Tourist Advice
Borders
Ukraine borders Belarus, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Romania, and Slovakia. Passport control and other border formalities take about one hour for buses and two hours for trains at the border crossings. At the border crossings keep your documents and belongings all the time with you.
Visas
EU citizens, alongside with citizens of Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Canada, USA, and Japan do not need entry visas and may stay in Ukraine up to 90 days. Citizens of other states need entry visas. The visa procedure lasts for one day. Visa fee depends on a type of visa and duration of stay in Ukraine. A lot of Ukrainian Embassies and Consulates issue visa on certain days, so you should check it beforehand. Tourists from the European Union and USA must have entry visas to Belarus, Moldova, Russia, which are not issued at the border.
Customs
If you are over 18 years old, you can import 1 liter of strong alcoholic drinks, 2 bottles of wine, 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars, or 250 grams of tobacco free of custom duty. You personal belongings are not subject to customs duty fee, although you may be requested to fill in a written declaration.
Goods of total value less than € 200 may be brought in free of customs duties and taxes. If their total value is more than € 200, but less € 1000, you must mention them in the custom declaration. If the total value is more than € 1000, you must meet formalities according to requirements of import declaration.
All your customs declarations must be kept during your stay in Ukraine and must be handed over upon departure.
Electrical Current
The electrical current in Ukraine is 220 V, 50Hz. Electric sockets are of Russian and European standards, which differ in size. Russian standard sockets are being changed into European. It is possible to buy a cheap adapter for European standard sockets. It is also recommended to bring your own adapter, which corresponds to your equipment.
Currency
Ukraine national currency is hryvnia (UAH). There are banknotes of 1 UAH, 2 UAH, 5 UAH, 10 UAH, 50 UAH, 100 UAH, 200 UAH, and 500 UAH. 1 UAH consists of 100 kopecks. There are 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 kopeck coins and 1 UAH coins. There are a lot of money exchange points; therefore it is not a problem to exchange money. If you are to exchange your Travellers’ Cheques into cash, go to a bank. Visa and MasterCard are commonly accepted in hotels and restaurants, whereas American Express is not so popular.
Tips
The culture of tipping is developing slowly and there are no general rules. Usually it is 10% from your bill. If you are a foreigner, you might be expected to leave more. Sometimes 5% - 10% tips for a service charge are already included into your bill, which is mentioned in the menu list.
How to dial
To make a local call (within the city area) just dials the number. To call to other city (area), dial 0, then wait for a dial tone, then dial code of the city (area) and number. For international call dial 0, wait for dial tone, then again dial 0, then country code, city (area) code and the number.
Ukrainian Cities Codes
Vinnytsia | 43 | Lutsk | 33 |
Dnipropetrovsk | 56 | Lviv | 32 |
Donetsk | 62 | Mykolayiv | 51 |
Zhytomyr | 41 | Odesa | 48 |
Zaporizhzhia | 61 | Poltava | 53 |
Ivano-Frankivsk | 34 | Rivne | 36 |
Kharkiv | 57 | Sevastopol | 69 |
Kherson | 55 | Simferopol | 65 |
Khmelnytskyy | 38 | Sumy | 54 |
Kirovohrad | 52 | Ternopil | 35 |
Kyiv | 44 | Uzhgorod | 31 |
Kyiv region | 45 | Cherkasy | 47 |
Lugansk | 64 | Chernivtsi | 37 |
Countries Codes
Australia | 61 | Austria | 43 |
Belgium | 32 | Bulgaria | 359 |
UK | 44 | Greece | 30 |
Denmark | 45 | Israel | 972 |
Ireland | 353 | Spain | 34 |
Italy | 39 | Canada | 1 |
Moldova | 373 | Holland | 31 |
Germany | 49 | Poland | 48 |
Russia | 7 | Rumania | 40 |
Turkey | 90 | Hungary | 36 |
Ukraine | 380 | Finland | 358 |
France | 33 | Czech Republic | 420 |
Sweden | 46 | Japan | 81 |
Useful words and expressions
Hello | Вітаю | (vi-TA-yu) |
Goodbye | До побачення | (do po-BA-chennia) |
Please | Будь ласка | (bud' LAS-ka) |
You're welcome | Прошу | (PRO-shu) |
Thank you | Дякую | (DIA-kuyu) |
Excuse me | Вибачте | (VY-bachte) |
Yes | Так | (tak) |
No | Ні | (ni) |
Enjoy your meal | Смачного | (Smach-NO-ho) |
Cheers! | Будьмо | (BUD'-mo) |
I don't understand | Я не розумію | (Ya ne rozu-MI-yu) |
I don't know | Я не знаю | (Ya ne ZNA-yu) |
Help! | Допоможіть | (dopomo-ZHIT') |
Hospital | Лікарня | (li-KAR-nia) |
Ambulance | Швидка | (shvyd-KA) |
Where is ... ? | Де знаходиться ... ? | (de zna-KHO-dytsia) |
Right, left | Право, ліво | (PRA-vo, LI-vo) |
One beer, please! | Одне пиво, будь ласка | (od-NE PY-vo bud' LAS-ka) |
Do you speak English? | Ви розмовляєте англійською? | (Vy roz-mov-LYA-yete an-GLIY-s'koyu) |
Days
Monday | Понеділок | (pone-DI-lok) |
Tuesday | Вівторок | (viv-TO-rok) |
Wednesday | Середа | (sere-DA) |
Thursday | Четвер | (chet-VER) |
Friday | П'ятниця | (PYAT-nytsia) |
Saturday | Субота | (su-BO-ta) |
Sunday | Неділя | (ne-DI-lia) |
Numbers
1 | один | (o-DYN) | 7 | сім | (sim) |
2 | два | (dva) | 8 | вісім | (VI-sim) |
3 | три | (try) | 9 | дев'ять | (DE-vyat') |
4 | чотири | (cho-TY-ry) | 10 | десять | (DE-syat') |
5 | п'ять | (pyat') | 100 | сто | (sto) |
6 | шість | (shist') | 1000 | тисяча | (TY-sya-cha) |