The Kiev Metro system is the city’s main mode of public transport. Three lines meet in the centre and connect over 50 stations.
Most stations are underground, though a few are at ground level.
Map
Click here for a map of the Kiev Metro. The map is in English and is interactive. You can click on any station name and see exactly where it is located, what’s nearby, and even view the Metro station on Google Street View.
Lines
There are currently three Metro lines – Red, Blue and Green. Follow the links to see the stations on each line. The table on each page summarises what is near each station (hotels, tourist attractions etc.). These summaries are good tools for journey planning.
Tickets
The Metro is reliable and extremely cheap. A ride between any two stations costs a measly 2 UAH, including any transfers between lines. Compare this with say the London Underground (the Tube) where a single journey from Zone 1 to 6 currently costs £5.70 if paid cash (July 2014), which equates to approximately 114 UAH (July 2014 exchange rates).
In other words a long journey on the London Underground costs over 50 times more than a long journey on the Kiev Metro. They were even cheaper a few years ago. In 2008 the fare was just 50 kopeck (0.5 UAH).
Tickets, actually small plastic tokens, can be purchased from the ticket offices found in station lobbies. Look for the window with a sign saying Каси (kasy – ticket office). They’ll usually be a grumpy old lady sat behind it. She won’t speak any English so just hand her some cash and indicate with your fingers how many tokens you want.
If the queue at the ticket office is too big you can purchase tokens from the orange machines, also located in station lobbies. These accept 2 UAH and 10 UAH notes and dish out tokens in return.
The tokens are for single journeys. There are no return tokens or tickets as such. To complete a return trip you’ll need to buy two tokens.
If you want to avoid buying tokens each time you make a journey on the Metro you can purchase a contactless card. These can be topped up at ticket machines. The cards cost 7 UAH (refundable on return of the card if you can be bothered). Unused rides are not refundable.
Passes
Visitors staying in Kiev for extended periods can buy a monthly, unlimited-use Metro pass. They cost 95 UAH and can be purchased from the 22nd of the previous month. Passes purchased after the 15th (expiring at the end of the month) cost 48 UAH.
Combination passes for allowing unlimited use of other modes of public transport (trolleybuses, trams, and buses) are also available.
In practice you’d have to be a pretty heavy user of public transport for a pass to make economic sense.
Hours
Stations open around 5.45 am (some a few minutes earlier, some later) and close at midnight or just after. Trains are fairly frequent so no timetable is necessary. They usually come every 2 minutes during rush hour, at 10 minute intervals late at night, and around every 5 minutes at other times.
Getting Around
Finding the Metro station is your first task. Entrances are marked with a green ‘М’ (for метро). The entrance could be in a building (the case for most of the large city centre stations such as Universytet, Teatralna, Khreschatyk, Arsenalna etc.) or an underground walkway.
To reach station lobby you’ll need to pass through some glass doors. Be sure you pick the right one. The entrance is marked ВХІД. HЕМАЄ ВХОДУ means ‘No entrance’ and indicates the exit doors. We emphasise this because these swinging doors are extremely heavy and getting smashed in the face with one is an unpleasant experience.
In the station lobby you’ll see the ticket office (Каси), ticket machines, and turnstiles leading to the platforms. On the wall there will also be a map of the Metro system.
To reach the platforms just put your token in the slot in the turnstile, wait for the light to turn green, and then push the barrier.
You’ll have to take an escalator (unless it’s a ground level station) down to the platforms. The escalator ride can be a journey in itself (nearly 5 minutes at Arsenalna). Stand on the right hand side of the escalator and hold the rail (the left hand side is for passengers in a hurry that want to walk or run).
The escalator will bring you down to the platforms. There will be one to your right and one on your left. Pay careful attention to the signs above as you reach the end of the escalator. They indicate the stations that can be reached by taking the left or right platform.
Take the appropriate turn and wait on the platform for the next train. There are electronic clocks at the end of each platform. These show the time that has elapsed since the last train departed.
