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Saint Sofia Cathedral, Kiev

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Travel to Ukraine

Flying to Ukraine

The national carrier is Ukraine International Airlines (PS) (tel: (44) 581 5050; www.flyuia.com/eng/uk). Aerosvit (VV) (tel: (44) 490 3490; www.aerosvit.ua/eng) operates domestic routes as well as serving a number of international destinations that include New York. Wizzair Ukraine (WU) (tel: 0906 959 0002 in the UK; http://wizzair.com) flies between Kyiv, Simferopol and various European cities. Prices tend to be higher in July and August.

Flight times:

From London to Kyiv is 3 hours 20 minutes; from New York, 9 hours 50 minutes.

Departure tax:

None.

Travel by rail

Ukraine's 22,730km (14,207 miles) of railway track link most towns and cities within the republic and further links extend from Kyiv to all other CIS member states. The main stations are Kyiv and Lviv, with regular daily services connecting these stations with Moscow. There are international trains to many other major European cities although trains north to the Baltic countries pass through Belarus and require a transit visa. The most reliable and direct service is between Berlin and Kyiv via Krakow and Lviv. Fast 'firmenny' trains are the most rapid, modern and comfortable trains. Tickets are cheap by UK standards. If travelling by overnight train, do not leave the compartment unattended.

Timetables for trains to Ukraine, as well as approximate fares, are available in English at www.poezda.net. The fastest train from Kyiv to Moscow takes 10 hours 30 minutes and to St Petersburg 25 hours 30 minutes. Kyiv to Berlin takes around 24 hours. Inter-Rail or Eurail passes are not valid in Ukraine.

Urban travel information:

All towns and cities have a comprehensive network of buses and trolleybuses that tend to be slow, crowded but very cheap. These are supplemented by fleets of battered minibuses (marshrutky) that will stop or put down anywhere along fixed routes. Official taxis, found in cities and larger towns, are metered and can be identified by a yellow and black sign on the roof. Fares should be negotiated in advance for private taxis.

Kharkiv, Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk have clean, efficient and cheap metro systems where tickets can be purchased at vending machines inside the stations. Hitchhiking is very common, although not recommended. Passengers are expected to pay for the ride and the price, usually about the same as the bus fare, should be agreed upon before boarding. There are no public transport services from 0100-0500.

Getting to Ukraine by boat

Main ports: Ilyichevsk, Izmail and Odessa. UkrFerry (tel: (8) 0482 344 059, in Odessa; www.ukrferry.com) operates ferries from Ilyichevsk to Poti and Batumi, Georgia; from Ilyichevsk to Varna, Bulgaria; and from Ilyichevsk to Derince, Turkey. Gess-Tur (tel: (8) 0692 544 904) have ferries between Sevastopol and Istanbul, Turkey. Ferries are available to the Russian ports of Novorossiysk and Sochi. Ukraine's most important internal waterway is the River Dnieper.

Several cruise ship companies offer Black Sea cruises around the Crimean peninsula.

Cruise ships:

Several companies offer Black Sea cruises around the Crimean peninsula.

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