Driving from London to Lugansk

[Dr Nick]

Hi Everybody,

Last year we drove from London to Lugansk to visit in-laws.

This year we did it again and plan to stay for the full 90 days allowed for EU citizens without a visa. I will tell you a few things about our trip in case you plan the same.

We used Eurotunnel this time instead of the ferry to cross the channel - we got there a bit early and they put us on an earlier train for no extra charge (05:00 departure). Embarking and leaving the the train is quicker than the ferry and overall we saved over an hour with the shorter crossing time instead of sailing to Dunkerque. Once again we were travelling on a Saturday. Traffic is better and we only got held up once on the first day going round Brussels on the ring road where there had been a minor accident. We followed the E40 all the way from Calais through France, Belgium Germany and Poland. Last year we stopped at Dresden overnight. This year we got to the far side of Krakow before calling it a day. We had a bit of trouble finding accommodation as both the hotels we stopped at were having weddings and were full. The second one had one room left for four of us (Me wife and two kids 4 years and 1 year). We made do with the one room. It was clean and tidy.

We set off early the next morning for the Ukraine border crossing, Once you get past Krakow you are on ordinary road, it is motorway all the way now from Calais to Krakow. There were what seemed hundreds of km of roadworks last year on this stretch of road. Most of it is now finished but still a lot of roadworks. But not too much traffic on a Sunday morning. We got to the border about 07:30. The queue was short but it does take a very long time to process each vehicle. And of course you have to do it twice, once leaving Poland once to enter Ukraine.

As last time we ran into the catch 22 with the car insurance. You can't get it on the Polish side but the Ukrainian customs expect you to have it as you enter the country. Silly things like this really **** me off. Any way we told them that our father in law was waiting on the other side of the border with the necessary document (this was the truth, he was only a few 100 meters away) they believed us and let us through. Only a cursory look at the contents of the boot which was absolutely rammed with stuff for your 3 month trip.

Picked up our father in law at the petrol station which is just over the border (Krakovets crossing point) and bought some unleaded petrol for about 70 pence a litre! :-) It was about 9 am when we set off.

The road from the border crossing to Lviv is surprisingly poor considering its importance as an international transit route. There were more holes than last year. Got to Lviv and foolishly went through the centre again where we encountered the cobbled streets once again. I said it last year and I'll probably say it again but I'm never going to drive my car in Lviv again - use the ring road!

Also last year there were vast expanses of roadworks from Lviv to Rivne (on the E40). The Ukrainians haven't made as much progress as the Poles since last year but the situation is quite a bit better. I am told the reason for all the roadworks on the Polish and Ukrainian side of the border is to improve them for the European cup in 2012. Anyway roads were better than last year from Lviv to Kiev.

Be careful, there are a lot of police on this road and someone got them all new radar guns for Christmas. When the sign says 50 you'd better be doing 50 when you pass it! These signs are usually near poorly marked crossing points which are still used even though the road may be dual carriage way.

We got to Kiev late afternoon on the Sunday and ignored all road direction signs as these cost us a 200 km misdirection last year. If you want to cross Kiev west to east head for the centre and go round the ringroad an out the other side heading for the airport. Enjoy the only stretch of Motorway in Ukraine - 20 km from Kiev to Borispol.

It was going dark and like last year we continued through the night with father in law sharing the driving. There is a short cut to the south of Kharkiv that knocks about 100 km of the journey. I didn't fancy it in the dark but we went this way anyway. Road was worse than last year and it is hard to see the depth of pot holes in the dark but we managed OK. It was getting light as we rejoined the E40 the other side of Kharkiv. Got to Lugansk about 7am.

As I mentioned we plan to stay for 3 months and we can but the car can not. Oddly the car can only stay for 60 days at a time. So we are planning to go to Russia for the day to visit some relatives there. We think there is a Russian embassy in Kharkiv where we will be going for the visas. A friend of the wife's lives there who is an interpreter so we be getting her to help us.

I hope you find this interesting and useful. If you have any questions just post them up.

Cheers

[Dr Nick]

Hi Everybody,

Well we are back in the UK now.

We had a great time, the weather was fantastic, only about a week of rain in 3 months.

If you were interested in our planned trip to Russia. We kept getting conflicting information about whether we needed visas as English citizens crossing the border by road from Ukraine to Russia, so we tried it without. We were allowed to leave Ukraine but were turned back on the Russian side of the border. So I can clarify this point - you do need a visa if you are English. Fortunately, having actually left Ukraine, this reset the 60 day rule for the car, so we didn't bother getting visas and going back again.

Driving back to UK from Lugansk was OK. The roads in Ukraine are improving little by little in anticipation of the European Football cup in 2012 (to the West of Kiev at least). We managed to drive from Lugansk to Lviv in one go. Took about 19 hours with two drivers and several stops. We set off at 4am and stayed at a rather grotty motel for 150H near Lviv.

Crossing the border was the usual bureaucratic nonsense.

The traffic on the Polish side was quite bad. Serves us right for trying it on a Friday I suppose. It was much better last time when it was a Saturday.

Any questions about our trip, please post and I will try to answer.

Cheers

[Gotno Gizmo]

Originally Posted by Dr Nick

If you were interested in our planned trip to Russia. We kept getting conflicting information about whether we needed visas as English citizens crossing the border by road from Ukraine to Russia, so we tried it without. We were allowed to leave Ukraine but were turned back on the Russian side of the border.

I cannot imagine why you thought a visa would not be required by Brits to enter Russia.
The Russian Embassy of London, plus many other websites make it quite clear about the need for visitor, single or double entry transit visas.
Do you not recall the case of the British man, who around 5 years ago crossed the frozen Bering Straight on foot from Alaska with a Russian visa, as an expeditionary. He was arrested and put into custody for not entering Russia at an official border pcontrol point!. Your lucky they didn't arrest you.

[Dr Nick]

I was actually sure we would need a visa until we went to the Immigration office in Lugansk where we were told by immigration officials (Ukrainian) that we could cross the border for short visits using the entry slip we got as we entered Ukraine from Poland.

Incidentally, that fellow who walked across the Bering Straight as well as not entering by a proper entry point was also entering a restricted military zone (on the Russian side), and he was an ex soldier so its hardly surprising he was not too welcome. ;-) This is despite the fact that he had walked all the way from Chilli and was planning to walk all the way back to the UK. I forget his name but he has a website where you can read all about it.

[Dr Nick]

Hi Everybody,

We will be setting off again in the trustry Vectra to Lugansk from London in a few weeks.

Any news on the current state of the E40 through Ukraine would be appreciated.

Cheers

Dr Nick

[g bilous]

I have thought about the possibility of driving from UK to Lviv on my next trip but am not sure about car insurance and breakdown cover. Is it possible to get both before leaving? Also would be concerned about the police as I have heard they like to nick people for the smallest of things. No doubt having a car over there would be covenient at times, not for the cities but for visits to the countrside.
How long do you think it would take London to Lviv, what route and where would you make your stops at night?
I would be interested to know. Thanks.

[Tobbe]

Interesting read
My friend and I had planned on driving to Kherson, but ended up postponing the roadtrip for next year instead and go by plane instead.