Ukraine border

[sigoodacre]

Any recomendations for crossing Slovak/Ukraine border(can't be that many I suppose)
How much will the Ukraines sting me for on border for Insurance ?
Any suggestions on good routes or shall i just shut eyes and put finger on map like I usually do.
Only have less than 1 week in Ukraine.
Cheers !

[davepegg]

Hi

Just returned from 5 week tour which included a trip into the Ukraine, i crossed from Moldova and didn't have a green card, the official wrote 20 euros on a scrap piece of paper and ''stamped me in'', the form filling etc took approx 15 mins and i was on my way.
Cash machines worked, banks only exchanged $ and euros, i have £20 worth of Ukraine money which, if you want, can have for a very good exchange rate as i won't be back for a long time !!!!!!!!! and also a very good road map.
Exited into Romania again within 15 mins and no bribes !!!!!!!

Dave

[sigoodacre]

Hello Dave,I have PMed you !
Simon

[mistress-kate]

We left the Ukraine 2 weeks ago into Romania having entered 10 days before from Poland.

We drive a Unimog which obviously is very different from a bike and we would expect to take longer to cross than you. However, we took an hour to get into the Ukraine but most of that was taken up with customs going through the lorry... we do feel this was more out of curiosity than anything else! We crossed on a very small border and it was clear that they very, very rarely get anyone other than Polish and Ukrainians crossing as they had to search for forms etc. We do think this went to our advantage.

There was never any idea/mention of a bribe on either crossing and we were never asked for money for insurance. I showed the entry border guard a photocopy of our insurance and he glanced at it and put it straight down... he would not have known if it was correct or not but the address matched the lorry V5 and it had valid dates. We also had a green card but he didn’t even look at this.

Leaving the country we crossed on a bigger border and were again searched but very half-heartedly. He asked us if we had any cigarettes, narcotics or guns and looked faintly disappointed that we didn’t!! The passport guard asked what money we had and I said none but about £20 in Ukrainian.

One piece of advice – use all your money up before leaving, fill your tank on the cheap petrol or change into other currency as we couldn’t find anywhere in Romania that would touch it. For info diesel was 66p/litre and petrol was a little cheaper! We hear that the UK is about £1.30 now.

We were stopped by the police once during our trip and they looked horrified when I said ‘English’. They asked us to open the back, glance in, wished us good luck and off we went! We found the Ukrainians very friendly outside of the towns. We wild camped in the mountains as we didn’t find one campsite in the whole country!

If you want to read our reports go to http://www.mogonthemove.com/Europe/Ukraine-1.html and http://www.mogonthemove.com/Europe/Ukraine-2.html

Sorry this is a bit long – have a good trip!
Kate, Oz and the Mog
Transylvania, Romania.

[sigoodacre]

Hi to you both ! Thanks for your info on Ukraine.Shame Slovakia isn't on your itenary as I have a house there in the countryside.I will be there next week.
Interested to hear you are in a Unimog as we have a later model at work with a HIAB on it.
Fun off road but slow going on tarmac.
I hope to be riding down to Croatia from Slovakia mid July so you never know I may pass you at sometime, along with all the caravaners and motorhomers that will be about.
I shall keep an eye on your blog with envy.

Thanks again
Simon

[carlitosville]

Hi,

Don't worry, it takes us no more than a 30 minutes... and we only had to say the purpose of the trip: "transit to Slovakia", we were coming from Hungary...

Sorry about my english...

Bye,

Carlitosville
Mototurisme Catalunya (from Catalonia)

[PanEuropean]

I entered Ukraine on my motorcycle last year from Slovakia, had no problems of any kind. There was a bit of a line-up, the border staff carefully checked the ownership and insurance documents for my motorcycle (I think this was in my own best interest - it appeared that they were checking to make sure I had not stolen the bike in Europe), and then they stamped me in and I was on my way. Total time about 30 minutes, very polite and professional border guards.

There was quite a line-up at the border to go from Slovakia into Ukraine - I joined the end of the line, but as soon as the locals (daily commuters) recognized that I was a visitor, as soon as they saw that I had Canadian plates on my bike, they all waved me up to the front of the line, which was a very nice courtesy.

Leaving Ukraine into Romania, no problems at all. The Romanian border staff spoke English, they were very friendly, just took a quick look at my passport, stamped it, and said "Welcome to Romania". About 30 seconds total.

FWIW - I was not impressed with Ukraine. It's a rough country. Romania, on the other hand, was delightful.

[frinch11]

I passed through there 2 days ago. I wasnt asked for insurance docs but they were very thorough in cross checking my vehicle owner's document with my passport details. Whole process took about half an hour, they were very friendly and there is a woman ther who speaks English. Only bad thing was I only got a 3 day transit visa.

They warned me that the Ukraine - Romania border was not gteat so I exited through Hungary in the end.

One bit of advice - do not queue at these borders- bikes are expected (and encouraged to push to the front!