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T H R E CB O R Y
DIUM T TAB
Directory
CONTENTS
Accommodation
Activities
Business Hours
Children
Climate Charts
Customs
Dangers & Annoyances
Embassies & Consulates
Festivals & Events
Food
Gay & Lesbian Travellers
Holidays
Insurance
Internet Access
Legal Matters
Maps
Money
Post
Shopping
Solo Travellers
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Travellers with Disabilities
Visas
Women Travellers
Work
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have to share a bathroom. Midrange rooms
(always with private bathroom) range from
$50 to $100, while anything above $100 per
night is top end. Unless noted, breakfast
is included.
To simplify the mental arithmetic, hotel
prices in this guide are given in dollars, in
contrast to food, transport and other ex-
penses listed in the local currency, the
hryvnia (uah).
Note that water problems – hot and cold –
plague Crimea, Lviv and Odesa. The situation
is exacerbated in busy periods and is some-
times worse in budget hotels. More expensive
accommodation (as well as a couple of private
hostels) often has private water tanks to guar-
antee 24-hour supply.
B&Bs
Just a handful of Ukrainian establishments
truly fit this description, but they’re often
the most wonderful places to stay in the
country. In particular, see the sleeping sec-
tions in Kyiv (p83), Kolomyya (p146) and
Bakhchysaray (p196).
Camping
Camping in the wild is permitted in the
Carpathian National Natural Park (p141),
apart from on the eastern side of Hoverla.
In Crimea camping is officially permitted in
turstoyanki
(tour stands) listed by the
Mountain
Rescue Service of Crimea
(www.kss.crimea.ua/info/st
_2004.htm, in Russian)
. In reality, though, everyone
pitches their tent wherever they please. Read
Try Ukraine
(www.tryukraine.com/crimea/hiking.shtml)
for
more details. Lighting fires in national parks
is officially forbidden, although most people
do it anyway.
BOOK YOUR STAY ONLINE
For more accommodation reviews and rec-
ommendations by Lonely Planet authors,
check out the online booking service at
www.lonelyplanet.com/hotels. You’ll find
the true, insider lowdown on the best places
to stay. Reviews are thorough and independ-
ent. Best of all, you can book online.
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation will be your single biggest
expense in Ukraine, and it’s often wildly
overpriced. This is particularly true in Kyiv,
Crimea and eastern Ukrainian cities, where
decent hotel rooms usually start at $100.
People have been hoping for prices to drop
to more realistic levels for some time, but
it’s not happening quickly. Only in smaller
towns do prices better reflect the standard of
accommodation. Room prices in rural towns
can be as low as $20 to $30 a night, with prices
plummeting to $10 in some places.
Although prices fluctuate wildly according
to region, as a rule of thumb, this guidebook
treats budget accommodation as anything
under $50 per double room per night; at
the lower end of this scale you will usually
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DIRECTORY
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PRACTICALITIES
Ukraine uses the metric system for weights and measures.
Electricity here runs on 220V, 50Hz. Most sockets take European continental plugs.
DVDs sold in Ukraine tend to be either Region 2 or Region 5 DVDs.
TV is the leading broadcast medium; private channels like Inter TV (http://intertv.com.ua) and
Studio 1+1 (http://1plus1.tv) are much more successful than the state-run channels UT1, UT2
& UT3 (www.1tv.com.ua). Local pop music channel M1 (http://m1.tv/ua/) now has competi-
tion from MTV (www.mtv.com.ua). The Ukrainian TV landscape is laid out in English at www
.ukrainatv.com.
Ukraine has hundreds of FM radio stations, with a combination of Ukrainian or Russian pro-
gramming and a broad range of music. For English speakers, the BBC World Service (594MW)
and Radio Liberty (www.rferl.org; various rebroadcasters) also have services.
The biggest-selling tabloid newspaper remains
Fakti i Kommentarii
(www.facts.kiev.ua) fol-
lowed by
Segodnya
(www.segodnya.ua). Other papers include
Ukrayina Moloda
(www
.umoloda.kiev.ua) and
Den
(www.day.kiev.ua). News weekly
Korrespondent
(http://korrespond
ent.net) is a sister publication of the English-language
Kyiv Post
(www.kyivpost.com). Enter-
tainment tips can be found in
What’s On Kiev
(www.whatson-kiev.com). News agencies Unian
(www.unian.net) and Interfax Ukraine (www.interfax.com.ua) also have English pages.
Outside the Carpathians and Crimea,
camping in Ukraine is not highly recom-
mended. Most so-called camp sites are really
former Soviet holiday camps, and slightly
more formalised than most Western campers
like. Facilities here aren’t brilliant, either.
Homestays
HOSPITALITY CLUBS
mainly in the Carpathians) or
жіль
ө
(zhilyo,
Russian, seen mainly in Crimea). This is
still common in summer holiday spots like
Crimea and Odesa. Although the numbers of
babushky
(grannies) doing so are dwindling,
it’s also still possible in Kyiv. Prices are usually
quite reasonable at $25 to $50 per night.
