Violetta Diduk
guide-interpreter
Languages of the excursions: Ukrainian, English, Polish
Member of
the Odesa Guides Association
+380 67 884 5642
Viber, Telegram, WhatsApp
“This profession is the most peaceful one. It seemed to me that it was simply impossible during a war. And I am proud that I was wrong.
Many of my colleagues have become ambassadors of our country abroad. Some travel heroically to the front together with foreign journalists. Others are engaged in volunteer work.
I remain in my beloved Odesa. I make it understandable and closer for new Odesites who have lost their homes in other cities of Ukraine. I open unknown pages of the city’s history for Odesites of different generations. And I show our heroic city to foreigners: journalists, volunteers, and tourists.
During these two years, my profession, for me personally, has gained an unprecedented depth and new meanings. Every day I enjoy it more and more.
I am convinced that peaceful times will return with our victory. And the depth and meanings we have gained will impress everyone who comes to us as tourists and discovers my beautiful Ukraine”.
“First Date with Odesa”
(Sightseeing City Tour)
Type of excursion: walking tour.
Duration: 2–2.5 hours
Ukrainian, English, Polish
I invite you… no, not on a tour, but on a DATE! A date with our beloved city. This date will take place along the central streets and squares of Odesa: Soborna, Deribasivska, Ievropeiska (Katerynynska), and Lanzheronivska.
No dry biographical facts — dates, events, and personalities will come alive before your eyes. I will show you the city’s elegant front, yet tell you details you won’t find even in the best guidebooks.
You’ll learn the most fascinating details from the lives of Odesa’s iconic figures and places.
What was built from the stones of the first Cathedral.
Where in the Passage the building’s client is depicted.
Who the “son of a Turkish subject” really was.
Why the young Leonid Utyosov was expelled from school.
How many floors the Opera House actually has.
“Love Is in the Air, or I Love You, Odesa”
Type of excursion: walking tour.
Duration: 2–2.5 hours
Ukrainian, English, Polish
The air of Odesa is literally charged with love — it fills you with romantic feelings. Especially in spring. But also in summer, autumn, and even winter. Let’s try to discover the formula of this air that gives birth to and inspires the greatest romantics of this world. We will also listen to the most romantic confessions of love to our eternally young beauty — Odesa. And, of course, we will create our own confession, which will become part of one of the city’s attractions.
What you’ll experience on the tour:
Listen to: love stories that happened in Odesa — to famous and not-so-famous people.
Be inspired by: confessions of love to Odesa by Jabotinsky, Paustovsky, Kozachynsky.
Take photos of: the city’s most romantic spots. Receive: delight from what you’ll hear, feel, and see — and a surprise from your guide!
“Bon Appétit, Odesa-style”
Type of excursion: walking tour.
Duration: 2–2.5 hours
Ukrainian, English, Polish
If you’re torn between going on a tour or heading to the market first, my answer is: start with the tour “Bon Appétit, Odesa-style” — and only then go to the market.
This way, you’ll learn:
What people ate and sold in Odesa in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
What was available in the city’s bazaars and how many passages Odesa had.
And most importantly: that “Pshonka” is not a porridge, and definitely not a former prosecutor general…
In short, you’ll hear the juiciest stories about Odesa’s food culture. Just don’t come hungry — it’ll be tough! The tour ends at a cozy local café where, if you wish, you can order a cup of coffee. Or simply relax and enjoy my stories.
“Courtyards of the Center”
(Backyards of the Tourist Core)
Type of excursion: walking tour.
Duration: 2–2.5 hours
Ukrainian, English, Polish
This tour is for those who want it all at once — here and now: to admire Odesa’s grandeur and also to peek into the everyday lives of its residents. To feel the true spirit of Odesa, you don’t need to dive deep into the Moldavanka district — it’s all here in the very center. Just take a few steps off the beaten tourist path, and you’ll find oases of real, untouristy Odesa.
“Odesa Courtyards and Their Inhabitants”
(Non-Touristy Backyards)
Type of excursion: walking tour.
Duration: 2–2.5 hours
Ukrainian, English, Polish
This is a tour for those who want to peer into the soul of the city. Away from the central tourist routes, we’ll enter the world of the Odesa courtyard: wooden galleries, courtyard wells and columns, janitors, colorful neighbors, and streetwise cats. You’ll see it all with your own eyes — and maybe even hear it with your own ears (if you’re “lucky,” you might witness a real courtyard argument). All Odesites came from one courtyard — and then spread across the world, carrying a piece of Odesa with them wherever they went.
We, however, will go in the opposite direction — back to the roots, to the Odesa courtyard, where it all began.
“The Other Moldavanka”
Type of excursion: walking tour.
Duration: 3 hours
Ukrainian, English, Polish
Here, everything is too much: color, flavors, chatter and meaningful silence, beauty and kitsch, splendor and poverty. Sometimes, it’s like stepping through the looking glass. This is a district where Odesites have lived for generations — from zero generation to infinity. Students, professors, and underworld figures have all started their climb here. Some make it to the elite areas like French Boulevard or Tsarske Selyshche. Others stay in the gritty, dazzling labyrinths of Moldavanka forever.
It may not always smell like roses… but if you haven’t been to Moldavanka, you haven’t truly seen Odesa.
Why “The Other Moldavanka”? Because it’s not about gangsters. Or rather, not only about gangsters.
“Treasures of French Boulevard”
Type of excursion: walking tour.
Duration: 3 hours
Ukrainian, English, Polish
A street that could be called Odesa’s anthem — French Boulevard. Especially beautiful in spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Let’s enjoy its grandeur, breathe in its aromas, and listen to the echoes of its glory. We’ll learn:
How this stunning street came to be
About its famous residents
Romantic stories that happened here
The films and songs that were born here
We’ll remember: Vera Kholodna, Volodymyr Filatov, Valentyn Kataiev, Oles Kozachynskyi…
“Through the Alleys of Our Memory”.
Second Christian Cemetery
Type of excursion: walking tour.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Ukrainian, English, Polish
Esto no es una excursión. Es un homenaje a las personas que crearon el rostro de nuestra ciudad. Las tranquilas avenidas del Segundo Cementerio Cristiano se convirtieron en una CIUDAD en sí mismas, donde se asentaron para siempre personas del pasado sin las cuales es imposible construir el futuro de Odesa.
This isn’t just a tour. It’s a tribute to those who shaped the face of our city. The quiet alleys of the Second Christian Cemetery have become a CITY of their own — home to people of the past without whom the future of Odesa would be unimaginable. We’ll remember the names of Righteous Among the Nations, inventors, writers, scientists, doctors, entrepreneurs, actors — true Legends. And we’ll talk not only about great achievements, but also about their human stories: joyful, sad, and tragic. Names you’ll hear: Oleksandr Deribas, Oleksandr Shevalyov, the Katayev family, Borys Lytvak, Vasyl Navrotskyi, Heorhii Holubenko — and many others.
Dress code: comfortable, sporty. Group size: limited due to the nature of the tour.
Excursion to the Odesa Catacombs
section in the historic city center, beneath Taras Kuzmin Street
More details here→
In 2019, a previously abandoned section of the Odesa catacombs, the entrance to which is located on Taras Kuzmin (Hradonachalnytska) str, was hospitably opened to guests and residents of Odesa by experts and members of the Cultural Heritage public movement. Now you can take a walk, accompanied by trained specialists, the uncharted paths of underground Odesa and listen to the stories and facts, carefully collected by the local historians of Odesa and presented in an interesting way by accredited guides.