visiting crimea and moscow

[veer jaisingh]

Hi to all,

This is my first post in this forum, i will be visiting to Ukrain (crimea+kazantip+kiev) and moscow this august, this will be my first visit to any east europian nation. i am looking forward to meet and make some interesting friends during my two week trip.

I have searched and finalized most of my trip legs, but would be very appreciative if i get some tips of Do's and Dont's from fellow members.

In addition i am looking forward if someone likes to join me during my trip.
 

With best regards
veer jaisingh

[Boethius]

Welcome to the forum, Veer.

[Faux Pas]

Welcome to RWD Veer! What is the purpose of your trip?

[veer jaisingh]

thnx. the purpose of the trip is to enjoy the sun at crimea and have fun at kazantip. Along with that i would like to go to kiev and odessa.
I have planned my trip from keiv to simferopol (Return Journey) but for Odessa i am planning the land route... may be train, bus or a rented car.
i want to spend 2 days at kiev, 7 days at crimea/Kazantip and only 1 day for Odessa.
Before i enter to Ukrain, i will be flying directly to Moscow and will spend 3 days, from Moscow i will come to kiev for my next leg of trip.
I had applied for visa and hopefully wl get soon.
I don't want to travel all these place alone, i am looking forward if there are any chance to meet someone on/for the trip to travel together.

Regards

[Rubicon]

  to the forum Veer.  There are a few service providers and other here who may be able to help you out.

[wicheese]

Getting around Moscow and Kiev are pretty easy, just be sure to get yourself a good tour book with city map and metro maps for the repsective cities.  It's been three years since I have been to Kyiv, so I'll let others help you there.
 
I've been to Moscow 13 times in the last four years and I still have not seen everything.  What I can say is that, the main sites are pretty accessable from the metro, again spend a little time with a decent travel guide or read a site like VirtualTourist to figure out what you want to see from a touirst persepctive.
 
The things I would reocommend for Moscow are:
 
1. Take the train from the airport if you are not carrying a large bag as it'll connect you to the Metro which will get you to your hotel.
 
2. Buy either a 10 or 20 ride ticket for the metro if you'll be doing a lot of exploring of the city (look up how to say 10 or 20 in Russian first as the ticket lady will most likely not know English) as it'll save the hassle of getting a ticket for each ride.
 
3. Make sure the subway map you use has both the Cryrillic and Latin letters for the stops as it'll make it a lot easier getting around.  Also, when transferring, pay attention to the line numbers and then just follow the crowd.
 
4. In August you'll have some nice weather so spend a little time walking around parks like, Gorky is centrally located but was a mess when I visited there in May (a good Uzbek restaurant is there).  Kuskovo, Tsaritysno, and Kolomenskoye are all worth a visit and a little off the beaten path, but Kuskovo is the hardest to get to as the metro stop is a little ways away.
 
5. For a starter, check out this site as it seems to be pretty comprehensive and includes info on most of the main sites:
 
http://wikitravel.org/en/Moscow

[veer jaisingh]

Dear Wicheese, thanx a lot for your post, it is really helpful. I am trying to learn few key words in russian fr my daily need. Hope that would be enough.

Thanks once again.

[LAman]

Veer....probably best to just skip the one day in odessa...no easy way to get there from lower crimea, ~half a day by train and ~6-8 hour by car. If you wanted to spend some time in Odessa, would have been best to return to kiev from odessa( flight). The night life there would have been quite interesting to see!!

[veer jaisingh]

thnks LAman,

wht about security concerns, most of my frends are saying the east europian nations have common law and order problem.
Is it safe to go and see the places alone ? and wht kind of problems i can come across, wht steps i must take to avoid any unwanted incident?

Regards

[Handycam72]

thnks LAman,

wht about security concerns, most of my frends are saying the east europian nations have common law and order problem.
Is it safe to go and see the places alone ? and wht kind of problems i can come across, wht steps i must take to avoid any unwanted incident?

Regards

There are no problems. There is very very very little trouble here. You will be fine. Just use common sense. Its not Iraq or Afganistan. There can be the usual drop wallet scam (Never seen it though), pick pockets etc, just like anywhere else. As it being a trouble or little Common Law and Order, answer no not really, non that would concern you. You will only attract problems if you act the fool. Don't worry. The perceptions of what East Europe is like, compared to the reality are very different. The reality is far far better    In all my trips here I have never seen any trouble anywhere. Go and enjoy.
 
If you want to see sites outside the main areas, best getting a local guide to show you around, that way you will be sure to see the best things, and not get lost.

[Voyager36]

 
 
 
 

Veer....probably best to just skip the one day in odessa...no easy way to get there from lower crimea, ~half a day by train and ~6-8 hour by car. If you wanted to spend some time in Odessa, would have been best to return to kiev from odessa( flight). The night life there would have been quite interesting to see!!

I would not suggest that you try driving in Ukraine, if you havn't been to the FSU before and don't speak Russian.
 
You might also have some difficulty buying train tickets at the station as they don't often speak English. You might consider hiring Stirlitz or one of the other guides here to assist you, at least on the first day.
 
Are you planning to meet someone there or is this just a holiday?
 

wht about security concerns, most of my frends are saying the east europian nations have common law and order problem.
Is it safe to go and see the places alone ? and wht kind of problems i can come across, wht steps i must take to avoid any unwanted incident?

Depends on where you are and what you are planning to do there.
If you are on the beach or visiting tourist sights you are not likely to have problems.
 
If you are intoxicated late at night and visiting seedy bars flashing a wad of cash you may have a problem

[veer jaisingh]

thnx guys for your valuable advice.

@Voyager36, as of now it is just a planned holiday 
if i get an opportunity to meet someone it will be more than welcome 

[Rubicon]

thnx guys for your valuable advice.

@Voyager36, as of now it is just a planned holiday 
if i get an opportunity to meet someone it will be more than welcome 

If you want to meet somebody why don't you join Elenas Models and Ukraine Date so that you can meet some ladies in the cities you are going to visit??

This is not an introduction site, it's a discussion site.  It's up to you to arrange for your own introductions.

[Spoon]

Dear Wicheese, thanx a lot for your post, it is really helpful. I am trying to learn few key words in russian fr my daily need. Hope that would be enough.

Thanks once again.

If you have an iphone or an ipod touch, a great little app is the 'speak easy' Russian one, you can purchase the whole suite for under $10 and it gives a lot of useful phrases/questions/answers spoken in good Russian, that would cover most tourist situations from airports, trains, restaurants, hotels, medical and emergency stuff. Phrases are written in English and Cyrillic, just tap the screen and listen to it or play it to a native speaker.

[Anotherkiwi]

...wht about security concerns, most of my frends are saying the east europian nations have common law and order problem.
Is it safe to go and see the places alone ? and wht kind of problems i can come across, wht steps i must take to avoid any unwanted incident?

My only concern would be your nationality.  If you are Indian, as I infer from your username, then you may find that you get stopped by the police (something which has been reported so many times by non-white people visiting Russia and Ukraine).  Hopefully, so long as your documents are in order, they will soon send you on your way.  However, not all police there are as nice as those encountered by I/O and myself, so just be cautious without being paranoid.
 
Whatever happens, I wish you a great holiday!