What to do in Odesa in winter - routes, theaters, cafes, hotels

Odesa in winter as an option to spend a weekend by the sea – here’s my plan for what to do, what to see, and where to go when the temperature is below zero. My favorite theaters, museums, cafes and restaurants. The route and addresses of a cat walk in search of sculptures of Odesa cats.

In winter, to Odesa?

Weather in winter Odesa – when is it better to go

In winter in Odesa, let’s just say it’s different. It may be warm and sunny, it may be cloudy for a month, or it may be foggy – after all, the sea plays the main violin in the weather here. And sometimes, if it’s cold, the sea freezes in Odesa.

And once every few years we get snow storms – it’s really beautiful, but the transportation doesn’t work. But you can snowboard from the Potemkin Stairs.

In general, the weather and temperature are different: from +10 to -20 ℃. As luck would have it )))

Remember, in December, Odesa is gloomy and gray. But if you like fog and cafes decorated with Christmas lights, you’ll even like it. Some people are depressed by the fog, while others are inspired by it. But I like fogs – it’s atmospheric! And besides, in peaceful times, a lighthouse could be heard in Odessa – just imagine our Odessa Silent Hill with a constantly repeating sound – uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! I love it!

January is a little better with the sunshine, and it’s nice to wander by the sea, squinting at the glare on the water.
And in February, sometimes it’s so warm that people sunbathe on the beaches, and sometimes the sea freezes and becomes covered with magical ice floes. Both options are heat and frozen sea on the verge of exoticism. I recommend it!

Cafes and bistros – where to have breakfast and dinner in Odesa

When you wake up early in a hotel, you want to have a delicious breakfast. Or you walk around the city a lot and want to drink hot coffee or mulled wine. When the evening comes, I want to sit in a good restaurant and have a good meal. And there are a lot of good cafes and restaurants in Odesa. I will recommend my favorite places.

Despite the fact that I live in Odesa, my husband and I sometimes have breakfast in a cafe. Well, because you want variety in your life. And we arrange it for ourselves in such a simple way.

Breakfasts in Odesa

“Pepe (60 Kanatna St.) – ten kinds of French pies filled with onions and bacon, meat and mushrooms, cheese and spinach. There are also blueberry pies, cakes and trendy desserts. And great coffee!
The average check for coffee and cake is UAH 150.

“Kompot (15 Leontovycha St.) – unfortunately, there is no longer a favorite Kompot on Deribasivska Street, but this one is not far from the train station. Just three blocks away. Open from 8:00.
The food at Kompot is delicious, with many home-style dishes. Would you like oatmeal, scrambled eggs or cheesecakes? – You’re welcome! There is also a croissant or pancakes with a filling.
The average check is UAH 150. for breakfast.

“12 Croissants” (12 Lanzheronivska Street). If a cup of coffee and a fresh croissant are enough for you in the morning, come here. The cafe is located right next to the Opera House, and there are more than twelve types of croissants. Plus delicious desserts.
The average check for a croissant and coffee is UAH 150.

“Benedikt (19 Sadova St.) – breakfasts from 9 am to late evening. And breakfasts from around the world – from Israeli shakshuka to New York roast beef bagels. The eggs benedict are also delicious, and the coffee is decent.
The average check for breakfast plus coffee is UAH 170.

Coffee in Odesa

The White Whale (9 Zhukovskogo St.) is minimalism in its purest form: coffee, croissants, white walls, large windows.
The average check for coffee and dessert is UAH 120.

Atelier. Coffee & Crafts (22 Alexandrovsky Ave. ) is a riot of imagination not only in design but also in unusual desserts – coffee from 47 UAH. They also serve excellent salads and burgers.
The average check for coffee and dessert is UAH 200.

ZheTo (Havanna, 2 ) If you want to have a coffee in a special place with an original interior and taste delicious cakes, visit ZheTo. When you get tired of looking at the collection of antiques on the shelves and tables, lean back on the cushions and just enjoy a delicious coffee.
The average check for coffee and dessert is UAH 200.

Lunch and dinner

Kotelok (17 Sadova St.) Here you will find a Parisian bistro atmosphere and Black Sea seafood. Mussels are cooked in Belgian style – a portion starts from 340 UAH.
The average bill for a serving of mussels and drinks is UAH 750.

Trinity of cafes: “ Grechka (7 Hretska St.), Buffet (12 Panteleimonivska St.), and Alchemy (8 Deribasivska St.), which mostly serve Odesa cuisine: mackerel in Odesa style and forshmak.
The average check starts at UAH 600, but many dishes are offered in half portions.

Khadzhibey (31 Katerynenska St.) offers Tatar cuisine at a reasonable price – it’s delicious, I love this place. It serves delicious Tatar chebureks, pilaf, shurpa, yantiks, Turkish coffee and oriental sweets. The average check per person is UAH 300.

