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MEDYKA TO LWOW TO KIEV...whats the road like...?

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Mar 15, 10, 17:09 #1

Has anyone driven from Medyka to Kiev recently and can give me a clue about the road condtions on that road...?

I know they are not too clever from the border to the Ternopil area , as i have already ridden that far on my Harley...This time i am taking a 4 x 4 but going a little further into Ukraine..Anyone done this trip , what sights should i visit in Kiev...?

I would like to visit the military museum , and the Chernobyl museum , anything else worth a look..?

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Edited by: Nathan Mar 15, 10, 19:11 #2

wildrover:

anything else worth a look..?

Well, first of all Kijiv is famous for its chestnuts and their blossom in May-June. So this is, probably, the best time to visit:
http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20092/18
If you are interested in Kijiv from architectural point of view, then:
Kievo_pechers'ka Lavra - the oldest monastery of Ukraine, based on the caves of monks living by the Dnipro river. It is a place of many saints of Orthodox church burial, dating back to XI century.

The Cathedral of Dormition

Andrijivskij Uzviz - the oldest street in Kijiv, on its steep descent there are ancient buildings, churches, always crowded by young painters and people selling books, works of art, souvenirs etc.:

At its top there is a famous St. Andrew's church of XVII century:
[imgs=http://www.uazone.net/go/gallery.cgi?gallery=Kyiv&what=news&ac=s how&id=227]St. Andrew's church[/imgs]
The Golden Gates of Kijiv:

Independance square - famous for its multiple historical events, but recently for the place of Orange revolution main location - Majdan Nezalezhnosti:

The Dniper, the 4th largest river in Europe, flows through Kijiv and Ukraine into the Black Sea. There are summer cruises in the summer time down the river. On the way you may visit Kaniv, place of burial Of Taras Shevchenko - the greatest Ukrainian poet of all times:

or go further to Khortytzya, the largest island on the Dnieper - the holy place of Ukrainian patriots, Zaporozhian Cossacks military base, where they lived and took decisions regarding wars with multiple enemies of the Ukrainian state:
http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20071/76
http://www.mapofukraine.net/zaporizhzhia/khortytsya/khortytsia.html
Kijiv National Opera House:

Here is a photo of a bandurist playing his instrument:
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Ukraine/West/Kyyivska/Ki%20%20 jiv/photo378339.htm
Presidential residence - Mariinsky Palace:
http://wikimapia.org/24751/Mariinsky-palace
This might be interesting place too:
Magdeburg Right Column:
http://www.uazone.net/go/gallery.cgi?gallery=Kyiv&what=news&ac=show&id =209
This is just a small part of what Kijiv has to offer. You will find tons and tons of places to go to: museums, historical places, concerts, nightclubs,.. This city dates back to 5th century (when it was a little settlement).

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Mar 15, 10, 19:46 #3

Thanks Nathan , thats definatly given me a few more ideas of places to see while i am there , it looks looks like a wonderfull city..A cruise on the Dnieper was something i had not thought of...

The purpose of the trip is to meet up with my Russian girlfriend who is travelling to Kiev from her home in Moscow , so we may be spending rather a lot of time just looking at each other but it would be a shame to be in such a historic city and not see some of it while we are there...

Ukraine is an ideal place for us to meet , as we can both travel there without any visa , yes folks , if you have an EU passport you can visit Ukraine for up to 90 days without a visa...

My impressions from my last visit there was... The roads are terrible . but the people , the food , and the beer were wonderfull...go there soon...!

NathanThreads: 33 Posts: 1,846 Joined: Feb 13, 09 ♂	Edited by: Nathan Mar 15, 10, 19:53 #4
wildrover: The roads are terrible . but the people , the food , and the beer were wonderfull...go there soon...! I cannot agree more :) wildrover: to meet up with my Russian girlfriend who is travelling to Kiev from her home in Moscow I wish all the best in your love, but if you decide to dump your Russian girlfriend, then the Dnieper is the best river to do it ;)

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,143 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Mar 15, 10, 20:00 #5
Nathan: if you decide to dump your Russian girlfriend, then the Dnieper is the best river to do it Ha , that made me smile....i don,t think i will be dumping her , even in such a lovely river , she is so lovely , and we are pretty well hooked on each other... I think we might have a romantic night time cruise on the river though...

