You're reading: Top 10 cool websites for Kyivans

Despite the crazy flow of information we receive daily from the Internet, there are still websites we overlook that could make our lives easier and more interesting. Here I’ve tried to collect a list of online guides, maps and histories that could be helpful to any Kyiv resident.

Only a few of these websites are available in English. But in most cases, minimal knowledge of Ukrainian or Russian will be enough to get some tips. For others, there is always the Google translator.

www.kievmap.com.ua is the perfect tool for finding your way around.

www.kievmap.com.ua
Online electronic maps of Kyiv are plentiful, but some are more useful and convenient than others. I find this one the best – a satellite map of Kyiv with “M” metro signs in the blue, green and red colors of the lines. To find the desired address, street or square, all you need is to type in your information into the search string (but only in Russian). In a moment, you’ll see your destination clearly marked on the map. The site also has a collection of photographs of Kyiv sorted by location, a weather page and a map of Kyiv hotels. By clicking any of the tiny building signs, you’ll get the name of the hotel, its address and brief information about the place and its website. However, the hotel list is obviously outdated. For instance, InterContinental and Hyatt Regency are missing from it.

Need to find a nice nearby cafe with free Wi-Fi? Just open www.kievwifi.com and take your pick.

www.kievwifi.com
This map will be of use to anyone who likes to take their laptops and netbooks out to a bar, cafe or restaurant, and chat, browse the Internet or work while having lunch or leisurely sipping a coffee. By clicking on any of the Wi-Fi tags scattered all over the map, you’ll find out the name of the place, its address (in some cases also telephone number and business hours), the name of the Internet provider and conditions for using Wi-Fi. For your convenience, places with free Wi-Fi are indicated in blue, while spots with paid Wi-Fi are green. The site also has a search option. Just type in the name of the desired street, and you’ll get the list of addresses with Wi-Fi on it. You can choose to view Wi-Fi locations on several kinds of maps: two of them – Microsoft Roads and Microsoft Hybrid (satellite map) – shows streets and names of places in English.

videoprobki.com.ua will keep you updated on the city traffic situation through a range of webcams and a traffic map.

http://videoprobki.com.ua
Unless you prefer metro, motorcycle or bicycle to every other kind of transport (or you just walk everywhere), you will surely find this website extremely helpful, whenever you need to plan your movements around town – by car, taxi, bus or marshrutka. Available in English, as well as Russian and Ukrainian, Videoprobki (video traffic jams), the website has a map of Kyiv with locations of webcams placed in strategic spots in the city indicated on it with blue dots. Just by clicking on the webcam, you can view the street at the current time of day and see the traffic situation. Moreover, Videoprobki can give you traffic tips about other parts of town where no webcams have yet been installed. Green, yellow and red dots on the map indicate the traffic situation in those places – free, heavy, congested or crashes.

www.historical.kiev.ua offers a chance to take a virtual historical walk around Kyiv, comparing the ancient and modern look of some of the best known sights, and reading their stories.

www.historical.kiev.ua

Dubbed “Kyiv Through the Ages,” this historical Google maps project offers a virtual walk through ancient Kyiv. You can choose an ancient Kyiv map (city build-up plan from beginning of the century) or a modern map as base – in either case it will be dotted with tiny pictures. Click on them to enlarge, and you’ll get an ancient photograph of a certain sight in Kyiv, with the modern photo of that same sight right next to it, and brief history of the place and its development. The map, available in Ukrainian and Russian, is convenient and easy to use, providing a great and fun tool for learning the history of Kyiv, simply by moving from place to place on the map.

