Odessa Nightlife

Arkadia beach is the place to go for letting your hair down in the summer. There are numerous clubs close to the beach, and every night is busy here in summer. Your eardrums might hurt though next morning!

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Odessa's Opera and Ballet Theatre first opened in 1810. It is the second most famous landmark of Odessa, after the Potemkin Steps. It was originally designed by the St. Petersburg architect, Thomas de Thomon, but in1873, the building was badly damaged by fire. Two Viennese architects, Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer were commissioned to construct the larger replacement, work started in 1884 and the theatre, which cost 1.3 million roubles, was completed in 1887. But, in 1925 there was another fire. The current theatre's façade is decorated in the Italian baroque style. In the niches are the busts of Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Gogol, Alexandr Griboyedov, and Aleksandr Pushkin. The large hall was modeled after the style of Louis XVI. It is richly decorated with gilded stucco figures and designs. The architects provided the foyer with twenty-four exits, to avoid tragedy in the case of yet another fire.

Tchaikovsky, Rimskykorsakov and Rachmaninov all conducted here, Chaliapin, Tito Ruffo, Batistini and Jeraldoni sang here and Anna Pavlova danced here. I saw a good performance of Carmen. The Odessa opera company is well known throughout Europe, but the audience was disappointingly small and the theatre was three-quarters empty.

My ticket for the stalls cost 50 UAH ($10). My advice is buy the cheapest seat possible as when the performance starts everybody moves to a better seat anyway.

Dress Code: I was a bit apprehensive about the dress code as it is such a grand theatre and I only had my backpacking clothes. but I needn't have worried. People do not dress up to come to see opera here. Jeans and T-shirt are fine although smart casual is the norm.

A really cool place for people who enjoy loud live music, good food and fresh beer. A sort of a pub. Every day after 21:00 a different local band plays blues, rock'n'rool, jazz etc:) Sometimes come bands from other cities and even countries. It's better to reserve a table for weekends.

Dress Code: No special dress code:))

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Arkadia beach area is a LOT of fun in the summer time and is packed with people from Russia, Odessa, other areas in the Ukraine. There is a main strip of clubs but the 2 most popular are Ibiza and Itaka. They are both very big places and while they have cover charges it is well worth it. You will see a very beautiful crowd and everyone will be there very late. I think both places close "when the last customer leaves". Ibiza has a different feel as Itaka is more spread out whereas Ibiza is a huge place that descends dowwards from street level to the dance pit. People are dancing all over the place at both clubs and there are shows of dancers to get people excited. My only complaint about Ibiza is that the bathrooms are in a horrible location and hard to get to.

Arkadia is like Las Vegas!

Dress Code: I don't think there are any official rules but people were dressed fashionably. Shorts probably shouldn't be worn but there were girls dancing in basically nothing

Odessa is known for many things, one of which is the wild nightlife. There are numerous new hotspots in Odessa such as Visavis, Skazka and of course the classics such as Ibiza, Palladium and Itaka so make sure to check them all out while in Odessa this summer or whenever you choose to come. New Odessa nightclubs are located in the very center, right near Deribasovskaya street. Visavis for instance brings a flavor of New York city posh lounge with it - something that Odessa has not yet seen. Make sure to visit it if you are in Odessa but be aware it is not cheap. A good evening out there will run at least $100, that is if you do not gable. If you do, you will need a lot more! Good luck. A great up to date nightlife source for Odessa nightlife is located here: http://www.odessaapts.com/night_life.asp

Dress Code: Stylish wear is required to get pass the door staff here.

Ibiza Nightclub is a lively trendy nightspot with good food, atmosphere and sound of the waves coming from the nearby beach...

There are other clubs in Arcadia like Itaka - a Greek style club and also a Western club

I thought the clubs here were great .. Maybe lacking the numbers of people but interesting designs and more interesting than the clubs back home in England

There seemed to be a shortage of men there but thats fine by me!

Dress Code: smart casual

If you like classical music, an opera or ballet performance is really worth a visit.

The main music-theater is the famous Opera House, of course (see 'Must-see-activities'). Besides the Opera House there is also the Musical-Comedy-Theater near the railway station.

I saw the ballet "La Bayadere" (Minkus) there (as the Opera House was closed for restoration). The audience was quite young and very enthusiastic, the performance in my opinion very average. Let me know your experiences!

At night there are a lot of bars and restaurants to hang out. It is beautiful especially in summer as nearly every restaurant offers outside seating facilities.

If you want you can smoke a waterpipe, which is very common in Odessa...