Kharkiv in Russian is Kharkov or Harkov. The locals mostly speak Russian.
Why Kharkiv?
Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine, yet it is off the beaten track. Kharkiv has a very large student population. 150k university students are enrolled there annually. It's something like the Ukrainian version of Wroclaw, however it is larger, has more students, is poorer, and it has almost no Western tourists. It has a population of 1.5 million people, but because there are so many students, the nightlife is like that of a larger city.
As a classy dressing American guy with above-average looks, with effort, Kharkiv can be a great place to get girls. People have described Ukraine as difficult and frustrating. For me, it's not frustrating. It's wonderful.
I stayed there for two and a half months. Initially I was getting a certain caliber of girl -- girls similar to the ones Ami5 posted in his thread. Then I focused on higher-end girls. Perhaps one of the best feelings in the world is to approach an absolutely stunning girl, nervous as hell, then pulling off the pick-up.
I went out a lot but was selective about which girls I approached. Of the girls I approached, about 45% of the ones in night clubs were willing to speak some English with me. There were maybe thirty such girls for my entire trip. If I got around to asking one of these girls for their number, I was never refused. I got numbers from about twelve girls, and of those, I actually only called seven of them. Of these, all but one were willing to go on a date. Of these, I ended going on at least one date with five girls (I never got back to two of them to finalize a date time). I came close, but I never got an SNL. One girl I blew off after one date without sex. Three other girls I banged on the first date. And another girl took eight dates to bang, but she was worth it. I'm still Skyping with her to this day.
If you are looking to get with many girls, this place is not bad for that--if you don’t aim too high, and you follow-up with dating. But for shear quantity, other places in the world are better.
Kharkiv for me is about getting girls who would be otherwise out-of-my-league, in terms of visual quality. I experienced suprisingly little rejection in Kharkiv. Of all the cities in nearly twenty countries I've been, Kharkiv is my number one favorite city for picking up chicks.
This datasheet may sound like hype. There is a catch--this city is not for everyone. Some of you will come to Kharkiv and leave disappointed. Others will have a great experience. The only way to know if you'll do well in Kharkiv, I mean to really know, is to come to Kharkiv and try this city out.
Ratios
Of all the places I've been in the world, the nice clubs Kharkiv have the best ratios. If you go to a nice club on the weekened and arrive early, you will be blown away by the amazing girl/guy ratio. At a place like Radmir on the weekend, ratios can start out 2:1, girls-to-guys. At around 2:00 am, the ratio is about even. By 4 am, it's 1:2 (1 girl per 2 guys).
Dance floors typically have the excellent ratios of women-to-men.
Night Clubs vs Bars
The pub/bar scene is disappointing. The Czech Republic and Poland have great pubs but not Kharkiv. Kharkiv is all about the night club. If you insist beating a dead horse, check out Churchhill's or maybe an Irish bar.
The best bar experience you'll have is at a bar in a night club. Most night clubs have large bars. Some of these bars are reasonably quiet so you can actually have a conservation (Radmir and Bolero for example).
Nightlife
The best nights to go out are Saturday and Friday night. These nights have the biggest turnouts and the best girl/guy ratios and the quality of the girls is highest. Going to places during the week is hit-or-miss. For some places, you can use Vkontakt's event listings and review the list of people who plan on attending. This is useful to help figure out which places will be busy as well what the girl/guy ratio will be. Most places open around 10 or 10:30 pm and go until around 4 to 6 am.
Currently, 8 UAH = $1 USD.
Radmir - My favorite
Near Metro Akademika Pavola.
$10 to 12.5 USD on weekends, About $6.25 on weekdays.
My favorite place on Friday or Saturday night. It's very large, organized into large sections. One section has a nice bar that is not too loud -- you can have a conversation without screaming. Another section has a large dance area with another bar (but it's loud here). Another section has a casino. Another section has a karaoke bar.
Girls are usually 19-24. Quality is high. Ratios are great on weekends, early in night. Very large. Very few regulars. Sometimes a line forms around 11. Closes at 6 am on weekends.
Plazma - My 2nd favorite place
$10 USD on weekends, $3.75 on Tuesday.
Closes late on weekends, like 5 am
Take the metro to either Studentska or Heroiv Pratsi, then take a taxi 2 KM (costing 30 UAH or less).
Girls are usually 18-23. Quality is high. Ratios are great on weekends, early in night. Not as large as Radmir, but it's large enough and it costs less. Often the best place to go on Tuesday (confirm using vkontakt event search) although ratios and girl quality is better on weekends.
Drinks are relativately cheap here. They have a special shot menu, and these specialty shots cost only 10 UAH ($1.25). Plazma is a good place for table service. Table service on a weekday runs 150 UAH. Have a Russian speaker call ahead and reserve a table as they run out quickly.
Bolero - best place for older guys
$12.5 USD (100 UAH) on weekends, less on weekdays
On a weekend, sort of gets empty around 4 am
Girls are usually 21-28. Quality is high. Ratios are great on weekends, early in night. Large. Nicely organized layout. Large bar area is quiet enough that you can talk without yelling. Also has a nice dance floor. I think girls go here to get an older, wealthy guy -- the guys here are typically in their 30s and 40s.
Misto (Micto)
Metro Botanichnyi Sad, then walk west to Klochkivs'ka St.
$10 to 12.5 USD
Girls are usually 21-25. Quality is high. Ratios are great on weekends, early in night. Large. Several sections including a bowling, casino, two dance floors, several bars sections. Music is loud in the areas with girls.
Kompas
Metro Heroiv Pratsi, at the main intersection
$12.5 USD (100 UAH) on a weekend
Classy, upscale
Only went once. Girls were 21-25. Quality high, great ratio early, fairly large, not huge. A bit loud but acceptable. The night I went, it wasn't packed, but the turnout was acceptable. The ratio was awesome at 10:30 pm.
Jara
Ten minute walk from Metro station "Moskovsky Prospect"
Usually $6.25 USD on Sundays
Girls are 18-22, ratio and quality depends on type of band playing. Usually quality is less than a normal night club, but still there are usually some stunners.
Warehouse-like place with a large stage for live bands. Best time to approach is when the band is taking a break. Use VKontakt to see if it will be busy or not. A lot of regulars. This is the best place to find alternative girls (depending on the band playing). This place is sometimes good on Sundays.
Churchhill's
On Davinia street near Pushkinskya (near Arkitektora Beketova Metro).
Feels like a proper bar. Young crowd. Ratios are ok, not great. Sometimes closes early. Girls are friendly. Closed during the summer. A lot of regulars.
Girls are usually 18-22.
Galaxy
From the metro station with a pink interior called "23rd of August", walk west to Shekspira St.
Free if you come early and still cheap if you have to pay (maybe $3.75). The ratios are not great. Young crowd. Girl quality is lower here than some other places, but there are still some great ones. The girls are friendly, maybe easier here. The crowd size is inconsistent and some nights have a low turnout. Karaoke in one section. Loud, hard to talk. Too many tables and the table service costs too much. Drinks are cheap.
Girls are usually 18-23.
Panorama
Near Radanska (aka Sovietska) Metro
Girls are usually 21-28.
New and highly regarded by locals. Possibly the most upscale place in town. One of only two true discos in the center (Creme is the other).
Small bar area. The non-table area is very small. Live music & foreign DJs. Tables before midnight and then at midnight they remove the tables to make space for dancing (no dancing before midnight).
