Housing
Despite the great variety of newly built condominiums and houses, the demand in Lviv is comparably high and rental rates are much lower than in Kyiv. That's why finding a good apartment or house to rent may be quite challenging and take a lot of time.
Prices per studio or 1 bedroom apartment in Lviv downtown range from EUR 150 to EUR 200 per month plus utilities. If you are okay with living outside city center, there is a good chance you will find a similar apartment for EUR 100 - 150 per month plus utilities. The apartments are usually rented out for 1 year, sometimes it is possible to negotiate a shorter period, however the rent price may be a bit higher in this case. Traditionally, landlords ask to pay for the first month of the stay, as well as the safety deposit, which usually equals to the amount of the monthly rate.
If you are looking for a short time rent, Lviv offers many furnished apartments, which can be rented per day or per week. This option is really popular among tourists who come to visit Lviv, as it is much cheaper than staying at a hotel. Finding an available apartment with decent price and quality ratio can be a difficult task - you have to be careful while making the reservation, as there are a lot of fraud cases in this sphere. It’s always better to use reliable services like booking.com or airbnb.com and carefully read all the reviews before making the final decision and paying a deposit for your reservation. The rates for the studio apartment or 1 bed-room apartment in Lviv downtown range from EUR 10 to EUR 50 per day depending on specific location of the apartment and its facilities. 2-bedroom apartments will cost around EUR 50 to EUR 80 per day. If you would like to rent for a longer period of time, say a week or two, don’t hesitate to ask the landlord for a discount.
As for the hotels, the rates here are still lower comparing to Kyiv, but cheap hotels don't pop up too often in Lviv. Expect to pay EUR 80-100 for a double room per night in a 4-star hotel like Astoria, Leopolis or Swiss Hotel in the city center. Living in similar conditions outside city’s downtown can save you some money and will cost EUR 50-80 for a double room per night - for instance, in Citadel Inn, Cavalier Boutique Hotel or Dnister Hotel. Luckily, Lviv now offers a good variety of budget hostels.
Fine Dining
To talk about the famous Lviv coffee and beer, local food-and-drink scene is also booming and brings new trendy places to drink and dine every season. The majority of Lviv high-end hotels, have in-house restaurants that offer fancy European cuisine. To name but a few, Mon Chef Restaurant in Astoria Hotel, Panorama Restaurant in Opera Hotel and Restauracja Szkocka in Atlas Hotel are the bright examples. The average check for the dinner for 2 will be around EUR 50 in such places. Restaurants located around Rynok Square are popular among tourists and known for their interesting dishes: classic Galician cuisine in Baczewski Restaurant, European dishes with a local culinary twist in Centaur Restaurant on the corner of Rynok Square or Atlas Restaurant on 45, Rynok Square. The average check for the dinner for 2 persons in these places will be EUR 30.
Nightlife
As for the nightlife, Lviv has a couple of night clubs where guests can enjoy good music, well-mixed drinks and dancing. One of the most popular night club among foreigners who visit Lviv is Fashion Club located on 1, Pidkovy street. Guests are asked for EUR 3-5 admission fee depending on the day of the week. The deposit for booking a table for 4-6 people ranges from EUR 30 to EUR 40 and drinks cost from EUR 3 per cocktail. iFEST Republic on 24, Staroznesenska street is a newly opened club located on the grounds of the pre-WWII glass factory. This incredibly night club gathers young and hip crowd and boasts some serious European guest DJs. To get inside and enjoy a party at iFEST Republic you need a ticket that usually costs from EUR 3 to EUR 5 per person depending on the event planned for that day.
Tips
In case you rent an apartment during your stay and have a kitchen available, cooking meals at home can save you a lot of money. Prices for food in Lviv are quite affordable, for example, you will pay 50 CENTS for 1 liter of milk, 30 CENTS for a loaf of bread, 60 CENTS for 6 liter bottled water, EUR 1 for 10 eggs, 30 CENTS for 1 kilo of apples and 70 CENTS for 1 kilo of rice. All necessary grocery shopping can be done in supermarkets or small grocery shops that are located all around the city. In case you are feeling confident or adventurous, you can try to hit local food markets and score even lower prices - make sure to watch out for pickpockets once there.
Lviv is rather small city comparing to Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa or Dnipro. Moreover, pretty much all action is happening in the downtown with a layout that allows easily walking from point A to point B. If you don’t speak Ukrainian or Russian, navigating through Lviv by public transport might be really challenging. Bus and tram drivers hardly speak any English, so you would have to rely on the help of other passengers if needed, as well as English language route maps you can download from the internet. Ticket for a single ride in Lviv tram, bus or trolleybus costs 6 CENTS.
Cabs are the most convenient way to move around the city. We suggest that you determine the actual price of your journey with the driver or taxi cab operator service before getting into the cab. The taxi ride to the city center from Lviv airport will cost approximately EUR 3-5 and around EUR 2-3 from Main Railway Station.
In order to enjoy your stay in Lviv, we suggest to plan your trip carefully, book accommodation and other travel services in advance and from reliable suppliers - this will help you to save your time and money.
Photo sources: shutterstock.com, unsplash.com. All photos belong to their rightful owners.
