Odessa is Ukraine's largest port city, founded by Catherine the Great in 1794 on the site of a captured Ottoman fortress and built by the French emigre Duke de Richelieu (the great-nephew of Cardinal Richelieu) into one of the most beautiful neoclassical cities of the Russian Empire in just three decades. The Potemkin Stairs (192 steps, built 1837–1841, immortalised in Eisenstein's 1925 film Battleship Potemkin), the colonnaded buildings of Primorsky Boulevard and the faded elegance of the city centre reflect a 19th-century cosmopolitan port where Greek, Jewish, Italian, Moldovan and Ukrainian merchants coexisted in extraordinary cultural and commercial richness. Odessa was historically the most Jewish city in the Russian Empire (35% Jewish population by 1900), the birthplace of the Zionist movement's practical founder Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and the home of writers Isaac Babel (Odessa Tales) and Ilya Ilf. The city's catacombs (a 2,500 km network of limestone tunnels beneath the city, mined for building material in the 18th–19th centuries) served as partisan hiding places during the Nazi occupation — 73 partisans lived underground for 907 days. Since February 2022 Odessa has been under Russian missile attack (the port and grain infrastructure have been repeatedly targeted) and significant damage has been done to heritage buildings; travel advisories vary and the situation is actively evolving. Despite wartime conditions, the city's food, culture and architectural heritage remain extraordinary — the Privoz Market, Derybasivska Street, the opera house and the catacombs are all open when security permits.
The Potemkin Stairs were built between 1837 and 1841. Francesco Boffo designed them, and the English engineer John Upton carried out the work. They climb 27 metres over 142 metres of length, from the harbour up to Primorsky Boulevard. The flight is 21.7 metres wide at the bottom and 12.5 metres at the top, and that narrowing is the trick. Looking down from the top, you see only the landings. Looking up from the bottom, you see only an unbroken wall of steps. There were once 200 steps, but 8 were buried when the port was extended, which leaves 192. Sergei Eisenstein's pram sequence in Battleship Potemkin (1925) made them famous around the world. At the top stands Ivan Martos's bronze Duc de Richelieu (1828), Odesa's oldest monument, dressed in a Roman toga. Richelieu was governor from 1803 to 1814 and turned the port founded in 1794 into a boom town. The stairs and the boulevard are open 24 hours and cost nothing. The funicular that runs alongside (first built in 1902, rebuilt in 2005) costs a few hryvnia, but check locally for the current fare and hours. Walk along Primorsky Boulevard's plane-tree promenade to the Vorontsov Palace colonnade and the Mother-in-Law Bridge. From there it's a few minutes on foot to the Opera House and to Derybasivska Street, where cafés serve fried bychki (gobies), forshmak and Odesa-style flounder. Insider tip: come at sunrise, when the stairs are empty and the light over the port is at its best. Stand on the fourth landing from the bottom and look up to see the illusion most clearly. Because of the war, parts of the port end may be fenced off, so check current access and travel advisories before you go.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuidePrimorsky Boulevard was laid out in the 1820s as Nikolaevsky Boulevard, and most of its neoclassical facades went up by 1842. Francesco Boffo designed several of them, including the colonnaded Vorontsov Palace (1826–1830) at the eastern end. City Hall is a different building: the former Stock Exchange (1828–1834), fronted by the Pushkin monument. That bronze bust was unveiled in 1889 and paid for by public subscription. Xavier Bernardazzi designed it and Alexander Popov was the sculptor. Pushkin lived in Odessa in exile from 1823 to 1824, and whether his monument should stay has been debated since 2022. The boulevard is open to the public around the clock except during the citywide curfew (00:00–05:00). Walking it costs nothing. The funicular beside the Potemkin Stairs runs roughly 08:00–23:00, and a ticket costs about UAH 10–20. The stairs themselves (1837–1841) were built so that from the top you see only the landings and from the bottom only the steps. The Duc de Richelieu statue (Ivan Martos, 1828) stands at the top. Start at the Vorontsov colonnade for the view over the port, then walk west under the plane trees to City Hall and the old cannon from the Crimean War frigate Tiger. For a meal, the Bernardazzi restaurant in the old Stock Exchange building on Bunina Street serves Odessan-Jewish dishes like forshmak and Black Sea flounder, with mains at UAH 350–600. A coffee on Deribasivska Street costs UAH 60–90. Insider tip: come at dusk on a weekday, when locals take their evening walk and the facades turn gold. Check an air-alert app before you go, because parts of the seafront and the port approaches can close at short notice. The Opera House (Fellner & Helmer, 1887) is five minutes inland, and Gogol Street's Art Nouveau houses are just beyond.