Before we go anywhere with this post, we want to say: we love Kyiv. We loved it then and we love it now. Everything we write below is from our stay in 2018, before the war. Ukraine is fighting for its life as we publish this. Our hearts are with the friends we made, the neighborhood we lived in, and every Ukrainian who has had their world upended. We hope we get to walk those streets again someday. And we hope for peace.
Now, the stay.
Kyiv wasn’t on the list. It was a maybe, a “let’s just see.” Three months later, we didn’t want to leave. It became the city we picked our logo coordinates from. It became the reason “temporary residents” started to mean something specific to us.
What we found: a city with a refreshing no-nonsense approach to life. People hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Two languages spoken simultaneously (Russian and Ukrainian) and locals happy to help us butcher both.
Finding a long-stay apartment in Kyiv’s Pechersk district
We stayed in Pechersk, the historic hilltop district on the right bank of the Dnipro. Government buildings, embassies, tree-lined streets, and the ancient Kyiv Pechersk Lavra just down the road. Hosted by Maria. Old building, wooden floors that creaked in the best way, windows onto a courtyard. Not a photo-shoot Airbnb. Not a hotel replacement. A real Kyiv apartment. That’s the trade-off, and for us it’s the whole point.
Pechersk is elegant Kyiv. Wider streets than Podil. More green space. Metro access at Pecherska and Klovska stations. And a specific kind of Soviet-era grandeur that makes you feel like you’re living inside a Cold War novel in the best possible way.
Living in Pechersk, Kyiv
Deep love for Ukrainian food discovered here. Deruny (potato pancakes). Borscht. Vareniki (dumplings filled with anything sweet or savory). And a coffee culture that came as a genuine surprise. Especially useful on the mornings after we’d been exploring the local love of vodka, which comes in more varieties than we knew existed. We never quite loved it as much as they do, but it was fun trying.
Getting around the city is uniquely Ukrainian. Almost any car you see is a potential taxi. When we called for a ride, either a taxi with an official lit-up sign would show up, or a random guy in an unmarked red Toyota. We never knew. But we always got where we were going, very very quickly. We’re not sure who was chasing us, but we always seemed to get away in a fashion that would have made James Bond green with envy.
A typical day in Kyiv
Coffee at 8. A walk to the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra or over to Mariinskyi Park with the Dnipro views. Groceries at Silpo. Afternoons at whatever café had the best wifi. Sunset drinks somewhere with a view of the river.
Big cultural nights, too. Swan Lake performed by some of the world’s best dancers. Operas. Radio stations we grew to love. Locals with an impeccable sense of style that made us feel underdressed no matter how informal the setting.
Then, mid-stay, Lance ended up in the hospital. Turned out to be a Georgian cheese incident (beware the Georgian cheese) that landed him in Ukrainian medical care. The staff were friendly. They kept him healthy and, critically, allowed him to keep his gallbladder where it belongs instead of in a souvenir jar. We were worried the symptoms would be lost in translation. He couldn’t have been in better hands.
Kyiv: our verdict after 3 months of living there
Kyiv is a city that rewards patience. Three days here and you’ll find it interesting. Three weeks and you’ll fall for it. Three months and you’ll wonder why more people don’t know about it.
We picked our logo coordinates from this city. 50°27′N · 30°31′E. Because it was the first place we felt like temporary residents in the real sense of the word. Not tourists. Not passing through. Just quietly living somewhere for a while. Even the part where Lance almost lost his gallbladder.
Kyiv is why we do this. And we’ll be back when we can.
Kyiv long-stay stats
- Duration: Three months, autumn stay
- Neighborhood: Pechersk (Pecherskyi District)
- Cost tier: Affordable
- Walkability: Excellent
- Wifi: Fast and reliable
- Cat-friendly: Yes
- Best for: Long stays, remote workers, coffee obsessives, people who like keeping their organs
- Would return: Absolutely, the moment it’s possible
Book the stay: Our Pechersk apartment on Airbnb →
