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kiev
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expensive
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great
food
real
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english
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warsaw
nomads
Kyiv is a seriously not a good place for nomads to stay in. People don't speak english and are not friendly to foreigners at all, either you're white, asian, black, arab, latino, whatever. Food isn't really good specially when it comes to delivery, expensive and tasteless. The metro is cheap which is a good thing, and there is a nice architecture and places to go to.
3 years ago
Been in Kiev for 6 months at this point. Apartments are abysmal, an amazing combination of expensive and low quality. That said, cafes, restaurants, co working spaces are top tier, for 1/3 of the price of anywhere else. Kiev is a diamond in the rough in Eastern Europe in that regard. Regarding the people, you have super-friendly young people, and more macho-type tough demographic. You can usually tell who is who and avoid accordingly. Language barrier is quite a challenge, some of the worst in Europe. Overall Kiev is not perfect, but it has been open during COVID and does certain things really well, but for most people, esp nomads working from home, the real estate is a deal breaker.
4 years ago
I've been in Kiev on and off since 2016.
A nice city in summer. Walkable. Beaches. Nature. Interesting, cultured people. Great restaurant scene. 30 degrees and sunny isn't uncommon.
In winter it's a harsh place to live - the city's infrastructure (water, heating, roads) can't handle it.
Lots of coworking spaces and good cafes. Many talented, low-priced freelancers available to hire.
The Airbnbs in the city are generally awful - either filled with ancient Soviet furniture or ugly, cheap modern furniture.
90% of the buildings in the city centre (Kreschatyk, Podil, Zoloti Vorota) are in a state of disrepair (filthy, with dodgy elevators and crumbling concrete).
Newer apartment buildings can be found in Pechersk, the East side of the river or near the railway station.
The landlords generally have an adversarial and aggressive demeanour that I have never encountered elsewhere.
It's hard to find a 1-bedroom apartment which is decent by EU standards for under $1200 per month.
For logistics - local transport is cheap. Great metro and cheap taxis on the Uklon app.
International travel is overpriced.
The main airport is owned by the same corrupt oligarch who owns the largest airline in the country - as a result prices are inflated.
Supermarkets are also tough. The choices are are either grim, dirty cheap shops or ridiculously overpriced gourmet supermarkets aimed at the oligarch class. There is no middle.
4 years ago
Kiev was a real bargain around 2016/17... Nowadays 2020, its prices are again comparable to a German city. Especially for same quality, since apartments here are the ugliest all over the continent.
Many Turkish sex tourists looking for girls... and local girls therefore avoid foreign men because they think you're sex tourist too.
5 years ago
Even during Winter Kiev is quite amazing.
Although the capital is getting more and more expensive, but it’s still relatively cheap.
Public transport is quite messy, so I took Uber most of the time which is quite cheap (15-20min trip, 3-5km ca. 2 Euro, depending on time and how busy traffic is)
I will come back, but then also in Summer or at least in spring. (around End of April)
5 years ago
Great architecture and a really beautiful city center with many great malls. There are many cool restaurants where you get affordable food, which also has a good quality. Most people can speak English, if not you can easily use google translator. The city has a great, big park, many impressive buildings and beautiful churches. Overall I was really impressed how beautiful it is, and I even visited Kiev in the winter. In the summer I ll come back, because then I m sure it will be even more beautiful. Driving Uber is super cheap there. If you need a temporary mobile phone contract, this is very cheap, I payed approx. 3 Euros for a whole month (12GB data + call and SMS flatrate in the whole Ukraine). I can recommend everyone to visit Kiev for sure. Beautiful capital which is really affordable to live at.
5 years ago
The capital is getting more expensive, but it’s still relatively cheap. Many nice things to discover. I always enjoy my time in Ukraine.
5 years ago
I spent almost 4 months in Kiev. There are a few good things about it but there are more negatives than positives. I would say, check it out for a little but know you shouldn't stay long
5 years ago
The city center is interesting but Warsaw or Budapest are much nicer. Horrible for nomads or long-term due to visa restrictions and language. Almost nobody speaks English, not even young people, forget about social life. Most locals look at westerners as a cash cow.
Without knowing Ukrainian language its extremely difficult to build anything there longterm, lawyers, real estate agents, translators, banks and any service dedicated to expats is totally overpriced and even more expensive than in the UK! To say something good: At least food is tasty and cheap.
5 years ago
Great city. Came here from Warsaw, Poland and when people say Kiev is like what Warsaw was 5 years ago, it feels spot-on. A little behind development and cleanliness wise than Warsaw and other Eastern European cities, but you can truly see the potential and the upswing. Besides the resting b***** face from everyone, they are super friendly! Fun nightlife, good cafes, and cool places to see. I think this is a great 1-2 week trip tops but could see it getting boring for a month or few months.
6 years ago
Absolutely worth visiting. Kyiv has many wonderful, modern, cheap, interesting restaurants and areas to check out. Some amazing bars and Georgian food. A major city but still slowly becoming more English-speaking and international. Some great Airbnbs and some really hilariously bad ones. A city with many facets.
6 years ago
I’ve spent a lot of time in Kiev as both a nomad and an expat and absolutely love it. It does depend what you’re looking for though. Kiev has very cold winters, usually poor service in restaurants, high prices for western-standard goods like clothes, electronics and ‘ethnic’ foods. If you don’t speak any Russian it’s absolutely fine for a short stay of a few weeks in the centre, but for longer periods you’ll be very limited if you don’t have some language skills. Getting decently priced accommodation for longer periods is tricky if you don’t know how it works. That said, though, it’s a cheap place to be overall with cheap food, drinks, transport and entertainment. There are some very fun and cool local people and a small but nice expat community which is fairly active socially. It’s a beautiful city and there’s loads to do. It’s probably not your typical nomad destination though as the coworking scene is limited and not very ‘sociable’, it doesn’t have a beach or hot weather and many people don’t speak English. I’d recommend it if you like Eastern European food and culture, cheap prices and big city life with a twist.
6 years ago
I have lived in Kiev over 6 months in 2017/18. The city is getting more expensive quickly but quality lacks behind on all levels.
Kiev is really difficult to settle in if you don't speak Russian, the entire online marketsplaces are in Russian or even worse in Ukrainian language. In all facebook groups you will only encounter expensive attorneys, mafia-like real estate brokers and everybody is trying to rip you off.
Coworking spaces are mostly fully-booked out by large US IT companies and their Ukrainian teams, and coworking is either totally crappy or rather on the expensive side starting from 200USD per month per desk in the center.
AirBNB Quality is extremely poor value regarding that the prices are rising sharply, imagine a really old and outdated place with an old bed-sofa (hard to find a real bed).
Finding a normal apartment is impossible because of the language bareer and because locals don't want you to find a cheap place.
The only good thing are the women, but to be honest, they all look very similar, if you like real blondes stay away from Kiev.
One of the worst things is the pushing of the Government (and many people) to speak Ukrainean language. Although most people speak Russian on the streets, this is a mayor issue for foreigners. Since now many Facebook Events are anounced in Ukrainean language this is a total show-stopper for expats. Hint: Russian and Ukrainian are both very difficult languages.
I can recommend Kiev only for a weekend trip as a tourist, or if you speak Russian fluently. Otherwise you're wasting your time or investing in a place with an uncertain future and unnecessary high obstacles.
7 years ago
for real?4th city to live in europe? that s a bad joke- then kabul should be fifth
7 years ago