Uber is the best taxi service in Kyiv. It’s safe, the least costly taxi service available (you can get from one side of the city to the other for just a few dollars), and the easiest to use as no Ukrainian/Russian language is needed to order.
Take a look at my Uber receipt below. This was a ride from the cinema this past Saturday night, which is like 4x further than any other place you’d visit if you lived downtown. The ride was approximately 5 miles (or 8 km) in distance and lasted for 18 minutes. In the U.S. this would have been at least $15, but in Ukraine, the ride cost me 95.46 grivnas (or approximately $3.6).
Kyiv is like any other city for taxies — if you flag down a local taxi from the street, be prepared to pay many times the normal rate, especially if you’re a foreigner! Taxi drivers here are notorious for gouging tourists. For a great read about this and other scams, take a glance at our article on the most common scams in Kyiv.
This is a main street in Kyiv. Notice the Uber advertisement (circled for effect). It grabs my attention every morning! I love it for its simplicity.
"Kyiv is a bilingual capital, something unusual in Europe and unthinkable in Russia and the United States."
-- Timothy Snyder, The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America
