It seems that everywhere we look these days, everyone is talking about Lviv, Ukraine…and who can blame them? With centuries of beautiful architecture, some of the lowest prices in Ukraine, and a thriving food and restaurant scene, it’s hard not to fall in love with Lviv. All things considered, who wouldn’t want to live there? Luckily for you, today we’re going to tell you exactly what it’s like to live in Ukraine’s cultural capital.
Table of Contents
Basic Information & Background
Lviv may be the biggest small town on earth.
Believe it or not, Lviv was actually not even a part of Ukraine until 1939 after the German-Soviet Invasion of Poland. Historically being part of Poland, the USSR, Austria Hungary, and even Nazi Germany at one point, the city is bursting with history.
Some of it is good, and some of it is bad. But, all of it is certainly interesting.
If you’re a history buff, you’ll be well entertained in Lviv. With numerous free, guided tours that take place around the city, you’ll find plenty of objects of interest. From decaying Communist architecture to a few locations historically significant to WWII, Lviv may be one of the most historically inclined cities I’ve ever visited.
Looking at the skyline in Lviv reveals an eclectic mix of architectural styles that, when paired with one another, make for a very interesting flavor.
But, the visual sites won’t be the only flavor you enjoy during your stay in Lviv.
City of Lions, Chocolate, and Coffee
Lviv is nicknamed “Leopolis,” literally translating to the “city of Lions.”
While you’d be hard-pressed to find a living, breathing lion anywhere, there are statues of lions almost everywhere in the town. This is because of an old piece of folklore that claims that in ancient times, a lion was tasked with protecting the city from invaders.
While the lion had to give his life protecting the princess, he gave an oath to forever protect Lviv. As the legend has it, a statue miraculously appeared as the lion laid dying, making the lion the enduring symbol of the city today.
Pretty neat, huh?
Regarding chocolate, there is an active handmade chocolate scene in Lviv. The Lviv Handmade Chocolate Factory is one of the best sites to see in town. They even have branches in Kyiv! That’s how popular it is.
Of course, coffee is absolutely integral to the culture of Lviv as well. If you’re a digital nomad who loves working from coffee houses, you’re in luck. Lviv may have a coffee shop scene that rivals far more developed countries. The town is big enough that you can try all of them at least once.
All things considered, quality of life in Lviv is really quite high when compared with the rest of Ukraine.
Price & Quality of Life in Lviv, Ukraine
Lviv was once Ukraine’s best-kept secret. While the cat is out of the bag, the town hasn’t been spoiled…yet.
In fact, most Ukrainians would say that it is, by far, the most comfortable city in Ukraine. Even though the city is 25% the size of Kyiv, there’s hardly any traffic. There’s no metro because the city is small enough to get aroun without one. While you can take the streetcar for 5 UAH (approximately .10 cents), the city is extremely walkable.
Needless to say, Lviv is cheap.
Ridiculously cheap. Laughably cheap, even.
While there are still plenty of places for you to blow your hard-earned cash, you may find it hard to do so. Lviv consistently ranks in at one of the cheapest cities to live in on the planet, rivaling even cities in India and Pakistan.
Pro-tip: check the global cost of living index for updated information on what it costs to live around the world.
You’ve heard it before, but I’ll say it again.
You can get a gourmet cup of coffee for $1, have a delicious lunch for $4, take an Uber from the airport to the city center for $3.50, and buy a cocktail in a club for $5.
Apartments can be had for under $500 a month, all bills included.
All in all, you’d be hard-pressed to spend over $1,400 a month.
Getting To Lviv, Ukraine
Getting to Lviv from anywhere in Ukraine is very easy. It’s just a short train ride away from Kyiv, and tickets are dirt cheap.
But, traveling by train isn’t the only cheap transport in Lviv right now.
In fact, Lviv is home to some of the cheapest flights in Europe.
Budget airline RyanAir has just moved into the town’s international launch off point, Lviv Danylo Airport. Now, the common stereotype is that when cheap flights begin to route through the best towns in Eastern Europe, they quickly become ruined by British stag parties and other “undesirable” tourists.
Lviv has held up pretty well against this. It’s just not well known enough as a city like Prague or Budapest, and seriously lacks the nightlife scene of those places. Even still, it is still pretty good if you know what you’re looking for.
The silver lining here is that some curious expats are actually using Lviv as a home base, traveling out as needed to surrounding countries.
Think about it: you can fly to London from Lviv for as little as $40 if purchased far enough in advance.
That’s about as much as it costs to get from the airport to the city center in most other European countries. While it’s an unconventional approach, traveling businessmen can live in Lviv for pennies on the dollar. And they’re just a quick plane ride away from Europe’s capital cities.
This is one area where the city has a huge leg-up on Kyiv, bringing us to our next point.
Is Lviv better than Kyiv?
Lviv vs. Kyiv
Living in Kyiv can be kind of a hassle from time to time. Much of your day will be spent commuting. The traffic is horrendous. The city is absolutely massive, and during the winter, can occasionally look a little bit like a post-apocalyptic, decaying Soviet city.
Oh wait, it kind of is…
Now, that’s not to disparage Kyiv. It’s a great city. But, it doesn’t quite sweep the competition.
Compare this to Lviv, and the differences could not be starker. It is simply a stunning city and can feel more like Paris or Vienna. Of course, you still have the general sense of disrepair that is common in most of Ukraine. But, as they say, “it’s Ukraine.”
You really can’t compare Lviv to Kyiv. The fact is that they are two very, very different cities. Kyiv is like a much less multicultural, far cheaper New York City. Lviv is a gorgeous, comopolitan little town near the Polish border.
