Poltava

Poltava (Ukrainian: Полтава) is a city in Central Ukraine, administrative center of Poltavs'ka oblast (Poltava region), medium-sized city (population just over 300,000).

Understand
Poltava is also called a cultural capital because of its colourful history and many famous Ukrainians who were born in Poltava. Native citizens often follow this idea, being proud of their city and calling it "a city where one wants to live in". There are many sites of architecture, museums, universities, elementary schools, cinemas, theatres and so on. Apart from that, city is often referred as "green" as there are many parks, gardens and other recreational areas. The municipal administration has been cleaning up the city centre clear and making it look more like a European city than a Soviet one.

In the 1709 battle of Poltava, Russian czar Peter the Great defeated Swedish king Charles XII (see Swedish Empire). In the following treaties, Russia annexed most Swedish territories east of the Baltic Sea including Saint Petersburg, marking the rise of the Russian Empire as a great power.

Languages spoken are Russian and Ukrainian (the latter is official and first is more widely spoken). However most people understand and are able to speak both. English isn't widely known, but many people (especially young people) would make their best attempt to understand you. Some people you talk to are quite fluent in English (or German, French), as these languages have been studied at school.

Get in
Train and bus are the only reasonable ways to get to Poltava (unless you have your own car), and ticket price is roughly equal.

By train
Four railway lines coming out west, east, south and southeast from Poltava. Usually there would be a few trains per day to your selected destination, see the website of Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian railways) for timetable and ticket prices.

By bus
Bus connection with other cities is fine, especially along E40 road (Poltava is midway between Kyiv and Kharkiv): buses usually arrive/depart every hour or a few. It will take you 5 hours to get from Kyiv or 3 hours from Kharkiv. There are a few different carriers on these routes:
 * Avtolux, Günsel bus service, which provide more comfortable buses, and cost a bit more (from Kyiv - up to 100 грн).
 * National and various private bus services. Some of them have less comfortable buses (e.g. old Ikarus), for cheaper price. Other are more comfortable, though ticket price is somewhat 20-25% higher. Station charge included in ticket price.
 * Shuttle-bus services, which use Mercedes Sprinter or similar. (Don't confuse them with "marshrutka" which is city transportation, never mind localscan call both a marshrutka). They stay in the middle in terms of passenger's comfort, however are faster (4½ hours from Kyiv, 2½ hours from Kharkiv). You can find these minibuses standing at railway stations or (even better) reserve places by phone (see advertisements at bus/train station), optionally a day or a few in advance. Be sure to find your minibus in at least 10-15 minutes before departure, because your reservation may be cancelled. Then pay money directly to driver, he would write down your surname (as no tickets are usually provided). As of September 2010, it costs around 85 грн from Kyiv.

By car
Poltava has fine road connection in most directions: west (E40 to Kyiv), east (E40 to Kharkiv), southwest (E577 to Kremenchuk), north (to Hadyach), northeast (to Kotel'va and Russian boundary) and southeast (to Krasnograd, connection with E105 Moscow-Kharkiv-Simferopol road). Do not go along other minor roads indicated on the map unless you know it's fine (otherwise you may experience bad road quality or get lost somewhere in a rural area).
 * From Kyiv: 330 km single/dual carriageway, of average quality, however seems to be intensively improving (as of October 2010)
 * From Kharkiv: 140 km single/dual carriageway, of average quality. Be careful not to exceed the speed limits, as there are some hazardous parts.
 * From south: go along E105 road to Krasnograd, turn left to Poltava, then after ~60 km of straight road you'd reach E40 and turn left to Poltava again.
 * From southwest (Kremenchuk): 110 km along E577, single carriageway, including some hazardous areas (e.g. limited visibility, narrow bridges, railway level crossing).
 * From north, NW, NE: prefer a straight north-south road across Opishne and Dykan'ka - average quaily single carriageway. Other road (NE-SW direction) from Kotel'va to Poltava is in worse condition and crosses many villages.

Get around
It would be a good idea to have an acquaintance with a bilingual local person who will give you advice on how & where to go around Poltava. But if you don't have one, you can ask for help at local English-speaking message board en.poltavaforum.com

Most of city transport operates between 06:00 and 22:00 on major routes, and only until 20:00-21:00 to suburbs. During other hours from this, take a taxi.

There are crowded routes, where you may not be able to get a seat. During rush hours (06:00-09:00, 17:00-18:00 and possibly throughout the day on suburb routes) you may loss up to 1 hour of your time due to municipal transport being filled up. On suburban routes and during holidays or other celebrations, serious delays are likely. In trolleys, buses and marshrutkas you pay a single fixed price for each trip at each vehicle, no matter how far away you go (within city limits).

By foot
Poltava is relatively small city, where it is possible to cross it one border to another in 1½ hours. If you're walking around down-town & historical centre, you are 30 min away from any destination within it. So if you know where to go across centre, you may not use transport at all. However, for safety reasons, don't walk by foot to distant suburbs, if you don't know your way or if it is late evening/night.

Bear in mind that the Lower City (Podol/Podil, Russian: Подол, Ukrainian: Поділ) near Vorskla river and Pivdenna Train Station is situated really deep down, so walking up to the train station can be very tiresome.

By public transport
Poltava has a convenient public transport system:

Single ride tickets in trolleybuses cost 10 грн, in buses — 12 грн, in marshrutkas — 10-12 грн.
 * 9 trolleybus routes
 * 14 bus routes
 * 34 marshrutka routes

Schedules are available on rozklad.in.ua (in Ukrainian).

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

By trolley
There are 11 trolley routes across the city. This is the cheapest kind of transport, however particularly slow and often crowded, sometimes delayed. Ticket costs 1 грн, paid to a conductor, who will ask you soon after you enter the trolley.
 * Route 1 goes directly between two railway station - Kyivsky & Pivdenny vokzal.
 * Route 15 ("Кільцевий") goes round across the city, connecting downtown with main residential districts and the bus station (Avtovokzal).

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



Museums

 * There are many other museums, mainly dedicated to famous writers and cultural workers
 * There are many other museums, mainly dedicated to famous writers and cultural workers
 * There are many other museums, mainly dedicated to famous writers and cultural workers
 * There are many other museums, mainly dedicated to famous writers and cultural workers
 * There are many other museums, mainly dedicated to famous writers and cultural workers
 * There are many other museums, mainly dedicated to famous writers and cultural workers
 * There are many other museums, mainly dedicated to famous writers and cultural workers

Do

 * Watch football ie soccer at FC Vorskla Poltava, who play in the Premier League, the top tier of Ukrainian football. Their home ground is Oleksiy Butovskyi Vorskla Stadium, capacity 25,000, just north of city centre.
 * Watch football ie soccer at FC Vorskla Poltava, who play in the Premier League, the top tier of Ukrainian football. Their home ground is Oleksiy Butovskyi Vorskla Stadium, capacity 25,000, just north of city centre.
 * Watch football ie soccer at FC Vorskla Poltava, who play in the Premier League, the top tier of Ukrainian football. Their home ground is Oleksiy Butovskyi Vorskla Stadium, capacity 25,000, just north of city centre.

Go next
Nyzhnosulskyy National Park] and Pyriatyn National Natural Park
 * Dnipro
 * Kyiv
 * Kharkiv
 * Lubny three hours by bus. Tha main sight here Savior-Transfiguration Monastery Mgar. Also good base to visit [http://nppns.at.ua/
 * Myrhorod three hours by train or bus. Enjoy the Resort Myrhorod (Миргородкурорт) and the Ukrainan rural town charm