Practical Information for visiting Ukraine

The currency is the hryvnia (UAH).

Ukraine was, before the invasion, one of the more advanced cashless economies in Europe, and largely remains so — contactless cards and phone payment work in shops, taxis, cafes and on transport, and Ukrainian fintech is genuinely good.

The complication is power. Strikes on the grid cause blackouts that take card terminals and mobile networks down with them, sometimes for hours. Carry cash as a backup; this is the single most practical piece of money advice for Ukraine now.

ATMs are widespread in cities and can empty during a crisis. Foreign cards generally work, though some issuers block transactions — tell your bank you are travelling.

Tipping is around ten per cent in restaurants.

Coverage for mobile networks is good across government-controlled territory, with 4G from Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine and lifecell, and the operators have kept the network running through sustained attack.

The constraint is power rather than coverage. Blackouts take base stations offline once their batteries run down, and extended outages can leave whole districts without signal. Ukrainians carry power banks as a matter of course and so should any visitor.

Starlink terminals are widespread in businesses, cafes and public spaces as a hedge against exactly this.

Install an air-raid alert app before arriving — the official one gives regional alerts in English, and it is the single most important thing on your phone here. Wi-Fi is widespread and free in cafes and hotels when the power is on.

Ukraine is at war. Most governments advise against all travel, ordinary travel insurance is void, and consular assistance is severely limited. Nothing below substitutes for reading your own government’s current advice.

• Missile and drone strikes reach every region of the country, including the far west, with little warning. Air-raid alerts are issued regionally through apps and sirens; the standard instruction is to go to a shelter, and it should be followed every time rather than judged.
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• Know your shelter before you need it. Metro stations, underground car parks and designated basements are marked; hotels will tell you theirs on arrival.
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• Front-line and occupied regions — and Crimea — are inaccessible and extremely dangerous. Travel there is not a matter of caution but of prohibition.
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• Landmines and unexploded ordnance contaminate an enormous area of formerly occupied territory. Stay on hard surfaces, never enter a field or a wood in a formerly occupied region, and obey marking tape absolutely.
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• Curfew is in force nationally and enforced; being out during it means detention.
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• Do not photograph military installations, air defences, checkpoints or strike sites, and do not post locations in real time.

The health system is functioning but under enormous strain, with hospitals prioritising war casualties and some facilities damaged or destroyed. Private clinics in Kyiv and Lviv operate and are reasonable for routine care.

Insurance is the central problem. Ordinary travel policies exclude countries under an all-travel advisory; specialist war-risk cover exists, costs several times a normal policy, and should be arranged before departure. Medical evacuation is overland and slow.

Vaccinations: routine cover plus hepatitis A and typhoid; tetanus should be current. Ukraine has had measles and polio outbreaks in recent years, so check those specifically. Tick-borne encephalitis is present in forested areas.

Water. Tap water is not recommended for drinking; use bottled.

Bring all your own medication in sufficient quantity with documentation. Pharmacy supply is generally good but can fail locally during attacks.

Psychological strain is worth naming: repeated night alerts and broken sleep affect visitors as well as residents.

Do not speak Russian unless the person you are speaking with does first. Use English. This is the single most consequential point of etiquette in Ukraine now.

Do not call it the Ukraine, do not describe the war as a conflict or a crisis, and do not repeat framings that treat the country as a subset of Russia. These are not pedantic distinctions here.

Observe the curfew and carry your passport; document checks are routine.

Photography of military sites, checkpoints, air defence positions and strike aftermath is prohibited and dangerous for everyone involved.

Air-raid alerts are not optional. When a siren sounds in a restaurant or museum, staff will direct people to a shelter; go.

At a memorial — and there are many, including the flag-covered field on Kyiv’s Maidan — behave as you would at a funeral.

Shoes off in homes, and a small gift — flowers in odd numbers only.

Emergency numbers: 112 works nationally. Separately, 101 is fire and rescue, 102 police, 103 ambulance.

Air-raid alerts. Install the official alert app before you arrive; it gives regional warnings in English, including the all-clear. Sirens sound in cities but are not audible everywhere. Learn where your nearest shelter is on arrival at any accommodation.

Medical. Private clinics in Kyiv and Lviv handle routine care. Serious cases are evacuated overland to Poland, which takes many hours and needs to be arranged in advance by an insurer that covers it.

Consular. Several embassies operate in Kyiv with reduced services and some have relocated to Lviv. Register with yours on arrival, and keep its emergency number offline.

Mines. Report any suspected ordnance to 101 and do not approach it. The State Emergency Service publishes maps of contaminated areas.

Keep offline copies of your passport, insurance and visa, a power bank, and enough cash to move at short notice.