| Tips for getting around Ukraine posted by real travelers and Ukraine locals. Map |
 | Ukraine Transportation | Tips 1 - 10 of 77 |  |
 A bus from Sverdlovsk to
Luhansk, Ukraine by hunterV, 4 more photos
The initial two letters were taken one by one from the alphabet and represent the following regions:
II 1234 AB: the initial II means state number, it does not refer to any region and is only given to different state bodies (and to V.I.P. guys as an exception),
whereas such license plates as BB 0707 MI clearly indicate that the vehicle is from the militia, although of late the militia has given up that habit and now anybody can get the MI license plate;
such license plates as BB 0211 XX indicate by the final XX that the vehicle is a cargo trailer (by the way, XX is pronounced in Russian and Ukrainian as "ha-ha"): BH 7090 XX means: a cargo truck from Odessa region.
Some V.I.P.s who wish to have a state body plate II, can have it too. If they want to stress they are VIP squared, they can get the last letters XX, which means, "Don't you dare to stop me!" or something like that... So, a car with a license plate II 0124 XX only shows you belong to the elite... And, of course, if one has a license plate II 2222 XX, it means a lot...:-)
Ukrainian regions and their letters now:
AA Kiev;
AI Kiev region;
AK Crimean Republic;
CH Sebastopol;
AB Vinnytsya region;
AC Volyn region;
AE Dnipropetrovsk region;
AH Donetsk region;
AM Zhytomyr region;
AP Transcarpathian region;
AO Zaporizhya region;
AT Ivano-Frankivsk region;
BA Kirovohrad region;
BB Luhansk region;
BC Lviv region;
BE Mykolayiv region;
BH Odessa region;
BI Poltava region;
BK Rovny region;
BM Sumy region;
BO Ternopil region;
AX Kharkiv region;
BT Kherson region;
BX Khmelnitsky region;
CA Cherkassy region;
CB Chernihiv region;
CE Chernovtsy region.
The letters standing after the four digits indicate each series and are issued in turn: AA, AB, AC, AE, AH, AI, AK, AM, AO, AP, AT, AX, which is followed by BA, BB, BC, etc. Leave a Comment Theme: Car/Motor Home
|
 | |  |
Visiting Ukraine?
Read reviews about Ukraine Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
 Black Sea Coast in Yalta by Pikine
!!!New!!! Online purchase of train tickets is now available in Ukraine - see my other transportaion tip on this.
To avoid lining up, don't buy the tickets at the train station. Go to ANY of the many travel agencies around the city center and for an extra UAH 5 or so per ticket you will buy them without a queue.
Another option: if you come to the train station, go to something called the Service Center (they have one at each major station in Ukraine, it's good to know about this). In Kyiv, they will ask you to pay UAH 20 for entering per person. All travelling people must enter, and there is no line inside.
Now, if this also doesn't work, go to the train you need and talk to the conductor of any coach. Tell them you need to get to Sevastopol/Simferopol, and for the price of a kupe ticket you will be given a place. Don't worry, you'll have your own bed and will be given the same treatment as ticketed passengers except you won't have a ticket. This option always works.
Going back, if you don't get the return tickets in Kyiv (which is strongly advised), the same algorythm will get you where you want. Train info and booking uz.gov.ua
I don't recommend the bus (autolux.ua), it's a long trip for this kind of transportation to be used. Plane is great, especially since wizzair.com flies now between Kyiv and Simferopol. The price generally does not exceed UAH600-700 for a roundtrip. However, on peak dates flyuia.com (Ukraine Inernational Airlines) and aerosvit.ua prices are quite competitive, so it's good to check all three airlines.
From Simferopol, if you need to go farther, the best way is to take a taxi. Call 300 from any GSM mobile phone to order taxi.