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuidePrivoz has traded beside Odesa's main railway station since 1827, when a square for goods "brought in" (privozit) from the countryside was set aside at the city's edge. Its finest building is the Fruit Passage (1913), an arcaded Art Nouveau gallery by architect Fyodor Nesturkh. Its facade still frames the entrance from Pryvozna Street. Stalls open at about 06:00 and close by 16:00–17:00 every day. Mondays are quieter, and some pavilions close early for cleaning. Start in the fish pavilion, the centre of the market. Look for smoked bychki (Black Sea gobies), the city's signature fish, at about 350–450 UAH per kg. Smoked mackerel costs around 300 UAH, and salted tyulka is sold in paper cones. In the meat hall, vendors slice salo for you to taste: plain, with garlic or rubbed with paprika. Expect to pay 250–400 UAH per kg. Deli counters sell Odesa forshmak, a spread of chopped herring, apple and butter, for about 60–90 UAH per 100 g. Add dark bread and pickled tomatoes from the barrels in the vegetable rows and you have lunch. In late summer, Bessarabian melons and Shabo grapes arrive by the crateload. Insider tip: vendors expect you to taste before buying, and haggling is part of the show. Carry small notes, because many stalls still prefer cash. Arrive before 10:00 for the best fish and to hear the traders at full volume, the same banter Isaac Babel captured in his Odessa Tales. Afterwards, walk west into Moldavanka, the gangster district where Babel set those stories.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideOdesa's opera house dates back to 1810, but the original theatre burned down in 1873. The present building, designed by the Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer, opened in 1887. On the neo-Baroque façade, Melpomene rides a chariot drawn by panthers. Inside, the horseshoe auditorium is covered in gilded stucco and red velvet, and the ceiling is painted with scenes from Shakespeare's plays. The acoustics are the real marvel: a whisper on stage carries to the back of the upper gallery. Opera and ballet performances usually start between 17:00 and 18:00, earlier when curfew rules apply. The box office on the side of the building is generally open daily from about 10:00 to 19:00. Tickets cost from about 150 UAH in the upper tiers to 1,500 UAH or more for stalls and boxes at premieres. Guided tours of the foyers and auditorium cost around 300–500 UAH and run on non-performance days when security allows. During air-raid alerts, performances stop and the audience moves to the shelter, so leave extra time in your evening and check the current travel advisory before you go. Insider tip: the front rows of the first balcony give you clear sound and a good view of the ceiling for much less than the stalls, and classic ballets like Swan Lake sell out first, so book online about a week ahead. The theatre stands at the head of Theatre Square in the historic centre. It's a two-minute walk from Prymorskyi Boulevard and the Potemkin Stairs and five minutes from pedestrianised Derybasivska Street. Before the show, have varenyky or Odesa-style forshmak at Kompot on Derybasivska. Afterwards, walk through the City Garden, where locals linger under the plane trees late into the evening.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideDerybasivska Street is named after José de Ribas, the Naples-born admiral who founded Odessa in 1794. At its western end is the City Garden, laid out in 1803 by his brother Félix de Ribas and later left to the city. The street became pedestrian-only in 1984 and lies at the heart of the historic centre, which UNESCO added to its World Heritage list in 2023. At the Preobrazhenska corner, look for the Passage arcade (1899, architect Lev Vlodek), with its sculpted glass-roofed gallery. In the City Garden you'll find the bronze Twelfth Chair from Ilf and Petrov's satirical novel and the singer Leonid Utesov sitting on his bench. The street is also the home of the city's famous deadpan irony. Humorina has been held here on 1 April since 1973, traditionally with carnival parades and street comedy, though wartime editions have been smaller and partly indoors. The street itself is open around the clock. However, a curfew runs from 00:00 to 05:00, so most kitchens close between 22:00 and 23:00 and it's best to eat early. Gambrinus, the cellar beer hall at No. 31 made famous by Kuprin's story, opens roughly 10:00–23:00. A beer there costs about 90–120 UAH, and some evenings bring live piano and violin. For dinner, order varenyky with potato or sour cherries (150–230 UAH), forshmak, or fried Black Sea bychki. A glass of Georgian Saperavi costs 120–200 UAH. Insider tip: skip the terraces facing the City Garden fountain and head one block over to Hretska or Katerynynska streets, where prices are lower and the cooking is more serious. The Opera House, Primorsky Boulevard and the Potemkin Stairs are all within ten minutes' walk. Install an air-raid alert app such as Povitryana Tryvoha before your evening out.