Welcome to Odessa

Your Guide to the ENOG 3 Host City

Odessa – Pearl of Ukrainian Cities

The beautiful Odessa welcomes you to the third Eurasia Network Operators Group (ENOG)/RIPE NCC Regional Meeting. ENOG 3 will be held from 22-23 May 2012.

This does not mean, however, that there is nothing to do in Odessa but work. The city offers a lot of tourist attractions, places where you can hang out with friends and many souvenirs to remember your trip by. But be careful not to get lost in the breathtaking streets of Odessa. This is where our guide might come in handy.

How to Get to ENOG 3

ENOG 3 is held at the splendidly renovated Bristol Hotel, which was built at the turn of the 20th century to the design of the famous architect A. Bernardazzi. The hotel lies at the very heart of historical Odessa.

Hotel address: 15 Pushkinska St. (corner of Pushkinska St. and Bunina St.)
Reception tel: +380 (48) 796-55-01.

The hotel lies 1.5 km from the railway station and 12 km from the airport. In either case, we recommend that you take a taxi to get to the hotel. You can find a taxi cab on a parking lot at the station or order a cab over the phone.

It will cost you from UAH 130 to UAH 180 per three passengers to get from the airport to the city centre (the current USD/UAH exchange rate: about UAH 8 per USD 1; about UAH 10 per EUR 1; about UAH 0.272 per RUB 1).

Taxi Services:

  • Service Taxi: +38 (0482) 345-077, 345-088; +38(067) 678-15-70 – call-back;
  • Taxi Igal: +38(0482) 34-80-80, (095) 234-80-80, (063) 234-80-80, (067) 534-80-80;
  • Svoyo Taxi: +380(48) 7-111-200, (063)-44-66666 – call-back, (097) 44444-27 – call-back, (099) 494-4000 – call-back;
  • Taxi Kapriz: +38 (0482) 355-888, (063) 735-15-15, (066) 561-97-80, (068) 25-888-00, (067) 514-42-52;
  • Taxi Service Yug: +38(0482) 333-334, (0482) 333-788, (0482) 374-333, (093) 703-53-33, (068) 263-2-263, (067) 514-57-27, (095) 09-666-09

More detailed information, including tariffs and additional services.

Healthcare and Security

Time zone and climate changes may adversely affect your health. Although simply being in Odessa can fight off any ailment, here are several useful telephone numbers:

  • 112 from all mobile and landline phones – general emergency number
  • 101 – rescue service
  • 102 – police (hopefully, there will be no need to call them)
  • 103 – medical service
  • a convenient list of all Odessa hospitals and clinics

Odessa enjoys and knows how to give and receive treatment, and that’s why you will come across drugstores at every turn. But to avoid making needless turns, you should consult the information guide.

Good Places to Eat Out

Odessa cuisine is a remarkable phenomenon. It combines dishes from Ukrainian, Greek, Russian, Jewish, Romanian, French, Turkish and a great variety of other cuisines, not to mention the currently fashionable Eastern elements. Vegetarians and vegans can also find healthy food to their taste in Odessa (even with delivery).

Apart from large restaurants and cafes, the city has many small coffee houses and fast-food restaurants, bars and beerhouses. And there is absolutely no way you can stay hungry walking along the legendary Deribasovskaya Street, where cozy bars and restaurants smile at you from every other window. There is an extensive list of public catering places to every taste.

Stores and Souvenir Stands

Many of you may prefer to travel light-handed and buy things you need locally. If you want to know exactly where to go shopping in Odessa, use the so-called shop guru service. In this city, you can buy things you need and things you perhaps do not need at all, just in case.

Souvenirs may include items with Odessa-themed or seaside symbols, delicately treated shells, handiwork from ornamental stones, museum catalogues, small paintings and toys – in short, anything you would like to give as a present to yourself or to your loved ones. Browse the extensive list of Odessa souvenir stores.

Odessa’s Landmarks

Anyone who lives in Odessa would tell you that the entire city is one big landmark. And this is absolutely true. Just ask yourself: are there many cities in the world where tourists can visit entire streets as if they were museums? Such streets include the above-mentioned Deribasovskaya Street (which ends with the City Garden) and Primorskiy Blvd. (with a monument to Duke of Richelieu, the founder of Odessa, from which the renowned Potemkin Stairs descend to the Harbor Station in a gigantic cascade).

Another site you should visit in Odessa is the worldwide famous market Privoz at Privoznaya Street. It is surrounded by more stories and anecdotes than fish sold over 218 years of the city’s existence.

Moreover, be sure to see the Opera House (1 Chaykovskogo Lane) and the Pototsky Palace (the Fine Arts Museum at 5 Sofiyevskaya St.), drop by the Archeology Museum (at 4 Lanzheronovskaya St.), visit the Abaza Museum (the Museum of Western and Eastern Art), and many other sites.

But before setting out for a stroll about the streets and squares, you had better consult the reference book.

Note that on this site you can learn not only about the city’s landmarks and entertainments, but also find information about public transport timetables, hotels other than the Bristol, Odessa’s beaches and city suburbs.

Common Words and Expressions

There is a popular opinion that people in Odessa speak a peculiar language of their own – the Odessa language – that you will not find in books on linguistics. This is a detonating mixture of Russian, Ukrainian, Yiddish, Romanian and some other languages, slightly seasoned with words from all quarters of the world, at least one ship from which entered Odessa’s harbor. To be able to speak as locals do, you need to have been born in Odessa. But you don’t have to be afraid of communication issues in this cosmopolitan city. Many young people understand English. However, to be on the safe side, we will provide you with a small English-Russian phrase book (the local population and city guests use Russian as the language of international communication).

Contact Information

Should you have any questions regarding ENOG 3 of your stay in Odessa, feel free to contact:


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