Dniepropetrovsk

48° 25' 28.82" N 35° 8' 0.92" E [48.4247, 35.1336] (KML)

Dniepropetrovsk [M] is an industrial centre of Ukraine that was a hub for the Soviet military industry. As such, no foreigners were allowed to visit without official permission until the 1990s. As an industrial centre still, it suffers from heavy pollution issues, but is generally well maintained and provides an interesting insight into real working life in Ukraine.

Dnipropetrovsk International Airport [S] (IATA: DNK) is served by both Ukrainian and international airlines.

Flights to/from Kiev [M] run about USD 60 each way (June 2006).

The train is the main means of transportation, and the city is connected to all the Ukrainian cities, as well as other places in the neighboring countries.

As of mid-2005 there is a new high-speed (by Ukrainian standards) train connecting DNK and Kiev [M], and most Kiev to Crimea services also stop in DNK.

Avtolux and Gunsel (Гюнсел), but run buses to Kiev [M].

There are reports about ferries that go down the Dineper from Kiev [M].

There is a network of Trams and Marshutkas that go around the city. Trams cost 1 grivna, and Marshutkas cost 2 grivna.

Take a walk in the new European square and visit the beautifully painted town cathedral [S] before taking a walk down the main boulevard to the military museum [S] and the monument with a beautiful view over the Dnieper river.

If you get time it's worth visiting the island parks on the Dnieper. Walk up the main boulevard for 5 blocks from European Square and then turn left. Continue down to Shevchenko park [S] where you'll find a bridge that takes you across to one of the island parks. Here you can enjoy some relatively clean air, take a quiet stroll in the center of the city, pick up an ice cream or beer, and take a ride on some of the features of the old Soviet-style funfair.

Visit the war museum [S] to have a seat in some old Soviet WWII weaponry in a proper hands-on fashion. Find out about the defense of Ukrainian Russia.

Borscht, borscht, cutlet po kiev, and cutlet po domashanoy, my personal favorite, olivea is an all right mayonnaise salad and plove for a good rice dish. And for a quick meal get a schwarma, there is a great place in the city center.

• Puzata Hata, Liebknecht / Marx str.. 8-21. Ukrainian national cuisine. A vast range of meals. 4-7 USD.  

Try the restuarant whose name translates as Full Stomachs, just off European Sq. towards the main church

Though there are few quality drinking spots some do exist. The best would be reporter, on karl marx a couple blocks past the town square. The second would be master schmidt which has some live music and is a bit more alternative, on schmidt street about 3 or 4 blocks up from karl marx on the left. For more of a club scene there is labrynth and berlin, inquire locally for the exact location. And if you choose to be really adventurous you can attempt a metro party, getting off on each of the 5 metro stops and drinking a drink, though beware, in two attempts I have yet to reach success. Lastly for more of a local scene you can simply have a drink on the street, by the river which is a quite nice walk, or just in the city center.

There are a nice amount of hotels around the city. Its also possible to rent an apartment.

• Hotel Ukraina [S]

Be wary of groups of drunken people roaming around.

Text content was last edited at 15:54, on 8 March 2010 by Wikitravel user Burmesedays. Based on work by Peter Fitzgerald, Andrew Haggard, David and Рома Болгарин, Wikitravel user(s) Inas and The Yeti, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others. A list of contributors is available at the original article on Wikitravel. This text content is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0.