Odessa Ukraine
Ukraine


Frequently Asked Questions

At the marine terminal, whose gangway opens at the foot of the Potemkin Stairs. Few cities greet ships with a monument: it makes the finest start to any Black Sea call.
Black Sea cruise service depends on circumstances and will resume in time. Check itinerary status with your travel adviser. The heritage described here remains in place.
192 granite steps rising from the port to the upper town, designed to play with perspective so they look endless from below. Sergei Eisenstein made them the most famous scene in silent cinema in 1925. A funicular runs alongside for those who prefer to save their legs.
Yes, entirely. Everything essential fits within a kilometre-square around the stairs: Prymorsky Boulevard, the opera house, Deribasivska Street, the merchants' arcade and the city garden all walkable without transport.
Climb the Potemkin Stairs, walk Prymorsky Boulevard to the opera house, head down Deribasivska Street to the city garden and sit at a terrace. The soul of this city is better tasted than toured.
Built in 1887 by the Viennese architects Fellner and Helmer, it is considered one of Europe's finest, with its neo-baroque rotunda, its gold-leafed horseshoe auditorium and its ceiling devoted to Shakespeare. If the timing works, a performance or even a hall tour is worth rearranging your day for.
The city was born of a decree by Catherine II in 1794 and shaped by foreigners: the Spanish-born admiral José de Ribas laid out the port, then the Duc de Richelieu, a French aristocrat fleeing the Revolution, governed the young city. His statue in Roman toga greets travellers at the top of the stairs.
The liveliest artery in the city, pedestrianized and lined with terraces, named after De Ribas. Halfway along it opens onto the city garden, laid out in 1803, with its bandstand and its sculptures that passers-by rub for luck.
Odesa-style aubergines, Black Sea fish and forshmak all tell the same crossroads story: the city was Greek, Italian, Jewish, French and Russian all at once, and that mixture produced a cuisine belonging to nowhere else.
The Ukrainian hryvnia. Ukrainian and Russian are spoken, with the distinctive accent and humour the city takes pride in. Payment cards work downtown, but some cash remains useful.