Before making a decision to travel to Ukraine, it is worth knowing that the situation remains complicated due to the closed airspace and the busy border.
Despite the imposed martial law, Ukrainian borders are open to foreigners. In the first 8 months of 2023, more than 16,000 Britons visited the country, and a total of 1.3 million foreigners arrived in Ukraine. However, taking into account the closed airspace, a trip to Ukraine in 2024 has its own peculiarities.
How to get to Ukraine from Great Britain? What rules of entry to Ukraine are relevant for citizens of Great Britain in 2024? Useful information for those planning a trip to Ukraine is collected in our material.
How to get to Ukraine from Great Britain in 2024?
Air flight from Great Britain to the Ukrainian border + travel by ground transport
The most convenient and fastest way to get to Ukraine is to fly to one of the airports in Europe, which is located near the Ukrainian border, and from there continue the journey by train or bus.
Ukraine borders Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.
Stage 1 – flight from Great Britain to the Ukrainian border
● Great Britain – Poland
– Warsaw can be reached by direct flight from London, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester. The price of a ticket is from $17 to $70. Travel time is 2 hours 30 minutes. Departure from London at 06:35, 08:00, 15:10 and 21:40.
– Krakow is one of the closest Polish airports to the Ukrainian border, with direct flights from Great Britain. Available from London, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh and more. The price of a ticket is from $20 to $90. Travel time – 2 hours 40 minutes.
– You can fly to Rzeszów from London, Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol. The advantage of this airport is its location – the distance from the Ukrainian border is only 100 km (to Sheghini or Krakovets checkpoints, Lviv region). The price of a ticket is from $30 to $90. Travel time 2 hours 25 minutes.
There are also direct flights from Britain to the Polish cities of Katowice, Wroclaw, Szczecin, Szymany, Gdansk, etc.
● Great Britain – Moldova
There is a direct London-Chisinau flight from Great Britain to Chisinau airport. Travel time – 3 hours 20 minutes. Estimated departure time is 11:30. Ticket price starts at $90.
● Great Britain – Slovakia
Direct flights to Bratislava depart from the following British cities – Manchester, London, Leeds and Edinburgh.
– London-Bratislava – daily departures at 05:55 and 08:25, travel time 2 hours 15 minutes, ticket price from $60.
– Manchester-Bratislava – four times a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday) at 18:00, journey time – 2 hours 30 minutes, ticket price from $15.
Košice airport, located 90 km from the Uzhhorod checkpoint (Transcarpathia region), can be reached from London (departure at 6:00 p.m., travel time 2 hours 30 minutes, ticket price from $20) and Liverpool (flight twice a week – on Monday and Friday, travel time 2 hours 40 minutes, ticket price from $40).
● Great Britain – Hungary
Budapest can be reached by direct flight from the following British cities: London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Belfast, Nottingham, Bournemouth, Liverpool and Manchester.
Departure from London at 14:00 and 17:25, travel time 2 hours 25 minutes, ticket price from $50.
Also, the London-Debrecen flight, which is available six days a week except Saturday, can be quite convenient. Departure time – 21:40, ticket price – from $80.
The distance from the Ukrainian border to Debrecen airport is 120 km from the Chop (Tysa) checkpoint, Transcarpathian region.
● Great Britain – Romania
The two countries have close air connections, with direct flights flying from London, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and arriving in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Bako, Suceava, Iași, etc.
The average duration of the route is more than 3 hours. Ticket price starts at $30.
London-Bucharest – departure times 06:00, 09:40, 12:55, 16:30 and 20:50.
London-Suceava – departure time 15:15, travel time 3 hours 10 minutes, ticket price from $30.
2nd stage – travel to Ukraine by land transport
At the second stage, it is necessary to continue your trip from the European city to Ukraine by ground transport.
● Train
Most of the tourists prefer the railway because of its speed and comfort. Ukraine is connected to European cities by the following trains:
– Poland – from Warsaw you can get to Kyiv, from Przemyśl – to Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, from Chelm – to Kyiv and Kharkiv.
– Hungary – there is a direct train from Budapest to Kyiv.
– Austria – a direct train goes from Vienna to Kyiv.
– Moldova – a direct train goes from Chisinau to Kyiv.
– Slovakia – from Kosice you can reach Chopa and Mukachevo.
See the link for a detailed schedule of trains running between Ukraine and European countries.
● Bus
A fairly convenient and economical way to get to Ukraine is by bus. Routes depart from many European cities and go to most Ukrainian regions. The ticket price starts from 500 hryvnias ($15). The duration of the trip is up to 20 hours.
From Great Britain to Ukraine by own car
The distance from London to Kyiv is 2,400 km. Travel time is 30 hours 30 minutes.
To enter Ukraine by car, you must have a Green Card insurance policy. The rules for traveling in Ukraine by car with foreign registration were discussed in detail in this article.
You can check the current state of queues for entry into Ukraine from Europe by following the link.
In addition, we draw your attention to the fact that, despite the fact that checkpoints are open 24 hours a day, there is a curfew on the territory of Ukraine due to the state of war.
Rules of entry for citizens of Great Britain to Ukraine 2024
● Visa requirements
A visa is not required. Citizens of Great Britain have the right to stay in Ukraine without a visa for up to 90 days, if the purpose of the trip is tourism, visiting relatives, treatment, etc.
If the duration of your stay exceeds 90 days or you plan to work or study in Ukraine, then before traveling you need to issue a long-term visa (type “D”). To do this, contact the embassy or consulate of Ukraine in Great Britain at least 3 months before the planned trip.
● List of documents for traveling to Ukraine from Great Britain
Entry into Ukraine is based on a valid foreign passport, which must have at least one blank page for the entry stamp.
Also, to cross the Ukrainian border, you must provide:
1. Health insurance policy.
2. Confirmation of the purpose of the trip: a notarized invitation from citizens of Ukraine (relatives, acquaintances, friends), travel vouchers, confirmation of accommodation reservations, invitations from companies or organizations, tickets to seminars, exhibitions, fairs, documents about treatment in medical facilities, etc.
3. Confirmation of financial support (cash, bank statement, check from an ATM, etc.) – proof that you have sufficient funds for the entire period of your planned stay in Ukraine or transit to a third country ($45 per person for each day of your stay in Ukraine ).
4. Absence of a ban from the authorized body on entry into Ukraine.