Laguna Club
On Petrovskoho between Pushkinskya and Sumska Street
Popular with Middle-Eastern looking guys. Female quality is not high, but sometimes will have a stunner. Ratios are not great. Sometimes busy on weekdays.
Jackson's
My friend went with an African student, and they were denied entry. Bouncer said "no foreigners tonight" (it was a Thursday night). Bouncer said Wednesday would be ok for foreigners. I have a feeling it was just racism against the black African student. I personally was never was denied entry anywhere.
Holiday Dollar Club
We went outside, it really seemed packed, but ratios were horrible, so we went elsewhere.
Cream Club
Downtown disco. New and small, advertises 5 am after parties. I walked by it multiple times, it was never happening.
One of the girls I banged talked about a club in the suburbs that was her favorite, however I never found it, and I cannot remember it's name. For sure, this list is not complete, though it covers the most popular places.
Transportation
Getting to Kharkiv can be expensive, especially if you take a direct plane. It's usually much cheaper to fly to Kiev, then take a $20 bus from the Kiev airport to Kharkiv. Buses often fill up, so try to reserve one ahead of time. Another option is taking an express train from Kiev's main train station to Kharkiv for about $25 (200 UAH). The problem with the train station is that it's 30 to 45 minutes from the airport by taxi. I spent $25 taking a taxi from the Kiev airport to the train station (tram line was not yet complete). Despite being two hours early, the afternoon train was full, so I had to take the next morning's train. So consider spending a day or two in Kiev on your way to Kharkiv.
The nightlife in Kharkiv is spread out. Unlike cities like Wroclaw, the nightlife in the center isn't very good. The underground metro is great and cheap (2 UAH or 25 cents). The metro stops around midnight, so you end up taking a lot of taxis.
Taxis are about 30 UAH ($3.75) for short trips late at night (club hopping to nearby club) and 70 UAH for long trips (like airport to center). If you get a Russian speaker to phone a taxi, it will cost about 30% less.
If you are courageous, you can use minibuses for the areas that extend past the Metro. These buses are 2.5 UAH (32 cents USD) per trip.
There are also some really old, scary looking trams. I never used them.
Drinks
At Churchill's or Jara's beers are 10 UAH ($1.25). At one of the most expensive places, Bolero, they are $5. Beer quality varies. Some places carry Stella and Staropraman which are absolutely delicious in Prague. In Kharkiv, these beers aren't as good -- not as fresh or something. Overall, the beer selection and quality is a little bit disappointing.
Most people enjoy mixed drinks. I often order "sok i vodka" which means Juice and Vodka. If they decide to give you high-end vodka, they can cost $5 or more. If you know how to ask for regular vodka, it may only cost around $2. For a higher-end club, Plazma has the cheapest mixed drinks.
Girls drink moderately and very few get wasted. Girls in the Prague and Poland drink much more than girl in Kharkiv. I met two Jewish girls who don’t drink at all.
I don't normally offer to buy girls drinks in the USA, but I think buying drinks for girls in the Ukraine is totally fine. I think I ended up buying drinks for three girls in total, and I had good success with all of them.
Female Demographics
Because Kharkiv is a very large student city, there is a huge concentration of young beautiful women. They don't all look the same either. There's nice genetic variation. Girls keep themselves thin. Breasts are nice sized although girls in Poland might having slightly larger breasts. Girls have nice asses although ass is maybe better in Bulgaria and definitely better in Argentina. Overall girls here have nice figures.
The average height is similar to America however the variance is larger. There are lots of short and lots of tall girls. If you want one of those prototype tall skinny girls with a model-like figure, you can find them in Kharkiv. Or if you want a sexy, petite skinny short girl, there are plenty of them here too. If you prefer tall brunettes, consider Serbia.
At most clubs, girls get dolled up and put on their high heels. If you want to get yourself a Cinderella, come to Kharkiv. Some exceptions to this are at Jara and Churchhill's. At these places you can find hipsters/goth/alternative girls -- these girls tend to be not as good-looking but still good.
White people in Ukraine are slightly blonder than white people in the USA. At most 10% of the people in Kharkiv have very light blonde hair. Maybe 35% of the locals have dirty blonde hair. Some girls dye their hair platinum blonde, or they lighten their hair with excessive sunbathing. If you are obsessed with blondes, countries to the north like Poland are more blonde. There are some redheads in Kharkiv too. Most the red heads I saw were brown/red mixes like in Argentina, not so many strawberry blondes.
Foreign female students are much fewer in number than their male counterparts. Saw a few nice girls from Africa. I met a cute female student from Vienna at Plazma one night who seemed DTF. Most of the students from Turkey and China are male.
Roosh posted a thread about the busted guy index for a place. I give Kharkiv 5/5. Although many of the stunning girls have guys who look appropriate for them, you also see a large number of stunning girls with busted guys, presumably rich busted guys.
Many Ukrainian girls are pessimistic about the future of Ukraine. When probed, they have rather bad things to say about their own country. They have sad stories about people experiencing major injustice. They feel helpless in making Ukraine better. Many of them just want to live elsewhere.
Male Demographics
Beards are not popular here. Most men have very short haircuts (buzz). Long hair on a man is uncommon here. I asked one girl I was dating about this. She said she didn't like long hair or beards. Sorry Roosh. Maybe someone else can clarify this for me.
Rocker, punk, and hipster styles are not very popular here. If you like to dress like this, go to Jara and Churchhill's, but overall you will likely be disappointed in Kharkiv. The most popular male styles are classy and sporty.
On the Internet some guys say that Ukrainian women are attractive while the men are not attractive. I'm maybe not the best judge of men, but to me, this sounds like nonsense. One thing I noticed is that Ukrainian men are a bit more feminine looking than American men in that they are thinner, almost never have facial hair, and they shave their arm pits. Many of them carry "man purses" which are somewhat feminine looking to me. Most Ukrainian men pose no competition in terms of their financial status.
Aside from the hotel I stayed at during the first few days of my trip, I did not bump into any Westerners. A friend of mine saw some foreingers in a Coffee Life cafe (like Starbucks with smoking allowed). He said they seemed like business men, not tourists.
At least 9 out of 10 people here are white. The largest minority is Middle-Eastern-looking people. These people are assumed to be Turkish by locals, however if you talk to them, you'll discover that many are from other places (Iraq, Turkmenistan, etc). You'll also find Africans, mostly from Nigeria or West Africa. Interestingly, the blacks in Kharkiv have noticeably darker skin than American blacks. The last minority group is East Asian, presumably all Chinese. The blacks and Chinese are almost all students. There are almost no people here from India.
Occasionally I would see black guys or Middle-Eastern-looking guys with a white Ukrainian girl. I once saw a Spanish dude with a stunning Ukrainian girl (I heard them speaking Spanish to each other). I haven't really seen any East Asian guys with Ukrainian girls, however when I asked local girls what they thought of Chinese people, the girls said something like "they are nice people".
I think there might be some slight bias here against guys with some color. If you are Middle Eastern, Indian, East Asian or black, I think you might have a slightly harder time here than a white foreigner. That said you can still have good success. Ami5 and Luvianka posted reports of their success in Ukraine. I don't doubt their reports however I think they might have done better in Poland. If you are black, you might do better in Serbia.
I went on a date with a girl who said she didn't like Turks because they were "rude" in her opinion. Another girl complained that Turks think that Ukrainian girls are "whores" in comparison to their own women. She implied that because Turks had a generalized notion that Ukrainian girls were whores that she was not inclined to date them.
