Useful Information

CLIMATE

Subtropical (dry). Southern coast of the Crimea is called submediterranean. Summer in the Crimea is hot, sunny and dry. The middle of May and late September can be considered its borders. Average air temperature in May is 25 º Celsius, in June - 29 º, in July and August - 32 °; Seawater temperature in May and June is 19 ° Celsius, in July and August is 23 °.

TIME

Local time corresponds to Kiev and differs from Moscow for an hour. When it is noon in Moscow, it is 11 a.m. in the Crimea.

DOCUMENTS

Entry to Ukraine for the period up to 90 days is allowed for the citizens of Russia and Belarus with their resident (internal) passport and migration card with the custom-frontier control stamp. Citizens of Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, citizens of EC, USA, Canada and Japan are allowed to entry with their passports and they don’t need to open the visa. Citizens of Turkmenistan are to show both – their passport and the visa (according the information on January 2007). Children are to have with them a birth certificate and a notarized permission warrant from their parents (in case if they travel without parents but with some of their relatives or as a part of a tourist group).

REGISTRATION

Foreigners are to be registered at the time of crossing the frontier of Ukraine and they can travel freely within it. Registration is called off for citizens of CIS.

MONEY

The currency of Ukraine is hryvna. Ratio of exchange is approximately 1 : 5.05 - dollar to hryvna, and 10:1,90 - Russian rouble to hryvna. Exchange rate is on the move, check out the ratio of National Bank. Currency exchanging bureaus are numerous, there are some in the airport, on railway stations and they work without breaks and days off. It is more secure to use services of exchanging bureaus, licensed with National Bank. We recommend you should exchange money in cities or towns, because at the health resorts the rate can be lower.

TELEPHONE

Automatic telephone connection in the Crimea will not cause any problems. The cards "Ukrtelecom" or coins are accepted by the public telephones. One can buy these telephone cards in post offices. The cost of a card is 9 hryvnas and up, they are designed for different periods of time. There are three leading cellular telephone companies in Ukraine. MTC, KIEVSTAR and "Beeline" are leading companies which use the standard GSM 900/1800/1900, CDMA, D-AMPS. It is easy to buy a start package with the cellular number of Ukraine and inform all your subscribers about it.

TRANSPORTATION

You can reach Crimea by air (airlines Aeroflot, Aerosvit, MAU, Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines, Turkish Airlines and others offer regular flights to Simferopol;, in the summer period you can take a regular flight from Moscow to Sevastopol, to Belbek airport). Regular railways service links Simferopol to all central cities of Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. Strait of Kerch train ferry and the seaport offer their services to cargo and passenger vessels. Seaport of Yalta is also intended for deep sea vessels passengers. Vessels from Sevastopol leave for Turkey every several times in a month.

There are ticket offices of intercity trolley buses, of the routes Simferopol- Alushta and Simferopol- Yalta on a railway square of Simferopol, on the right of the platform and the Clock Tower. It takes for an hour and a half to reach Alushta, and two hours and forty minutes to reach Yalta.  There are ticket offices of a bus station on the railway square of Simferopol, behind the car parking lot. Bus destination places: Yalta (via Alushta); Simeiz (via Alushta, Yalta); Yevpatoria - Peschanoe; Sevastopol (via Bahchisaray); Sudak; Feodosia.

SOUVENIRS

Tradition to buy souvenirs in memory of the Crimea appeared long ago. We suggest choosing Crimean wine as a souvenir. It’s better to buy it in chain stores. Not only because they are cheaper but due to their better quality. Paintings, photographs and souvenirs of the Crimea. You can buy these souvenirs walking along the seafronts of Yalta, Gurzuf, Sevastopol, Alushta, Feodosia and Yevpatoria. We recommend you should buy ceramics of Khersones: jars, vases, pendants in Sevastopol; watercolors of Crimean artist in Yalta; herbal teas and essential oils of Alushta Valley and Crimean foothills in Alushta.