Kryvyi Rih

Kryvyi Rih (Ukrainian: Кривий Ріг, also transliterated Krivoy Rog from Russian: Кривой Рог), is an industrial city of 660,000 people in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine. Its principal industry is steel manufacturing.

Understand
According to official website, the city extends for 126 km from north to south. Because of the processing of steel and other products and mining industry, Kryvyi Rih has the highest emission of air pollutants in all of Ukraine.

Google maps can help avoid getting lost in the city. People commonly speak English very badly and all signs and tabulations are in Russian and Ukrainian. Translate apps and vocabularies are also very useful.

By train
Because the city is so elongated, there are several railway stations serving different parts. Most, but not all, long-distance trains serve the main railway station.



By car

 * H 23
 * H 11
 * Т 0418
 * Т 0419

By public transport
Kryvyi Rih has a convenient public transport system:

Single ride tickets in marshrutkas cost 15 грн. Buses, trams and trolleybuses are free.
 * 12 bus routes
 * 55 marshrutka routes
 * 18 tram routes
 * 24 trolleybus routes

Schedules are available on the website (in Ukrainian).

You can also check information about public transport on EasyWay and Google Maps.

By taxi
Taxi is the easiest way of getting around the city. Some popular taxi companies include:



By foot
You can walk to most locations in central Kryvyi Rih and there are plenty of attractive walking routes along the quay sides and in the pedestrianised central streets. The central city (Karl Marx Street) is separated from the 95th Block area, but buses and trolleybuses can help to access it. The main rail station is further away but still accessible by bus.

By bicycle
KRC has few bike paths and routes.

By car
Driving is probably the best way of seeing the surrounding region. A couple of the routes during peak hours operate a car pool lane for cars with more than one occupant.

The centre of KRC follows a one-way city system, which can be frustrating and confusing for those not used to it. However with patience and practice and a lot of circling around the same areas numerous times, it does become easier.

Parking
There are no parking garages and no designated or marked car parking bays in the streets. Drivers park wherever they find it convenient.

Connect
Kryvyi Rih's landline area code is 56. Dial 056 from within Ukraine or +380 56 from outside Ukraine.

Kryvyi Rih has easy internet access like most cities, and as a city, has the advantage of broadband being easily accessible both to install and use. Kryvyi Rih also has an abundance of internet cafes available for all to use. A network of free Wi-Fi hotspots is being deploying in Central City. It is available around the 95th Block and in some metro stations. An up to date map of pubs, bars and cafe's in Kryvyi Rih with free Wi-Fi is available here.

Stay safe
Like many other big cities in the Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih has its rough areas. Use common sense while getting around. The usual "don't be stupid" advice suffices. Avoid drinking the water from the tap; bottled water is cheap and available everywhere.

If you are female, and especially if you are traveling alone, try to take a taxi instead of public transit after 21:00. These are prime drinking hours and the metro and marshrutky may be crowded with drunken men. This is particularly true on the weekends. Ask a local English-speaker to call the taxi for you and get the amount of the fare in advance; drivers may greatly inflate the fare once hearing your accent. Isolated drunken brawls can occur in the centre of town on Friday and Saturday nights as pubs and clubs close, especially near the waterfront area, the Centre, taxi queues and fast food joints. This has been reduced somewhat by a heavy police presence and security guards monitoring the taxi queues.

Also, some outlying suburbs such as Yubileinaia, Artem (from Artem to Vecherny, including Svyatoshyn), Smychka and Druzhba have a bad reputation, but it is unlikely that a visitor to the city would travel to these parts. Be careful at the railway station. If you are leaving your baggage in the station, it is better to leave it with the guys in person rather than use a locker. Stories circulate of people 'assisting' with the locker, observing the code and then walking off with the bag afterwards

The main problem is beggars as many will approach you on the street to ask for money, bread, cigarettes or few cents for a tram ticket (don't be stupid).

Also, you may find people offering you drugs in return for cash. Those people have no drugs and will instead give you a bogus parcel (such as balls of cellophane or matches wrapped in newspaper) and run off with your money. They often have knives so avoid the people in the first place.

There is still corruption in Ukraine; some services might openly ask you to bribe them to process your request, and denying it might make them refuse to help you. Common people are very tolerant and it is only reasonable to assume that they expect the same in return.

Go next

 * Dnipro, modern financial and entertaining centre.