<\/p>\n
Kiev feels like a proper metropolis, a kind of small Moscow. It is also a city of contrasts: it has its beautiful gold-domed churches and monasteries, its pompous Soviet-era monuments, and its tall glass capitalist buildings. It has large chaotic avenues and small cobblestone alleyways. It has posh upscale restaurants and nightclubs and traditional modest Ukrainian caf\u00e9s. This contrast makes it a very interesting city where you can easily spend a week or more.<\/p>\n
The Dnipro river divides the city into a west and east bank. You are likely to spend most of your time on the west bank as that\u2019s where the city centre and most of the transport connections are.<\/p>\n
Your main reference point in the city centre is Khreshchatyk Street, which starts on top of the banks of the Dnipro and runs south through Kiev\u2019s main square, Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti), and further south until it intersects with one of Kiev\u2019s other major avenues, Shevchenko Boulevard, which is where Bessarabska Square lies.<\/p>\n
Of course, Kiev\u2019s Fan Zone will be located right in the centre on Independence Square and Khreshchatyk Street.<\/p>\n
The city centre basically stretches out on both sides of Khreshchatyk Street. Most monuments are located in the northern part of the centre, whereas most caf\u00e9s and restaurants tends to be a bit more toward the south.<\/p>\n
As in most Eastern-European cities there is no lack of green, with especially the banks of the river Dnipro providing for good options to escape the sometimes hectic city.<\/p>\n
National Sports Complex Olimpiyskiy<\/a> \u2013 70,050 seats.<\/p>\n
It are not the Ukrainians, but the Swedes that will play all of their group matches at the Olympiyskiy. The Ukrainians instead have opted to play two of their three matches in Donetsk, possibly because Donetsk has more of a football culture.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainians do play their first match at the stadium, against the Swedes obviously, who will then receive England and France in Kiev. The winner of the group will then play the number two of group C at the stadium (who will have to come from Poland). And of course, the final will also be played in Kiev.<\/p>\n
Two teams have made Kiev their base: Ukraine and Sweden. The Ukrainians will sleep, eat, and train at the FC Dynamo Kyiv Training Center in Koncha Zaspa, south of the city of Kiev.<\/p>\n
The Swedes will stay in the same area at the Platinum Hotel in Kozyn. They will train at the Ukraine Olympic Training Center in Koncha Zaspa. The Koncha Zaspa area, on the banks of the Dnipro river, is primarily known as the playground for Ukrainian\u2019s rich and famous with large mansions and various recreational facilities.<\/p>\n
Kiev is located in the centre of Ukraine, which means that the country’s borders are not particularly close by – with the exception of the Belarus. But if you are coming from Western or Northern Europe, you almost certainly fly into the city.<\/p>\n
Kiev has two airports: the main International Airport Boryspil (Borispol) and the smaller Zhuliany Airport. Practically all major airlines fly on Boryspil, though low-cost airline Wizzair<\/a> (which has direct flights to several Western-European countries) has made Zhuliany Airport its base.<\/p>\n
Though you can walk to most city centre locations, you are likely to use the Kiev metro<\/a> now and then. Which is no punishment as some of the stations are quite the attraction. The Kiev metro is the deepest in the world and various stations have beautiful designs. At station Teatralna you can even find a bas-relief of Lenin, and on Sundays this station is used by the elderly of Kiev to do some traditional dancing.<\/p>\n
As with all Polish and Ukrainian cities, eating and drinking is very much concentrated in the city centre. And as with any large city, Kiev has everything you might wish for.<\/p>\n
That said, Kiev has more of a clubbing culture than a bar culture. If you are into hard partying and dancing until dawn, Kiev is your city. Which does mean dressing up a little and paying not insignificant prices for your drinks.<\/p>\n
Most (but not all) clubs are located in the centre, with the focal point arguably Club Arena<\/a> on Bessarabska Square. But more clubs lie in the vicinity on Shevchenko Boulevard and around Khreshchatyk Street.<\/p>\n
Kiev offers restaurants of all international cuisines, but don’t fail to try the self-service restaurants that often offer cheap and excellent Ukrainian food. Puzata Hata<\/a> (see Lviv<\/a> for more info) and Domashnya Kukhnya are two well-known chains, but there are also smaller options.<\/p>\n
There is enough to see and do in the city to keep you from getting bored for at least a week.<\/p>\n
Even if you are not into visiting churches, you may want to make an exception for one or more of Kiev\u2019s gold-domed churches and monasteries. Both St Sophia\u2019s Cathedral and St Michael\u2019s Monastery are worth the small walk uphill from Independence Square. You can then continue up the hill to St Michael\u2019s Church and on down the hill through artistic Andriyivsky Uzviz to the Podil area down by the river. It\u2019s a good area for (Soviet-era) souvenir shopping and there are quite a few trendy restaurants too.<\/p>\n
Possibly the main attraction of Kiev is the Pecherska Lavra monastery (more golden domes), which sits high on the banks of the Dnipro. It lies slightly west of the city centre, but at walking distance (15 minutes) from Arsenal metro station. Its highlight are the caves with mummified monks.<\/p>\n
And while you’re there, don\u2019t forget to walk a bit further up the river to the Motherland statue. It\u2019s a massive statue-of-liberty-like statue, and a fascinating Soviet-era monument.<\/p>\n
The area around the Dnipro river is overall pleasant to spend some time in, also the bits closer to the city centre. Stadium-enthusiasts should also pass by the Lobanovsky Stadium, home of FC Dynamo until this year, and located only 500 metres away from Independence Square.<\/p>\n
Shopping can be done all over the city centre. A modern indoor shopping centre lies right on Independence Square. Bessarabska Square has a similar modern mall, but also an underground complex consisting of a maze of narrow passages with many small shops that offer goods for more reasonable prices. The Market building on Bessarabska Square offers all types of food products.<\/p>\n
For those who wish to escape the sometimes unbearable heat, there is the Hidropark situated on one of the islands in the Dnipro river. It has a number of river beaches and all sorts of water-related entertainment. Metro station Hidropark is located right on the island.<\/p>\n
The Chornobyl museum in the Padol area is impressive and well-done, and deserves a visit. Those fascinated by the disaster can even visit the actual reactor and nearby ghost town of Prypiat. The area gets increasingly opened up for tourist and day trips are offered from Kiev. It\u2019s an impressive visit, but very pricey. And don\u2019t tell the Ukrainians as they will look at you in astonishment wondering why someone would want to visit the site of such disaster.<\/p>\n
Apart from that there is not much to see outside the city and other Ukrainian cities are at least a long train ride away. Though if you\u2019re fascinated by Ukrainian rural life you could go to the open-air museum of folk architecture in the town of Pyrohovo just south of Kiev. It\u2019s not a bad place to spend some time if the weather is nice.<\/p>\n
Orientation Kiev feels like a proper metropolis, a kind of small Moscow. It is also a city of contrasts: it has its beautiful gold-domed churches and monasteries, its pompous Soviet-era…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[255],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[],"yoast_head":"\n