Hostels
A couple of dozen hostels have opened in
Ukraine in the past few years, which you’ll find
listed mainly at
Hostelling Ukraine International
(www.hihostels.com.ua).
However the market is
still finding its feet, and hostels are a rather
ad hoc bunch, usually either built in private
apartment buildings or occasionally converted
from unappealing Soviet hotels. See individual
town listings for details.
We’re less convinced by
Youth Tourism &
Hostels of Ukraine
(www.hostels.org.ua)
, whose hos-
tels tend to be in rather odd locations.
Stay-for-free club
Couch Surfing
(www.couchsurfing
.com)
has several hundred hosts in Ukraine;
crashing with a resident isn’t just cheap, but a
great way to get to know individual cities. You
can also hook up with Ukraine-based hosts via
Hospitality Club
(www.hospitalityclub.org)
and
Global
Freeloaders
(www.globalfreeloaders.com).
ONLINE PROJECTS
Several ‘green’ tourism organisations have
offered homestay programmes in the past, but
their websites are mostly outdated. The best
current option is
Karpaty Info
(www.karpaty.info)
,
which offers details on B&Bs, homestays and
hotels in the Carpathians.
PRIVATE RENTALS
Hotels
Forget hotel ratings of one to five stars.
Ukrainian hotels historically fall into two cat-
egories: stinky Soviet or stinkingly expensive.
OK, that’s a slight exaggeration, but good-
value midrange accommodation is only now
emerging – and slowly at that. If Ukrainians
have enough money to avoid budget hotels,
they generally want to show it by luxuriating
in grand surrounds.
In parts of Ukraine, you will still find people
standing outside train or bus stations offer-
ing rooms in their houses or private apart-
ment rentals. Look for signs reading
кім�½аті
(kimnaty, Ukrainian) or
ком�½ати
(komnaty,
Russian),
садиба
(sadyba, Ukrainian, seen
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D I R E C T O R Y • • A c t i v i t i e s
241
DIRECTORY
‘Stinky Soviet’ budget establishments often
have itchy blankets and bathrooms that look
more suited to undertaking medical procedures
than having a wash. They might have problems
supplying 24-hour hot water and often rely on
city-controlled central heating, so you could
find yourself freezing in early autumn before
the local government turns on the heat. This
guidebook mentions such places only where no
other budget options are available.
Former Intourist establishments are quite id-
iosyncratic to the former Soviet Union, offering
a whole range of rooms from budget to luxury.
They’ve usually had a few floors’ worth reno-
vated, while others remain unreconstructed. In
these cases, hot water won’t be a problem, and
heating rarely, but the standard of the cheaper
rooms might be poor. It’s always worth asking
to see a room before you take it, even a more
expensive one – sometimes a ‘luxury’ room is
renovated and modern, and other times it’s as
bad as the cheap rooms, just larger.
Top-end hotels usually meet most Western
standards of service and aesthetics, but are
frequently overpriced for what you get.
Some
kimnaty vidpochynku
(Кім�½ати
відпочи�½ку;
resting rooms) are old, rudimen-
tary, and cost about $10. Even these might
suffice for one night. At the other end of the
scale are new train station lodges with clean,
bright, well-equipped rooms. Two outstand-
ing examples are those in Kyiv (see p84) and
Uzhhorod (see p157). Both cost about $40 per
double room, or $20 per bed if you share with a
stranger. Check the listings for individual cities
and towns for other worthwhile examples.
Turbazy & Sanatoria
You might read about
turbazy
(tourbases)
and sanatoria elsewhere, but our advice is
this: don’t, unless you’re desperate.
Turbazy
are simple holiday resorts, most common in
the Carpathians, the vast majority of which
remain unchanged from the Soviet era.
Similarly, Soviet-era sanatoria (health resorts)
found speckling the Black Sea coastline are
rather run-down and crumbling. They tend
to require at least a week’s stay, too.
ACTIVITIES
In summer, both Crimea and the Carpathian
Mountains are extremely popular with hik-
ers, climbers and mountain bikers. Both also
attract winter skiers, though the Carpathians
offer far better slopes.
Rental Accommodation
Even if you never normally think of renting an
apartment when abroad, you should consider
it in Ukraine. With insufficient midrange
hotels available, these help fill the gap.
You can book an apartment for just one
night if necessary. For longer stays, you not
only have the benefit of a washing machine
and a kitchen, you can save up to half the cost
of a hotel. Apartments in Kyiv, for example,
usually start at $50 to $60 for a downtown
studio, or $30 to $40 if you rent somewhere
out of the centre.
There are some things to check for, though.
Does the apartment have its own hot-water
supply (the only guarantee of 24-hour avail-
ability)? Its own central heating? Without the
latter, you’re waiting for the city government to
turn on the heating in October and wishing it
would turn the settings down in January.
