Odessa Tips and Advice

Here are some good advice that we will share with you .This is based on our experience after several stays in Odessa. You may consider it as a "survival guide" for travellers to Odessa.

Taxi

Most taxi drivers speak poor English but this is usually not a problem. If you know how to say your destination they will understand. Worst case scenario is that they will call someone that speaks English to help them over the phone.  

It is common to agree on a price in advance. Locals usually don't pay more then 20-40 Hryvna for a taxi-ride anywhere. For foreigners the drivers usually suggest 80 or 100. We are always satisfied if we can negotiate the price down to 60. That is for a 15-20 minute ride to for instance Arcadia beach. At night you will have a hard time to get a taxi ride home from Arcadia area for less than 100 Hryvna. (It is still no more than approximately 22 dollars so you're not hurting anyway).

The drivers we have met are mostly friendly and they get you to your destination with no hassle.  From and to the airport we would recommend you to use the pickup service offered by your hotel or your apartment agency. This way you are guaranteed a hassle free experience on your most important taxi ride.

Cash is king

The currency in Ukraine is Hryvna (pronounced Grivna).The letter code of the currency is UAH.

As of August 30, 2008: 1 dollar = 4.67 Grivna.

Remember that interpreters usually are paid in dollars. It is therefore necessary to have some twenty-dollar bills in your pocket. If you don't want to use your credit cards everywhere it is handy to carry some local currency when you walk around.

There are many ATMs in the city. Sometimes they don't work or behave a little odd, but usually its fine. Remember that Ukraine is a poor country compared to US and Western Europe so have that in mind when you handle cash in the public.

Bring at least two cards

You should always bring at least to cards when you travel. In addition to my debit card I have a credit card. This is to avoid being totally lost if you for some reason should lose one of them. So keep one of the cards as a backup safely stored at your hotel room or apartment. Another thing is that if you use one card for a number of times at ATMs the bank in certain cases locks your account for a while. This happened to one of us, but luckily he had another one.

Buy a cash card (SIM) for your cell phone

If you travel with friends or/and you visit Odessa in order to meet a woman, you need to get a local phone number. This is not only practical when contacting women, but it also a lot cheaper than using your regular SIM card. All you have to is go to a shop that sells cell phones and ask for "Life 25 grivna". This means a cash SIM card from the company Life, worth 25 UHR. For this you get 100 minutes of calls or and a number of text messages. You can off course buy for more than 25 UHR if you want to. The clerk will help you to switch your SIM and press the right code to make it work. I you need refill you just go back and buy more of the same. The clerk will help you again to press the code so you can continue to use the same number.

Observations at restaurants

We have noticed that in many cafés and restaurants it can take a while to get service and even get what you ordered. I guess you just have to switch to a different mode when you are in Ukraine. You are on vacation anyway?  They do things a bit different and this may change to the better when they get more experience with foreign tourists. They are very good at keeping your table clean and steady while you're having your meal. Empty bottles and dirty paper napkins are constantly removed. They are maybe too good at this, because my friend was a bit annoyed by the fact that the waiter removed his empty plate while he was still tewing his last chunk of meat.

Beware that things we take for granted as a complimentary like bread and butter can be listed on your bill. There is a 5-10 % charge at the end of your bill and this is a service charge. You are free to tip in addition to this if you are really satisfied.

Police

The police want bother you in the centre of the city if you blend in and behave like a descent human being. At Arcadia at night, it is a different scenario. Be ready to be stopped by two (usually young) police officers with big funny hats and be asked to show them your passport. If you don't have your passport (which we don't recommend you to carry), they will make you come with them to a more private place nearby. Then they offer you to pay approximately 300 Hryvna to let you go. If you disagree (as one of us did), they tell you that you then will have to go through "protocol".

Have in mind that public servicemen in Ukraine have very low salaries. They take the opportunity to make a little extra cash.

Our man ended up paying them the 300 just to get back to his friends because he started to get bored by them (and he did'nt want to find out what "protocol" was). This happened on a Monday where there were fewer tourists in Arcadia than on weekends. On weekends chances are less that you will be stopped. Just try to avoid them if you see them.

It is our believe that this young police officers wouldn't risk to beat a tourist or anything because weI have the feeling that they don't want any publicity around their little "operation". It is possible that their superiors don't know about it either.

Flowers

A good advice is to bring flowers to a date. This is always very popular. You can't go wrong with red roses. Remember to buy the roses in odd numbers. Even numbers are for funerals only. This is very important in Ukraine.
We did not find any flower shops last time we were in Odessa, but there are some old women selling roses sitting on the sidewalk of Preobrazhenskaya str near the park.