Kryvyi Rih (Ukrainian: Кривий Ріг) is an industrial city of 660,000 people in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine. Its principal industry is steel manufacturing.

Understand

According to official website, the city extends for 126 km from north to south.

Get in

View of Kryvyi Rih

By plane

• 1 Kryvyi Rih (Lozovatka) International Airport (KWG  ^IATA) (17.5 km northwest of the city). No regular flights.  

By car

• H 23
• H 11
• Т 0418
• Т 0419

Get around

Maps

Google maps can help avoid getting lost in the city. People commonly speak English very badly and all signs and tabulations are in Russian and Ukrainian. Translate apps and vocabularies are also very useful.

By foot

You can walk to most locations in central Kryvyi Rih and there are plenty of attractive walking routes along the quay sides and in the pedestrianised central streets. The central city (Karl Marx Street) is separated from the 95th Block area, but buses and trolleybuses can help to access it. The main rail station is further away but still accessible by bus.

By bicycle

KRC has few bike paths and routes.

By car

Driving is probably the best way of seeing the surrounding region. A couple of the routes during peak hours operate a car pool lane for cars with more than one occupant.

The centre of KRC follows a one-way city system, which can be frustrating and confusing for those not used to it. However with patience and practice and a lot of circling around the same areas numerous times, it does become easier.

Parking

There are no parking garages and no designated or marked car parking bays in the streets. Drivers park wherever they find it convenient.

See

Botanical Garden

Do

Prospekt Metalurhiv metro station

• 1 Odessa Kino (Union), 30 Dimitrova Street (Metro (Budynok Rad), trolleybus, bus, taxi). 09:00-23:00. €4. 
• 1 Union (Union), 30 Dimitrova Street (Metro (Budynok Rad), trolleybus, bus, taxi). Skiing, Ice Rock cafe, bowling and cinema. 
• 2 Olimp Kino, 24 Meleshkina St. €3. 
• 3 Multiplex Cinema, 37 Lermontova St. €3. 

Buy

• 1 Sun Gallery (Aushan, Solnechny), 1, 40 Let Pobedty square (Metrotraam Miska Likarnia, trolleybus or free bus). 09:00-23:00. Aushan, Sushi, Cafe, Bar, Big Burger, Souvenirs, Sportmaster, Comfy, NewYorker, Punma, Zara, Camel Active, Chester, Colins 
• 2 Liberty City, 35 Karl Marx St. 
• 3 Victory Plaza, 24 Lermontov St. 
• 4 Plaza, 4 Gagarina St. Good city view from the 6th floor. 

Eat

Budget

• 1 McDonald's (95s Block (Kvartal)), пл. Горького Кривий Ріг Дніпропетровська область Украина. €3. 
• 2 McDonald's, 37 Lermontov St. €3. 
• 3 NY Street Pizza, 54 Karla Marksa St. €5-10. 
• 4 NY Street Pizza, 24 Meleshkina St. €5-10. 
• 5 Silpo, 30 Dimitrova street (Metro (Budynok Rad), trolleybus, bus, taxi). Retail market with own cheep dishes: salads, meat, bread, donuts. Also, probably, the bast place to go shopping. 
• 6 Celentano Pizza, 30 Gagarina St. €5. 
• 7 Celentano Pizza, Metalurhiv Ave, 22Б. €5. 

Mid-range

• 1 Geronimo (Plosha Osvobozhdenia), 1 Pushkina St. €15-20. 
• 8 Nepman (Dzerzhinka), 17 Mira Ave, ☏ +380 56 409 10 10. €20. 

Splurge

• 9 Prado (Osvobozhdenia), pr. Karl Marx 19, ☏ +380 564 92-41-08. €10-30. 

Drink

• 2 Adams, 49 Dimitrova st. Good cozy Gothic beer bar. 
• 3 Begemot (Muraveinik), 34 Metalurhov Ave, ☏ +380 98 080-10-90. €15-20. 
• 4 Liverpool (Sotshorod), 24 Metalurhiv Ave, ☏ +380 56 409-81-82. One of the best British beer pubs of the city with regular parties and musical performances. €15. 
• 1 Madisan, 12 metalurhiv Ave. Rock club with noisy parties, live music and fun people. 

Sleep

This guide uses the following price ranges for a standard double room:
Budget	Under €50
Mid-range	€50-150
Splurge	Over €150

Mid-range

• 1 Druzhba (Avtovokzal), 50086, Украина, Днепропетровская обл., г. Кривой Рог, ул. Телевизионная, 12, reservation@druzhba.dp.ua. 3*** €15-55. 
• 2 Saksahan, 11 Dyshynskoho Street (Car or taxi), ☏ +380 67 560-18-83, info@hotel-saksagan.com.ua. 4**** €40-100. 
• 3 Aurora (95th Block, Central City), 40 Metalurgiv Ave (taxi, bus, trolleybus, Metrotram (Budynok Rad)), ☏ +380 56 404 08 08, reception@aurorahotel.com.ua. 3*** €25-55. 

Connect

Kryvyi Rih's landline area code is 56. Dial 056 from within Ukraine or +380 56 from outside Ukraine.

Kryvyi Rih has easy internet access like most cities, and as a city, has the advantage of broadband being easily accessible both to install and use. Kryvyi Rih also has an abundance of internet cafes available for all to use. The council has also recently installed the internet in most of the main libraries in Kryvyi Rih. Providing you are a member of Kryvyi Rih Libraries you can book internet use although be prepared to wait if visiting the library during school term-times as students from the nearby school and college frequently use the facilities. A network of free Wi-Fi hotspots is being deploying in Central City. It is available around the 95th Block and in some metro stations. An up to date map of pubs, bars and cafe's in Kryvyi Rih with free Wi-Fi is available here.

Stay safe

Like many other big cities in the Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih has its rough areas. Use common sense while getting around. The usual "don't be stupid" advice suffices. Avoid drinking the water from the tap; bottled water is cheap and available everywhere.

If you are female, and especially if you are traveling alone, try to take a taxi instead of public transit after 21:00. These are prime drinking hours and the metro and marshrutky may be crowded with drunken men. This is particularly true on the weekends. Ask a local English-speaker to call the taxi for you and get the amount of the fare in advance; drivers may greatly inflate the fare once hearing your accent. Isolated drunken brawls can occur in the centre of town on Friday and Saturday nights as pubs and clubs close, especially near the waterfront area, the Centre, taxi queues and fast food joints. This has been reduced somewhat by a heavy police presence and security guards monitoring the taxi queues.

Also, some outlying suburbs such as Yubileinaia, Artem (from Artem to Vecherny, including Svyatoshyn), Smychka and Druzhba have a bad reputation, but it is unlikely that a visitor to the city would travel to these parts. Be careful at the railway station. If you are leaving your baggage in the station, it is better to leave it with the guys in person rather than use a locker. Stories circulate of people 'assisting' with the locker, observing the code and then walking off with the bag afterwards

The main problem is beggars as many will approach you on the street to ask for money, bread, cigarettes or few cents for a tram ticket (don't be stupid).

Also, you may find people offering you drugs in return for cash. Those people have no drugs and will instead give you a bogus parcel (such as balls of cellophane or matches wrapped in newspaper) and run off with your money. They often have knives so avoid the people in the first place.

There is still corruption in Ukraine; some services might openly ask you to bribe them to process your request, and denying it might make them refuse to help you. Common people are very tolerant and it is only reasonable to assume that they expect the same in return.

Go next

• Dnipro, modern financial and entertaining centre.