Sevastopol' Transportation

Balaklava is a district of Sevastopol'. The busses start on 5th km station in Sevastopol' (the station is around 15-20 minutes by city busses). Then you need mini-bus №9, it costs UAH 2 (EUR 0.18). The journey is around 10 minutes.

There are a lot of different routes by busses or mini-busses in the city. The center is not so big and you may easily to get any place by feet. The nook or place that seems to get long could be got by busses. The price is UAH 1.5-2 (EUR 0.13-0.18).

We came to Sevastopol' by bus from Bakhchisaray for UAH 15 (EUR 1.33), 2 persons. Besides the city has train station. In any way, on your way to Sevastopol' you go through Simferopol' and further by bus or by train.

When we arrived back at the Sevastopol bus station from Bakhchysaray, we wanted to go back into the center of the city but didn't know which bus to take, we were standing near a bus stop but couldn't read any signs. The cabbies all picked up on the scent of clueless tourists and were circling like vultures but we fended them off until an older couple, after we had said "centrum", guided us to a trolleybus, helped us buy a ticket and showed us where to get off. What is entirely amazing about that experience is that they didn't speak a word of English and we don't speak a word of Ukrainian but somehow we still managed to get where we were going.

The trolleybuses that operate on the overhead electric wires are the cheapest form of transportation, it was .75 uah (about 10 cents) to ride it. You buy your ticket from a ticket lady or the bus driver, in our case it was the bus driver who was steering the bus with his knees while selling tickets! Be sure to validate your ticket if you see one of the machines on the side of the bus, sometimes they also just rip your ticket.

There are several options to get from Kiev to Sevastopol, I didn't even consider the bus after reading about the condition of the roads. We briefly considered the train but at 17 hours, we decided that was a bit too much. So we flew from Kiev to Simferopol, the transport hub for the Crimea and arranged for a driver to get us from the airport.

We originally booked Wizz Air but that flight was moved to another day so we rebooked on Aerosvit which was inexpensive and on time. Simferopol's airport seemed to be not only still stuck in Soviet time but perhaps even to the beginning of air travel. We taxied on a weed filled runaway for what seems like 15 minutes, walked from the plane to an outdoor luggage carousel where they unloaded our bags onto a rickety conveyor belt. Regrettably I had decided not to use the lavatory on the plane, the one inside the terminal had *ugh* squat toilets with doors that only came up to your waist, no toilet paper and a smell so bad that I didn't breathe the entire time I was in there.

If you don't have a prearranged transfer, there is a gauntlet of taxi drivers that will be happy to relieve you of your hrivinas, dollars or euros, be sure to have an idea of what a taxi should cost and don't be afraid to haggle as there are more of them than there are of you. Or if on a real budget, there are buses and trains that can get you from the airport to where you are going.

From Balaclava, we took a #9 marshrutky to 5 km and then either a #17 or #20 bus/marshrutky from 5 km to get to the bus station in Sevastopol. You will see the train station first, wait until the bus loops back around and you see the bus station before getting off the bus.

We got there just a few minutes before the next bus to Bakhchysaray left so I didn't have a chance to see how frequently they go but I assume it's fairly often, in late May we did not have to purchase tickets in advance. Unlike the bus to Yalta, this was a smaller minibus without a lot of leg room so we grabbed the single seats on the side where you can put your legs in the aisle. The journey was about an hour and cost 12.02 uah one way, less than $2USD. We bought our tickets in the bus terminal just to be sure we got on the right bus but also saw people buying them on the bus.

If it's a direct bus to Bahkchysaray, it will turn into the bus station where everyone gets off.

From Balaclava, we took a #9 marshrutky to 5 km and then either a #17 or #20 bus/marshrutky from 5 km to get to the bus station in Sevastopol. You will see the train station first, wait until the bus loops back around and you see the bus station before getting off the bus.

Buses to Yalta run frequently, around every 1/2 hour during peak times, and at least in late May we did not have to purchase tickets in advance. The longer range buses are more comfortable that the shorter range buses, plenty of leg room and luggage storage underneath the bus.

The scenery along this route, which runs along the Black Sea coast, was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip so try to get a seat on the sea side (right on the way to Yalta, left on the way to Sevastopol). The journey took about 1 1/2 hours and cost 21.38 uah, less than $3USD. We purchased tickets inside the bus station so we made sure to get on the next bus, they will tell you which stop to stand by and the ticket will have the time of the bus and in our case an assigned seat number.

To get back from Sevastopol to Balaclava, we did the journey in reverse, catching a #120 bus from near Pizzeria Celentano to 5 km and then a #9 marshrutky from 5 km back to Balaclava. Two items of note about the return journey, the #120 bus kept going past 5 km so ask a few people around you when to get off of you may overshoot your stop. To catch the #9, we walked back to the exact place they had dropped us off.

5 km is a very popular stop and is spelled exactly like that on the bus/marshutky windows "5 km".