Lviv City Card: Is It Worth The Money?

Lviv is located on the west of Ukraine and it is well-known as the culture capital of Ukraine. In my opinion Lviv is the first place you should come to if you want to explore local culture, food, and learn history. As tourism is increasing every year and more people are coming to Lviv (mostly because a few budget airlines opened direct flights to Lviv from other places in Europe), the government created a Lviv City Card.

The card is supposed to help tourists exploring historical sights with better comfort. So, let’s see what types of cards tourists are offered and what benefits you get.

There are three Lviv city cards that you can buy on the official website (click here to buy the card) and app:

• 24 hours costs 250 UAH ($10);
• 48 hours costs 350 UAH ($14);
• 72 hours costs 450 UAH ($18).

Of course, your choice of card depends on how much time you are planning on spending in Lviv. But is it really worth it to get one?  If you are following my blog, you already know that I live in Lviv and therefore I know all the best spots that tourists can visit. To check how useful the card is, I myself decided to buy a 24-hours Lviv city card and see how it works.

How To Buy Lviv City Card?

You can buy a Lviv city card online on the official website or in the app – Lviv City Card. After you pay, you will receive a letter with a QR-code through your email or app.

Although you can use the QR-code at some of the stores that are partners with this program, I suggest you go to the card pick up point and get an actual plastic card that will give you freedom to use public transportation.

The pickup point is located in the center of old Town: Rynok Square 1 and it is open everyday from 9 AM to 6 PM.

The card will be activated with the first use and will last for 24/48/72 hours.

All Advantages Of The Lviv City Card:

1. Public transportation (just trams and trolleybuses). The card does not include the buses and minibuses (yellow small buses, called marshrutka). Why is that? In Ukraine the shuttles and minibuses don’t belong to the government and are run by private companies.

2. Entrance to museums and art galleries:

• Armoury Museum Arsenal – free
• Interactive museum “D.S.Secret pharmacy” – free
• Museum “Lychakiv cemetery” – free
• Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural life – free
• Museum “Bandinelli Palace” – free
• Museum of Glass – free
• Museum of Brewery “Lvivarnia” – free entrance + 20% off on the beer tasting.
• Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum – free
• Memorial museum of totalitarian regimes “Territory of Terror” – free
• Department of Ancient History, Historical museum – free
• Historical Complex of the Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum – free
• Literary and Memorial Museum of Ivan Franko – free
• Olexa NovakivskyArtistic and memorial museum – free
• State museum of natural history – free
• Solomia Krushelnytska museum  – free
• Art Gallery Green Sofa – discount 5%
• Modern Art Gallery Icinart – discount 10%

3. Entrance to city clock tower observational deck. It is located in the heart of Lviv at the city hall called – Ratysha. The entrance to the observational deck without the city card is 40 UAH ($1,6).

4. Walking and bus sightseeing tour

• Wonder train – free
• Wonder bus – free

5. Discounts to some of the restaurants and shops.

Restaurants, bars, cafes:

• Art-Hotel “Modern” -15%
• Bars, restaurants, cafes:
• Bar Nalyvkarnia -10%
• Coffee house Virmenka -10%
• Italian grill restaurant Bratello (50 ml of Limoncello with the card)
• Josper-Pub Kohut -10%
• Pub Kork -15%
• Pub The Grill -15%
• Pub The Mexican -15%
• Pub T.G.Amigos -15%
• Restaurant “The honest mest” -10%
• Restaurant “Oish Sushi” -15%
• Restaurant “Shakespear” -15%
• Kioto (Sushi delivery) -15%

Shops:

• Shop-bar Malynivka -10%
• Shoes store “Leomoda” -20%
• Lviv Gingerbread workshop Yurashky -20%
• Nalybky zi Lvova (fruit liqueurs) -10%
• Ethno-shop Gudz -5%
• Ethno-gallery of Roksolana Shymchuk -5%

Other:

• Cycling tours -20%
• Rent of Bicycles -20%
• Quest rooms “Escape Quest” -20%
• Planeta Kino (Movie Planet) – 20% just English Language films (although there are not a lot of them)
• Philharmonic -20% off the tickets (to get the discount you need to buy the ticket at the ticket office)
• Children’s Planet (children’s entertainments) -30% weekdays, -25% weekends and holidays

Conclusion

So is the Lviv city card worth it? I would say it depends on what you want to do. If you are really into museums and want to spend much of your time learning about the history and culture of Lviv and the surrounding area, then yes you should get the card.

If you are just coming to Lviv to have fun at the bars and eat at all the good restaurants then the card is probably not for you.

It is nice that you get free public transportation with the card but the city is extremely walkable and you can pretty much get anywhere from the city center within 15 minutes.