So, finally you are in Lviv and have already put your luggage in the hotel/hostel or apartment room and now are ready to see the city. There are several things that you should know before just going out. This article is about how things are set up in Lviv and how always to feel comfortable while being in the city.

Here are no particular sections, so it all is made in the way of tips list. Please admire your time while reading.

Tip #1. General city structure. All in all, the city is divided into several part, though this division has no background, it was done just like slicing a pie, - to have it divided. However, the most interesting part is the Old city and Rynok Square. If you type these names in the Google maps you’ll see where they are and will receive the idea how far your hotel is located from. However, there is no need of looking for a hotel just near city center, - Lviv is rather compact city and it would not take you longer than thirty minutes to get from one end of the city to another. Besides, central hotels are more expensive than suburb ones, though the quality of service is approximately the same. Getting back to where we stopped, - all the main tourist attractions and places to go sightseeing are located in central part.

Tip #2. Never, I mean, NEVER sit on the ground/stairs or whatever you can sit on, except the benches! Though the city is being constantly cleaned, cleaning services are still too little to meet the requirements of the city and that is why in the majority of the cases, everything is not hygienically clean.

Tip #3. As you walk around the city try not to speak really loud at least if you don’t know Ukrainian. You native language, even being really beautiful, might attract the attention of not so pleasant people that you won’t be happy to meet in the subway or at an empty street. There are not many of them, but they exist, just like everywhere.

Tip #4. By the way, there is no subway in Lviv. Public transport consists of trams, trolleys and buses. For more detailed information regarding transport, please do refer to my “Lviv Tourist guide. Part 1. Lviv Transport or how you got here?!” article.

Tip #5. Unfortunately there is no bike hire too, so you’ll have to go by foot or use public transport or taxi. In fact, the infrastructure for bicyclists is just being developed and implemented, so probably for the time when you are going to read this article it will be a little more developed, but still, additional careful check should be performed.

Tip #6. Local currency is named “Hryvnia”. For the time of composing this article, currency exchange level is that you can buy 11 Hryvnia for 1 Euro. One more thing regarding currency – to exchange your money use banks only – no exchange lots or boxes and especially do not exchange money at the street! (yes, we have such “service”, - a guy that would change your Euro to Hryvnias).

Tip #7. One more thing that is to be taken into consideration is that banking systems still have lots to do and in many shops or souvenirs stores you are not able to pay with credit card, only with cash in local currency. Of course there are shops that will willingly accept credit cards but if you are going to stay in the city you definitely must have some cash with you.

Tip #8. Getting back to security issues, I should say that public transport works till 11 PM latest, so if you live a little bit away from a night club or pub, where you plan to spend an evening, please keep in mind, that you should be able to order a taxi, or it would be even better, if you do it beforehand.

Tip #9. Taxis are really “smart” guys so to be sure that you pay a fare price for your drive home, you must order a taxi that can give you a printed check for your trip.

Tip #10. Let me make just a small suggestion, from my personal experience, I should say, that I like the most, when somebody local is with me. In this case you receive many benefits, like you’ll never get lost, you’ll know where to eat, what to visit and how to move around the city. Of course, of course, GPS, Google and other smart devices are always here to help, but no device knows all the particularities. So if you have a friend, colleague, facebook friend or relative – this would be great, if you would ask him or her to spend the day with you. I’m sure that guide is also a possible solution, at least I am aware that Lviv tour guides offer such services.

So probably these are the main things to be aware of while being in Lviv. For more information, please do refer to my previous articles and if you are interested in particularly what to see in Lviv, please see my next article. Hope you find my tips useful and have fun reading my articles. I promise, that I’ll add new tips if I would think of any, or somebody of you would suggest them to me.