If you’re a big city person, you may get bored in Lviv rather quickly. As we discussed in our Lviv nightlife guide, you can easily see all there is to see in Lviv in just under a month.
At the same time, you’re a little more cut off from the rest of the world in Lviv. For example, won’t find some American brand name clothing stores such as H&M in Lviv. The city just isn’t big enough to justify setting up shop there.
Even still, with just how cheap both live in and commute out of Lviv, it’s an attractive option for any digital nomad.
The Fastest Growing City in Ukraine
Look at the numbers. Tourism to Lviv is growing more than any other Ukrainian city every year!
Realistically, this means that Lviv is going to be a hotbed for development over the next decade. You can still purchase flats for under $1,000 USD per square meter in the city center, and even less once you start to venture further away. I’d imagine that these prices are going to rise up quite dramatically in the coming years.
Ask anybody whose been going to Lviv for more than 5 years, and they’ll be the first to tell you that the city is growing each and every year. While there used to be virtually no expats there, there is now a small, albeit thriving scene of remote workers, digital nomads, and even entrepreneurs who have discovered the city.
Oracle has an office there, as does Price Waterhouse Cooper, and SoftServe.
It’s become a major hub for IT outsourcing, explaining why you’ll occasionally run into groups of American IT workers at the city’s many bars. If you’re an American worker who’s being transferred to Lviv for an assignment, don’t worry. Chances are, you’ll enjoy the city just as much as your compadres.
Ukrainian culture is known for being rather cold and standoffish. Luckily, Lviv has a vibe that is certainly far more approachable than the rest of the country.
The Local Culture of Lviv, Ukraine
Lviv differs quite greatly from the rest of Ukraine.
This can be a good thing, or a bad thing depending on your tastes.
For one, they don’t speak Russian for the most part.
That’s not to say that you can’t get around there with your Russian speaking skills, but they may be frowned upon ever so slightly. Lviv takes pride in the fact that they very much have their own microculture within Ukraine.
A big, big part of that is that they insist on speaking Ukrainian when possible.
You can also see this by the way people dress. Lviv has a bit of a “hipster chic” type of style as opposed to the high heeled, heavily made-up style that’s popular in the rest of Ukraine.
This is not a bad thing, per se. The women of Lviv are still beautiful in their own, unique type of way.
On the flip side, if you spend enough time in Lviv, you’ll see that people can have a bit of a “haughty” type of attitude.
The local sentiment can be somewhat nationalistic, proud of where they are from, and even believing that they’re better than everyone else.
This is kind of hilarious…as it takes but a quick look back at history to see that the nobility that once lived in the city in the early 1900s were all chased out under Communist policies of liquidation.
Their gorgeous, Austro-Hungarian homes were redistributed to the poorest villagers from the outskirts. Of course, their descendants still live there today in homes that they were given for free.
The irony that people from Lviv believe themselves to be better than everywhere else in Ukraine is pretty thick. It is, by and large, the distant relatives of the poorest Ukrainians who are living in housing that was stolen from the rich…and given to the poor.
Even still, this is a minor detail. You won’t notice it without spending a lot of time in Lviv.
And if you’re the type of person who truly enjoys the city, you’ll find the benefits to far outweigh the negatives.
The Girls
Ah yes, the ladies of Lviv.
While we’ve dedicated an entire post to this, we’ll give you the short and sweet on the women from the city of lions.
Women in Lviv certainly differ from the rest of Ukraine.
As we pointed out previously, Lviv is very much a “hipster” type of town. Heartbreakingly, wearing high heels isn’t as common in Lviv. As the whole city is built on cobblestone streets, wearing heels can be a bit dangerous as the girls can easily break their ankle if their heel gets caught in the street.
The upside here is that while the women are certainly Ukrainian, they’re far more approachable than the rest of the country. When meeting women any other city in Ukraine, you’ll often be hit with questions about the purpose of your trip. They’ll be incredibly skeptical that a Western man would willingly choose to visit their city.
Lviv, on the other hand, is one of the most touristic cities in the country. While most girls there have not actually interacted with the groups of tourists who come, it’s not entirely out of the question to pay a visit.
Many men laud Lviv as being just traditional enough to find girls that are relatively chaste. In other words, girls from Lviv aren’t the type to listen to Nicki Minaj. They often come from conservative families and believe in old school gender roles. Even still, it’s not some random village in the middle of nowhere, either. It’s a quickly modernizing, European town.
Luckily for you, you don’t have to hop on a plane to Lviv to start meeting the many beautiful women that live in the city. Instead, you can use our favorite dating app for Ukrainian girls to start matching right now!
Who Is Lviv, Ukraine Right For?
We get this question all the time, and for good reason.
In many ways, Lviv is the perfect city.
It is dirt cheap, extremely relaxed, and full to the brim of beautiful women. As a foreigner, you’re just enough of a novelty enough to stick out, but not enough to raise any eyebrows. You can easily set up shop there, and if you make even the tiniest salary from the internet, know you’re going to be well off.
If you’re the type of person who likes to law low, do their work, and enjoy the city they live in, Lviv is a fantastic choice for you.
If, on the other hand, you’re a bit more of a social butterfly who likes to party, Kyiv is a better option for you. Lviv can quickly get boring to the more thrill-seeking of us. Plus, your opportunities for business networking are much smaller than in bigger cities.
On the other hand, Kharkiv is said to offer a middle ground between the two. But, it has far worse English and is far more isolated from the rest of the world than either Lviv or Kyiv.
Regardless of which camp you fit into, I wish you luck in your exploration. Lviv is a great town to visit when exploring Ukraine.
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