My friend went to a small night club called "Jackson's" with a black African student and they were denied entry. The bouncer said "no foreigners tonight" -- presumably because of the black guy. I personally was never denied entry anywhere. This same black guy had some success doing day game. He told girls he was an American black -- they could not tell he was really from Africa. Apparently there is a club here that is popular with Africans that is somewhere near the club Micto (Misto).
The police randomly check passports at the Metro. I see mostly Turks and blacks getting their IDs checked -- proportionally fewer white people getting checked. I was never checked.
Bribes are common. Carry your passport. If a policeman checks you and don't have your passport on you, you'll likely have to pay a 50 UAH ($6.25) to 100 UAH ($12.5) bribe. Speaking of bribes, it's common for students to pay their teachers for better grades.
Wages
A met an civil Engineer with less than one year experience who was making 1000 UAH per month ($125 USD). I met a girl who was some kind of train engineer who had five years experience who was making only 2000 UAH per month ($250 USD). To save money on rent, most girls live in a shared room (they have a roommate in the same room). For this reason, all the sex you have will likely be in your own bed. If a girl asks you to escort her home, don't expect being invited inside. Your best bet is to get her back to your place.
A very small minority of people are driving around in the city in high-end Mercedes, BMWs, and Porsches.
Age
Age does not seem to matter much. Girls here seem to have no problem being with older guys. Girls I met in their late teens initially thought I was about 10 years older than them, and when they learned the age gap was even larger, they were still ok with it. During my trip, I mainly focused on girls in their early twenties. If you are older guy, check out Bolero.
Food
Overall the food is disappointing. Price is good, but quality is not always great. I ended up eating at McDonald’s a lot just because there were few alternatives. Be careful where you eat. Food poisoning can happen. I recommend avoiding their Shawarmas/Doners. You can also get sick from their tap water, very uncommon for Europe.
Ali-Baba (Quick Charlie's is similar)
Near Pushkinskya Metro, though maybe they have chains throughout the city
You can get a nice quarter chicken meal (breast & wing, fries, salad) for 25 UAH (~$3).
Stargorod
Near Pushkinskya Metro, hidden on a street off Pushkinskya.
Czech-style food, maybe the best food in town. It gets packed around 8-10, then service is slow, and it gets really loud in the indoors area.
I heard from a local that the last stall in the bathroom is a place to bang strippers. Check it out yourself, there is a bed there. Supposedly they have a stripper show on some Friday nights, but I'm not sure as I never went then.
They have their own fresh and tasty micro-brewed beer.
The place is like a sports bar in that they have big screen TVs showing sports.
The concept of the place is great food, great beer, watch sports, and fuck a stripper. Satiate all your male needs in one place.
Potato House
near Universityat Metro
24-hour place, good prices, decent food.
IT Cafe
above the Potato House
Good quality, reasonable prices, apparently sometimes this place has live bands.
Pozata Xata
Polish-like Cafeteria in the center, near metro Rad.
TAHYKN (Tanoki)
Best sushi is the center of the city. $15 a meal (expensive for Kharkiv).
Armenian
on Pushkinskya couple blocks north of McDonald’s
Good & expensive Armenian food.
Paris
Near Pushkinskya Metro
Classy place, good deserts. They show movies in the back.
Mafia
24-hour place, expensive, quality is not consistent.
Bufet
Local chain, cheap. pizza has mayo on it -- the mayo thing is very strange to me.
There's an Indian place (Delhi) and Mexican (La Cucaracha) place in town. They are ok, not great.
Shopping
As you might expect, Kharkiv doesn't compare to the USA or Germany for shopping. But then there are more products available here than places like Uzbekistan.
Karavan Mall and Dafi Mall
There are two pseudo-western-style malls. It took me two weeks of roaming Kharkiv stumble upon these. The malls are at the end of the Pushkinskya Metro line. Karavan is the better of the two. It has the best supermarket in town.
Akademika Barbashoba
An enormous market for the common people of Kharkiv. Similar to an flea market in the West. This place is interesting from a tourist perspective. Swarms of people and cheap low quality products.
The main avenues in the city center also have ok shopping with stores like Adidas.
Accommodations
I recommend staying near the metro line called "Салтівська". This metro line is colored blue in Google maps. This metro line will give you access to the best night clubs (Radmir, Plazma, Bolero). At the end of this line there are two malls. Specifically I suggest staying near the Pushkinskya Metro station as there are many places to eat near here.
Tsaritsynskiy Hotel is decent for a temporary stay. Unlike most hotels, this one is listed on booking.com. I don’t think you can bring girls back here. What you really want is an apartment.
If staying long-term (2-3 months)-
I recommend starting off with a hotel, then make friends with a local guy. Pay him to help you find an apartment.
Tell him to use one of these sites, then use your translator friend to make phone calls to arrange meetings with the owners to schedule a viewing:
http://Kharkivestate.com/arenda
http://centerdom.com.ua/index.html?page=17
http://nedvizhimost.slando.kh.ua/Kharkiv/3783_1.html
I had a bad experience with these people:
http://www.Kharkiv-apartments.com/
http://www.ukraineapartments.com/
Apartments near the center will cost you 4000 to 5000 UAH ($500 to $625) per month. Additionally you have to pay 1/2 month of rent to a broker as a one time fee. If you live outside the center, you can find places for half that price. I looked at a place near the Studentska that was $300 a month and close to my favorite clubs. I prefer Pushkinskya street for living as it's more prestigious and has the best food options. I've brought girls back to my place on Pushkinskya, and they would say things like "wow, how nice you live on Pushkinskya".
The construction quality of buildings is low. Problems like bad wiring and bad plumbing are common here.
Summer Time
Kharkiv has lots of universities but it's not just a student town. It's a city of over a million people. During the summer, a lot of people spend take a holiday at the Black Sea and also a lot of the students go back to their towns. Some smaller bars/clubs are closed during the Summer. The city was quiet in August, but it's big enough that it was not dead. There was decent amount of nightlife in August. The weather in August was nice, maybe a little hot at times. Girls dress in skimpy summer attire. There were some lakeside beaches with hot girls sun bathing. It's easier to rent an apartment during the summer. Those are some advantages of the summer but since it's kind of quiet, Fall & Spring might be the best time to come here.
Classes start on at the beginning of September and the city really picks up.
It's supposed to snowy in the Winter. All clubs have free coat checks. You are not allowed to wear jackets in clubs.
Internet
Velton is a great Internet provider. I paid 60 UAH ($7.50) a month for 5 MB per second download bandwidth with great latency & respectable reliability. That has to be the best ratio of bandwidth per dollar for Internet in the world.
http://velton.ua
Phones
Sim cards are cheap.
Life - cheapest and most popular. Circuits frequently are jammed. Around 8pm, like 50% of the time when I try to call someone who has Life, the call does not go through. Really annoying. Life has free calls and SMS to other Life users (free within large limits).
MTC - Pronounced MTS. More reliable than Life, but less people have it so you end up spending more money to use it. I think you get a discount calling other MTC users.
Kiev Star - most expensive and most reliable, even works in Metro. NOBODY has this so you end up re-charging your card frequently.
If you want 3G you need to go with Ukraine Telecom (ask for 3G package). The 3G coverage is shitty and for this reason I don’t recommend these one. The 2G speeds on the others are reasonable. Many cafes/shops have free wi-fi.
I've met a number of people who have both Life and MTC (they carry around two phones). This way they get cheap calls to everyone.
