The capital of Ukraine, the city of Kiev, the cultural and economic center of the country, is visited by hundreds of tourists every day. Kiev leaves no one indifferent. Here you will find entertainment for every taste: during the day you can explore historical antiquities, taste dishes in numerous restaurants of national cuisine, walk in parks and alleys, admire the majestic panorama of the Dnieper, and at night go to have fun in nightclubs and bars. There are several ways to get to Kiev. This can be done by plane; by train; by bus.
How to get to Kiev quickly
Most tourists, in order to save time and their own nerves, prefer to travel between cities using airplanes. Since October 2015, air traffic between the cities of Russia and Kiev was interrupted. Therefore, now travelers have to fly from Moscow to Kiev with transfers. Previously, the flight took only an hour and a half, now this time increases to 4-5 hours, which is also not bad compared to the time spent traveling between two cities by train or bus.
The easiest way is to fly to Kiev with a transfer in Minsk, Chisinau or Riga. To fly through Riga, you do not need to apply for a transit visa if you do not plan to leave the airport to walk around the city. The same goes for flights through other European cities within the Schengen area. The Baltic carrier AirBaltic offers not very convenient connections: the waiting time for the next plane can take up to 8 hours. On the other hand, it can be spent on walks in the same Riga, if the passport contains a Schengen visa. The shortest connections can be found on Belavia flights.
There are also more interesting flight options. For example, you can fly to Kiev via Istanbul or Baku. There are also planes flying from the St. Petersburg Pulkovo airport to Borispol (Kiev) with a dock in Minsk or Riga.
Directly to Kiev by train
How to get to Kiev without spending extra money on the road? Take the train. The train "Ukraine" runs between Moscow and Kiev, which will take all passengers to their destination in about 13 hours. Just half an hour longer to Kiev there is a train from Moscow to Chisinau. However, tickets for it will cost almost a thousand rubles less than for the train "Ukraine". In general, several more transit trains can be reached to Kiev. Kiev is one of the stops along the way. There are a lot of such trains, which makes life much easier for travelers.
Another option is to go to the capital of Ukraine with transfers. Many tourists prefer such routes so as not to have problems with border services. For example, you can get from Moscow to Minsk, and then take a train to Kiev. But such a trip will have to spend much more time.
A branded train "Lybid" leaves St. Petersburg from the Vitebsk railway station every other day. The trip will take about a day.
Economically - by bus
If you agree to travel for a long time, but at the same time significantly save on tickets, then a bus is your option. How to get to Kiev by bus and how much will it cost?
There is a direct bus service between Moscow and Kiev. The journey will take about 19 hours, which is quite difficult even for those who are used to taking bus tours. But tickets will cost between 2000-3000 rubles.
Buses also travel from St. Petersburg to Kiev. They leave from the Gostiny Dvor metro station. All international buses arrive at the central bus station in Kiev.
