English
Español
中文
हिन्दी
FrançaisTravel and Tourism
Travel and Tourism in Ukraine
Travel alerts, currency, climate, transit, health, and safety information for visitors to Ukraine.
Practical Information
Travel alert status, currency, climate, and transit details.
- Travel Alert Status
- Level 4: Do Not Travel
- Time Difference
- UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
- Currency
- hryvnia (UAH)
- Climate
- The Ukraine climate is similar to the wheat-producing regions of Canada and is characterized by abundant precipitation and cloudy skies, especially in fall and winter. Snow can start as early as October and not end until April. The mean temperature in summer is 87°F (30°C) and in winter 16°F (-8°C). Although summers are short, the temperature can soar to the 90s. Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, hot in the south.
- Language(s) Spoken
- Ukrainian is the official language. Minorities including Hungarian, Polish and Romanian may speak their own languages. Ethnic minorities now have the legal right to use their own language in public and judicial matters.
- Ethnic Groups
- Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8%
- National Holiday
- Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence from Soviet Russia, and the date the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day
- Geographic Coordinates
- 49 00 N, 32 00 E
- Location
- Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east
- Airports
- 702
Destinations
Regions and cities, top sights, national parks, UNESCO sites, and festivals for visitors.
Pripyat — The Ghost City
Pripyat has become, involuntarily and entirely without intention, one of the most historically significant places in the late twentieth-century world. In the decades since its abandonment, the city has been slowly, inexorably reclaimed by nature. Trees grow up through cracked apartment floors. Moss covers the tiles of school gymnasia. Birch and aspen forest has colonized the city's wide Soviet boulevards, their roots pushing up the pavement. The famous Ferris wheel in the amusement park, never ridden because the park never opened, stands rusting in an overgrown field, its gondolas slowly corroding in the Pripyat air.
The abandonment was sudden and comprehensive. Apartments retain their furniture and personal effects. Schools still have lesson materials on the desks. The hospital retains medical equipment. The fairground is still set up for the opening day that never came.
Every country, every topic, all activities & recipes
✓ Instant access on this device · ✓ No subscription
Health and Safety
Medical facilities, vaccinations, disease risk, and sanitation conditions.
If you are ill or infirm, we strongly recommend that you do not travel to Ukraine. Ukraine is not a disabled-friendly environment, with little or no accommodations to ease access. Elderly travelers and those with existing health problems may be at risk due to inadequate medical facilities. State ambulance service is inadequate and it can take hours to get a response even in an emergency.
Every country, every topic, all activities & recipes
✓ Instant access on this device · ✓ No subscription