Explore Kyiv with Fwdays

7 min readFeb 24, 2020

🇺🇦 Цей текст українською

Kyiv, Ukraine, is one of the less-known European gems. It’s full of cultural landmarks, historical places, and thriving urban gastronomy. If you feel like running away from an overcrowded and overly expensive part of Europe, then Kyiv is your place to go.

And trust us, your wallet will like it too. It’s one of those rare cities, where staying, eating and going out for a week won’t cost you a monthly paycheck.

Talking about entertainment: this spring, on the 14th of March to be precise, Kyiv will host one of the biggest JavaScript conferences in Ukraine — JavaScript fwdays’20. One more reason to visit!

What’s JavaScript fwdays’20?

JavaScript fwdays’20 is a conference for JS developers and is being held for the 8th year in a row. It lasts 1 day, has 5 streams, combines new formats, 25 speakers and 1000 participants.

There you’ll get to hear from speakers like Sara Vieira from CodeSandbox, GraphQL, and Open Source enthusiast; Sebastien Chopin — the author of the Nuxt.js, and Vue.js community member; Chen Hui Jing — designer and self-taught developer from Singapore; Martin Splitt from Google, who will be speaking at JavaScript fwdays for the 5th time; Stefan Judis — developer evangelist from Twilio; Matheus Albuquerque — a client-side architect — with an iOS and node.js background and lots of other knowledgeable experts. You can learn more about them here.

And don’t forget to check out other events we organize .NET fwdays’20, Python fwdays’20, PHP fwdays’20, Data Science fwdays’20, Highload fwdays’20, QA fwdays’20.

If you decide to attend JavaScript fwdays’20, your trip won’t be limited by only the event venue. We’ll make sure to be your trustful guide around Kyiv and help you enjoy it to the fullest. So now to the exploring part!

Kyiv is a fantastic mix of traditions and modernity. You can enjoy the architecture and walk around in parks, explore numerous restaurants or stroll along the Dnipro riverside.

Fountains near the Golden Gate and the Independence Square

What’s there to see?

Kyiv is a city of chestnut trees, the Golden Gate, the deepest subway station (105 meters deep), the Motherland Mother statue — 102 meters (which is 9 meters taller than the New York Statue of Liberty!) and the glass bridge.

Kyiv has no single architectural style. The city buildings are very eclectic, from Ukrainian Barocco, to soviet neoclassicism, to 11th-century temples, 19th-century gothic churches, and modern constructions. You’ll also see quite a lot of murals and sculptures created by street artists.

The 7 hills that were once covered by thick forests turned into lots of parks and sightseeing spots. And the Dnipro River that goes through the whole city, gives it beautiful walking paths along the riverside and Trukhaniv Island.

St. Andrew’s Church and St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral

Is Kyiv safe to visit?

Sure thing. Kyiv is like any other big city. Frantic, but pretty safe. We’ve got lots of people visiting every year to attend all kinds of events and concerts. For example, this October we’ll be hosting Sting’s show. And in 2017, we’ve hosted the Eurovision show, which was also quite a grand affair.

Okay, what about booking a stay? Is it super expensive?

Nah. Kyiv is a relatively cheap city. It’s pretty easy to find comfortable and affordable accommodation. If you’re okay with hostels, you can get yourself a nice stay for 6 to 16 EUR a bed. Or you can get a twin room for less than 22 EUR.

Hotels are much comfier but cost significantly more. For instance, a room in a 3-star hotel is about 27 to 95 EUR. And staying over at a premium hotel can cost you over 250 EUR.

Here are some of the hotels located in the city center, which are close to restaurants, metro stations, and Kyiv landmarks:

Radisson Blu — near the Golden Gate and close to a street packed with restaurants;
Hyatt Regency — has an open terrace looking right at St.Sophia’s Cathedral
Intercontinental — their terrace looks out at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery
Senator Apartments — there you can book an apartment-style room with a small kitchen

The Mercure and IQ hotels are in close proximity to the conference venue. If you book a stay at any of them, you can get a 10% discount by using a promo code Fwdays (which should be applied at the booking).

Also, you could book a room at any of the Ibis hotels, either the one at the city centre or near the central railway station, with a 25% discount. Contact us at orgs@fwdays.com to get a discount.

You can find lots of other options at Booking.com

Fair at St. Andrew’s Descent and Easter decorations near St. Sophia Cathedral

Can I use EUR or USD? Or do I have to exchange money?

Ukraine has its own currency — hryvnia (UAH), so you’d have to exchange currency as you arrive in Kyiv. You will get about 25 UAH for 1 USD, and about 27 UAH for 1 EUR. You can exchange currency right at the airport or at the train station.

Do I need a visa?

Well, it depends. Citizens of some countries cat travel to Ukraine visa-free, and maybe you’re just one of the lucky ones! Here you can check out a list of nationalities that don’t have to get a visa to enter Ukraine.

But don’t be sad if your country is not on the list. Getting a Visa to enter Ukraine is quite easy. Here’s how you can do it.

Also, there are 54 nationalities that can get an e-visa, which makes the whole process even easier.

If you want to attend the conference and need to get a visa, Fwdays will help you out by providing all the necessary documents and information. Simply send us an email!

Getting around the city

Airport

KBP — Kyiv Boryspil Airport is located outside the city. You can reach the airport by:

Skybus (usually parked to the right at the exit of the arrival area). The ticket to the Central Railway Station 100 UAH (3,78 EUR)
Train (follow directions in the arrival area). You can buy a ticket and check the train schedule at the terminal
Taxi. It’s better to use apps (Uber, Uklon, Bolt) to avoid overpriced fares.

IEV — Kyiv Airport is located directly in the city. You can use public transport to reach it.

Public transport

Metro

It’s the best way to avoid traffic. 1 trip will cost you about 8 UAH (0,30 EUR). You can get a single-ride ticket at the ticket box, or get a city transportation card/ Smart card you can refill for a certain amount of rides. It’s also okay to pay with your card or a smartphone with NFC.

Buses, trolleybuses

The city transportation card can also be used on buses and trolleybuses, or you can buy a single-ride ticket (cash only) from the controller and validate it.