You can conveniently re-charge your sim card at computerized kiosks all over the city.
Smoking
Smoking is popular here but less so than say Belgrade. Almost all places allow smoking. Some have non-smoking sections. Domestic cigarettes are about 6 UAH (75 cents) a pack. Marlboro, Camel, and Parliaments are about 12 UAH ($1.50) a pack. People will frequently approach you asking for a cigarette or for a light. I don’t smoke. I don’t smoke weed either. I got the sense that weed isn't super popular there. In Prague, ocassionally I'd notice people were smoking weed in public. Kharkiv isn't like that.
P4P
A lot of people talk about prostitution in Ukraine. The local Kharkiv guys I met here warned me about prostitutes in the night clubs and bars. The thing is that I encountered almost no prostitutes. I'm somewhat picky about which girls I approach in the club. Perhaps my approach process filters out the whores. About thirty of the girls I approached spoke some English, and after talking to them they all seemed normal with the exception of one girl. One girl out of maybe thirty might have been a semi-pro, but it's unclear as I walked away before confirming. As far as I'm concerned, prostitution in Kharkiv is greatly exaggerated. There are less prostitutes here than in Manila, Bangkok, Lima, or Tashkent. That said, there is a place on the city streets where you can find a few girls hanging out waiting for tricks. I talked to one of them to confirm they were working girls. She was asking for maybe 350 UAH. One of those girls was really cute except that she was missing some teeth.
Working out
Lots of gyms all over the city. About 60 UAH for a one day pass at the best gyms. They tend to close around 9 pm and on Sundays they close around 5 pm.
My Background
I'm American. Being fair-featured and thin, I don't look that much different than the typical Ukrainian dude, and I think that helps. I'm tall and consider myself a good looking guy, but I'm not Brad Pitt. When people guess my age, they usually say something in the 20s but really I'm in my 30s. In Kharkiv, I dressed classy. I think girls there especially like classy attire. I'm clean-shaven. I have a good job that is also interesting. I speak almost zero Russian. I do fine with women in pretty much any country. Like many other white guys, I did exceptionally well in Peru and SEA. I'm not a game master like Mixx, but maybe I'm intermediate in terms of game skill. I've done a lot of travelling. Check out my forum profile to see which countries I've been.
I've never been to Saint Petersburg or Sweden or Moldova, but I have been to nearly 20 countries. For my taste, the girls in this city are better looking than anywhere else I have been. When I compare Kharkiv to similar places I've been, Kharkiv is my favorite. I can get better looking girls in Kharkiv than these Eastern European places:
Wroclaw (spent one month)
Prague (spent one month)
Sofia (spent one month)
Serbia (spent several months)
Part of the reason I think is that there is a higher frequency of good looking girls here. Possibly Ukraine being poorer than those places also has something to do with it.
I also have been to Tashkent. Tashkent has a lot in common with Ukraine. I was not in Tashkent long enough to draw any conclusions but it might also be gem. I've never been to Moldova, but it sounds like it's similar to Ukraine.
Language Issues
Most everyone speaks Russian, with bits of Ukrainian mixed in. I don't speak Russian. No doubt I lost out on some opportunities because of this, but it's not clear exactly how much I missed out. I remember one time my Russian wingman approached and introducted to me a very cute 18 yr old but then she lost interest once he stopped translating for us. That said, I had plenty of success only speaking English.
English proficiency in Kharkiv is disappointing compared to other places in Eastern Europe. I find this surprising as Kharkiv has so many university students. I said about 45% of the girls I approached said yes or a little bit to my English question. Less than 45% can actually speak English. One girl I banged said "a little bit" but really should could only say a few words. Also I tended not to approach girls outside of clubs. Girls in the nice clubs are more likely to speak English. Girls at the park, for example, are less likely.
Night Game
Go hunting on Friday & Saturday. Getting an SNL is unlikely, so just try to get a dance, make-out, and phone number (no need to spend the whole night with her). Visit 2-3 clubs per night, and try collect one phone number per club. Shortlist your list of phone numbers to the best four and setup dates for Monday through Thursday.
This first week I did this, I banged two girls in that week and got one hardcore make-out in my bed. Then I got bogged down with going out with multiple dates with multiple girls so I only slept with four girls in total. Had I been more ruthless and more willing to keep up the grind, I'm pretty sure I could have nailed two new girls a week. However my priorities shifted from quantity to quality.
How to Approach
"Do you speak English?" For me, a little more than half say no. 40% say "a little bit". 5% say yes. If she doesn't say no, it's probably game on. If a girl has a boyfriend, she'll just say "no" even if she can speak English. This acts as a nice filter. Sometimes a girl will say "no" even if wants you, but then if you cannot speak with her, what's the point. For me, if a girl answers "yes" or "a little bit" to the English question, there's almost a 100% chance I'll get her number that night (if I ask).
I told girls in Kharkiv that I lived and worked there. I was not a tourist. I think this is a critically important issue for getting girls there. For me, this was mostly a true statement. I was strongly considering staying there long-term but then an opportunity lured me away.
For your dates, choose a nice pub or restaurant near your apartment. The girl will likely have already eaten so plan on just getting drinks. It's not necessary to get her drunk. Don't worry if she only has one drink. Early in the date mention you live nearby. After 2-3 hours into the date, say something like "Would you like to see where I live?" If she says yes, that's a very good indicator that she is willing to bang that night. Three out of four girls banged the first time they came to my flat, and the other girl eventually put out after many dates.
Online Game
Mamba.ru is the main dating site. The really hot girls did not respond to me, except for one that only spoke Russian. I did get some girls on Mamba to agree to meet me, however I found I could do better with meeting girls at clubs so I didn't use this. Some guys swear by Mamba, so give it a try. Perhaps my profile was not properly optimized. Mamba.ru uses the spelling 'Harkov' for Kharkiv.
VKontakt - get a vk.com account from any local friends you make (I have a couple invites left which I can share for those of you who come to Kharkiv). VKontakt is a Facebook clone that is popular here. Having this account lets you search events -- it's really good for finding out which clubs will be busy during the week (on weekends most places are busy). Also you can get an idea of the girl/guy ratios by examining the guest list.
Social Circle Game
CS events, English language meetings (toastmasters, etc), French/Spanish language meetings (searchable on VKontakt) - girls at these meetings have huge foreign fetishes. Easy pickings and some are very attractive.
Teaching English - if you get a flier to learn English, contact them and explain that you are a native speaker and maybe you'll get a job teaching. My friend did this and taught one class a week. Most the class was female, plenty of hotties, and he said those girls had huge foreign fetishes. No teaching certificate needed, pay was maybe $10 an hour. I heard about another Western guy who taught English full-time in the city and he made $700 a month. I assume he had a certificate.
Talk to guys at clubs -- make friends with locals.
Day Game
Over three days, I approached a total of six girls in the park. Five said no to my English question. One said "a little bit". 1 for 6 was disappointing. In a night club, I get maybe 45% answering with at least "a little bit". After my initial disappointment with day game, I gave up on it. Maybe I should have read Roosh's day game book. I heard about Russian-speaking foreigners doing well with day game in Kharkiv. Day game spots are the parks or the malls (Dafi or Karavan).
According to my friend, during the day, the area around "Victory Square" and "Lover's Parks" (near a McDonald's) are the best day game spots. They are teaming with students ferrying between campuses and the subways. Generally these girls higher English fluency than girls sitting on benches in Shevshenko park (the massive park in the center).
