Odessa
Odessa has always shown more color, spunk, and irreverence than other cities of Ukraine. There’s an excitement, verve, an anything-is-possible feeling on its streets. (from ‘Language and Travel Guide to Ukraine’, Linda Hodges & George Chumak, Hippocrene Books, Inc.) We invite you to the world-renowned town of Odessa, Ukraine’s southern window to Europe
With our guides you will explore the very heart of Odessa, walk it’s shadowy, stone paved streets with beautiful, newly-restored buildings and monuments from past centuries, each having its own stories, rumors and legends. Maritime Boulevard offers breathtaking views of the busy seaport. The famous Potemkin Stairs and Old Odessa will be presented as they were in the old Porto Franco times. You will discover one of the most gorgeous opera houses in Europe, second only to the Vienna Opera House, from an architecture standpoint. We recommend that you stay for a performance, especially if it is a ballet, although the actors will probably not impress you as much as the sight.
You will feel the very special SPIRIT of this city, which has even survived the Soviet years. Suntanned people leisurely having beer on the terraces of numerous cafes, huge plants and acacias, salty sea breeze filling the air, statues of Greek heroes joining the party, and lots of prettiest girls around–all of these and more await you in Odessa.
And what could be more interesting than walking along Deribasovskaya Street?! What lends Deribasovskaya its unique character is its magnificent architecture, hundreds of people leisurely sitting on the terraces of numerous cafes and restaurants, perfect cobblestones, no vehicle traffic and big shady linden trees. The special character of Odessa has survived even the Soviet times, when conforming to Soviet rules was required. Deribasovskaya leads to the City Gardens with its fountain, old summerhouse, and sculpture of a lion and lioness.
The tram, which looks exactly like first trams that appeared in Odessa at the beginning of this century, will bring you to the most unusual resort part of Odessa, Bolshoy Fontain. Riding this obsolete but recently produced vehicle, you will hear and feel the rich history of this part of the city, with an overview of crowded beaches and the Black Sea, washing over the high cliffs.
When it is hot and sunny (and there are more than 290 sunny days per year!), there is nothing better than sailing in the sea in a yacht or a boat along the Odessa coast, with the humid, salty breeze, whispering waves and picturesque Odessa sea view: the seaport, Yacht Club, Lanzheron, Otrada, and Arcadia Beaches filled wall-to-wall with people.
We recommend that you spend one day of your stay in Odessa visiting one of the most ancient towns in the world, Belgorod-Dniestrovsky, which was founded by Greeks as the Tira settlement in the 5th-7th Centuries BC. In those times, the town had its own army, coinage, and even its own chronology. Tira has survived from these ancient times, at different times being part of Roman Empire, Kiev Russ, Osmania, Romania, Moldova, USSR and Ukraine. The most remarkable monument, which has remained from Odessa’s eventful past, is the Fortress, which was established on the rocky bank of Dniester Liman in the 15th Century. You will hear the detailed story of its construction, walk the old streets in the Fortress and enjoy the miraculous sight!
