Transportation around ukraine.

[bigdeg]

 Hello,
Thanks for this board, and I hope someone can help me. I am planning a trip for late October. Depending on work, I want at least 30 days. Sometime I will be in Mariupol, though if i start there...
What i was wondering; is there a transportation system for the interior of the country? I do not really like the idea of renting a car (tried the international Dr. lic. before).
I am currently listening to an ancient but free Russian language course...any recommendation there would be great too.
Thanks ahead of time.
Dale

[BrightDawn]

Welcome!

This page has a wealth of information: http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/mwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

[remiel6]

I've done all of them. The internal planes are inexpensive; however, the times may not always be convenient. The train at least when I rode it is not up to the standards of western Europe, but it is inexpensive and if you get at least second class you can take an overnight train and save on a hotel for the night. I slept well. The buses are actually a little faster than the train, and I've ridden them twice, however as Ukrainian roads are sometimes, how shall we say, lacking in repairs. the ride is bumpy. If you get the least bit motion sick, skip the bus. The bus is the cheapest route, but if you have the money the plane fares have always been cheap, at least the ones I rode on. I can't speak about a plane anywhere but lugansk, but the one way flight from lugansk is I think 90 dollars. I know almost know Russian/Ukrainian. I've learned the alphabet and thats about all. I know how to say I love you in Russian (My fiance would tell you the most important thing to know how to say ). That being said, if you know Russian the travel will be much easier.

[ECOCKS]

Buses and trains are the basic ways of getting around between cities. If you have interpreters (or dates) in each city that speak good English and commit some time to you, you should be fine. Have them meet you at stations and bring you back there when you're done.

In the major cities, I would be confident that you could grab taxi's to and from stations (after some coaching from those who have been there and done that) but out in the smaller cities you may be in for a bit of overpricing and timing issues.

[kryten41]

As for language, I had a fair degree of success with the Lonely Planet phrasebook, and with Pimsleur language CD's, both are available from Amazon.com among other places.

Here is a link for learning the Russian alphabet: http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/alphabet.html

Here is a link to some entertaining online Russian lessons:

Good luck!

[MatryoshkaMan]

Last time I was in Ukraine we took a 10 hour taxi ride!! We decided not to bus&train from Berdyansk all the way back to Kiev for my flight home so we called a taxi..he he  ...he had never gone that far before, never been to Kiev..The cost was worked out to be about $160 (that's for 20 hours total trip!). The first 30 minutes of the ride where spent trying to find the back seat seatbelt..no one had ever used them before and they were burried under the seat..We arrived in Kiev around midnight and had many hair-raising moments along the way...like when he tried to pass about 50 rigs and had to deek back in cause there was very close on-coming traffic..

Trains are slower but safer and more comfortable, esp. 1st class compartments.

[remiel6]

On the taxi note. If you know anyone in the Ukraine have them, the girl you are with call the taxi. The rates will be much better. Also avoid the line of english speaking men at the airport in kiev who will offer to take you anywhere for inflated prices.

[docetae]

Hello,
Thanks for this board, and I hope someone can help me. I am planning a trip for late October. Depending on work, I want at least 30 days. Sometime I will be in Mariupol, though if i start there...
What i was wondering; is there a transportation system for the interior of the country? I do not really like the idea of renting a car (tried the international Dr. lic. before).
I am currently listening to an ancient but free Russian language course...any recommendation there would be great too.
Thanks ahead of time.
Dale

- Use train and buy first class. This is inexpensive.
- Never talk with a taxi, let only your woman ask for cost or you will pay 10x more
- plane are ok but usually only one flight /day, aerosvit is not expensive

[Stirlitz]

I do not really like the idea of renting a car

Why? Some of my clients have done it and were happy. (However, I was there and driving most of the time). A car is flexibility and a way to save money in my view (if you rely on trains they are pain in the ass, flights are mainly available from/to Kiev only, taxis can be expensive).