Special thanks to BCynic and Luckstar for their feedback.
Why Kharkiv?
Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine, yet it is off the beaten track. Kharkiv has a very large student population. 150k university students are enrolled there annually. It's something like the Ukrainian version of Wroclaw, however it is larger, has more students, is poorer, and it has almost no Western tourists. It has a population of 1.5 million people, but because there are so many students, the nightlife is like that of a larger city.
As a classy dressing American guy with above-average looks, with effort, Kharkiv can be a great place to get girls. People have described Ukraine as difficult and frustrating. For me, it's not frustrating. It's wonderful.
I stayed there for two and a half months. Initially I was getting a certain caliber of girl -- girls similar to the ones Ami5 posted in his thread. Then I focused on higher-end girls. Perhaps one of the best feelings in the world is to approach an absolutely stunning girl, nervous as hell, then pulling off the pick-up.
I went out a lot but was selective about which girls I approached. Of the girls I approached, about 45% of the ones in night clubs were willing to speak some English with me. There were maybe thirty such girls for my entire trip. If I got around to asking one of these girls for their number, I was never refused. I got numbers from about twelve girls, and of those, I actually only called seven of them. Of these, all but one were willing to go on a date. Of these, I ended going on at least one date with five girls (I never got back to two of them to finalize a date time). I came close, but I never got an SNL. One girl I blew off after one date without sex. Three other girls I banged on the first date. And another girl took eight dates to bang, but she was worth it. I'm still Skyping with her to this day.
If you are looking to get with many girls, this place is not bad for that--if you don’t aim too high, and you follow-up with dating. But for shear quantity, other places in the world are better.
Kharkiv for me is about getting girls who would be otherwise out-of-my-league, in terms of visual quality. I experienced suprisingly little rejection in Kharkiv. Of all the cities in nearly twenty countries I've been, Kharkiv is my number one favorite city for picking up chicks.
This datasheet may sound like hype. There is a catch--this city is not for everyone. Some of you will come to Kharkiv and leave disappointed. Others will have a great experience. The only way to know if you'll do well in Kharkiv, I mean to really know, is to come to Kharkiv and try this city out.
Ratios
Of all the places I've been in the world, the nice clubs Kharkiv have the best ratios. If you go to a nice club on the weekened and arrive early, you will be blown away by the amazing girl/guy ratio. At a place like Radmir on the weekend, ratios can start out 2:1, girls-to-guys. At around 2:00 am, the ratio is about even. By 4 am, it's 1:2 (1 girl per 2 guys).
Dance floors typically have the excellent ratios of women-to-men.
Night Clubs vs Bars
The pub/bar scene is disappointing. The Czech Republic and Poland have great pubs but not Kharkiv. Kharkiv is all about the night club. If you insist beating a dead horse, check out Churchhill's or maybe an Irish bar.
The best bar experience you'll have is at a bar in a night club. Most night clubs have large bars. Some of these bars are reasonably quiet so you can actually have a conservation (Radmir and Bolero for example).
Nightlife
The best nights to go out are Saturday and Friday night. These nights have the biggest turnouts and the best girl/guy ratios and the quality of the girls is highest. Going to places during the week is hit-or-miss. For some places, you can use Vkontakt's event listings and review the list of people who plan on attending. This is useful to help figure out which places will be busy as well what the girl/guy ratio will be. Most places open around 10 or 10:30 pm and go until around 4 to 6 am.
Currently, 8 UAH = $1 USD.
Radmir - My favorite
Near Metro Akademika Pavola.
$10 to 12.5 USD on weekends, About $6.25 on weekdays.
My favorite place on Friday or Saturday night. It's very large, organized into large sections. One section has a nice bar that is not too loud -- you can have a conversation without screaming. Another section has a large dance area with another bar (but it's loud here). Another section has a casino. Another section has a karaoke bar.
Girls are usually 19-24. Quality is high. Ratios are great on weekends, early in night. Very large. Very few regulars. Sometimes a line forms around 11. Closes at 6 am on weekends.
Plazma - My 2nd favorite place
$10 USD on weekends, $3.75 on Tuesday.
Closes late on weekends, like 5 am
Take the metro to either Studentska or Heroiv Pratsi, then take a taxi 2 KM (costing 30 UAH or less).
Girls are usually 18-23. Quality is high. Ratios are great on weekends, early in night. Not as large as Radmir, but it's large enough and it costs less. Often the best place to go on Tuesday (confirm using vkontakt event search) although ratios and girl quality is better on weekends.
Drinks are relativately cheap here. They have a special shot menu, and these specialty shots cost only 10 UAH ($1.25). Plazma is a good place for table service. Table service on a weekday runs 150 UAH. Have a Russian speaker call ahead and reserve a table as they run out quickly.
Bolero - best place for older guys
$12.5 USD (100 UAH) on weekends, less on weekdays
On a weekend, sort of gets empty around 4 am
Girls are usually 21-28. Quality is high. Ratios are great on weekends, early in night. Large. Nicely organized layout. Large bar area is quiet enough that you can talk without yelling. Also has a nice dance floor. I think girls go here to get an older, wealthy guy -- the guys here are typically in their 30s and 40s.
Misto (Micto)
Metro Botanichnyi Sad, then walk west to Klochkivs'ka St.
$10 to 12.5 USD
Girls are usually 21-25. Quality is high. Ratios are great on weekends, early in night. Large. Several sections including a bowling, casino, two dance floors, several bars sections. Music is loud in the areas with girls.
Kompas
Metro Heroiv Pratsi, at the main intersection
$12.5 USD (100 UAH) on a weekend
Classy, upscale
Only went once. Girls were 21-25. Quality high, great ratio early, fairly large, not huge. A bit loud but acceptable. The night I went, it wasn't packed, but the turnout was acceptable. The ratio was awesome at 10:30 pm.
Jara
Ten minute walk from Metro station "Moskovsky Prospect"
Usually $6.25 USD on Sundays
Girls are 18-22, ratio and quality depends on type of band playing. Usually quality is less than a normal night club, but still there are usually some stunners.
Warehouse-like place with a large stage for live bands. Best time to approach is when the band is taking a break. Use VKontakt to see if it will be busy or not. A lot of regulars. This is the best place to find alternative girls (depending on the band playing). This place is sometimes good on Sundays.
Churchhill's
On Davinia street near Pushkinskya (near Arkitektora Beketova Metro).
Feels like a proper bar. Young crowd. Ratios are ok, not great. Sometimes closes early. Girls are friendly. Closed during the summer. A lot of regulars.
Girls are usually 18-22.
Galaxy
From the metro station with a pink interior called "23rd of August", walk west to Shekspira St.
Free if you come early and still cheap if you have to pay (maybe $3.75). The ratios are not great. Young crowd. Girl quality is lower here than some other places, but there are still some great ones. The girls are friendly, maybe easier here. The crowd size is inconsistent and some nights have a low turnout. Karaoke in one section. Loud, hard to talk. Too many tables and the table service costs too much. Drinks are cheap.
Girls are usually 18-23.
Panorama
Near Radanska (aka Sovietska) Metro
Girls are usually 21-28.
New and highly regarded by locals. Possibly the most upscale place in town. One of only two true discos in the center (Creme is the other).
Small bar area. The non-table area is very small. Live music & foreign DJs. Tables before midnight and then at midnight they remove the tables to make space for dancing (no dancing before midnight).
