a little overpriced children's hospital " let me recommend "Borderland - a journey through the history of Ukraine by Anna Reid " The book is right up to date, 2015. Not normally one for history books, but found it easy to read.

The slaughters, pogroms, forced collectivisation, and violent political corruption is of a magnitude that beggars belief.

TomSweeney

dohouch wrote: »

Have intentions of visiting myself.

If you want to catch up with Ukrainian history, I did, and be grateful for "a little overpriced children's hospital " let me recommend "Borderland - a journey through the history of Ukraine by Anna Reid " The book is right up to date, 2015. Not normally one for history books, but found it easy to read.

The slaughters, pogroms, forced collectivisation, and violent political corruption is of a magnitude that beggars belief.

Just ordered that book - thanks, looks excellent!

TomSweeney

Just back.
Wow, I don't know where to start!
Fantastic trip !
Great city.
None of my concerns were true, people were nice (serious though but not rude!)
The tour to Chernobyl was probably the most fascinating tourist thing I have ever done!

I will collect my thought and post more info later or over the next few days - I have a stupid amount of photos to process too.
I will post links to them too!!

All in all 10/10.

grimm2005

TomSweeney wrote: »

Just back.
Wow, I don't know where to start!
Fantastic trip !
Great city.
None of my concerns were true, people were nice (serious though but not rude!)
The tour to Chernobyl was probably the most fascinating tourist thing I have ever done!

I will collect my thought and post more info later or over the next few days - I have a stupid amount of photos to process too.
I will post links to them too!!

All in all 10/10.

Brilliant to hear Tom, heading in May myself and have nothing planned so far bar the Chernobyl tour so will be interested to hear how you got on

TomSweeney

Who did you book the Chernobyl tour with out of interest ?

grimm2005

TomSweeney wrote: »

Who did you book the Chernobyl tour with out of interest ?

I actually haven't booked it yet, planning to do so this week. I'm going to go with http://www.chernobyl-tour.com/ as I read a great write up on them online and they're also rated #1 on tours on tripadvisor so they seem like a good bet.

TomSweeney

grimm2005 wrote: »

I actually haven't booked it yet, planning to do so this week. I'm going to go with http://www.chernobyl-tour.com/ as I read a great write up on them online and they're also rated #1 on tours on tripadvisor so they seem like a good bet.

OK we used https://www.tourkiev.com/


And could go into buildings in Prypiat (sp) .. a lot of them won't go into buildings - soon I guess all of them will be banned, floors about to go etc..

grimm2005

TomSweeney wrote: »

OK we used https://www.tourkiev.com/


And could go into buildings in Prypiat (sp) .. a lot of them won't go into buildings - soon I guess all of them will be banned, floors about to go etc..

Ah cool, thanks, I'll check them out. I think the group I linked does the same as the review I read said that they went into some buildings that they're not technically supposed to that other tours wouldn't.

Also, if you have any recommendations for restaurants, bars, museums etc in the city I'd love to hear them. I've not booked accommodation but I think I'm going to go for an Airbnb apartment that's very central (about 5 minute walk to Maidan) and has great reviews (and very affordable).

TomSweeney

Coming soon, i will write more details about the city and the trip ...


edit - is there a problem with quoting on boards.ie ?

Curb Your Enthusiasm

grimm2005 wrote: »

Ah cool, thanks, I'll check them out. I think the group I linked does the same as the review I read said that they went into some buildings that they're not technically supposed to that other tours wouldn't.

Also, if you have any recommendations for restaurants, bars, museums etc in the city I'd love to hear them. I've not booked accommodation but I think I'm going to go for an Airbnb apartment that's very central (about 5 minute walk to Maidan) and has great reviews (and very affordable).

I've used Chornobyl-Tour twice and we went into a good few of the buildings. Up to higher floors and everything. Mind your step though!

Some amazing opportunities to explore!

