You're reading: Hop-on, hop-off bus offers a 90-minute tour of Kyiv for $9

Kyiv, eight times larger in area than Paris and slightly smaller than New York City, is too large to explore on foot in one or even two days.

But there is a way to see all of its main sights in just 90 minutes. Every morning a red double-decker, an open-top bus picks up tourists in the center of Kyiv to show them around the city in just one trip.

The hop-on, hop-off bus is run by the City Sightseeing tour operator, which organizes bus and pedestrian excursions all over the world, departs from near the Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square — the exact address is 7/11 Khreshchatyk St. — every hour starting from 11 a. m.

These are essential tips, phone numbers and survival phrases for non-Ukrainian tourists in Kyiv. Also, be on the lookout for street robbers who prey on tourists. Keep a close eye on your belongings and never pick up a wallet dropped in front of you on the street - it’s a scam.

These are essential tips, phone numbers and survival phrases for non-Ukrainian tourists in Kyiv. Also, be on the lookout for street robbers who prey on tourists. Keep a close eye on your belongings and never pick up a wallet dropped in front of you on the street – it’s a scam.

On its route, the bus passes by the most famous sights in Kyiv, including the country’s main Orthodox Monastery — Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, or the Monastery of the Caves, founded in 11th century. The monastery, along with Kyiv’s Saint Sophia’s Cathedral, which is another stop on the bus route, is on the World Heritage List compiled by UNESCO.

The double-decker also rides past two green areas — Shevchenko Park and Mariinsky Park. In Mariinsky Park, tourists can visit a viewpoint that gives a beautiful view on Kyiv and the Dnipro River, the fourth longest river in Europe.

Tourists also get to see the impressive building of the National Opera of Ukraine and the Museum of the History of the World War II, located inside the base of the 102-meter Rodina Mat (Motherland) statue.

The operator provides each visitor with a map of the route with all the sights marked, and a pair of headphones to listen to the audio guide, available in English, German, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian, and Russian. The recorded excursion gives information on the history of sights, their founders, Ukrainian traditions and customs.

The audio guide is not just a list of facts — it’s a lively commentary of the trip with a couple of jokes. There are pauses to give tourists the time to look around and take pictures, without missing any information.

The tour has two fixed stops — Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square and Kyiv Pechersk Lavra — where the tourists can get off and walk around, but the driver will also stop to let people on and off on demand. If someone wants to spend some time at one of the sights, the tour guide on the bus will inform the next bus on the route to pick that person up in an hour. Tourists just have to be sure to retain their ticket to be allowed to hop on the next bus.

This bus tour is not just a great opportunity for tourists to get acquainted with city — Kyiv residents, who sometimes forget what a beautiful city they live in, could also make use of the service.