http://www.interesniy.kiev.ua
While the historical map of Kyiv offers a brief history of the city, Interesniy Kyiv (Interesting Kyiv) digs deep, far and wide. This website will interest native Kyivans and expatriates alike, since it focuses both on popular and lesser-known city sights and facts about the city, as well as offers tours for Russian and English speakers. On the left side of the homepage, you’ll find a long list of articles on various aspects of Kyiv, including architecture, churches, museums, monuments, parks and gardens, hills, rivers and lakes, and even a list of famous Kyivans who played an important role in history – scientists, writers and poets, artists, merchants, doctors and musicians. On the right side of the homepage, there is a selection of unusual tours of Kyiv such as: “Mysterious Trukhaniv,” “Across Old Kyiv by Old Tram,” “Fortification of Kyiv” and other. In the “English Tours” section you may find such tours as “Kyiv Pechersk Lavra,” “Jewish Kyiv,” “The Old Mystery of Podil,” “Secret Kyiv” and others. You can also read a collection of articles and poems about Kyiv, see ancient Kyiv postcards and photos of the city among other things.

http://shara4you.com.ua
“Shara” is a Russian slang word for “for free” or extremely cheap – thus “almost free,” and this criteria applies to all events and places listed on the Shara website. Here you can find a list of current cultural and entertainment events with free admission, from concerts to film screenings and exhibitions, as well as a list of places with free Wi-Fi, free beaches, eateries with cheap and quality meals and outlet stores. Currently the event page informs about a free cello music concert at Budynok Aktora (7 Yaroslaviv Val) on June 19 at 5 p.m. and Red Bull Flugtag on Rusanivksy Canal (see Page 19 of Lifestyle) among other things.

Plan your weekly outings with nashkiev.ua, an online guide magazine.

http://nashkiev.ua/
With Afisha and TimeOut city guide magazines long gone, Kyivans like myself desperately needed at least an online alternative, and we’ve found one. Nash Kyiv (Our Kyiv) Internet city guide magazine has all one needs to know about entertainment, culture, shopping and recreation in the capital and more. It has news, reviews, previews, interviews and feature stories as well as an extensive business directory, where you can find basically any address you need. In the magazine section of the website, you can read a review of Firefest, a preview of “Cannes Prediction” advertising festival and an interview with Carl Frierson (of De-Phazz), discover the art of paper quilling, find out about the top five free beaches in Kyiv and learn where to shop for sushi ingredients. The website is constantly updated and seems to keep its hand firm on the city’s pulse.

http://nightlife.tochka.net
I found this one, searching for a useful website to look up cool club events to preview in the Kyiv Post and have been using it ever since. Nightlife feels like a perfect gathering place for the Kyiv clubbing community, with a list of club events for every day of the week, as well as latest news from the club world, interviews with deejays, a top 20 of Kyiv clubs – as rated by users, and even a special section dedicated to the upcoming KaZantip summer festival in Crimea. Nightlife also contains a list of Ukrainian deejays with biographies, sorted by names in alphabetical order as well as by music styles they play in. Also you can view photo reports of various club parties, and join in the website community to mark the events you’d like to visit and discuss clubs and parties with fellow party monsters.

http://lasoon.com.ua
This ultimate city restaurant portal in three languages: Russian, Ukrainian and English, contains a full list of Kyiv restaurants with detailed descriptions and, often, online menus. You can search restaurants or sort them by your chosen categories: cuisine, location, cost and payment means. You can also browse restaurants in the directory at the top of the page that has such categories as beer, sushi, pizza, karaoke, out-of-town and other. There is also a list of pizza and sushi delivery places, a new restaurants section and a list of restaurants – winners of Lasoon’s “Best Restaurants 2009” awards.

http://tap-the-talent.blogspot.com
A blog that, by its own definition, follows the story of “power struggle in Ukraine” written in English by a Ukrainian living in Kyiv who calls himself Taras. Naturally, if you need an update on the latest political news in Ukraine, you may – I say this without false modesty – just go on www.kyivpost.com. But blog is a blog – it has a personal touch, attitude and a lot of opinion. There are surely plenty of similar blogs in Russian/Ukrainian, but hardly many in English. This blogger defines himself as pro-Ukrainian, and freely criticizes and discusses current political and power figures of Ukraine. Here for instance, you can find a video of President Viktor Yanukovych singing, a detailed examination of Hanna Herman’s son expensive outfit, a report on a recent Femen group’s escapade and so on.

Kyiv Post lifestyle editor Alexandra Matoshko can be reached at [email protected]