Has anyone been to Ukraine and know the country well enough to tell me how to travel
1. From Kherson to Berdyansk?
2. from Berdyansk to Kharkiv?
3. Or if I want to skip Berdyansk, from Kherson to Berdyansk?
I realize these cities are roughly 300 kilometers apart.
I assume I will take the train.
As much detail as you have would be terrific
A train schedule in English would be wonderful, but it may not exist.
Is there a guide or local travel agent you would recommend?
For plane tickets, the best rates and connections I could find into Odessa was LOT, Polish Airlines. The July fares I picked off their website was $1,200 - $1,400 from Chicago or New York to Odessa.
Does anyone know of better connections or fares from the US to Odessa?
Take a flight to Amsterdam or Paris and then go the rest of the way by train. Paris to Moscow or Kiev is around 200 dollars, I have read.
Also, round trip from Edmonton to Kiev using Air Canada-Lufthansa is 3 000 dollars, including all the fees. Usually when doing Trans-Atlantic AND Trans-European flights, you can expect it to go up a bit, but I guess the best bet is to go to Paris or Amsterdam and to take a train.
Thor,
You'll probably find the train goes via Kiev or a change at another city halfway across Ukraine and it could take you 24-36 hours for what should be a quick 300km.
This time last year I travelled by taxi, just one off the street, from Nikolaev to Zaporozhye for approx 100 Euros, fuel prices have gone up since then but it gives a good ballpark figure.
I guess you're visiting different ladies so you don't want to ask one to arrange you a taxi to see the other thus try a google search for 'kherson taxi' and if it comes up with results then try to arrange something before you go.
Berdyansk is OK in the summer, I was there on a day trip last summer, very pleasant and relaxing.
For air travel your best bet is to buy a round trip from home to Kiev and then buy some domestic flights via www.ukrainefare.com/internal-flights.php as it seems you'll be travelling back from a different Ukrainian airport to the one you're travelling out to.