Odessa Tours

This is no ordinary tour — it’s a journey into Odesa’s underground world. Cold War bunkers, traces of ancient life, underground lakes, stone quarrying and secrets the catacombs are reluctant to reveal. The route is carefully planned and safe, with helmets and flashlights provided. Expect to feel like a true explorer.

A walk through central Odesa without the usual “look left, look right”: vivid stories, streets full of character, literary echoes, and that unmistakable Odesa logic where the longer way often turns out to be the more interesting one.

Architectural Odesa is all about palaces, apartment houses, courtyards and streets designed with a clear vision rather than simply “growing wherever they could.” On this walk, you’ll discover the city’s main architectural styles and signature details: why Odesa looks so European, where to spot the work of master craftsmen, and how to tell Classicism from Art Nouveau without sitting through a boring lecture. Beautiful, intelligent and with that unmistakable Odesa smile.

Literary Odesa is a walk through the places where writers lived and visited, where their characters still seem to “live”, and where the city itself turns into a story. Pushkinska Street and Primorsky Boulevard, the Opera House, the Archaeological Museum/former first public library, legends about Gogol, Babel’s and Sholem Aleichem’s Moldavanka, and the Literary Museum with its unmistakably Odesa-style monuments full of humour. Atmospheric, intelligent and full of character.

Odesa does not begin with monuments — it begins with a courtyard. Here you’ll find a water pump, a communal table, a spot to “look at the Moon”, and neighbours who know how to believe in people before there is any reason to. This courtyard tour reveals the living city behind the gates: funny details, warm stories and that unmistakable Odesa cosiness with a wink.

Odesa knew how to make a scene long before social media existed. This walk is about the old city’s biggest scandals and intrigues: merchants with secrets, spy stories, heated elections, courts with attitude, banks, coffee houses and legendary places in the city centre. Deribasivska, Hretska, Pushkinska, the underground passages and the famous “Kanava” — Odesa in full adventure mode.

Jewish Odesa is not a separate chapter — it is part of the city’s heart: its language, humour, character, famous names and stories. A walking tour about how Jewish culture became woven into Odesa’s architecture, everyday life, literature and legendary local wisdom. A warm, meaningful tour with a smile — the perfect way to hear the city’s true voice.

Moldavanka and the legendary landmarks of Odesa’s criminal folklore: Mishka Yaponchik, the “school for thieves,” colourful characters, and stories where humour and truth go hand in hand.