Odesa (Odessa) is a city in Ukraine located by the Black Sea. Odessa can be reached by plane, train, bus or ferries. Close to Odessa is the Moldovian and the Romanian borders. Odessa is both one of the largest Black Sea ports and a resort city.

The most interesting thing to see in Odessa is the old town itself. The city was once the center for trade coming into the Russian empire and as such has much of the grandeur of a wealthy city. Conversely though the city appears to have had no upkeep since the 1917 October revolution and has had even less since the end of Communism in 1992.

As such, vast portions of what was a magnificently wealthy old city are falling into a state of total disrepair. The old section of the city though is quite clean and feels very safe so it makes for a good two days worth of casual unguided wandering particularly with the wide tree lined avenues and large open parks.

In the much smaller and well kept part of the Old town there is a large and beautiful Opera house and some very nice parks. There is also one main street leading through the old town that is vibrant with people selling street goods to tourists.

Also there are many interesting museums in Odessa. Museum of Western and Eastern Art, perhaps the most interesting. You can see paintings by Aivazovsky and Caravaggio and other famous artists. Literature museum, at the very beginning of Lanzheronovskaya street. Features a 100 year walk through the history of Odessa in literature. Maritime museum, just between the Opera House and Literature museum. House of history of Marine Fleet. Archaeology museum, just around the corner from the literature museum.

Picture gallery, at the very beginning of the Sofievskaya Street. Once a palace of Prince Pototskiy, features a huge collection of Russian artist paintings.

When you have some spare time, there’s a big variety of things to do.
-You can see the panoramic view of the middle of the Primorskiy Boulevard
-Walk along the Deribasovskaya street, it has a very colourful pedestrian part, especially at summer or early autumn evening time.
-Walk along the Primorskiy Boulevard (bul’var), is also very good promenade place.
-In the middle of the Primorsky Parkway, you will find a monument to Duke Rechelieu, one of the founders of Odessa.
-From this point you can walk down the famous Potemkin Steps, to the Primorskaya street to the Marine Terminal,
-Instead of walking up or down the potemkin steps, it’s possible to use the funicular.
-If you turn 180 degrees from Potemkin Steps, you will see a Cathrene Square, where you can take a short walk to. This square features a recently erected a monument to Catherine the Great, who is also one of the founders of Odessa.
-Yekaterinenskaya Street: Walk on it a few blocks from its very beginning. A first couple of blocks is full of greenery, elegant houses with a restaurant or some store on the first floor. In two blocks it intersects with Deribasovskaya street.

Odessa is known for it’s great sea beaches!
Most of the city waterfront, except the port territory, forms a beach zone. All of the beaches are located at the eastern edge of Odessa.

Odessa also has a great nightlife. A huge number of bars, restaurants and night clubs with any kinds of music!