TomSweeney

Dear Friends ! - as our Chernobyl guide would say



So, we stayed in the Dnipro hotel, near the main maidan square, it was an old soviet style hotel and was decent price and breakfast included.
Very well heated too, it was quite cold when we were there.
First day we headed around the maidan square and thought it was a bit grim, was dull and gray - got some food into us (so cheap and nice) and allready the mood took an uptake.
Headed to the Santa Sofia church and climbed the bell tower, some great views, then down to st Peters Church (I think) and went to a service ... now I am not religious but the singing was incredible - noticed a lot of young people there, they are still quite religious.
Day 2 we went to that aviation museum out by the smaller airport in Kiev
Amazing - http://aviamuseum.com.ua/en We now are into aircraft, but still even if you don't like planes much it's very interesting, all Russian planes, some real beasts there
and we could board a Tupelev 154 as well as a military helicopter.

Day 3 we took an internal flight to Lviv - on an old YAK 40 - great experience, and Lviv was a gorgeous town.

Day 4 was the money trip, Chernobyl, left early - drive is about 2 hours and they showed us some documentaries on the accident and the building of the Sarcophogus to house the reactor 4 ruin.
As well some docs on the town before and after - fascinating and really set me up for the day with real knowledge of what happened.
Tour guide was also very knowledgeable and answered lots of questions.
Driver was also a sound lad - chatty.

We got to go to Pripyat and some other small abadoned village - Zalissya , very interesting to see the way it was all left behind and eerie to walk
around - we could also enter some buildings (allthough officially I don't think people should) and went to the top of a 9 story apt. block in Pripyat and got great views - also took a walk around some apartments.

Seeing a childs school and toys, dolls and teddy bears left there was so strange - no one takes or touches them they could be contaminated.
In fact you are not allowed to take any souvenirs whatssoever.




We got quite close to reactor 4 too - look at this stray dog! there was a few of them around the villages, tour guides bring them food and some
guests too - they are all tagged and have been sterilised, I guess they don't want the population getting out of hand and genetic mutation perhaps?



I was amazed at the return of wildlife to the area, they are thriving .. wild horses have been introduced to control wild fires in the area, but there
are lots of wolves, foxes and carribou (we only saw Horses and stray dogs tho) These horses were close to Zalissya


The famous ferris wheel,
There is actually a hotspot under it look at the docimeter ...

link to a large image of the readout, so you can see - https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7867/40317854953_5a8a9e4303_k.jpg
176 rontgens per hour - normal city level in Kiev is 0.15-0.30

There are some hotspots around the area, the red forest one of the most famous where a lot of the dust ended up after the explosion -
we couldn't get off the bus here, we just drove through ...fast!! and on the bus it was showing around ~30 rontgens !! if we had gotten out and examined the ground in the forest she said it would be been approx 2,000 rontgens !! crazy levels of radiation.


Back to Kiev, the metro is decent and is a good way to get around - There is a train service to the airport (80 UAH about 2.50EUR)
Don't let the hotel tell you it's not reliable, they want to order you a taxi.
We had different flight times back, my brother got the train I got an Uber - Uber was 330UAH (about 10EUR) Taxis might be 2/3 times that.

TomSweeney

Any more questions feel free to ask me while it's still fresh in my mind - I might have forgotten a few things above!

batgoat

In relation to those horses, they're actually real wild horses. Only exist in a handful of places and a couple of hundred globally.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Przewalski%27s_horse

robyntmorton

The tour to Chernobyl looks fascinating! It must feel weird to be walking through a place where life literally... stopped. No tidy up, no orderly withdraw, just "you can't be here any more"

Thanks for sharing it!

TomSweeney

robyntmorton wrote: »

The tour to Chernobyl looks fascinating! It must feel weird to be walking through a place where life literally... stopped. No tidy up, no orderly withdraw, just "you can't be here any more"

Thanks for sharing it!

It's incredible, as I said it probably is the most fascinating thing I have done as a tourist.


The people in the villages were told that they would return in 3/4 days, so leave everything behind, just get on the buses.


Regarding the red forest, seems a lot of the original trees that were contaminated were just bulldozed and buried there, hence why it's so high levels - not just the dust.

TomSweeney

And sorry, regarding the rontgens, it was probably millirontgens i meant to stay, but points still stand with relative values.
0.15-0.30 was normal levels.

176 under the ferris whell ....

5/6 on the ground outside reactor 4 ...

2000 on the ground in the red forest.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Delighted you visited some of the places I suggested - and took that flight to Lviv with MotorSich Airlines! 50 year old planes... amazing experience!