Although many rented apartments are
in a Soviet block with a concierge, it’s also
worth asking whether the entrance is well
lit at night.
Boating
In Crimea there are plenty of opportunities
to rent a small boat with a pilot who will sail
you around the Black Sea’s coastal nooks and
crannies. Both scheduled and chartered boats
operate between May and mid-October.
The Centre for Green Tourism in Chernihiv
organises kayaking tours (see p97).
Bungee Jumping
Daredevils can bungee jump at a couple of
places in Ukraine: try Kyiv’s Hydropark (see
p81) or Zhytomyr (p100).
Caving
Speleologists might be tempted by a three-
hour ‘extreme’ tour at the Marble Cave in
Crimea (p212), or a visit to a series of karst
caves in the Ternopil region, which includes
the 212km-long Optimistic Cave (p131).
Train Stations
Many Ukrainian train stations have a small
‘hotel’ of simple rooms designed for late-night
arrivals or those departing early.
Hiking
The Crimean landscape is arguably more
spectacular, but you get a real sense of
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DIRECTORY
lonelyplanet.com
adventure and trailblazing in western
Ukraine. Equipment and supplies are widely
available. See the individual chapters for
more details.
Ice Fishing & Swimming
Ice fishing is a national pastime for
Ukrainian fishermen, who sit motionless –
and usually vodka-fuelled – for hours next
to a small hole drilled through the thick ice.
Ice fishing is common on both the Black Sea
and the country’s many lakes.
People who like to make holes in the
ice in winter and swim in the freezing
water beneath are nicknamed ‘walruses’.
They’re particularly common in the east of
the country.
(p145), or the boxed text on p146. There
is also some skiing in Crimea, on Mt Ay-
Petri or around the Marble Cave, but it’s
not as good.
There aren’t that many ice rinks around
the country, but just as in London, seasonal
winter ice rinks in public parks and other
locations seem to be gaining popularity in
Kyiv (see p81).
BUSINESS HOURS
Official weekday working hours are 9am
to 5pm or 10am to 6pm. Some banks close
for the day at 4.30pm. Bigger shops, es-
pecially in Kyiv, tend to stay open later,
until 8pm or 9pm (Sunday closing is
increasingly rare).
Most restaurants around the country are
open from at least noon to 11pm, and times
are not listed for individual eateries in this
book unless they significantly diverge from
these (where no times are listed for a res-
taurant, you can be sure they are open for
at least lunch and dinner). Some cafeteria-
style eateries and cafés open earlier, at 8am
or 9am, and close at 6pm or 7pm.
Many places, especially government-run
establishments, still close for lunch (1pm
to 2pm or 2pm to 3pm). However, this is
becoming slightly less common, especially
in bigger cities.
Museum hours are typically from 9am to
5pm or 6pm, but they vary, and there are al-
ways one or two days a week when museums
are closed. Occasionally, they close for clean-
ing sometime during the last week of each
month, but this is very rare these days.
Mountain Biking
Mountain biking is a popular and fast-
growing sport in Crimea, where the land-
scape is perfect for it (see www.mt.crimea
.com for more info). The Chornohora ridge
in the Carpathians provides another spectac-
ular, if challenging, route;
Lviv Ecotours
(www
.lvivecotour.com)
can arrange activity tours.
Paragliding
Sea breezes hitting Crimea’s long thin moun-
tain plateaus create some wonderful thermal
uplifts. Visit www.paragliding-crimea.com
for English-speaking assistance or head just
outside Koktebel (see the boxed text, p216).
Saunas
Cold winters and a historical lack of do-
mestic plumbing helped make communal
baths a national Ukrainian pastime. Today
many hotels have either a dry-heat Finnish
sauna or a steamy, Russian-style
banya
(or
both). In the latter, it’s common for peo-
ple to pair up to beat each other’s naked
bodies with birch twigs. Consequently, the
baths are divided into men’s and women’s
sections. Massages and the like are also
commonly provided.
CHILDREN
Ukraine is not the world’s most child-friendly
destination, so if you’re going to bring young
children here it’s advisable that you have
previous experience of the country, or you
limit yourself to a short break in a major city
like Kyiv.
The country remains a fairly challenging
destination to travel around and many par-
ents might be unwilling to put their offspring
on a not-particularly-roadworthy Ukrainian
bus or
marshrutka
(see p259), or to submit
them to dirty bathrooms. There are also prac-
tical difficulties with small children, from
arranging sterilised bottles to dealing with
the bureaucracy with bored and tired tod-
dlers in tow.
Skiing & Ice Skating
The Ukrainian Carpathians are unlikely to
become a major international skiing destina-
tion anytime soon, but they’re already big in
Eastern Europe. If you’re coming this way
already, the passes, equipment rental and
accommodation are generally quite reason-
ably priced. For more details see Bukovel

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