Odessa Nightlife

Arkadia is a pretty happening strip that is around 20 mins drive away from the centre of Odessa. There are cabs to take you there of course if you can be bothered with the usual cab driver attempts to rip you off (I was told by a local that it should be no more than 50 grevny. Tram or bus to get there is 2 grevny 50

Like most places around the world there is more happening at the weekend. It is very much an area for young people with all of the 7 or 8 nightclubs that are there targeting that audience.

I've been here last night and tonight. On both occasions there were around 30 people although I am sure it will be much busier at weekends. Its a small cellar venue and won't have capacity for many more than 100 people.

The band who played last night were excellent doing various mainstream kind of rock versions of various songs. I arrived later tonight and only caught the end of the live performance that was a guy singing and playing piano.

I can imagine it gets very hot in here at weekends as there doesn't seem to be much in the way of air con.

There were guys in tonight who were completely smashed to the point where they were a liability. One of them pushed another and unsurprisingly the he fell on his backside, something that was completely inevitable with the guying being drunk to the point of inebriation. I got out as soon as I could this evening as there some aggressive body language in the older of these three guys and it was looking like he could become more unpleasant.

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Update to the above. I rocked along yesterday evening and there still wasn't much happening in the way of atmosphere. There was maybe 5 - 10 more people than there had been during the week but there was still plenty of empty seats and no one standing. The 3 clowns from the night before weren't around, maybe they have returned back to planet numpty.

40 grevny to get in last night

I am only speaking as a visitor but the vibe I pick up is that Odessa is pretty limited for options for live music bars (as seems to be the case in Lviv as well). If live music is your thing I stumbled on a place tonight that had a live band playing. The place is called Elvis and while inside there a few things dotting around in recognition of the person the joint is named after, the music that was on offer featured none by him that I heard.

With my still limited Russian, it wasn't the most fluid convo that I had with the waitress but the jist of it is that live music starts at 9 pm. Things were winding down from 11 pm and it looked to me like the place was heading for closing for around midnight (I had left by then). The decor in the place is done out a bit like a hard rock cafe with a stage for the band above the bar and a motor bike for decor.

I've just been tonight, a Thursday evening in the middle of the Summer season. There was only around 30 people in. I suspect that it will be much busier at weekends.

Usefully if you looking to keep your options open for live music, it is just around the corner from Dykyi Z. In comparing the 2 Dyiki is a cellar bar and when I have been seems to be geared towards guys. Elvis seems a bit more chick friendly but I have only been once.

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Update to the above. I rocked along yesterday evening (Friday evening) and there was no live music. Check in advance if live music is what you are after.

This pub is very popular among foreigners.
It has two floors and a large bar.
It has a special design and the bar is decorated with a lot of bills from different countries with autographs of people who presented them. The bills hang from the ceiling and we, my foreign friends and I, decided to take a picture taken there.
They also serve different sorts of beer here.
There is also a computer with Internet ($2 an hour) to the left of the entrance for you to work on the Internet, if you need it urgently.

Dress Code: casual

If you want to hear some live jazz/blues & feel a part of 0dessa's arty underground, this dingy, smoky, cellar level venue, might be the place for you! There is something very 'french' about its decor, at least it made me feel like Tony Hancock, when he attempts to set himself up as an artist in Bohemian Paris, in his classic comedy THE REBEL...Tables & chairs & even the toilets, are hand-painted in flower patterns which give a simple charm, but the rest of the L-shaped floorspace resembles no more than, well, a dusty cellar...A small bar serves Ukrainian-brewed beers, cocktails & of course, the obligatory vodka! if you desire to witness 0dessite males behaving badly, swigging endless tumblers of vodka as if the 4 minute-warning had been sounded, clutching their heads & sucking on segments of orange to soothe their tastebuds - this is THE place for the EXPERIENCE...You will meet the local artistic types, but also, unfortunately, their affectatious hangers-on; whose only art is dodging anything that resembles work, living a vampire's half-life of daysleeping & nocturnal liquid diet; preferably vodka...There are some 'dyevooshkee' here if you want to practice speaking Russian & I was told, for the right price, I could take 1 home for the night, but then, this being 0dessa, you migh be told such innuendo about the library...

Dress Code: none that anybody told me about!

4 more images

Many visitors of Odessa (I was not an exception) stop in front of this magnificent building admiring its beautiful windows, impressive columns and the wide marble staircase at the entrance.
You can see a bronze plaque at the facade stating that the building is the architectural monument of the 19th century.
There is a bust of the author of this superb building - architect A.A.Bernardacci.
The building was built in 1894-1899 for the city stock exchange.
Philharmonic Society in Pushkin Street moved into this building in the twenties of the 20th century.
The hall seats about 1,000 spectators.
The interior is very attracting, too, especially that of the Main Hall that is 15 meters high.
Odessa Symphony Orchestra and lots of other orchestras, music groups and theater companies gave performances and concerts here.
This building is also called the highest one-storey building in Odessa for its height.

Dress Code: theater dress code

This nightclub is located between French Boulevard and Shevchenko Avenue, opposite the stonewall of the champagne factory.
You can order some hot dishes cooked in the open, but the most attracting thing there is the disco.
There are Free Microphone musical parties;
the disco party usually starts at 11 p.m.
The entrance to the disco is free.
There are a lot of young people there – the students of the neighboring National University.

Dress Code: casual

Since I have often stayed at Magnolia sanatorium, I used to frequent Magnolia nightclub.
I found it to be a very attractive nighttime destination of many students of the neighboring National University.
Located at the complex of Magnolia sanatorium, this place is a genuine Ukrainian nightclub popular with many young people.
I always enjoyed the music and the atmosphere there.
The entrance fee is 50 UAH (if you want to sit at the sofa) or you have to reserve a table beforehand.
There is a good change of music there.
Out of many nightclubs I have visited in Odessa this one stays in my memory for long.
I have singled out this nightclub in French Boulevard as my favorite one due to its lively and relaxed atmosphere and nice music.
It is always full of people and is located not far from Dolphin beach – 15 minutes’ walk down the stairs.
My American friend Omar (on the picture at the entrance to the hotel) whom I also took to several nightclubs in Odessa approved of my choice and enjoyed his stay in "Magnolia" too thanks to its musical program, bar and atmosphere.

Dress Code: casual