Laguna Club
On Petrovskoho between Pushkinskya and Sumska Street
Popular with Middle-Eastern looking guys. Female quality is not high, but sometimes will have a stunner. Ratios are not great. Sometimes busy on weekdays.
Jackson's
My friend went with an African student, and they were denied entry. Bouncer said "no foreigners tonight" (it was a Thursday night). Bouncer said Wednesday would be ok for foreigners. I have a feeling it was just racism against the black African student. I personally was never was denied entry anywhere.
Holiday Dollar Club
We went outside, it really seemed packed, but ratios were horrible, so we went elsewhere.
Cream Club
Downtown disco. New and small, advertises 5 am after parties. I walked by it multiple times, it was never happening.
One of the girls I banged talked about a club in the suburbs that was her favorite, however I never found it, and I cannot remember it's name. For sure, this list is not complete, though it covers the most popular places.
Transportation
Getting to Kharkiv can be expensive, especially if you take a direct plane. It's usually much cheaper to fly to Kiev, then take a $20 bus from the Kiev airport to Kharkiv. Buses often fill up, so try to reserve one ahead of time. Another option is taking an express train from Kiev's main train station to Kharkiv for about $25 (200 UAH). The problem with the train station is that it's 30 to 45 minutes from the airport by taxi. I spent $25 taking a taxi from the Kiev airport to the train station (tram line was not yet complete). Despite being two hours early, the afternoon train was full, so I had to take the next morning's train. So consider spending a day or two in Kiev on your way to Kharkiv.
The nightlife in Kharkiv is spread out. Unlike cities like Wroclaw, the nightlife in the center isn't very good. The underground metro is great and cheap (2 UAH or 25 cents). The metro stops around midnight, so you end up taking a lot of taxis.
Taxis are about 30 UAH ($3.75) for short trips late at night (club hopping to nearby club) and 70 UAH for long trips (like airport to center). If you get a Russian speaker to phone a taxi, it will cost about 30% less.
If you are courageous, you can use minibuses for the areas that extend past the Metro. These buses are 2.5 UAH (32 cents USD) per trip.
There are also some really old, scary looking trams. I never used them.
Drinks
At Churchill's or Jara's beers are 10 UAH ($1.25). At one of the most expensive places, Bolero, they are $5. Beer quality varies. Some places carry Stella and Staropraman which are absolutely delicious in Prague. In Kharkiv, these beers aren't as good -- not as fresh or something. Overall, the beer selection and quality is a little bit disappointing.
Most people enjoy mixed drinks. I often order "sok i vodka" which means Juice and Vodka. If they decide to give you high-end vodka, they can cost $5 or more. If you know how to ask for regular vodka, it may only cost around $2. For a higher-end club, Plazma has the cheapest mixed drinks.
Girls drink moderately and very few get wasted. Girls in the Prague and Poland drink much more than girl in Kharkiv. I met two Jewish girls who don’t drink at all.
I don't normally offer to buy girls drinks in the USA, but I think buying drinks for girls in the Ukraine is totally fine. I think I ended up buying drinks for three girls in total, and I had good success with all of them.
Female Demographics
Because Kharkiv is a very large student city, there is a huge concentration of young beautiful women. They don't all look the same either. There's nice genetic variation. Girls keep themselves thin. Breasts are nice sized although girls in Poland might having slightly larger breasts. Girls have nice asses although ass is maybe better in Bulgaria and definitely better in Argentina. Overall girls here have nice figures.
The average height is similar to America however the variance is larger. There are lots of short and lots of tall girls. If you want one of those prototype tall skinny girls with a model-like figure, you can find them in Kharkiv. Or if you want a sexy, petite skinny short girl, there are plenty of them here too. If you prefer tall brunettes, consider Serbia.
At most clubs, girls get dolled up and put on their high heels. If you want to get yourself a Cinderella, come to Kharkiv. Some exceptions to this are at Jara and Churchhill's. At these places you can find hipsters/goth/alternative girls -- these girls tend to be not as good-looking but still good.
White people in Ukraine are slightly blonder than white people in the USA. At most 10% of the people in Kharkiv have very light blonde hair. Maybe 35% of the locals have dirty blonde hair. Some girls dye their hair platinum blonde, or they lighten their hair with excessive sunbathing. If you are obsessed with blondes, countries to the north like Poland are more blonde. There are some redheads in Kharkiv too. Most the red heads I saw were brown/red mixes like in Argentina, not so many strawberry blondes.
Foreign female students are much fewer in number than their male counterparts. Saw a few nice girls from Africa. I met a cute female student from Vienna at Plazma one night who seemed DTF. Most of the students from Turkey and China are male.
Roosh posted a thread about the busted guy index for a place. I give Kharkiv 5/5. Although many of the stunning girls have guys who look appropriate for them, you also see a large number of stunning girls with busted guys, presumably rich busted guys.
Many Ukrainian girls are pessimistic about the future of Ukraine. When probed, they have rather bad things to say about their own country. They have sad stories about people experiencing major injustice. They feel helpless in making Ukraine better. Many of them just want to live elsewhere.
Male Demographics
Beards are not popular here. Most men have very short haircuts (buzz). Long hair on a man is uncommon here. I asked one girl I was dating about this. She said she didn't like long hair or beards. Sorry Roosh. Maybe someone else can clarify this for me.
Rocker, punk, and hipster styles are not very popular here. If you like to dress like this, go to Jara and Churchhill's, but overall you will likely be disappointed in Kharkiv. The most popular male styles are classy and sporty.
On the Internet some guys say that Ukrainian women are attractive while the men are not attractive. I'm maybe not the best judge of men, but to me, this sounds like nonsense. One thing I noticed is that Ukrainian men are a bit more feminine looking than American men in that they are thinner, almost never have facial hair, and they shave their arm pits. Many of them carry "man purses" which are somewhat feminine looking to me. Most Ukrainian men pose no competition in terms of their financial status.
Aside from the hotel I stayed at during the first few days of my trip, I did not bump into any Westerners. A friend of mine saw some foreingers in a Coffee Life cafe (like Starbucks with smoking allowed). He said they seemed like business men, not tourists.
At least 9 out of 10 people here are white. The largest minority is Middle-Eastern-looking people. These people are assumed to be Turkish by locals, however if you talk to them, you'll discover that many are from other places (Iraq, Turkmenistan, etc). You'll also find Africans, mostly from Nigeria or West Africa. Interestingly, the blacks in Kharkiv have noticeably darker skin than American blacks. The last minority group is East Asian, presumably all Chinese. The blacks and Chinese are almost all students. There are almost no people here from India.
Occasionally I would see black guys or Middle-Eastern-looking guys with a white Ukrainian girl. I once saw a Spanish dude with a stunning Ukrainian girl (I heard them speaking Spanish to each other). I haven't really seen any East Asian guys with Ukrainian girls, however when I asked local girls what they thought of Chinese people, the girls said something like "they are nice people".
I think there might be some slight bias here against guys with some color. If you are Middle Eastern, Indian, East Asian or black, I think you might have a slightly harder time here than a white foreigner. That said you can still have good success. Ami5 and Luvianka posted reports of their success in Ukraine. I don't doubt their reports however I think they might have done better in Poland. If you are black, you might do better in Serbia.
I went on a date with a girl who said she didn't like Turks because they were "rude" in her opinion. Another girl complained that Turks think that Ukrainian girls are "whores" in comparison to their own women. She implied that because Turks had a generalized notion that Ukrainian girls were whores that she was not inclined to date them.
