I'm attending a May 30th wedding and flights are outrageous! (I'm a broke student)
Are there any creative ways to get to the European continent from Chicago and then over to Chernovtsy, Ukraine?
I have not ruled out travel by donkey. Or riding in freight compartments.
Yeesh, good luck with that. Even if you find a cheap enough flight into Europe, it will likely cost you more than you'd be willing to pay to get to Ukraine, and Chernovtsy isn't exactly next door to any of Ukraine's major cities, so you'd have to find your way there as well.
I probably would've looked into this before agreeing to attend the wedding (assuming you did).
Thank you! These are just the kind of tips I'm looking for!
These are all great suggestions, thank you.
I have previously been to Chernovtsy:
http://www.josephroling.com/photos/ukraine/ukrainetrip.html
However tickets, round trip on KLM and MDK were only $800 and now they're $1200-$1700.
With its close proximity to Hungary, Poland or Moldova, I thought perhaps a lower-priced option existed and I have zero experience with Ukrainian trains. Unless I'm missing something, Ukrainian trains tend not to post their rates online, so it's difficult to assess the total cost.
I will start exploring some of the suggestions posted. Travel and optimism are interwoven for me, so I am hopeful a satisfactory solution exists :)
This is a great site and the community has been very friendly.
A couple of points - if you look at a map you will see as mentioned by a previous poster that Chernovtsy is far off the beaten path and getting there will involve some creative routes. Probably the easiest way may be to fly directly to Kiev (Delta flies from the US, possibly 1 other US carrier, and maybe Aerosvit and Ukrainian airlines). From Kiev you should be able to get a domestic flight on one of the last 2 airlines mentioned above. The alternative is to take a long train ride from Kiev.
I believe there was also some discussion about getting to Chernovtsy a few months ago in another thread but it was fron N. Romania. Do an advanced search to find it.
Another option is to consider Carpatair which flies from Timisoara in Romania. Check out their route map to see possible starting points in W/E Europe such as Munich or Budapest. They will probably be a good alternative to save time but are not the lowest priced carrier.
Do keep in mind that train travel in the Ukraine while comfortable takes lots of time due to the large size of the country and the distance you will need to traverse.
Good luck.
Ukrainian trains do post their schedules and rates online. However it is in Ukrainian (at least it was last year). You will need to get someone who speaks/reads the language to navigate through their website.
If you have lots of time and are trying to go overland from either Romania or Hungary, then check out the Lonely Planet's thorntree forum for more detailed information. I don't think Moldova would be much of an option given the lengthy journey times you would have to endure.