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideOdessa's catacombs are the largest underground labyrinth in the world, with about 2,500 km of tunnels, several times the length of the network under Paris. They were not planned by any architect. Quarrymen dug them from the early 1800s, a few years after the city was founded in 1794, to cut the soft yellow limestone that built Odessa's facades. The best place to see them is Nerubaiske, a steppe village about 12 km north of the centre. From autumn 1941 to April 1944, a partisan unit set up by Vladimir Molodtsov-Badaev hid underground here and raided Romanian and German supply lines. Molodtsov was captured and executed in 1942, but the group kept fighting. The Museum of Partisan Glory opened in 1969 and keeps their underground base as they left it. You can see the bunks, a bakery, a radio room, a small armoury, a well and wall slogans written in soot. Visits are guided only and last about an hour. Tours usually run daily from roughly 09:00 to 17:00, and the ticket costs about 150–250 UAH. Since 2022, hours depend on the security situation and air-raid alerts, so call ahead or book through an Odesa operator. Underground it stays at about 14°C all year, so bring a layer even in August. Above ground, the memorial park has a Soviet-era monument to the partisans and a small collection of military hardware. There is nothing to eat on site. Take a marshrutka from the Staryi Bazar or Privoz area, then have lunch at Privoz market when you get back: Black Sea gobies, forshmak, and cherry varenyky from the stalls. Insider tip: ask the guide about the separate chalk-drawn tunnel maps the partisans used for navigation, which most groups walk straight past.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideOdessa was founded by imperial decree in 1794, and Jewish merchants settled here from the first year. By 1900 about a third of the city was Jewish. Begin at the Main Synagogue, Yevreiska Street 25. Francesco Morandi designed it, and it was finished in 1850. The Soviets seized the building, and it went back to the Chabad community in the 1990s. Visitors are welcome most weekdays from about 09:00 to 18:00, but not on Shabbat. Entry is free; dress modestly. A short walk away is the Brodsky Synagogue (1863) at Zhukovskoho 18. Merchants from Brody in Galicia built it, and in Soviet times it served as a state archive. Restoration is still under way, so you see its Moorish-Gothic façade from the street. On nearby Rishelievska Street, a bronze statue of Isaac Babel (2011) stands beside the house where he lived. Then walk south-west into Moldavanka, the neighbourhood of Babel's gangster Benya Krik. Its galleried courtyards, called dvoriki, still smell of laundry and frying fish. The Museum of the History of Odessa Jews "Migdal-Shorashim" at Nizhynska 66 shows family photographs, Purim-play costumes and papers from the pogrom years. It is usually open Monday to Thursday 11:00–17:00 and Friday 11:00–15:00, and a ticket costs about 100 UAH. Finish at Prokhorovsky Square. In October 1941, Romanian and German forces began marching the city's Jews from here to the killing sites at Dalnyk and Bohdanivka. The square's Alley of the Righteous honours the Odessans who hid their neighbours. Other famous Jews born in Odessa include Ze'ev Jabotinsky (1880) and the violinist David Oistrakh. Try forshmak (chopped herring with apple) and stuffed fish in a Moldavanka café, or buy smoked mackerel at Privoz Market. Insider tip: wartime curfews and air-raid alerts change opening times often, so phone ahead, and ask at the museum for a volunteer guide who knows the courtyard stories.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMoldavanka grew up in the 1790s just outside Odessa's first city limits, on land settled by Moldavian migrants, and it became part of the city in the 1820s. No architect planned it. Odessa's centre follows the grid Franz de Volan laid out in 1794, but Moldavanka grew in whatever direction it could. Staroportofrankivska Street marks the old customs ditch of the free port, and smuggling was one reason the quarter prospered. Isaac Babel was born here in 1894 at Dalnytska 21, which now has a memorial plaque. He set his Odessa Tales in these streets and made the gangster Benya Krik, modelled on Mishka Yaponchik, the king of the district. You can still see the one- and two-storey courtyard houses with wooden galleries and shared wells. Look through open gateways on Miasoiedivska, Balkivska and Mechnykova, but don't go into courtyards