My friend went to a small night club called "Jackson's" with a black African student and they were denied entry. The bouncer said "no foreigners tonight" -- presumably because of the black guy. I personally was never denied entry anywhere. This same black guy had some success doing day game. He told girls he was an American black -- they could not tell he was really from Africa. Apparently there is a club here that is popular with Africans that is somewhere near the club Micto (Misto).
The police randomly check passports at the Metro. I see mostly Turks and blacks getting their IDs checked -- proportionally fewer white people getting checked. I was never checked.
Bribes are common. Carry your passport. If a policeman checks you and don't have your passport on you, you'll likely have to pay a 50 UAH ($6.25) to 100 UAH ($12.5) bribe. Speaking of bribes, it's common for students to pay their teachers for better grades.
Wages
A met an civil Engineer with less than one year experience who was making 1000 UAH per month ($125 USD). I met a girl who was some kind of train engineer who had five years experience who was making only 2000 UAH per month ($250 USD). To save money on rent, most girls live in a shared room (they have a roommate in the same room). For this reason, all the sex you have will likely be in your own bed. If a girl asks you to escort her home, don't expect being invited inside. Your best bet is to get her back to your place.
A very small minority of people are driving around in the city in high-end Mercedes, BMWs, and Porsches.
Age
Age does not seem to matter much. Girls here seem to have no problem being with older guys. Girls I met in their late teens initially thought I was about 10 years older than them, and when they learned the age gap was even larger, they were still ok with it. During my trip, I mainly focused on girls in their early twenties. If you are older guy, check out Bolero.
Food
Overall the food is disappointing. Price is good, but quality is not always great. I ended up eating at McDonald’s a lot just because there were few alternatives. Be careful where you eat. Food poisoning can happen. I recommend avoiding their Shawarmas/Doners. You can also get sick from their tap water, very uncommon for Europe.
Ali-Baba (Quick Charlie's is similar)
Near Pushkinskya Metro, though maybe they have chains throughout the city
You can get a nice quarter chicken meal (breast & wing, fries, salad) for 25 UAH (~$3).
Stargorod
Near Pushkinskya Metro, hidden on a street off Pushkinskya.
Czech-style food, maybe the best food in town. It gets packed around 8-10, then service is slow, and it gets really loud in the indoors area.
I heard from a local that the last stall in the bathroom is a place to bang strippers. Check it out yourself, there is a bed there. Supposedly they have a stripper show on some Friday nights, but I'm not sure as I never went then.
They have their own fresh and tasty micro-brewed beer.
The place is like a sports bar in that they have big screen TVs showing sports.
The concept of the place is great food, great beer, watch sports, and fuck a stripper. Satiate all your male needs in one place.
Potato House
near Universityat Metro
24-hour place, good prices, decent food.
IT Cafe
above the Potato House
Good quality, reasonable prices, apparently sometimes this place has live bands.
Pozata Xata
Polish-like Cafeteria in the center, near metro Rad.
TAHYKN (Tanoki)
Best sushi is the center of the city. $15 a meal (expensive for Kharkiv).
Armenian
on Pushkinskya couple blocks north of McDonald’s
Good & expensive Armenian food.
Paris
Near Pushkinskya Metro
Classy place, good deserts. They show movies in the back.
Mafia
24-hour place, expensive, quality is not consistent.
Bufet
Local chain, cheap. pizza has mayo on it -- the mayo thing is very strange to me.
There's an Indian place (Delhi) and Mexican (La Cucaracha) place in town. They are ok, not great.
Shopping
As you might expect, Kharkiv doesn't compare to the USA or Germany for shopping. But then there are more products available here than places like Uzbekistan.
Karavan Mall and Dafi Mall
There are two pseudo-western-style malls. It took me two weeks of roaming Kharkiv stumble upon these. The malls are at the end of the Pushkinskya Metro line. Karavan is the better of the two. It has the best supermarket in town.
Akademika Barbashoba
An enormous market for the common people of Kharkiv. Similar to an flea market in the West. This place is interesting from a tourist perspective. Swarms of people and cheap low quality products.
The main avenues in the city center also have ok shopping with stores like Adidas.
Accommodations
I recommend staying near the metro line called "Салтівська". This metro line is colored blue in Google maps. This metro line will give you access to the best night clubs (Radmir, Plazma, Bolero). At the end of this line there are two malls. Specifically I suggest staying near the Pushkinskya Metro station as there are many places to eat near here.
Tsaritsynskiy Hotel is decent for a temporary stay. Unlike most hotels, this one is listed on booking.com. I don’t think you can bring girls back here. What you really want is an apartment.
If staying long-term (2-3 months)-
I recommend starting off with a hotel, then make friends with a local guy. Pay him to help you find an apartment.
Tell him to use one of these sites, then use your translator friend to make phone calls to arrange meetings with the owners to schedule a viewing:
http://Kharkivestate.com/arenda
http://centerdom.com.ua/index.html?page=17
http://nedvizhimost.slando.kh.ua/Kharkiv/3783_1.html
I had a bad experience with these people:
http://www.Kharkiv-apartments.com/
http://www.ukraineapartments.com/
Apartments near the center will cost you 4000 to 5000 UAH ($500 to $625) per month. Additionally you have to pay 1/2 month of rent to a broker as a one time fee. If you live outside the center, you can find places for half that price. I looked at a place near the Studentska that was $300 a month and close to my favorite clubs. I prefer Pushkinskya street for living as it's more prestigious and has the best food options. I've brought girls back to my place on Pushkinskya, and they would say things like "wow, how nice you live on Pushkinskya".
The construction quality of buildings is low. Problems like bad wiring and bad plumbing are common here.
Summer Time
Kharkiv has lots of universities but it's not just a student town. It's a city of over a million people. During the summer, a lot of people spend take a holiday at the Black Sea and also a lot of the students go back to their towns. Some smaller bars/clubs are closed during the Summer. The city was quiet in August, but it's big enough that it was not dead. There was decent amount of nightlife in August. The weather in August was nice, maybe a little hot at times. Girls dress in skimpy summer attire. There were some lakeside beaches with hot girls sun bathing. It's easier to rent an apartment during the summer. Those are some advantages of the summer but since it's kind of quiet, Fall & Spring might be the best time to come here.
Classes start on at the beginning of September and the city really picks up.
It's supposed to snowy in the Winter. All clubs have free coat checks. You are not allowed to wear jackets in clubs.
Internet
Velton is a great Internet provider. I paid 60 UAH ($7.50) a month for 5 MB per second download bandwidth with great latency & respectable reliability. That has to be the best ratio of bandwidth per dollar for Internet in the world.
http://velton.ua
Phones
Sim cards are cheap.
Life - cheapest and most popular. Circuits frequently are jammed. Around 8pm, like 50% of the time when I try to call someone who has Life, the call does not go through. Really annoying. Life has free calls and SMS to other Life users (free within large limits).
MTC - Pronounced MTS. More reliable than Life, but less people have it so you end up spending more money to use it. I think you get a discount calling other MTC users.
Kiev Star - most expensive and most reliable, even works in Metro. NOBODY has this so you end up re-charging your card frequently.
If you want 3G you need to go with Ukraine Telecom (ask for 3G package). The 3G coverage is shitty and for this reason I don’t recommend these one. The 2G speeds on the others are reasonable. Many cafes/shops have free wi-fi.
I've met a number of people who have both Life and MTC (they carry around two phones). This way they get cheap calls to everyone.
You can conveniently re-charge your sim card at computerized kiosks all over the city.