[ScottinCrimea]

If you give us some idea of where you are planning to travel I think we can offer better information.  When I was living in Ukraine my primary transportation around Ukraine was by train.  It's best to have someone go with you on your first trip to help you become acquainted with the unique customs and requirements of train travel in Ukraine, especially if your Russian is limited, but after that you should do fine and I found traveling by train both convenient and interesting.  I never reserved an entire cabin for myself because part of the fun was getting to know the people you were sharing with.  I never took buses other than locally so I can't comment on that.

Depending on where you go, I would recommend going either by plane or train to each destination and having it arranged beforehand that someone would be there to send you off and that someone is there to meet you at your destination to drive you to where you are staying.  I did this the first time I traveled to Ukraine and it relieved a lot of the stress of traveling to a new place.  After that, it was no problem getting to where I needed to go.

[krimster]

I heartily endorse Zaporozhia Air Service as an effective provider of transportation within Ukraine.
Established by the Ukrainian billionaire Viktor Upchuck it was formed by purchasing Soviet era Tu-95 bombers and converting them to sleek airliners with interiors featuring authentic Soviet period furnishings from the 1970's.

First class passengers have full run of the bomb bay doors, and the ever thoughtful crew courteously announce when the graceful airliner passes over major metropolitan areas and will cheerfully assist passengers with using the airspeed aclinometer settings on the mechanical bomb sight, as well as thoughtfully reminding passengers that empty kvas bottles have a different drag coefficient than the original Soviet ordnance.

If instead of luxurious modern sky-liners you crave a bit of cultural authenticity, then Donetsk Dirigible Airlines will be just "the ticket".  Created from stocks of dirigibles captured near Nuremberg at the end of World War II, DDA can be seen cris-crossing the skies all over Ukraine.  Keep in mind however, that instead of Hydrogen or Helium, DDA airships use sewage gas as it's lighter than air lifting agent, which being denser than the previously mentioned lighter than air gases, result in less lifting power, therefor American passengers are charged more and thus this pattern is now replicated all across Ukraine for all services.  The latest DDA airships use hybrid technology to recycle lavoratory waste into methane to boost efficiency, and this may be why DDA menus are high in legumes.

If instead, you prefer to keep your feet firmly planted on Terra-firma, then you may want to pursue the Velocipede rentals available in all major cities in Ukraine.  If you're a beginner, I would suggest choosing a model with a wheel diameter of less than 2 meters, the so called "Ivan" model, and progressively work your way up to a "Rasputin" with it's gargantuan 4 meter titanium wheels which can reach ground speeds of 200 KM/HR allowing you to easily outrun the "militsia" with their tiny 400 cm wheeled rider mowers built by the Moscovitch Rider Mower Corporatsia.

Many of you travelers may well be confused about leaving the confines of your trailer park for the first time, so perhaps the best advice would be to employ the simplest means of self-propulsion, by taking your right foot and extending it forward, then while balancing yourself, take the left foot and bring it in proximity to the right foot.  If you repeat this process a number of times, you can travel significant distances.

Hope the above informatsia was helpful.

your obedient servant, Tex Krimster

 

[docetae]

I heartily endorse Zaporozhia Air Service as an effective provider of transportation within Ukraine.
Established by the Ukrainian billionaire Viktor Upchuck it was formed by purchasing Soviet era Tu-95 bombers and converting them to sleek airliners with interiors featuring authentic Soviet period furnishings from the 1970's.

You forget to tell for our less fortunate customers about our low cost , offering the more leg room on the market.

[krimster]

Also quite forgetful of me not to mention, "Serfing" as a means of transport within Ukraine.  By that I mean the hiring of Bumzhee to pull carts linking one Ukrainian village to the next, following well established  ancient trade routes at a speed approximating the meter of the Volga River Boatman's song.  Foreigners may find the sight comical of a large wooden sleigh with improvised wheels proceeded by it's "crew" and steered by a driver who suspends a bottle of Vodka just out of grasp of the crew until their destination is obtained.
 
Few people realize the mathematical difficulties of combinatorial optimization that are involved in finding the optimal route and schedule between villages that have been worked out by the Bumzhee themselves, and the contribution they have made to modern graph theory.

Y.O.S. Tex Krimster

[Muddy]

train schedule
1st class, buy both beds
http://www.poezda.net/en/web