Getting Your Bearings
Chernivtsi is a compact city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper Prut River, and its historic centre is small enough that most of what a visitor wants to see can be covered on foot. For anything beyond the centre, the city has a convenient public transport system made up of buses and trolleybuses, plus plentiful and inexpensive taxis. Chernivtsi is also a regional rail and road hub with its own international airport, so arriving and moving around are both straightforward.
On Foot
The city centre is small and you can manage it all by foot. This is the simplest way to explore the central streets, squares and architecture, and it saves you the trouble of working out routes for short hops.
Public Transport: Buses and Trolleybuses
Chernivtsi's public transport system consists of buses and trolleybuses. The trolleybus network is operated by the city trolleybus authority, while the bus network is run by numerous private carriers. Between them they cover the centre, the main railway and bus stations, the airport, the big markets and shopping centres, the university, and outlying districts.
- Trolleybuses run on a set of routes linking the State University, Soborna Square, the Museum of Folk Architecture, Kalynivskyi Market and various industrial and residential areas.
- Buses are far more numerous and reach most parts of the city, including the airport, the railway station, the central bus station, Kalynivskyi Market, Soborna Square, the METRO shopping centre and the Tourist Hotel.
- Tickets are bought as single rides: buses and trolleybuses are priced separately, with trolleybus fares slightly cheaper than bus fares. Pay on board.
To plan a trip, the official city transport website publishes schedules and route maps (in Ukrainian). The Moovit app is also useful: it provides schedules, arrival times, service alerts and live directions with get-off notifications. EasyWay and Google Maps also carry public transport information for the city.
Taxi and Ride-Hailing
Taxi is the easiest way of getting around the city, and cabs are very cheap by Western European standards. Ride-hailing apps are widely used and are a convenient option if you don't speak Ukrainian, since you can enter your destination in the app. Popular services include Uber, Bolt, Uklon, OnTaxi, Opti and Shark.
Scooters
Kick scooters are available in the city through Bolt and are a fun way to shorten your travel time while getting around.
Arriving by Air
Due to the state of war, Ukraine's airspace is closed to civil aviation, so Chernivtsi's own international airport is not currently receiving civil flights. The closest operating airport is Stefan cel Mare International Airport (SCV) in Suceava, Romania. From Suceava, a daily bus serves Chernivtsi; the return bus leaves Chernivtsi in the early morning and reaches Suceava around mid-morning, with the exact time depending on how long the border crossing takes. Because the central bus station is not close to the train station, plan on a cheap taxi ride if you need to connect between the two.
Arriving by Train
Chernivtsi-Central Train Station sits about a kilometre and a half north of the centre and is the main arrival point for long-distance travellers. Trains connect the city with Kyiv and Lviv (the latter via Ivano-Frankivsk), and local trains arrive from Kolomyia. Coming from Kyiv or Lviv by train is generally a comfortable and cheap option. There are also two suburban stations, Chernivtsi-Pivnichna to the northwest and Chernivtsi-Pivdenna to the south, which mainly serve the outer districts. An advance train ticket office operates in the centre on Vulitsa Golovna during the day.
Arriving by Bus
The central bus station lies southeast of the centre and handles frequent services from Lviv and other cities, as well as buses to Khotyn, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv and Odesa. Several smaller bus stations serve other parts of the city and the suburbs, including one near Chernivtsi-Pivnichna railway station and one by the Niva market. Note that some services, particularly to and from Kolomyia, terminate at Kalynivsky Market rather than the bus station, where you may need to change to a local marshrutka. The central bus station is not close to the train station, but cabs are very cheap in Chernivtsi.