Smoking
Smoking is popular here but less so than say Belgrade. Almost all places allow smoking. Some have non-smoking sections. Domestic cigarettes are about 6 UAH (75 cents) a pack. Marlboro, Camel, and Parliaments are about 12 UAH ($1.50) a pack. People will frequently approach you asking for a cigarette or for a light. I don’t smoke. I don’t smoke weed either. I got the sense that weed isn't super popular there. In Prague, ocassionally I'd notice people were smoking weed in public. Kharkiv isn't like that.
P4P
A lot of people talk about prostitution in Ukraine. The local Kharkiv guys I met here warned me about prostitutes in the night clubs and bars. The thing is that I encountered almost no prostitutes. I'm somewhat picky about which girls I approach in the club. Perhaps my approach process filters out the whores. About thirty of the girls I approached spoke some English, and after talking to them they all seemed normal with the exception of one girl. One girl out of maybe thirty might have been a semi-pro, but it's unclear as I walked away before confirming. As far as I'm concerned, prostitution in Kharkiv is greatly exaggerated. There are less prostitutes here than in Manila, Bangkok, Lima, or Tashkent. That said, there is a place on the city streets where you can find a few girls hanging out waiting for tricks. I talked to one of them to confirm they were working girls. She was asking for maybe 350 UAH. One of those girls was really cute except that she was missing some teeth.
Working out
Lots of gyms all over the city. About 60 UAH for a one day pass at the best gyms. They tend to close around 9 pm and on Sundays they close around 5 pm.
My Background
I'm American. Being fair-featured and thin, I don't look that much different than the typical Ukrainian dude, and I think that helps. I'm tall and consider myself a good looking guy, but I'm not Brad Pitt. When people guess my age, they usually say something in the 20s but really I'm in my 30s. In Kharkiv, I dressed classy. I think girls there especially like classy attire. I'm clean-shaven. I have a good job that is also interesting. I speak almost zero Russian. I do fine with women in pretty much any country. Like many other white guys, I did exceptionally well in Peru and SEA. I'm not a game master like Mixx, but maybe I'm intermediate in terms of game skill. I've done a lot of travelling. Check out my forum profile to see which countries I've been.
I've never been to Saint Petersburg or Sweden or Moldova, but I have been to nearly 20 countries. For my taste, the girls in this city are better looking than anywhere else I have been. When I compare Kharkiv to similar places I've been, Kharkiv is my favorite. I can get better looking girls in Kharkiv than these Eastern European places:
Wroclaw (spent one month)
Prague (spent one month)
Sofia (spent one month)
Serbia (spent several months)
Part of the reason I think is that there is a higher frequency of good looking girls here. Possibly Ukraine being poorer than those places also has something to do with it.
I also have been to Tashkent. Tashkent has a lot in common with Ukraine. I was not in Tashkent long enough to draw any conclusions but it might also be gem. I've never been to Moldova, but it sounds like it's similar to Ukraine.
Language Issues
Most everyone speaks Russian, with bits of Ukrainian mixed in. I don't speak Russian. No doubt I lost out on some opportunities because of this, but it's not clear exactly how much I missed out. I remember one time my Russian wingman approached and introducted to me a very cute 18 yr old but then she lost interest once he stopped translating for us. That said, I had plenty of success only speaking English.
English proficiency in Kharkiv is disappointing compared to other places in Eastern Europe. I find this surprising as Kharkiv has so many university students. I said about 45% of the girls I approached said yes or a little bit to my English question. Less than 45% can actually speak English. One girl I banged said "a little bit" but really should could only say a few words. Also I tended not to approach girls outside of clubs. Girls in the nice clubs are more likely to speak English. Girls at the park, for example, are less likely.
Night Game
Go hunting on Friday & Saturday. Getting an SNL is unlikely, so just try to get a dance, make-out, and phone number (no need to spend the whole night with her). Visit 2-3 clubs per night, and try collect one phone number per club. Shortlist your list of phone numbers to the best four and setup dates for Monday through Thursday.
This first week I did this, I banged two girls in that week and got one hardcore make-out in my bed. Then I got bogged down with going out with multiple dates with multiple girls so I only slept with four girls in total. Had I been more ruthless and more willing to keep up the grind, I'm pretty sure I could have nailed two new girls a week. However my priorities shifted from quantity to quality.
How to Approach
"Do you speak English?" For me, a little more than half say no. 40% say "a little bit". 5% say yes. If she doesn't say no, it's probably game on. If a girl has a boyfriend, she'll just say "no" even if she can speak English. This acts as a nice filter. Sometimes a girl will say "no" even if wants you, but then if you cannot speak with her, what's the point. For me, if a girl answers "yes" or "a little bit" to the English question, there's almost a 100% chance I'll get her number that night (if I ask).
I told girls in Kharkiv that I lived and worked there. I was not a tourist. I think this is a critically important issue for getting girls there. For me, this was mostly a true statement. I was strongly considering staying there long-term but then an opportunity lured me away.
For your dates, choose a nice pub or restaurant near your apartment. The girl will likely have already eaten so plan on just getting drinks. It's not necessary to get her drunk. Don't worry if she only has one drink. Early in the date mention you live nearby. After 2-3 hours into the date, say something like "Would you like to see where I live?" If she says yes, that's a very good indicator that she is willing to bang that night. Three out of four girls banged the first time they came to my flat, and the other girl eventually put out after many dates.
Online Game
Mamba.ru is the main dating site. The really hot girls did not respond to me, except for one that only spoke Russian. I did get some girls on Mamba to agree to meet me, however I found I could do better with meeting girls at clubs so I didn't use this. Some guys swear by Mamba, so give it a try. Perhaps my profile was not properly optimized. Mamba.ru uses the spelling 'Harkov' for Kharkiv.
VKontakt - get a vk.com account from any local friends you make (I have a couple invites left which I can share for those of you who come to Kharkiv). VKontakt is a Facebook clone that is popular here. Having this account lets you search events -- it's really good for finding out which clubs will be busy during the week (on weekends most places are busy). Also you can get an idea of the girl/guy ratios by examining the guest list.
Social Circle Game
CS events, English language meetings (toastmasters, etc), French/Spanish language meetings (searchable on VKontakt) - girls at these meetings have huge foreign fetishes. Easy pickings and some are very attractive.
Teaching English - if you get a flier to learn English, contact them and explain that you are a native speaker and maybe you'll get a job teaching. My friend did this and taught one class a week. Most the class was female, plenty of hotties, and he said those girls had huge foreign fetishes. No teaching certificate needed, pay was maybe $10 an hour. I heard about another Western guy who taught English full-time in the city and he made $700 a month. I assume he had a certificate.
Talk to guys at clubs -- make friends with locals.
Day Game
Over three days, I approached a total of six girls in the park. Five said no to my English question. One said "a little bit". 1 for 6 was disappointing. In a night club, I get maybe 45% answering with at least "a little bit". After my initial disappointment with day game, I gave up on it. Maybe I should have read Roosh's day game book. I heard about Russian-speaking foreigners doing well with day game in Kharkiv. Day game spots are the parks or the malls (Dafi or Karavan).
According to my friend, during the day, the area around "Victory Square" and "Lover's Parks" (near a McDonald's) are the best day game spots. They are teaming with students ferrying between campuses and the subways. Generally these girls higher English fluency than girls sitting on benches in Shevshenko park (the massive park in the center).
Special thanks to BCynic and Luckstar for their feedback.