Ukraine

From Slovakia

The two border crossings between Slovakia and Ukraine Ubla and Uzhhorod are nowadays external Schengen borders and as a rule cannot be crossed by individuals, even not at the official crossing post. You can, however, get into someone's car just to cross the border.

There's a bus from Košice Slovakia going to Vyšné Nemecké, a border town from which you can reach the border crossing on foot. After crossing the border, you can proceed downhill to the center of Uzhhorod, either on foot or by taking a cheap taxi at the margin of the city.

By plane

The cheapest way to fly into Ukraine is through the Boryspil International Airport near Kiev. The main international hubs for these flights are Budapest, Frankfurt, Milan, Munich, Prague, London, Rome, Vienna and Warsaw with several flights a day of Austrian AUA, CSA Czech Airlines, LOT, Lufthansa, Alitalia, Air France, British Airways, KLM; also Ukraine International, which code-shares on these routes with the respective carriers, and another Ukrainian carrier, AeroSvit. Special offers on flights come and go, depending on the whim of the carrier.

Low-cost airline Wizzair started operations from other countries and within Ukraine as well. The only other low cost carrier serving Ukraine is AirBaltic, with flights routing through either Riga, Latvia, or Vilnius, Lithuania. AeroSvit could also be considered a somewhat low-cost carrier. From 2011, Aerosvit offers flights between Kiev Boryspil and London Gatwick. Be advised that if you have a lot of baggage, Wizzair offers 30kg against the others 20kg allowances.

There are several airlines which offer direct flights to cities like Dnipropetrovsk Lufthansa, Donetsk Lufthansa, Austrian, Odessa LOT, Austrian, CSA Czech Airlines, Kharkiv and Lviv LOT, Austrian Airlines, but they are more expensive.

To fly inside Ukraine, the most common airline is Ukraine International Airlines. It is the unofficial national airline, and its routes cover all of Ukraine's major destinations. Planes used are newer Boeing 737 aircraft. Aerosvit also introduced flights within the country from its hub in Kiev, mainly flying newer Boeing 737 and 767 aircraft.

By train

There are daily direct overnight trains from Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Belgrade, Budapest, Bucharest and Sofia to Lviv or Kiev. When coming from Western Europe there will be a 2-3 hour wait at the border while the train's bogies are changed in order to adapt to a different rail gauge. It's generally quicker and cheaper to buy a ticket to the border and then change trains, rather than wait getting through train.

By bus

There are inexpensive direct bus services to Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk from Poland.They usually offer a budget level of comfort and cost about 90 to 100 hyrvnia 20 US$

Visa Requirements And Customs

Tourist visas are no longer required for citizens of the European Union, United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City, Monaco, Iceland, Norway, San Marino, Mongolia, Serbia, Montenegro, Georgia, Hong Kong, Israel, Paraguay, and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States except Turkmenistan. This applies only for tourist travel lasting less than 90 days (http://www.mfa.gov.ua/mfa...). Citizens of Macedonia may visit for 30-60 days visa free depending on the purpose of the trip.

For other countries, visas are obtainable within a few hours of visiting a Ukrainian consulate having received a 'letter of invitation' from one's perspective lodging or business provider.

More information is available at Ukraine's Embassy in your country and/or the Foreign service departments of your national governments or their embassy websites here in Ukraine.

Always know how much currency you have with you. Customs officials might inquire about the amount being brought into the country. It is prohibited to bring large amounts of Ukrainian currency hryvnia in to the country unless it was declared upon leaving Ukraine.

It is advisable to check in advance the customs regulations e.g. the Boryspol Airport website, which has an English version as rules and regulations have the habit of changing at short and unannounced notice.

When entering the country you will no longer be required to complete an immigration form.

By car

The nearest significant town on the Polish side is Przemyśl, and it's easy to find by following route #4 which passes through Przemyśl, also known as the E40 in European terms.

When you arrive, the road is fairly narrow no motorway/autobahn this with a queue of trucks and vans parked to the right of the road; a hard-core parking area with cafe/bar to the left. Don't stop behind the goods vehicles, slip up the side of them and then feed into the customs area when the guy flags you forward for courteous Europeans, you're not jumping the queue - commercial traffic goes through a different process.

If you're in an EU registered car then make for the EU-passports, passport control section. Thence to Ukrainian passport control and then Ukrainian customs and then you're through. It used to be a nightmare, with apocalyptic tales of 5-6+ hours at the border, but the Ukrainians have made great advances in efficiency and it takes about an hour to make the crossing 2012. Don't expect the border police to treat you in a friendly or even respectful manner, in fact, expect anything ranging from neutral to extremely obnoxious behavior.

Once through, just follow the main road towards Lviv on the E40 - this is the route right across Ukraine to Kiev and thence on to the east. Stick to this - the main towns on the way are Lviv, Rivne, Zhytomyr.

Watch out about 15-20 km inside Ukraine, in Mostyska, as police have gone crazy about traffic calming measures here speed bumps or sleeping policemen. They are like icebergs across the road, and very badly marked. There are about four or five sets of them through the village.

Other than that, take care on the road, which although the main east/west highway, and the main road route into the EU, still remains in a miserable condition surface-wise. You will soon realise why Ukraine has such poor statistics in relation to driver and pedestrian fatalities and injuries. Drive defensively is the optimum advice re the roads, other road users and the walking, riding public.