Once on the train keep an eye on the electronic monitors attached to the carriage ceiling. They show the name of the next station (plus annoying advertisements). Until recently the information was only in Ukrainian but now, thanks to Euro 2012, station names are also displayed in English.
On reaching your destination, just follow the crowds to the exit. If nobody is about look for the sign that says ВИХІД У МІСТО (exit to the city). Take the escalator and you’ll find yourself in the station lobby.
Transfer Stations
The three lines are connected by underground walkways in three places, allowing passengers to change lines without exiting the Metro system and paying again.
To reach the connecting station, look for the sign that says ‘ПЕРЕХІД НА СТАНЦІЮ’ (switch to station).
| Lines | Stations |
|---|---|
| Red - Green | Teatralna – Zoloti Vorota |
| Red – Blue | Khreshchatyk – Maidan Nezalezhnosti |
| Blue – Green | Ploshcha Lva Tolstoho – Palats Sportu |
Other Information – Rules and Regulations
Many travel guides, websites, and government agencies state that pickpocketing is a major problem on the Kiev Metro. We’ve been riding it for over 10 years and have never been pickpocketed. Having said that it makes sense to keep alert and be wary of people in close proximity.
There’s a fairly strong official presence on the Metro; both transport officials and police. Both will usually leave you alone provided you stick to the rules.
Rules to bear in mind include:
- You can take bags on the Metro but the sum of the length, width, and height should be less than 200 cm
- No smoking is permitted in the stations or on the trains
- No bikes are allowed
- No lengthy articles are permitted (longer than 2.2 M)
- Photography is permitted but filming isn’t, although some police and transport officials still hassle you if you are taking photos with a professional looking DSLR
- Don’t sit on the escalators
- No ice cream is allowed
13 stops are accessessible for wheelchairs.
“Vyrlytsia” – 4 elevators, 3 stairlifts.
“Boryspilska” – 2 lifts, 2 stairlifts.
“Chervony Khutir” – 9 lifts. (yes,9..)
“Demeevskaya” – 2 lifts, 2 stairlifts.
“Holosiivska” – 3 lifts.
“Vasylkivska” – 4 lifts, 2 stairlifts.
“Exhibition Center” – 2 lifts.
“Hippodrome” – 5 lifts.
“Teremki” – 4 lifts.
The second exit at “Darnitsa” is 1 stairlift.
The second exit at “Lisova” – 2 stairlifts.
“Livoberezhna “-2 stairlifts.
“Svyatoshin “-3 lifts, 3 stairliftslifts.
We are visiting in Kiev (Sep 2019) and heard today from someone who has lived here for 2 years that the Metro officials/clerks are now limiting people to tokens for only the ride requested. We had to undergo some long verbage from a woman clerk when we tried to buy 4 tokens (2 to go, 2 to return), she finally grudgingly did sell us the 4 tokens. At the Hydropark Metro Station yesterday, the clerk ran out of tokens, and that was it, no one who needed a token got on. People were furious. It was a beautiful sunny day, many people were out, I guess it overwhelmed their supply. So today we will attempt to buy the contactless card.
If you’re looking to buy and load a metro card without needing to speak any Russian, I’d recommend the fully automated machines found in some stations. I found them in the Klovska lobby, on the green line. I think it would be an awesome addition to this article if someone could list all the stations with these fully automated terminals! You can select English as your language, purchase a new card, load rides onto the card using an ATM card, and check how many rides you have remaining.
All the other info on this page is extremely helpful! Once I bought my card, I was using the metro system like a local!
Metro ticket prices have increased to 8 UAH now (which is still very cheap).
Is it accessible for wheelchairs?
Generally no. The newer stations are disabled-friendly, but most of the older (and more central ones) are not.
Hi – will the metro be open after the normal closing time of midnight during the 2018 Champions League Final weekend?
Many thanks, Rob.