The only way to get directly from Kyiv to Sevastopol or Yalta is to take a cruise, but this would take about a week. Ships will depart every few days through early October. The schedule and prices are here: http://www.asku.com.ua/eng/?pid=123
See also my tips on single e-ticket and online train ticket purchase Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 Ukferry ship by Pikine
First, the Ukrferry company's ferries between the Odesa suburb of Illichivsk and Varna (carrying cars as well as people) work all year round. See http://www.ukrferry.com/index.asp
Secondly, a speedboat called Krymskay Strela used to serve the Odesa-Varna-Odesa route (9 hours one way) from June through September. Right now the schedule for summer 2010 is published here: http://www.lstravel.com.ua/sea_line_od_var/ not only for the Odesa-Varna route, but also for the Odesa-Varna-Nesebr and Odesa-Constanta-Istanbul routes. In 2009, the speedboat will not run due to the low demand.
From May through October 2009 it will be possible to get from Odesa to Crimea (Yalta and Sevastopol) and back by sea by catching the cruise ships traveling down the Dnipro river from Kyiv. A one way trip takes 20 hours and costs Euro 85, meals included. See the schedule here: http://www.lstravel.com.ua/Od_Sevastopol/
The trip between Odesa and Simferopol by car is about 5-6 hours, by bus - 9-12 hours, by train - 13 hours, then there is another 1,5 hours on a minibus or taxi to Yalta. Call 300 from any GSM mobile phone to order taxi.
There used to be regular flights between Odesa and Simferopol 1-2 times a week between July and October. However, right now there are none planned for summer 2009 according to the Odesa airport summer schedule (in Russian) http://www.airport.od.ua/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=44&lang=en Leave a Comment
|
| | |
You can see these old license plates everywhere in the country.
Although there are new license plates now (see below), the old and the new ones coexist together.
13 means a region of Ukraine.
The biggest number of the region was 28,
Luhansk region being 13,
Crimea being 01,
Kiev being 10 and 11,
Odessa - 16, etc.
This is the table of old Ukrainian license plates just in case:01 KP,KO, KT = Republic of Crimea
02 BI, BT, BX = Vinnitsa region
03 BO, BK, BM = Volyn region
04 AA,AB,AE,AK,AH = Dnipropetrovsk region
05 EA, EB, EE, EK, EH, EO, EC = Donetsk region
06 BA, BB = Zhytomyr region
07 PE = Transcarpathian region
08 HA, HE, HO, HP, HC = Zaporizhia region
09 IB, IC = Ivano-Frankivsk region
10 KK, KX, KM = Kiev region
11 KA, KI, KB, KH, KE = City of Kiev
12 OM, OH, OC = Kirovohrad region
13 AM, AO, AP, AT, AX = Luhansk region
14 TA, TB, TH, TC = Lviv region
15 HI, HK, HT = Mykolayiv region
16 OA, OB, OE, OK = Odessa region
17 CK, CH, CC = Poltava region
18 PB, PA, PO = Rovny region
19 CA, CB, CE = Sumy region
20 TE, TI, TK = Ternopil region
21 XA, XE, XI, XK = Kharkiv region
22 XO, XH = Kherson region
23 XM, XT = Khmelnitsk region
24 MA, MB, ME = Cherkassy region
25 MK, MM, MH = Chernihiv region
26 MO, MP, MC = Chernovtsy region
27 KC = City of Sevastopil
Don't be surprised to see such different colors.
White means : cars;
Blue means militia (police) vehicles;
Yellow means shuttle mini-buses and city buses (city transport);
Green stands for vehicles taken off the register. This color os rather rare for such license plates are temporary and are issued as a makeshift to deliver a vehicle from one part of the country to another. I personally have not seen any green plates yet. Leave a Comment Theme: Bus
|
| | |
I think the best way to get around Ukraine is by train.
Each regional center of Ukraine has special modern trains to the capital. They all have sleeping cars and will take you there in 10 or 20 hours.
Besides, there are fast trains to Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk that are our variant of the famous Inter City Express trains. Leave a Comment Theme: Train
|
Visiting Ukraine?
Read reviews about Ukraine Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
 Airarabia plane by Pikine
The Romanian airline Carpatair currently flies from Odesa, Lviv and Chernivtsi to Timisoara and further to a number of cities in Europe, mainly in Italy. http://www.carpatair.com/. Its prices to Europe are far from "budget".
