Ukraine's national stadium and the venue for the Euro 2012 final. You can go inside on a guided tour, but only on certain days and only if you book ahead.
Tours run Wednesdays, Fridays and weekends, but you must pre-book - you can't just turn up
Come out of Olimpiiska metro and the stadium is right in front of you, which makes this one of the easiest sights in Kyiv to reach. The Olympic National Sports Complex is the home of Ukraine's national football team and the 16th largest sports venue in Europe.
If you want to see inside, plan ahead. Guided tours run on Wednesdays, Fridays and at weekends, and you need to book in advance - turning up on the day won't get you in. Outside of tours and match days there's not a great deal to do here beyond looking at it from the outside, so it's worth checking the fixture list before you make the trip. The Kyiv Fortress is directly behind the ground, and it's the better use of an hour if you've come this far and found the gates shut.
There has been a stadium on this site since 1923, when it was built over the former Red Stadium. Mikhaylo Grechina designed the Republic Stadium that followed in 1966, and it was expanded and modernised between 1968 and 1980. It took the Olympic name from the games held here and was given national status in 1996, when it became "Olympia". A renovation between 1997 and 1999 actually cut the capacity to 83,450.
Dynamo Kyiv played here until 1998, when the club built the Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium instead - they rarely filled more than 10,000 seats in a ground this size, so the smaller stadium made more sense. The Olympic still hosts the national team and big domestic fixtures, including the 2008 Ukrainian Cup final.
The version you see now dates from the rebuild for the 2012 European Football Championship. It re-opened in October 2011 with a Shakira concert. The old roof and various historical elements went, the upper tier was enclosed under a translucent laminated glass fibre roof, and the lower tier and the west stand were rebuilt completely. The capacity and the location mean it's used for concerts as often as football, so it's worth looking at what's on while you're in the city. Ocean Plaza is two kilometres south if you need feeding or somewhere dry before kick off.
4.5 ₴ Limited English 14th October 2021
Website Dynamo Kyiv, football, sports, stadium Entertainment, Things to Do
Nearest Metro Olimpiiska Address National Sports Complex “Olympiyskiy”, Velyka Vasylkivska Street, Kyiv, Ukraine Open Every Day
How to Find Exit the metro and you will see the huge stadium in front of you.
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