NathanThreads: 33 Posts: 1,846 Joined: Feb 13, 09 ♂	Mar 15, 10, 20:07 #6
wildrover: I think we might have a romantic night time cruise on the river though... Nice, have fun! :)

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,143 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Mar 21, 10, 23:53 #7
Anyone know what condition the road from Lwow to Kiev is in...So far i have only driven as far as Tarnopil....does it get any better further along...?

Dr Nick 4

Mar 26, 10, 22:05 #8

Hello,

Drove all the way to Lugansk last summer. Bus drivers recommend going to Kiev via Rivne so we went that way. Its the E40.

There were a huge number of road works ongoing (to be ready for the European football cup).

Dont drive into Lviv unless your 4x4 is actually a tractor ;-) Terrible roads in there.

Go around the ring road of Lviv ( to the south) then head for Rivne and on to Kiev.

Apart from many roadworks, quality of road was OK all the way with the occasional big hole of course.

Cold winter may have made conditions much worse but since nobody else has replied with more recent info I hope this helps. Since it is the E40, one would hope they would patch any big cracks following the winter.

Have a great trip. We are going back ourselves at the end of May.

Cheers

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Mar 26, 10, 23:32 #9

Thanks for this information...I will avoid Lwow , and hope the roads are not too bad after the winter...I am sure my Jeep will cope better than my Harley did with the big holes...i came as close as i ever want to come to a big crash after hitting a huge hole just over the brow of a hill , and the bike needed new suspension when i got home , not to mention a new tailight that shook itself off on route...

I hope you have a safe trip too...i will let you know on the road conditions when i get back around 10th may...

Dr Nick 4	Mar 28, 10, 22:42 #10
I'd be interested to know how the road works are going on both sides of the Ukrainian/Polish border and also how long it takes you to cross the border this time. Have a good trip and dont forget - they still sell leaded petrol in Ukraine and Poland.

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Mar 28, 10, 23:11 #11

Dr Nick 4: they still sell leaded petrol in Ukraine and Poland.

Well..it won,t matter on this trip...i am planning on going in my diesal Jeep ..Last time i crossed the border i got waved to the front of ther que , and got straight through , seems the pretty customs lady was a Harley fan..Might be a different matter in a car i guess...

I shall give you a full report on the road conditions when i get back...

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Mar 29, 10, 18:09 #12

hey all, thinking about a short trip to UKR - novostavtsi/rivne... the wife has family around there.
Planned on crossing at Korczowa/Krakovets - heard it isn't normally as backed-up as medyka/shehyni... opinions? oh yeah, the wife's Polish, speaks Ukrainian fluently.
Also, anyone taken a US-registered vehicle across? still runnin my bike on the Wisconsin plates... my green insurance card is from PZU here in Poland but, oddly, not valid outside the EU... wierd... my other Beemer and the VW Polo have Polish plates and the green card is pretty much valid anywhere this side of The Pond...
buy a 'green card' at the border?
hmm...
all my other docs should be in order - even have a certified Polish translation of my US vehicle title on hand...
thanks for any ideas/pointers

"...I know, it's only rock 'n roll... but I like it..."

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Mar 29, 10, 19:13 #13

I don,t think you are going to have any problems with the USA plates on your bike , your biggest problem on a bike is going to be the terrible state of the roads over there...

I consider myself a very experianced rider , been riding on the roads since i was 16 , i am now 56 , and got 24 years of racing experiance , despite this i was almost on my ass several times after hitting huge holes in the road , not to mention the grooves , ripples , ridges , and loose surfaces....It just wasn,t fun at all , it was just sheer hard work all the way...forget riding at night..its just too dangerous...

Whatever insurance you may have , you are required to buy insurance at the border , it does not cost much , and only covers you against injuring anyone Ukrainian , or damaging Ukrainian property...They used to point you at a small cabin at the border to get this insurance , but they did not do this when i crossed at Medyka...I got it later in town...

I don,t think your poor wife is going to be very happy after 20 miles of sitting on the back of a bike on these roads..but if you are going to do it...i wish you luck..and a safe journey....

