Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
useful train is the daily Scoda Intercity for Simferopol (90uah, seven hours) via Zapor-
izhzhya (72uah, three hours). For Kharkiv, there are two Intercity trains daily (80uah,
four hours).
Getting Around
The airport is 8km north of the city centre, accessible by bus 73A heading up vul Univer-
sytetskaya.
A little further south is the train station, a straight shunt down the city's main axis, vul
Artyoma, on bus and trolleybus 2. Tram 1 plies the parallel vul Chelyuskintsev.
WINE IN THE MINE
In the land of mines, you might find yourself urged to descend into the bowels of
the earth. But coal mines are unsafe due to deadly methane explosions. Yet the
subsoil of Donbass has other treasures you can safely prospect for - namely salt
and sparkling wine, or shampanskoye- as they call it in the former USSR. North of
Donetsk, two industrial towns - Artemivsk and Soledar - lying next to each other
offer a perfect underground experience.
Artemovsk Winery
( 062 748 0013, 062 332 2300;
www.krimart.com
;
vul Patrisa Lumumby
87)
dug itself into a huge underground cavern, which has an eerily Bondian feel
about it, with vehicles whizzing by at dangerous speeds and green bottles moving
on conveyer belts like missile warheads. Or perhaps an Austin Powers feel since for
some reason the rocks are painted in vivid psychedelic colours. Every day it churns
out thousands bottles of shampanskoye. A guided tour takes visitors through all
stages of the wine-making process and straight into the sampling hall, where you
can assess the resulting product.
On a more sombre note, the tour stops by a modest memorial marking the tun-
nel where the Nazis shot and buried 3000 Jews during WWII. Their bodies were
discovered by the Soviets after they liberated Donbass.
The tour costs 100uah and takes place twice daily (usually at 10am and 2pm, but
check). It's best booked in advance by phone or via an online form on its website.
Artemivsk can be reached by bus from Donetsk's Zapadny bus station (30uah, 10
daily). There are also two morning elektrychkaleaving from the train station
(25uah, 2½ hours). Bus and train stations in Artemivsk are within 200m from each
other. Take a taxi (20uah to 30uah) to the winery (say 'Vinzavod' to the driver), as
there is no direct public transport.
Across the road leading to Kharkiv, the town of Soledar offers a chance to penet-
rate Europe's largest salt crystal. It is ironic that the place lies right on the route of
the chumaki(medieval salt traders), who walked through the dangerous steppe all
