Kyiv is the city where the new and the ancient make excellent chances for cultural and aesthetic tourism. However, before you become a visitor to this fabulous city, take your time to figure out at least two questions: where you will spend your nights and how you are going to get around the place.
Let us discuss picking an accommodation. Depending on your budget and personal preference, you could either choose to rent a room in a Kiev hotel, or rent an apartment. Count the stars on Kiev hotels to evaluate the comfort you require and the price you can afford.
Kiev has several high-class hotels. There are virtually dozens of less luxurious Kiev accommodation opportunities. A luxury accommodation will cost you around $400-850 per night, 4 stars will cost $150-$500, 3 star hotels will cost you about $70-300, 2 stars will be from $50 to 120 and small and one star hotels cost around 25-100 per 24 hours.
There are as well several hostels in Kiev for students and young people. In an ordinary hostel you will find modest but fresh accommodation and some sofas or beds in one and the same room.
If you are looking for an opportunity to save some buck, you might want to rent an apartment. Instead of a small hotel room for about $90-150 you could get a luxury apartment in the downtown. Single room cheep flats can be found for no more than $50. Many companies that allow you to rent this kind of Kyiv apartments may even meet you at the airport. The rule of thumb of here is to book the room some days ahead.
In case you are tight with funds or would like to have something more extreme, you may try renting a berth in a train car. There's a train station ?Karavaevy dachi? where you can negotiate a sleeping place for about $15. Try this at your own risk.
Of course noone comes to Kyiv to spend their time indoors. The megalopolis has lots of wonderful places to visit if you are able to find your way around. There's nothing to worry about, though. The public transportation is quite appropriate.
The most convenient way to move around is Kiev taxis. They will deliver you you from the station to your hotel or apartment for no more than $35. Generally, for a foreigner, the Ukrainian taxis should be reasonably inexpensive. It is easy to taxi Kiev around. However, in case you do not plan on using only taxis in Kyiv, the city has some other transport options to offer.
In the first place, it is the subway that covers most of the city. It is especially suitable when you travel a long way during hot hours with huge traffic jams on the roads. Second of all, you can use buses, trolley busses and trams. These are rather inexpensive: you are charged a fixed fee to go any distance. Nevertheless, they don't have a schedule of passage. Next, you could always walk around or use Kiev's special transport - funicular that goes up the bank of Dnieper River. At last, you can simply walk around.
Come visit Kyiv. The city disposes of plenty of sights to impress a curious visitor.