where people are living without asking. Walk to the Privoz market on the quarter's eastern edge; it is open daily from about 07:00 to 16:00. Try fried Black Sea gobies (bychky, around 250–400 UAH per kilo), forshmak (chopped herring spread) and pickled tomatoes from the barrels. A proper Odessa lunch at a local canteen costs about 200–350 UAH. Afterwards, go into the centre for the Babel monument by Georgy Frangulyan (2011) at Zhukovskoho and Rishelievska. The Literary Museum on Lanzheronivska is usually open 10:00–17:00 and closed on Mondays, with tickets around 100–150 UAH. It has Babel manuscripts and photographs of the old Moldavanka. Insider tip: come on a weekday morning, when people are hanging out washing and arguing across the courtyards in Odessa's mix of Russian, Ukrainian and Yiddish. Moldavanka is a residential area that isn't polished for tourists, so walk it with a paper map. Martial law and a night curfew are still in force, so check the current security situation and opening hours before you go.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideOdessa was founded in 1794 by decree of Catherine the Great, and Admiral José de Ribas began building the harbour that same year, so the city's table has always faced the sea. The port quarter below the Potemkin Stairs (Francesco Boffo, 1837–1841) and along Primorsky Boulevard is where to eat Black Sea fish. Order kalkan (turbot), fried whole or grilled and usually sold by weight at roughly 1,200–1,800 UAH per kilo. Try bychky, the small gobies that are Odessa's classic cheap dish, fried crisp or stewed in tomato for about 250–400 UAH a plate. Forshmak, chopped herring with apple and butter on black bread, costs around 180–250 UAH. In late summer, look for fried barabulka (red mullet). Pair the fish with Bessarabian wine from the Shabo or Kolonist estates, at about 120–200 UAH a glass. Most port-side restaurants open around 11:00–12:00 and close by 22:00–23:00, earlier than before the war because of the city's midnight-to-05:00 curfew. Check hours on the day, since they change with air-raid alerts and power schedules. Insider tip: go early to the fish pavilion at Privoz market, a short tram ride inland and open roughly 07:00–15:00. Buy bychky or mullet directly from the sellers, then ask at the small cafés nearby whether they will fry it for you. It costs far less than a restaurant meal. The neighbourhood mixes working docks, the Marine Station and 19th-century merchant houses. Security measures may close off parts of the waterfront and beaches, so check local notices and current travel advisories before you go.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLanzheron takes its name from Count Alexandre Langeron, the French émigré who governed Odessa from 1815 to 1822 and kept a summer dacha on the bluff above. The city itself was founded in 1794, and Lanzheron is its closest beach: a 15-minute walk from Deribasivska Street, down through the 19th-century Shevchenko Park. Below the park, the Lanzheron Descent and its pedestrian bridge, rebuilt in 2019, lead you from the cliffs to the shore. Odessa has about 25 km of coastline. Arcadia, the main resort beach 7 km south, is reached by tram No. 5, while the 8 km Trasa Zdorovya ("Health Path") links the two along the water for runners and cyclists. Summer water sits at 22–25°C. Salinity is about 17‰, half that of the open ocean, so long swims leave your skin free of the usual salt crust. Under wartime rules, swimming is allowed only in marked zones with lifeguards, roughly 08:00–20:00. You must leave the water when an air-raid alert sounds, and a few stretches stay closed, so check the city council's daily list before you go. Sunbeds cost 200–400 UAH for the day. A coffee from a kiosk on the descent is about 60 UAH. For lunch, look for fried barabulka (red mullet, 250–350 UAH a portion) or rapany, the grilled sea snails sold at the beach cafés, with a cold Chernomorets beer. The Nemo dolphinarium is at the north end, and the benches along the park's Alley of Glory overlook the port and the lighthouse. Insider tip: come at 07:00, when locals of every age swim before work. The sea is flat and glassy, the light over the breakwaters is soft, and you'll have the pier almost to yourself until about 09:30.