CityBuffet is a network of inexpensive city cafes where you can eat cheaply and deliciously (economy option). Familiar dishes of Ukrainian cuisine – borsch, dumplings, salads and roasts – are served at an affordable price. In the very center, there is a café-buffet from this chain, such as Uchitko-Kino on Deribasivska Street or Chornoslyv on Lanzheronivska Street. Being in the very center of Odesa, you can eat on a very modest budget. On the website stolovaya.com.ua, you can choose the closest cafe by distance.
The average check for lunch or dinner is up to UAH 200.

Go to a museum or theater

I recommend only those places where I go with pleasure.

Theater on Chaichna Street – is an experimental creative laboratory beloved by Odessans. Currently, the theater is operating in compliance with quarantine requirements: chairs are staggered two by two with a distance of 2 meters, and the audience is wearing masks during the performance.
Ticket prices start at UAH 100.

Opera House – If you don’t like opera or ballet, at least go on a sightseeing tour. The Odesa Opera House is one of the five most beautiful theaters in Europe. If you are going to attend the performance, keep in mind that tickets sell like hotcakes during the holidays.
Ticket prices start at UAH 100.

I recommend this particular tour: Excursion – Behind the scenes of the Odesa Opera, or when once a year to see a huge chandelier up close

House-Museum of Personal Collections named after. А. В. Bleshchunova – is a small cozy museum arranged in a former communal apartment where the mountaineer and collector Oleksandr Bleshchunov lived in two rooms. He was an extraordinary personality, interested in various things, traveling around and collecting dishes, fans, art and utensils. In addition, his many friends, the Odesa bohemians and mountain-climbing athletes, brought artifacts and objects from different countries. After his death, the municipality bought the apartment, resettled the residents, and set up an amazing museum in it.
Tickets cost UAH 30.

Odesa Museum of Art – OFAM. How does it differ from its similar counterparts in other cities? The tours here are informal: you won’t be bombarded with dates and incomprehensible terms, everything is quite lively and clear. In addition to a huge exhibition of paintings, the Odesa Art Museum often hosts exhibitions of contemporary artists and photographers. There is also an excursion to the underground grotto located under the walls of the museum.
Entrance ticket and tours cost 100 UAH.

Shustov Museum of Cognac Art – is located at the Shustov Cognac Factory (13 Melnytska Street). Here you can take part in one of the excursions: an overview of the history of cognac making in Odesa or a tasting of local cognacs. You can also buy cognacs yourself – as professional “Maitre de Chez” (cellar master) does. The interior of the museum alone is worth seeing the ceiling made of bottles and all kinds of distillation machines.
Ticket prices start at 100 UAH.

Walking around Odesa

The classic three-hour walk route: from the Opera House along Primorsky to the French Colonnade and across the Mother-in-law Bridge. On Hohol Street, you will pass the Shah’s Palace and the house with the Atlanteans. Harbor to the City Garden and Deribasovskaya Street.

French Boulevard and alleys in the sanatorium named after M. V. Kuznetsov. Ilyich. Chkalov and Arkady.

The Health Trail, which leads from Langeron Beach through Arcadia to the 16th station of the Big Fountain (total length of about 14 km). This is a great place for walking – locals walk here from morning to evening on weekends in winter. There are many nice coffee shops along the way that sell coffee and mulled wine to take away.

Shevchenko Park – the park offers a panoramic view of the seaport. Park alleys lead to the waterfront near the Dolphinarium. Here you can have a coffee overlooking the sea, meet the sunrise at theHouse of the Sun monument, and watch the waves hit the concrete piers in a storm.

Some popular routs in Odesa

If that’s not enough for you, there are several classic city routes that are designed for a three-hour walk. Here is one of them, during which you will see all the main attractions:

From the Opera House, walk along Primorsky Boulevard to the French Colonnade,
Further on, to ul. Gogol past the Shah’s Palace and houses with Atlanteans,
Then the street. Havana to the City Garden and Deribasovskaya Street.

В Odesa courtyards is almost impossible to get into without a guide or a tour guide who will open the code locks for a fee. But if you go to Moldovanka Street, you can still get into the old skewed courtyards, where there are no locks and bolts yet.

Also, take a stroll through Starokonka , a flea market where you can find treasures from the many trash. On weekends, Starokonka sprawls along the neighboring streets of Kolontaiivska, Ryzivska, and Rozkydailivska. Here you can buy absolutely everything for a penny: from coins and books to fakes of paintings by “famous” artists.

Odesa – hunting for cats

Odesa is a city of cats and cats. Our cats are no worse than Istanbul cats, and in almost every yard of old and new Odesa, cats are built houses, fed and truly loved. That is why the cat route through Odesa was created.

The ideological inspiration and author of many of the figures was the sculptor Tetiana Shtykalo, who, having once visited Wroclaw, was inspired by Polish gnomes. That’s how the idea came about to make mini-sculptures of cats and scatter them all over the city to create a cat route.

