Via Istanbul. At the
Simferopol airport site
you will find information about practically daily flights from Istanbul during the summer season. This possibility is worth considering if you don't mind waiting for the connecting flight in Istanbul. There are also a number of flights out of Belbek Airport in Sevastopol (airport code UKS), and the airport in Kerch (airport code KHC). But I am afraid these variants are more headache than really good choice. They don't have regular connection to other airports. Flight to Simferopol will definitely be your best choice to fly to the Crimean Peninsula.
One more thing to remember. If you are planning your flight to Simferopol during the summer season, book plane tickets at least three weeks in advance. At other times of year, one or two weeks are usually enough.
Getting to Crimea by train.
Despite of the recent increase of the Ukraine's train tickets cost, they still remain cheap by Western European standards. For example, a ticket in the 2nd class car from Kiev will cost you: Lvov -$17, Simferopol - $16, Odessa - $19, Moscow - $56. During the last few years huge recourses have been poured into improving Ukraine's railways. This has made rail a good way to travel in Ukraine. Besides that, train travel will give you the opportunity to experience real life in this interesting country.
Information about types of trains in Ukraine, classes of accommodations, buying tickets, and much more you can read at the
Ukraine-train page.
A good Crimea map (click picture to enlarge) from the web-site Crimea.webservice.Ru
will give you clear idea about railway net of the Crimean Peninsula.
Simferopol is the main gateway to the Crimea. About 90 km south the railway junction Jankoi is located. At Jankoi the main line splits off to head for Feodosia and Kerch. At Ostriakovo the main line splits off again for Sevastopol and Simferopol.
By train you can reach the Crimean capital the city of Simferopol and three of four Ukrainian Black Sea ports: Sevastopol, Feodosia, Kerch. Excellent timetables for trains throughout the former Soviet Union can be found at the website
"Poezda.net".
(new window opens).
Short distance suburban trains through all these stations are also available in Crimea. They are slow and most of the times are overcrowded. Try to avoid using them. When your train trip or flight to Simeferopol is over, other Crimean destinations must be reached by bus, mini bus (marshrutka), trolleybus, taxi or car.
Getting to Crimea by bus.
Flight to Simferopol from Kiev will take you 1.5 hours. If you prefer train travel, you will be in Simferopol in 16 hours after you leave Kiev. If for some reason you decided, that neither plane no train is your choice, another travel option is available.There are a few private bus companies which serve nearly all of Ukraine's big cities. The best-known among them are
"AutoLux "
and
"GUNSEL."
Both companies have overnight buses to Crimea cities during the summer time. Autolux’s buses go to Simferopol and Yalta. (Check "AutoLux" web site for their
schedule).
"GUNSEL" serves Yalta, Feodocia, Simferopol. Their schedule you can find
here.
The buses are comfortable, tickets are not exspensive. A bus trip will take you the same amount of time as the train one.
Using bus for travelling to Crimea certainly makes sense if your final destination is Yalta or Feodosia. A bus will deliver you right to the place. You won’t need any transfer from Simferopol. The only thing you have to remember. Even a comfortable bus is not as comfortable as train. Ok, after your either train/bus travel or your flight to Simferopol you finaly arrived in Crimea.
Hm… Where is the Black Sea?!! You still have to continue your journey before you can enjoy swimming. Don’t worry. It is not that far already. I will tell you how to go there from Simferopol.
For those, who would like to swim in the Black Sea… soon. Let’s go the
Simferopol Airport Transfer
page. It has information about transportation within Crimea which will bring us right to the Black Sea.
If you are planning a trip to Crimea and need help take advantage of knowledge, humor, and an insider's view of Eugene Snezhkin and his personal escorted tour service. Check my recommendation.
Related Pages:
Simferopol:Gate of Crimea.
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