Kiev Tourist Traps

Not sure whether this comes under tourist trap or warning, but...

If you are female, and want to visit the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (Kiev Monastery of the Caves), make sure you wear a long skirt, and take a headscarf with you. You won't be allowed in a short skirt, and unfortunately the same applies to trousers as well. You might be able to hire skirts and scarfs, but I didn't manage to, so sadly wasn't able to visit the caves at all as I was wearing trousers.

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Modern nightclubs and disco bars are known for their high entrance fees.
"Matrix" disco bar charges 50 or 100 UAH as an entrance fee.
It's located in the building of 'Dnipro' hotel, but there is good music without any crowd, little dancing space.
So even if you stay in that hotel, it's better to find other ,more spacious,dancing floors in the city and not necessarily in downtown Kiev.

Unique Suggestions: order some drinks and meet the locals, show them your dancing art and address them in Russian (at least a few expressions and words).

Fun Alternatives: Try Hydrozone disco bar.

The exchange rates in the airport are a joke... especially when their are ATM's all over the terminal. You can withdraw Ukrainian Grivna (UAH) with any Visa/MC debit card for usually the best exchange rate. However each withdrawal is usually limited to about 1500 or 2000 Grivna by the machine's parameters and you will have to pay whatever fees your bank charges for international ATM withdrawal.

Also the prices of food and drink are ridiculous just like in most airports. BUT, if you walk out of the international terminal and go straight down the ramp (to the right if you are looking at the parking lot, left if you are looking at the Terminal B) there is a tiny "gastronom" minimarket just like you'd find in any apartment block and they have drinks & snacks for normal street prices. LOL... just a few meters can make quite a difference.

Here is a link to the current exchange rates so you know what to expect:
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi?Amount=1&From=USD&To=UAH&image.x=53&image.y=10&image=Submit

Please be aware of these husband or worse money hunters that abound in Ukraine. It happened to me that three months ago this red haired 20 something girl after a night together started to mazke my life difficult. She claimed she was pragnant and that the child was mine, even came to the place that i worked in asking me to marry her terrible thing but can happen in Ukraine. She gave up after I agreed to pay her holiday trip to Turkey, Well what I wany to say is beware unless you want to sponsor one of these girls

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i even don't know nothign about this place before. Free entrance, like "Pirogovo"(oriental big national museum under the sky outside Kiev) but small, with oriental houses, at the end of the Kiev, very lovely and nice, clean, nice people.
If u in Kiev and wanna see something oriental its a place u should visit and just 30 minutes from downtown on the bus or taxi.

Unique Suggestions: Don't forget water, comfortable shoes.

Fun Alternatives: Take taxi(better) or bus from metro station "Palaz Sportu".
Location: Venue - Mamayeva Sloboda (Borshagivka area)

Many male losers plus men from areas where women are either kept like a special sort of domestic animals (that still exists even in countries where officially are no longer Harems) or where the women are as ugly as their fathers, brothers or sons come to Ukraine and other countries hoping to find an attractive woman/girl.

Without any doubt not so few Ukrainians are looking nice, clearly better than the average in the countries of origin of the special category of tourists I am mentioning here. And in particular the Ukrainian women are able really to show that. For example they are despite of their usually low economic possibilities far better dressed than the women in many Western countries - every comparison in this respect for example of Paris and Kiev is clearly in favour of Kiev.

No wonder that a lot of "business people" try to make money of this fact. A lot of entries concerning this can be found in the VT forum...

Taxi prices to and from airport Boryspil can differ MUCH, depends how taxi driver will rate you. My friend told me, once when he was going from airport to city, driver asked fot 250 UAH ($50), all in all, they agreed on 120 UAH. Thats the ordinary price when you take tazi without preorder. If you will call and ask for a car, they will bill you on about 90 UAH.

Unique Suggestions: Bargain bargain and bargain!

absolutely haggle with the taxi drivers over the price. as soon as they realise you are not a local they will bump the prices right up. i found if i needed a taxi say from my hotel i would get a price way too high but if you walk a minute down the road there were more taxis waiting by the roadside and as it was away from the hotels they were alot cheaper.