Poltava Travel Guide

Zhovtneva Street is the heart of the city of Poltava. There are numerous restaurants, shops and attractions along it.
Start at the center of town, a circular park surrounded by white buildings modeled after St. Petersburg. In the center of the park is a tall monument dedicated to the 1709 Battle of Poltava. From there take the underground passage. Immediately after coming back above ground go left one blocks for the Poltava Art museum. On the right will be Hudozhney Salon a place to by traditional Ukrainian crafts. On the right will be Gogol Theater, which holds classical concerts and plays at low prices.
On the corner next to Gogol is the Dominic Candy store. The street passes through two block parks, on the right holds there is a statue of Ukraine's beloved poet Taras Shevchenko; Across the street from is the Poltava local history museum which covers local art, peasant life, the battle of Poltava and natural history--the feature piece being a mastodon skeleton.
Continuing down Zhovtneva you'll pass Spaska church on the left side of the street , which was built in 1705-06. On the right is Arabeska restaurant. When dinning there request the table surrounded by live animals.

The street dead ends at Uspenska Church. The bell tower is from the Seventeenth century but the actual church is new. Behind the church is a peculiar monument to halushky, a local dish consisting of boiled pieces of dough. Next to the halushky monument is the home turned museum of Ukrainian writer Kotlyarevsky. Across the street se is, Ivana Hora which locals will tell you is the most expensive restaurant in town but is actually relatively affordable.
The street finally dead ends at eight white columns in a horse shoe shape known as the Friendship Rotunda. This point is an overlook where you can see the lower section of Poltava which is best seen at night.

The bus is the bus is the best way to go around the city and to get everywhere, especially if you live around the "circle" ("Kol'tso"). Then you can take a circle-bus (named - "ʳëüöåâèé")and go around the city including Centre, Almaznyy, Polovky, Brayilky (last three are not so interesting to see) You can get anywhere from busstops in the centre.

There are several bazaars in town but the biggest is on Shevchenko and Frunzey in the center. The biggest sections are clothing and food (the meat building is not for the faint of heart). You can also find toys, hardware, books, movies, flowers, pet supplies, electronics and just about anything else you might want at low prices. Largely outside with hundreds of individual sellers, it is an authentic Ukrainian experience.

What to buy: Down a side alley you can find Soviet lore (such as war medals) for a fraction of the price in Kyiv.

What to pay: Bazaars in Kyiv are expensive; bazaars in villages are tiny. Poltava has a good size one with low prices.