The Hungarian low cost airline WizzAir (wizzair.com) launched its operations in Ukraine in July 2008. Currently flies from Kyiv to Simferopol. Prices are from UAH300 one way. Internationally, Wizzair flies from Kyiv to London-Luton, Cologne, Dortmund, Katowice, Oslo, Antalya, Memmingen (near Munich) and Venice (starting late October 2009); from Lviv - to Dortmund. Wizzair will expand its fleet in Ukraine from the current two to three new A320 in 2009. The company served 420,000 passengers on flights to and/or from Ukrainian airports in the first 12 months of operations. Overall, the airline has 24 planes and is ordering 50 more from Airbus. Mostly on time, highly recommended.
Germanwings (http://www.germanwings.com/index.en.shtml) launched flights between Kyiv and Cologne three times a week on May 16, 2009. The price is from EUR20 one way.
British Midland Airways (http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/splash.aspx) began flying between Kyiv and London-Heathrow five times a week in March 2009. Prices are from $150 for a round-trip excluding airport charges.
Astra Airlines (http://www.astra-airlines.gr/frontend/index.php?chlang=EN) has a regular Thessaloniki-Kyiv flight.
Danube Wings (http://www.danubewings.com/lris-presentation/html/home.faces) is planning to launch a Poprad-Kyiv flight in December 2009, initially - once a week. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 Ukrferry ship by Pikine
Ukrferry operates a regular line between Odesa and Istanbul (see the schedule at www.ukrferry.com).
There are Kyiv-Istanbul cruises between May and late September. The schedule is here - http://www.asku.com.ua/eng/?pid=123 Leave a Comment
|
 WizzAir planes by PikineLeave a Comment
|
The best way to travel to and from Ukraine is to arrive to Boryspil International Airport in Kiev.
If your place of destination is in other regions of Ukraine, you can take a direct flight there from Terminal A at "Boryspil" International Airport.
If you choose to travel by car (using the car rentals - $100 a day, by the way!),
you will have to be very careful about the traffic regulations,
you will hardly find any road signs in English
and you will have to study Ukrainian to get around
and, what's more, you will have to overcome all the charms of our Spartan roads containing lots of decent portholes.
You may hire a taxi from ranks at any bus stop throughout the city or a town in Ukraine.
The taxi fare about the city is $5 (around the city) depending on the city and distance.
If you wish to make a longer journey, say, out of the city area, it's a good idea to arrange fare calculations with the driver before starting. Leave a Comment Theme: Airplane
|
| | |
OK, I know I'm a control freak and that being driven is not my idea of a fun thing to do. I know I learned how to drive in Northern Virginia and can get around in snow and icy weather with little trouble. I know that I was looking forward to being driven around through snow and ice in a foreign land by a stranger with about as much excitement as if i were having all my teeth pulled without anesthetic! What I didn't know was that the very best part of my trip through Ukraine was going to be a taxi ride! The driver was from "somewhere else, you can't pronounce it" and he smoked a huge cigar non-stop during the ride to the hotel. BUT, he was very informative about Kiev and pointed out many, many places on the way to the hotel, he loaded my luggage for me, and unloaded it as well. He drove carefully and asked several times if I was "ok". We had negotiated a fare before I got in the taxi, and when we arrived he said "there's no traffic, you paid me too much" and gave me back two dollars! I tried to have him keep it as a tip and he said, "no. You let me practice my English and didn't get fussy". What a nice guy! Don't be afraid to utilize the cabs in Kiev. You may meet up with Egan (?) the taxi driver! Leave a Comment Theme: Other
|
| | |
|
More Ukraine Car Rental Deals Car rentals
Only $59 for a 3-Day Weekend. Each Additional Day is Just $19.99! £8.50+ A Day Car Hires
Hotwire Has All the Big Brands With Low Hotwire Hot-Rates! Dollar Rent A Car
Book direct with Dollar and save! Always great rates. Book now. Sponsored Links
|