There is a similar route of mini-sculptures in Uzhhorod – I recommend reading it:
Sakura trees and a route along mini-sculptures in Uzhhorod

The first cat, Timothy, is installed in the fish pavilion of Privoz, rubbing against the legs of the bronze Aunt Sonia. To find the rest of the cats, you should mark them on maps and walk around the city center.

A cats route in the center of Odesa:

Cat Trushnyi Tatushnyi – Vira Kholodna Square. Near the tattoo parlor you will find a black sphinx cat.
Bazarin’s Cat – near the New Market on Torgovaya Street, 26, intersection with Koblevskaya Street. Bazarina had a real prototype, an 18-kilogram cat that lived in a meat case.
A cat made of Zaporozhets car parts – 23 Olhiyivska Street, near the House of Clowns.
Pushinka the gamer cat – Mayakovsky Lane. The cat is sitting on a bench and playing with the fish on the tablet.
Sphinx Cats – Military Descent 2. Cats guard the approach to the stairs under the Teschynskyi Bridge.
Sophia the Cat – pl. Ekaterininskaya 4/1 – at the entrance to the Hotel de Paris.
A kitten near the 12 Croissants cafe – Lanzheronivska 12. The cat is sitting next to a sculpture of a young girl scrolling through her Instagram feed on her bronze smartphone.
The cat-bastard – Pushkinskaya 14. The cat pulled off the sausages and climbed up the building.
Keith Morris – Marazliyivska 7. The sculpture is made from a real prototype of Mykhailo Zhvanetskyi’s cat. A cat sleeps sweetly on MichalMizalych’s briefcase on the window of the Odessites’ World Club.

Cat climber – Yevreyska 4A (corner of Devolanivskyi Descent). A cat climbs the wall of a house.
The lantern cat is near the Dolphinarium on Langeron Beach.
Chilik is near the Dolphinarium building.
Singing cats are located at the intersection of Leontovycha and Panteleimonivska streets (opposite the Kompot café).
The office cat is located on the corner of Velyka Arnautska and Osypova. Its prototype was Ryzhik the cat, who comes to the neighboring office every day.
Cats stealing tulle from a bowl – 19 Polska St., in the courtyard of the House Museum of Personal Collections named after M. K. Kuznetsov. І. Frank. А. В. Bleshchunova.
5, Hretska Street, near the Babel Fish restaurant. A cat eats a sprat in a tomato.

Cat sculptures outside the center of Odesa:

A stained glass window in the Peremohy Park in the lake with ducks and swans. The cat, made of sea glass, is on a stone island.
The school cat at 26 Fontanskaya Road helps students before exams and tests.
The Steampunk cat is in the courtyard of the Polytechnic University, and with it an iron tree and a bench – a composition called “The Tree of Knowledge.”
Cat Siphon – 85 Frantsuzsky Boulevard, in the Castle of Monsters park.
Pharmacy cat – near the pharmacy on Gen. 26 Petrova Street.

Where to look for accommodation in Odesa in winter

The ideal option for winter is to stay in the city center, within walking distance of the main attractions. Even if you walk the Health Trail once, you will spend the rest of your time in the city center to be in the epicenter of events.

Budget hotels in the center of Odesa

In winter, hotels in the center are much cheaper than in summer. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of living within walking distance of the main attractions: Potemkin Stairs, the Opera House, Primorsky Boulevard and Deribasovskaya Street.

Hotel UNO

The design hotel is located in the very center of the city at 17 Rishelievskaya Street. A five-minute walk from the Potemkin Stairs and the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.
Stylish, there are rooms with a kitchenette. Buffet breakfasts are not included in the room rate. Alternatively, there is the nearby Odesa Food Market, where you can eat at any time of the day. Rooms range from classic standard to apartments in a two-level penthouse.
The price starts at 900 UAH (30 EUR) for two people.

Check the current price and book

Il Decameron Luxury Design Hotel

The hotel is located in Lev Kachinsky Lane, just around the corner from Deribasovskaya Street. Rooms range from comfort to suites with kitchen. Laconic and stylish, there is a breakfast buffet for an additional fee.
The price starts at 1400 UAH (45 EUR ) for two people.

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Hotel Frapolli 21

A small boutique hotel with all the consequences that entails – special attention to each client, coziness and comfort.
The price starts at 900 UAH (30 EUR) for two people.

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Wine&Pillow Hotel by Frapolli

The neighbor of the Decameron Hotel is located around the corner at the very beginning of Deribasovskaya Street. The rooms are small but cozy, with comfortable beds. The staff is friendly, and when you walk out the door, you find yourself immediately in the epicenter of events.
The price starts from 800 UAH (25 Euros) for two.

Check the current price and book

Useful links:

Bus schedule and tickets are available on InfoBus.ua
Find travel insurance with discounts on the portal HotlineFinance.
Booking of hotels and apartments – Booking.com

Odesa in winter – what to do in the city by the sea

Weather in winter Odesa – when is it better to go