is traditionally regarded as a southern seaside city, with warm climate of warm summers and mild winters, but it can be really chilly there in winter, especially if the sea breeze comes to the shore along with humid weather. Many Ukrainians prefer visiting the city in spring/summer time, but during the tourist season Odessa is badly overcrowded. Traditionally, it was regarded as a charming marine city of rich history and multinational population, where more than 80% were merchants, selllers and just proprietors. Recently, it started to loose it's romantic charm and has turned into a large port, transportation knot and a trade center for all southern areas of Ukraine.

Pictures of Odessa

Through decades, Odessa has become a famous place of relaxation and rest to those who like nightlife places. Both, local business people and foreign gests find Odessa's night clubs, casinos, bowling places and entertainment clubs very attractive. If you are planning to sleep late hours in the morning and then spend evening in a nice club being surrounded with local people (who are very communicative), then Odessa is a good city for you. But to those who are interested in historical sightseeing and museums, I would rather recommend visiting Kiev or cities of the Western Ukraine.

If you are interested in cultural program, there are a number of options to be checked out-
- City touring around most beautiful places in Odessa and checking out architectural masterpieces of European masters
- A tour to famous Odessa catacombs - hand made mines of 5000 km length with interesting story

You can visit these places in winter, or when the weather is not nice-
- Attending one of the most beautiful Opera Theaters in Europe - you can have an excursion and attend a performance
- Attending Odessa National Picture Gallery with examples of art starting from XIII-XIV and Odessa Archeological Museum
- A full day tour to the ancient fortress out of Odessa, called Akkerman. This fortress is around 1000 years old and is definitely worth visiting
- Attending a beautiful Dolphins show
- Tasting wines in a winery (mostly for the famous Crimean wines) If you appreciate good wine, you will love it
- Attending Russian Health Steam Club - it is ancient traditional Russian spa procedure, which involves banya, different types of massages, drinking russian national drinks and so on - as result you will feel relaxed, refreshed, and full of energy

IN winter time, due to gloomy weather, indoor activities are good -
Here are the most popular Odessa's night clubs-
1. Palladium
2. Yo
3. Vecherka
4. Vis - a - Vis
5. Kipyatok
6. Kapitan Morgan
7. Hali-Gali
8. Euro Club
9. Plasma
They all offer different kinds of music and have different environment. So, select one to your taste or visit all, one by one.

For dinning out, here is a list of restaurants, which most of visitors like very much-
1. Grand Cafe - nice food in general
2. Fanconi - best sushi place
3. Steak House - for steak and wine
4. Porto - excellent fish restaurante
5. Boulevar - good wine, nice food, traditional Odessa dishes
6. Kompot - also good for dinner and have Odessa dishes
7. Fat Mozes and Paparazzi
8. Salieri - best deserts in city centre