Vacations

Odessa is outside the usual vacation circuit for most westerners. Most westerners who come to Ukraine, and particularly Odessa, are interested in meeting women. Odessa is one of the best regions in Ukraine to do so. Odessa is the largest port on the Black Sea and with that, has many nice beaches. Odessa used to be one of the major vacation destinations in what used to be the Soviet Union. Peak vacationing time in Odessa runs from roughly May 15 through the end of September.

The Main Tourist Strip

Derabosovskaya is the main center of tourism for Odessa. This is where you are most likely to run into other English-speaking people. Being the center of the tourist market, you can expect for prices on everything to be significantly higher.

Apartments booked in the center of town through most agencies during the summer are likely to run you $75 – $125 a night. In most cases, this is well worth it as the majority of Ukrainian hotels have very small rooms and fairly basic furnishings. Outside of the center, rates tend to run $60 – $100 a night. Depending upon your expectations, it is possible to get reasonably decent apartments for significantly less. Conversely, anything near the main beaches will be much, much higher.

There are plenty of restaurants catering to a reasonable range of tastes – traditional Russian and Ukrainian, several Mediterranean restaurants, a couple half-way decent pizza places, several pubs with traditional casual fare. A bit of searching will turn up a good, albeit expensive Sushi restaurant, an almost decent Mexican restaurant, a mix of Chinese restaurants, and a burger joint. We’ll be covering these separately, soon.

There are plenty of nightclubs – most of which charge a cover charge ranging from $5 to $10. Most of these also have a restaurant attached and typically their food is really good, if pricey. This comes with a big note of caution to avoid going out alone, flashing money, getting drunk and leaving late at night – by yourself or with someone. Most foreigners stand out and make for very easy targets in Odessa. That said, if you go with a few friends and stick together – have someone with you who can speak reasonable Russian, you will avoid most trouble. This is typical to traveling anywhere though. We’ll be covering some of these shortly, too.

So – yes, that’s pretty basic fare so far – What else is there?

A world-famous opera house, an impressive comedy theater, a dolphin show sometimes with expanded entertainment on weekend evenings. And… plenty of historical sites, especially for avid World War II history buffs. There are also plenty of casinos, though they tend to be mostly empty… Oh, and there is a ten lane bowling alley on the outskirts of town.

To be honest though – no one from the west comes here for any of the above. There’s no reason to build up your expectations. When you get here, you will see Odessa is a lot like every other city in most respects. More city parks than many American cities, but overall – pretty basic. It has all of the potential to be a resort city – it just has not happened.

Again, most men who come to Odessa are interested in meeting women – especially within the Odessa, Nicholaev and Kherson areas. Are they really that good looking? Yes. Are they all angels? No. A lot of them area.

So – if anything, that is probably what you want to know more about. The long-term living section covers the other interests why someone from the west would want to live in Ukraine.

We’ll talk more about the Women of Ukraine in the next few days…