Do you plan to visit Ukraine in the foreseeable future? If so, you can look forward to such outstanding sights as the capital Kyiv’s gold-domed St. Sophia’s Cathedral and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery complex. To help you on your way, here are some top facts:

  • Ukraine is an Eastern European nation bordered by Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Belarus, Moldova, Romania and Russia. This is useful if you’re planning a tour of the region!
  • Ukraine’s time zone is GMT+2, Eastern European Standard Time. This compares to New Delhi’s GMT+5.30, Ottawa’s GMT-5, and Washington DC’s GMT-5.
  • The official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian, and many people here are fluent in Russian too. To say ‘hello’ in Ukrainian is ‘zdrastuyte’ and ‘thank you’ is ‘dyakuyu’.
  • English is spoken in Ukraine in the tourist cities of major cities such as Kyiv. If you intend to venture further afield, it’s worth learning some basic Ukrainian words and phrases.
  • Ukraine’s climate varies a lot from season to season. Summer is hot and lasts broadly from June to September, while winters are cold, snowy and last from November to February.
  • The official currency here is the Ukrainian hryvnia (currency code: UAH). This is widely used, and US dollars and euros are the easiest currencies to exchange.

Discover more about Ukraine before your visit by reading our articles below!