Transportation in Odessa Ukraine

Odessa has regular air connections with Vienna (Austrian Airlines and Air Ukraine International, daily), Tel Aviv (ElAl), Istanbul (Turkey Airlines), Athens, Aleppo, Larnaka, Moscow, Kiev, Kishineu, Yerevan, Tiflis as well as with some other cities of Europe and Asia.

See plane schedules of Odessa airport.

Airport of Odessa works with following companies:
• Austrian airlines
• Lot
• Hungarian airlines
• Aerosvit
• Ukraine International Airlines

Trains connect Odessa with Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, Saint?Petersburg, major cities of Ukraine and many other cities of the former Soviet Union.

Train classification in Ukraine differs from European one. Carriages and cabins do or do not have some usual for European or American traveler amenities. To serve you better, we have made a Ukrainian Train Guide with some simple and detailed classification.

See trains timetable of Odessa railway station.

You can travel by ship between Odessa or Yalta and various cities on the Black Sea and Mediterranean. The main year-round destinations are Haifa (Israel), Limassol (Cyprus), Piraeus (Greece) and Port Said (Egypt). The most frequent and reliable is the Odessa to Istanbul route. It's also possible to sail down the Danube River between Odessa and a number of Eastern European river ports.

See ferries timetable and information about Odessa Passenger Terminal.

Buses go between Odessa and Germany (Berlin, Hamburg, Munich), Greece (Thessalonica, Athens), Bulgaria (Varna, Sophia) as well as major cities in Ukraine.
Buses route in Ukraine:

• Autolux
• Gunsel

Public Transportation.
Odessa has extensive public transport system which operates from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Buses, trams and trolleys are rather slow, but it is a cheap way to travel within cities. Prices range from 50 kopecks to 1.5 hryvnas.

Taxi
Taxi is comparatively cheap for Ukrainian/Russian speaking passengers. Probably everywhere situation with taxi is like this - if one speaks a foreign language price for a taxi goes up. A taxi or a gypsy cab can be hired right on the street simply by putting out your hand. Services of gypsy cabs are less expensive but are not recommended from the safety point of view. However, if you wish to use a gypsy cab make sure there is nobody else inside but the driver and negotiate the price before you get in the car.

There are numerous taxi services, orders are taken via phone:

Taxi Jaguar Classic (8067)585-73-03
Municipal taxi tel. in Odessa 070, 34-5077
Taxi Ogonek tel. in Odessa 733-3515, 732-7640, 733-3537
Taxi Pantera-Express tel. in Odessa 34-2000, 349-182
Radio-Taxi tel. in Odessa 10-10, 7-310-310
Taxi tel. in Odessa 10-13, 080
Taxi Platan tel. in Odessa 10-20, (0482)22-10-20, (067)483-5152, (050)336-2010
Express-Taxi tel. in Odessa 088, 728-7017

Odessa has regular connection with all Ukraine cities such as Kiev, Kharkov, Lviv, Lugansk, Donetsk etc. Of course you can get Cremia towns by ships or ferries. It takes 5 hours to get Kiev by buses and 10 by trains which are more comfortable. Average cost of a ticket is about $15. Travel to Yalta takes about 10 hours by buses available in summer.

Train classification in Ukraine differs from European one. Carriages and cabins do or do not have some usual for European or American traveler amenities. To serve you better, we have made a Ukrainian Train Guide with some simple and detailed classification. 

Express Trains
These are the best trains, usually going overnight between big regional centers of the country. Those trains  make quite a few stopovers en-rout, have carriages of good quality and OK service. Express trains usually have 1st, 2nd and 3rd class carriages.
Some of those trains include 1st class carriages for peak seasons, and exclude them for the rest of the year.
Express train numbers vary from 001 to 149.

Passenger Trains
Quite slow trains, making numerous stopovers. Traveling might take up to 30 hours for long-distance routs.  The quality of a train depends on a rout and may vary from good to barely acceptable.
As a rule, these trains have 2nd, 3rd and 4th class carriages.
Passenger train numbers vary from 171 to 699.

Suburban Trains

There are two sorts of these trains: electric and diesel.  The trains go within a region limits or between two regions close to each other. Quality of the trains is very low and the trains are extremely slow, usually overcrowded, especially in summer, have no sleeping berths. Short distance travel might take up to 6 hours, while going by car would cut the time twice.

Train Carriages

Carriages' classification in Ukraine differs from European standards. There are 5 types of carriages on the trains in Ukraine: SW (sleeping wagon), coupe, platzcart, common wagon (with numbered reserved seats), sit up (on suburban trains) For convenience we have put classification - 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th class.

1st class, (SW), sleeper
This is the best type of carriages in Ukraine. Every carriage has 9 cabins, 2 berths in each cabin.

Beneath the lower berth(s) there is a box for luggage, which can accommodate 1-2 medium bags. Bigger storage for luggage is in the niche above the door. There is a small unfolding table by the window. Every cabin has a door lock and can be locked from inside.

There are two models of 1st class cabins:
- with horizontal berths (two berths on the same level)
- with vertical berths (one berth is above another, those cabins usually have a wash-stand under unfolding table lid)

Each carriage has WCs with wash-stands, 2 per each carriage.

1st class cabins are air-conditioned at the summer time. Air-conditioning is functioning while the train engine is working. Therefore it might be rather hot in the first hour or so of the trip and when the train is making stopovers.

One or two stewards serve every carriage.

2nd class, (coupe), sleeper

2nd class is usually quite acceptable type of carriages. The quality depends on a train.  Each carriage has 9 cabins, each cabin has 4 berths -  2 lower and 2 upper ones. There are boxes for luggage below lower berths. Bigger storage for luggage is in the niche above the door. There is a small unfolding table by the window. Every cabin has a door lock and can be locked from inside. 2nd class cabins in Express trains are usually air-conditioned but not always. Each carriage has WCs with washing-stands, 2 per each carriage. One or two stewards serve every carriage.

3rd class, (platzcart), sleeper
Not the best choice. Each carriage has 54 berths, among which 36 berths of normal type (in cabins) and 18 side located (along the passageway). Berths are in  two levels. 

Cabins have no doors and cannot be locked.

There are boxes for luggage below lower level berths in cabins, and small luggage niches below side located ones. Under the upper level berths there are  small berths for storing the luggage. 

Each carriage has WCs with washing-stands, 2 per each carriage.

One or two stewards serve every carriage.

In spite of very low quality of 3rd class carriages they are popular in Ukraine, the reason is their very low tickets price.

4th class, (common wagon) 
Totally not acceptable option. 

Actually, this is a 3rd class carriage, for which tickets are sold without assigning exact berth numbers (or just with symbolic number of a seat ). The unlimited quantity of tickets can be sold for this type of a carriage since it is supposed that it can accommodate 150 persons at a time.