Ukrainian Railway Company uz.gov.ua has recently introduced a new service, called E-Kvynok, allowing passengers to book tickets online 45 days in advance for a nonrefundable fee of UAH 20. The system allows viewing availability of tickets for train destinations, choosing trains, seats and booking return tickets. Once a reservation is made and the confirmation page printed out by the passenger, the passenger should visit the railway ticket desk to buy the reserved ticket by the deadline indicated on the reservation. At this time the system works only for train destinations between Ukraine and the former USSR countries only, including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Hopefully the Ukrainian Rail will work further to make E-Kvytok system fully functional to enable actual buying tickets online, not just making reservations. No matter what, E-Kvytok seems to be a good way to make sure you have a seat on the train, especially during the high demand season in the summer when tickets for trains to the Black Sea towns are hard to come by.

You may bring into or take out of Ukraine any amount of cash up to 10,000 Euro, or equivalent in other currencies (including Ukrainian currency), by verbally reporting it to the customs officer. This applies to any person regardless of age.

In case of bringing or taking out of Ukraine amounts of cash exceeding 10,000 Euro or equivalent, you are required to fill out customs declaration and present proof of origin from the bank. This applies to any person regardless of age.

If you are over 18 years of age, you may bring into Ukraine:
1 liter of strong alcohol
2 liters of wine
200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars, or 250 grams of tobacco.

Your personal belongings are not taxed. Here is an incomplete list of items regarded as personal belongings: personal hygiene items, personal jewelry, camera, binoculars, portable musical instrument, sound recorder with media, portable radio and TV, laptop computer, mobile telephone, baby carriage, wheelchair, personal medications for the course of treatment.

You are allowed to bring in food in the equivalent of 50 Euro where each food item should not exceed 2 kg, or more than one package.

Items costing less than 200 Euro can be brought into Ukraine without taxing. Items that are between 200 Euro and 1000 Euro must be listed in the civil declaration and over 1000 Euro in the cargo declaration.

Art items, such as paintings, sculptures, antique items, require a permit to be taken out of Ukraine. Such permits are issued by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

There is no exit to entry fee to enter Ukraine.

Here we tried to present a summary of the Ukraine Customs Regulations on what can be brought and taken out of the country. This information was last updated on February 11, 2009 and can be used as general guidelines but you should check with the customs office for specific enquiries.

The most frequently used connection airports when flying to Lviv from the west are London Luton, Dortmund, Warsaw, Frankfurt and Vienna. From March 2006 Romanian CarpatAir flies between Lviv and Timisoara. From January 2009 Wizzair opened low cost flights from London and Dortmund.
Daily connections are available from Warsaw and Kyiv, and up to three times a week from Frankfurt or Vienna airports.
With the budget Ryanair flights to Rzeszow, Poland from London, this also brings an option of flying to Rzeszow and taking a train/bus to Lviv across the border, or arrange with Lvivecotour for private transport from Rzeszow airport across the border to Lviv or other destinations in Ukraine.
You can book domestic flights at the airport, and international and domestic flights at a number of travel agencies or airline counters in Lviv. Grand Hotel on 13, Prospekt Svobody also sells tickets for both domestic and international flights.
Current information about flights at Lviv airport is available from the airport information desk, Tel: +380 322 2298112, the staff speaks only Ukrainian. The airport in Lviv is only a 30-minute drive from the old town depending on traffic. Lviv airport is scheduled to be upgraded to receive more flights as Ukraine, together with Poland, gets ready to the become the host country for the Euro 2012 Football Cup.

Ukraine in general has a reliable railway system. The faster trains between Lviv and Kyiv run at night and the journey lasts about 8 hours. Recently a new fast daytime train was started between Lviv and Kyiv. Crossing into Ukraine by train from the West would take longer as you have to go through customs and the process of changing train wheels to fit Ukraine's wider railway track gauge. You can shorten this delay by taking a train to Przemysl (Poland), where Ukraine's wide gauge tracks begin, and from there change for the Ukrainian train to reach Lviv, Kyiv and other destinations in Ukraine.
In Lviv you can buy railway tickets at the main railway station's ticket office, or at the ticket office in the city center at 20, Hnatiuka Street. Your ID is no longer required for buying train tickets in Ukraine. Be prepared to stand in line to get served.
Tickets for International destinations can be bought from Window #1 at Hnatiuka Street, or at Window #20 at the main train station. #20 is reached from Platform 1 following the sign that reads in Ukrainian "Зал підвищеного комфорту" where you may be charged an extra UAH 5 fee to buy tickets.
The most convenient connections could be made from Prague, Bratislava, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow, Przemysl and Budapest. No online reservations are yet accepted by the Ukraine Railways but expected in the near future.

Lviv has regular bus connections to a number of international destinations: Przemysl Krakow, Warsaw, London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Brussels, Naples, Madrid, Paris, Prague and Riga would make a reasonably complete list of available destinations. Most of these are served from Stryysky Avtovokzal (Lviv's main bus terminal) at 109, Stryyska Street. Some buses depart from the bus station in front of the main railway station in Lviv. A Ukrainian Kyiv-based bus company Avtolux runs buses between the main Ukrainian cities, including Lviv and has a service to Boryspil International Airport. Tickets are available from the ticket desk at Avtovokzal. Their Ukrainian language information desk telephone numbers are +38-0322-632497 and +38-032-2949817.

Ukraine has a reasonably developed system of major roads and the number of foreign nationals deciding to travel to Ukraine by car is on the increase. However, Ukrainian roads are not as well marked as in Western Europe and road signs are mostly in Cyrillic. Major Ukrainian cities suffer from frequent traffic congestion and confusing street layout. Seat belt rule is now enforced everywhere in Ukraine. Although the recent disbandment of infamously corrupt traffic police called DAI has reduced the threat of being stopped for "documents checking", the risk of getting stopped by police for no apparent reason is still high, and especially if your car has foreign license plates.
In Ukraine try to leave your car in watched car parks and do not leave valuables inside your parked car - a good habit to follow anywhere in the world.
When crossing Ukraine's western border be ready for delays. If you travel in an EU registered car, some border crossings now have lanes designated for EU cars on the Polish side of the border where lines could be shorter and processing faster.
Most Western car rental companies would not allow taking their cars across the border to Ukraine, so consider relying on your own car, taxis, Ukrainian car rental agencies, or hire a car with an English-speaking driver from Lvivecotour.

Hitchhiking in Ukraine is not very common. You could see occasional hitchhikers along the main roads and at gas stations with names of towns where they are heading written on pieces of cardboard and stretched out hands. In the countryside farmers' trucks would often be a way to get to the nearest village or town if you are lost. Most drivers would expect to get paid a tip if stopped for a ride.
Marshrutka minibuses can be found almost everywhere in Ukraine running through villages between larger towns, which is a thing next to hitchhiking and still very inexpensive.