Also happy to hear the airport train was open - when we visited late last year it was yet to be completed so we took the bus. Are the trains modern, is the train station at the airport underground?

TomSweeney

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

Delighted you visited some of the places I suggested - and took that flight to Lviv with MotorSich Airlines! 50 year old planes... amazing experience!

Also happy to hear the airport train was open - when we visited late last year it was yet to be completed so we took the bus. Are the trains modern, is the train station at the airport underground?

Yes MotorSich!!!
And that aviation museum!!! QUALITY!! Loved it ... especially getting up close to an Ilyushin Il-86!!

I got an Uber my brother got the train (different flights) , I'll ask him ..but I can tell you the train station at the airport is above ground.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

TomSweeney wrote: »

Yes MotorSich!!!
And that aviation museum!!! QUALITY!! Loved it ... especially getting up close to an Ilyushin Il-86!!

I got an Uber my brother got the train (different flights) , I'll ask him ..but I can tell you the train station at the airport is above ground.

Delighted you enjoyed. It's a country I'd love to visit again, and check out some of the smaller towns and cities! Lots of exploring to do certainly!

Credit Checker Moose

How much was the internal flight on the YAK?

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Credit Checker Moose wrote: »

How much was the internal flight on the YAK?

When I went, I managed to get it for €25. Usually it's around €40 or so. They also fly from the smaller IEV airport which is in the city itself.

UIA also fly to Lviv for a bit cheaper, but it's in a boring 737 and also they use the main KBP airport which is 40 mins from the city.

TomSweeney

Credit Checker Moose wrote: »

How much was the internal flight on the YAK?

I think it was around €80 each return.
It might be an Antonov 24, but either way with MotorSich it will be a Russian plane, and as Curb said it's handier as it's from the city airport ... you basically walk onto the plane like it's a bus. (there is security scan but it's very fast)

grimm2005

TomSweeney wrote: »

I think it was around €80 each return.
It might be an Antonov 24, but either way with MotorSich it will be a Russian plane, and as Curb said it's handier as it's from the city airport ... you basically walk onto the plane like it's a bus. (there is security scan but it's very fast)

Did you need to plan and book the flight in advance, like a normal flight? Or was it a case that you could rock up to the airport sales desk and get one there and then at a reasonable price, like a bus or train?

Great write up btw, thanks for sharing! Will definitely visit the aviation museum I think, sounds like a great recommendation from Curb, fair play.

TomSweeney

grimm2005 wrote: »

Did you need to plan and book the flight in advance, like a normal flight? Or was it a case that you could rock up to the airport sales desk and get one there and then at a reasonable price, like a bus or train?

Great write up btw, thanks for sharing! Will definitely visit the aviation museum I think, sounds like a great recommendation from Curb, fair play.

We booked it online before, and flight was almost full (30 capacity, maybe 2/3 free seats) -so in theory I guess you could have arrived on the day and bought a ticket.

The AN24 has a higher capacity so if more bookings were made that would be the plane they use.

Here is the website anyway.


https://flymotorsich.com/en/

TomSweeney

Since the visit to Chernobyl I have been really interested in the whole disaster

- This elephants foot of Corium scares the shyte out of me! :eek:

But fascinating stuff..


http://nautil.us/blog/chernobyls-hot-mess-the-elephants-foot-is-still-lethal


https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/the-elephant-foot-of-the-chernobyl-disaster-1986/

and this fron NewsTalk
https://www.newstalk.com/news/the-elephants-foot-of-chernobyl-and-the-worlds-deadliest-selfie-601165

Marys540

Hi Tom,
Did you have to get a visa to travel to Ukraine? Are you irish?
Thanks,
Mary

Marys540

Hi Tom,
Did you have to get a visa to travel to Ukraine? Are you irish?
Thanks,
Mary

Credit Checker Moose

Irish people don't need a visa to visit Ukraine.

grimm2005

Marys540 wrote: »

Hi Tom,
Did you have to get a visa to travel to Ukraine? Are you irish?
Thanks,
Mary

No visa required if you're an EU citizen, passport is stamped and you're eligible to stay for 90 days under a tourist visa.