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Mar 29, 10, 19:40 #14

Thanks... been ridin awhile myself... started about 14-15... 52 now... you may be right about the wife though... the bike is a GS... a 1000cc "dirt bike" with a 36 liter tank... the bike and i have been to Prudhoe Bay (the last 400-odd miles was washed-out gravel)...

The trip to Guatemala was... interesting (do cows sleep in the middle of the road in Ukraine? ;-)
...did the bus ride from Donetsk to Lviv last year... the slams from the potholes wasn't as bad as the constant side-to-side slamming caused by the bus trying to climb out of the deep ruttted tracks... and not nearly as bad as "public transportation" in Belize (riding in the open back of an over-populated Toyota HiLux down hours of "washboard")
Ukraine was one of the reasons I brought the GS over... might advise the wife to stay closer to home 'til she gets her "road butt"...
thanks for the info though... might take you up on that piwo and kielbasa (any idea where to pick up a decent chunk of dead cow meat around here?) ...mebbe in the near future...
spaciba... djakuju... or whatever they say over there... ;-)

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Edited by: wildrover Mar 29, 10, 19:58 #15

celticbrooder: GS... a 1000cc "dirt bike"

Well thats sure going to be a better ride than the Harley sportster i made the trip on...I might be tempted to make the trip again on a bike if i have something that can cope better with the roads...

I reckon with your experiance , and the bike you have , the trip to Ukraine is not going to be so bad , but as you say its better to leave the wife out of the trip untill she gets her road butt..A trip like this could put her off bikes for life...

I didn,t see any cows in the road in Ukraine , but i did see several manhole covers that had been stolen for scrap metal..the considerate bandits often place a tree branch in the hole to warn road users its gone , and due to the fact the local government can,t afford to replace them the tree branch often takes root...Yep..no kidding , i have seen a tree growing in the middle of the passing lane on a main road...!

Don,t know a good place to pick up decent cow meat in your area , but the Poles are big meat eaters , so i am sure if you ask around you can get some decent stuff , might be a good idea to make friends with a local farmer...

For sure we will be having a piwo and Kielbasa at some point somewhere in this land...

celticbrooderThreads: - Posts: 20 Joined: Mar 15, 10 ♂	Edited by: celticbrooder Mar 29, 10, 20:47 #16
wildrover: the Harley sportster i made the trip on ... some photos... jsut for fun... BTW How are your kidneys? ;-)

convexThreads: 47 Posts: 7,189 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Mar 29, 10, 21:03 #17
celticbrooder: BTW How are your kidneys? ;-) hahaha, that's the truth

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Edited by: delphiandomine Mar 29, 10, 21:25 #18

celticbrooder: Planned on crossing at Korczowa/Krakovets - heard it isn't normally as backed-up as medyka/shehyni... opinions? oh yeah, the wife's Polish, speaks Ukrainian fluently.

Kroscienko is the best bet for a quick crossing (never more than an hour to cross there!), but it's a bit out of the way. However, see below.

celticbrooder: Also, anyone taken a US-registered vehicle across?

Get an IDP for a start, it'll avoid any hassle.

With insurance, it very much depends on who you see on the day. Generally speaking at Medyka, they will ask for a bribe to let you go the 100m or so into Shegyni to buy the insurance - in which case, you want to walk across into Ukraine via the pedestrian crossing, buy the insurance, then walk back. But - before you do this, check out the state of the non-EU queue into Poland first. If you ask the border guards nicely, they'll let you look - you can't see without passing through Polish passport control, but you can always ask :) If the queue is out of the building, then it's probably more worthwhile just to bribe the Ukranians to let you drive in without the insurance.

Other border crossings - I don't know. I would assume that there's insurance outlets at all the crossings, but I can't be certain. But you might be able to arrange some sort of insurance in Poland in advance - I know PZU has a Ukranian branch, for instance.

The state of Medyka is a shame on Poland - it's not just Ukraine that's responsible for the queues. The latest proposal there is to build the passport/customs hut right on the border for pedestrians, meaning that Ukraine will have to deal with the queues of pissed off people rather than Poland. You would think after endless riots at Medyka, they would build a facility capable of processing people!