The historic city centre is relatively compact and walkable, though the city is divided by the Dnieper River and the kremlin wall creates its own navigation. The main sights — the kremlin wall, the Dormition Cathedral, the central museums — are within a twenty-to-thirty-minute walk of each other. The older churches on the far side of the Dnieper require crossing one of the bridges.
Local buses and trolleybuses are inexpensive and cover most of the city. Taxis (including Yandex taxi) are cheap by Western standards and useful for reaching the more distant sights. The Katyn Forest memorial, 20 kilometres west, requires a car or organised tour.