Do you know if the machines where you can top up a contactless card have an English option? I have learned very little Ukrainian and Russian speaking (just enough to get by) and the writing is even harder with the alphabet being different. Is it just best to go to a human to get the contactless card and top it up?
Yes. There is an English option. Just remember it is a two step process. You add money to your account, then transfer it to the card.
Since my last visit in 2018 something has changed: You can buy at the counter only 1 token for the metro, this is ridiculous for foreign tourits. Last year I could buy always 10 tokens for 80 Griwnas and now this! What is the sense? A job program for token-sellers??? The queues are long, specially at the main stations in the inner city. A tourist needs every day several tokens for the metro. Who is the idiot, who came on the idea to sell only one?
Very useful information.
Thanks..
I have a Kiev Metro token which I acquired from a coin dealer in the United States in 2006. It is copper plated steel. One side has a five-leaflet leaf and Kiev; the other side has words around an M in the center. When were these used?
Great information. Thanks!
Metro rides now cost 4 UAH (still extremely cheap).
The price for token is 4 UAH.
I need to go to Mezhyhirya, the house of Yanukovych. From which metro station can I get a marshrutka. My friend said Geroiev Stalingrada, but I don’t see it on the map.
I presume you mean ‘Heroiv Stalingrada’. This is a street, not a Metro station. Yanukovych’s house is located near Novi Petrivtsi village, just north of Kiev.
The co-ordinates of the house are 50.614972, 30.474306. The nearest Metro station is Minska but this won’t take you anywhere near it. As you rightly say, you’ll need to get a bus.
Which Metro/bus combination you get is going to depend on where you are coming from. I suggest you go to the Easyway Kyiv site (or download the app from Google Play). Input your start point, plus the location given above for Yanukovych’s house and it should tell you how to get there by public transport.
Metro station is “Heroiv Dnipra”.
Take a bus or marshrutka to the direction of “Stari Petrivitsi” (or “Novi Petrivtsi”) and ask the driver to tell you, where is the stop for you to get off (ulitsa Polova; or just ask “Yanukovich” and they will know exactly what you mean). From that stop, it is a 2,5 kilometer walk on a good paved street (street name is “Ivana Franka”) to the gates of the residence.
Is there a Metro from the airport in Kiev?
You didn’t say which airport, but it doesn’t matter. There’s no Metro station near Borysil International Airport or Kyiv International Airport. You can look at our map of Kiev. It has both airports mapped and all the Metro stations. I’d advise you to get a taxi. They are cheap.
Coming in from Boryspil there is a bus the first stop is a metro station, I will follow up when I leave to let you know about access out. The Metro seems to be the least expensive and easiest way to get around.
You can now take light rail from airport to Kiev. (It makes only one stop other than Kiev). Once u depart light rail in Kiev you are dropped a short distance from numerous metros. Like rail cost is around 80 hrivna -3$ US
Can you take a stroller on the Metro?
You can but it wouldn’t be easy with just one adult. Most stations only have escalators (long ones). Few have lifts. If you play by the official rules you should hold your baby in your arms when on the escalator, so you’d really need somebody else to carry the stroller.
Having said that, if you are on your own I’m sure some fellow passenger would assist you.
You’ll also struggle entering and exiting many of the stations. To reach the entrance you’ll frequently need to pass through a subway (underpass). All these are reached by stairs with no ramps for strollers.
Is it possible to buy a pass for all public transport in Kiev?
You have not specified how long you are going for? There are transport passes available but they can only be purchased for one month, or for the second half of the month.
So if you are just in Kiev for a few days the transport pass is definitely not worth bothering with. Even if you are there for a whole month it may not even be worth it.
A monthly pass for the Kiev Metro only currently costs 95 UAH. A monthly ticket for trams and the subway costs 150 UAH. Other combinations are also available.
Personally, I wouldn’t bother with a pass. A single journey on the Metro only costs 2 UAH. Buses, trams, and all other forms of public transport are also dirt cheap. You’ll hardly notice the cost if you are used to European/US prices.
What are the prices now?