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideHoused in the Potocki Palace on Sofiivska Street, an Empire-style mansion completed around 1810 and usually attributed to the architect Francesco Frapolli, the Odessa Fine Art Museum opened in 1899. It remains one of Ukraine's strongest collections of 19th–20th-century painting. The route through the rooms runs from icons to Aivazovsky seascapes, Repin portraits and Kuindzhi landscapes. The real reason to come, though, is the early-20th-century room. Kandinsky, who grew up in Odessa, hangs beside the local Society of South Russian Artists, painters who took in Paris and Munich through the port long before Kyiv did. Ask staff about the palace grotto, a cool brick passage beneath the garden that sometimes opens on guided visits. Under martial law the museum usually opens Wednesday–Monday 10:00–17:00 and closes on Tuesdays, with adult tickets around 100–150 UAH. Parts of the collection were moved out after a 2023 strike damaged the building, so call ahead. From here it's a fifteen-minute walk to the Literary Museum in the Gagarin Palace on Lanzheronivska. Its manuscripts and photographs cover Ivan Bunin's years in the city, from 1918 to 1920, when he kept the diary later published as Cursed Days. Sofiivska itself is a quiet, leafy slope of faded merchant houses just west of the Opera. Pair the visit with coffee and syrniki at one of the small cafés along Deribasivska, or order vareniki with sour cherries, a local staple. Insider tip: come late on a weekday afternoon. The upper halls are usually empty then, and the low light through the tall windows shows off the Aivazovskys better than any gallery spotlight.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideDespite its reputation, the Vorontsov Palace is no ruin. It is one of Odessa's first grand residences, built in 1826–1828 for Count Mikhail Vorontsov. As governor-general, he turned a young port into one of the richest cities of the empire. His architect was the Swiss-Italian Francesco Boffo, who also designed the Potemkin Stairs. Today the palace serves as a youth and student centre and is rarely open inside. The real reason to come is outside: a semicircular colonnade of Doric columns on the edge of the bluff, framing a wide view over the harbour, the Sea Terminal and the Black Sea. It is open ground, accessible at any hour and free (0 UAH). Below, at the foot of the Potemkin Stairs, stands the Sea Terminal. It is a 2001 rebuild of the old passenger port, beside the glass tower of the former Hotel Odessa. Since 2022 the port zone and the Stairs have been largely closed for security reasons. Check the current situation locally, respect the curfew and take air-raid alerts seriously. For now the colonnade is the best open vantage point over the harbour. Come via Primorsky Boulevard and cross the nearby Mother-in-Law Bridge (Teshchin Most, 1968), a narrow footbridge that locals swear sways underfoot. Afterwards, walk a few minutes to Deribasivska Street or the quieter lanes around Gogol Street for coffee and a proper Odessa meal. Look for forshmak (chopped herring), gefilte fish, fried Black Sea gobies or syrniki. Expect about 150–350 UAH per dish in a mid-range café. Insider tip: arrive an hour before sunset. The light turns the columns gold and the port cranes stand in silhouette against the water. On weekday mornings you will often have the colonnade almost to yourself.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Londonska (Londonskaya) at Prymorskyi Boulevard 11 is Odesa's grande-dame hotel. The core of the building dates to the late 1820s, and it got its present name and much of its Belle Époque look in a remodel in the late 19th century. The guest book holds most of its legend: Anton Chekhov, Isadora Duncan and Vladimir Mayakovsky all stayed here. The popular story that Pushkin drank on this terrace doesn't hold up, though. He left Odesa in 1824, before the hotel existed. His bronze bust stands a short walk away at the end of the boulevard, facing the City Council. Come at golden hour. The summer terrace looks onto the promenade and its plane trees. The Potemkin Stairs, the Vorontsov Palace colonnade and the port cranes are all within a five-minute stroll. Order a Shustov or Tavria brandy, both Odesa's own cognac houses, or a glass of Shabo wine from the Bessarabian coast. Expect roughly 150–350 UAH for a 50 ml measure and 250–450 UAH for a main course. Pair your glass with Black Sea staples: forshmak on rye, fried barabulka (red mullet) or Odesa-style aubergine "caviar". Before you leave, step into the lobby. The period interiors survive, and staff rarely mind a polite look from non-guests. Hours: the restaurant usually opens from late morning until around 22:00–23:00. Wartime curfew (currently midnight to 05:00) and air-raid alerts can change this, so call ahead and ask staff where the nearest shelter is. Insider tip: after your drink, skip the crowded top of the Stairs and walk to the Vorontsov colonnade. It has the best free sunset view over the harbour in the city. --- I couldn't check this online (web search was blocked), so check the hours, prices and whether the hotel is open during the war before publishing. I changed one thing from the original: Pushkin never sat on this terrace, so I corrected that claim instead of repeating it. I left out Mark Twain and the "oldest hotel in Ukraine" claim because I couldn't confirm them. I also didn't name an architect because I wasn't sure of the attribution.
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