We hope you already have plans to go to Ukraine and that your 2022 trip will start from its capital - Kyiv.
Kyiv is a charming city on the river Dnieper with its history going back to the 5th century.
You can easily spend your whole holidays in Kyiv and places nearby.
In the city itself, your routes can include Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (founded in 1051, the main center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity), Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti), Hagia Sophia Cathedral built by Yaroslav the Wise in the XI century, Motherland Monument.
And, of course, you can enjoy authentic Ukrainian cuisine during all your visit.
Among attractions around Kyiv try these ones:
Amusement park Kievan Rus (45 min south);
Radomysl castle and museum (1.5 hours from Kyiv to the west) or National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve "Pereyaslav" (1.5 hours south);
Residence Mezhyhirya - the former residence of the Ukrainian President, now a huge park and museum.
We strongly recommend you to take a 1-day Chernobyl tour from Kyiv to Chernobyl.
For the price of $100, you will get the strongest travel emotions of your life as you will not only see the consequences of the worst nuclear disaster in human history but also visit the ghost town Pripyat which was abandoned by people in 1986 and represents an open air museum - back to USSR trip.
From Kyiv, you can travel 2 hours to Chernihiv (Chernigov) and spend 1 night there. Blakytni Ozera (Blue Lakes) and Kachanivka or Palace of Cyril Rozumovsky (both palaces and parks from the 18th century) will make your day.
We strongly recommend you to continue your journey to Kamianets-Podilskyi (est. 1062) and spend 1 night there. There is a beautiful 14th century Castle and only 30 minutes from Kamianets-Podilskyi is the 13th-century Khotyn fortress.
Nature lovers should definitely visit Natural Park Podilsky Tovtry - part of UNESCO World Heritage. Book a boat tour on the Dniester river including fishing.
If you like monasteries, take a tour to Lyadovsky Monastery. It is 2 hours from Kamianets-Podilskyi but is the most authentic monastery in Ukraine.
From Kamyanets-Podilskyi you can continue your holidays to Optimistic cave and then to a small town Zalishchyky to see the beauty of Male Monastery "Khreschatyk" and Dniester canyon.
After that head to Chernivtsi - an important cultural and educational center known for its National University - UNESCO World Heritage Site. From there go 1.5 hours to Kolomyia and buy a tour to Pisanka Museum.
And from Kolomyia you can start exploring the Carpathians mountains in Galician National Park.
If you like winter sports you have one more incentive to visit Ukraine - Bukovel ski resort where you can do skiing and snowboarding at much lower prices than in Western Europe from November till April.
Besides, you can go to Carpathian National Park.
Another undiscovered region is Transcarpathia where you can enjoy the beauty of Castle Palanok in Mukachevo, Beregvar castle and also Synevir National Park plus lake Synevir.
Your travel to Ukraine can be continued to Lviv (you can fly back home to Europe from there).
The Historical Center of Lviv is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
See Bernardine church and monastery, St. Lawrence’s Church in Zhovkva, Theatre of Opera and Ballet, etc.
Places nearby include:
Pochayiv Lavra + Olesky Castle - 2 hours driving east from Lviv;
For those who are looking for medical treatment destinations, we advise you to save money and spend a week or more at the best Ukraine SPA resort Truskavets;
Tustan - medieval cliff-side fortress-city.
Other reasons to visit Ukraine are:
Lutsk Castle (Lubart's Castle) - One of the largest, oldest and best preserved castles in Ukraine from mid-14th century;
2 hours driving north from the city of Lutsk and you reach Shatsky National Park - a group of more than 30 lakes with total area is almost 70 square kilometers where you definitely feel like “in the middle of nowhere”;
National Park "Pripyat-Stokhid" - represents floodplains of the Pripyat and Stokhid rivers and have the status of wetlands of international importance;
Odesa - a modern resort on the Black sea with attractions like Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, catacombs of Odesa 2500 kilometers long, Primorsky Boulevard and lots of authentic restaurants with Ukraine traditional cuisine;
Danube Biosphere Reserve + Vilkovo (a small city in Danube Delta where instead of asphalt streets there are water channels)
Buky Canyon and National dendrological park "Sofiyivka" in city Uman;
Biosphere Reserve "Askania-Nova" includes virgin steppes, zoological park and arboretum. Just 2 hours driving from Askania there is Oleshky Sands - a desert near the Dnieper river.
FAQ
What are the cities you must see during your Ukraine trip?
We recommend you to travel to Kyiv, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Mukachevo, Kamianets Podilskyi, Odesa.
If you visit Ukraine not in summer time and you don’t fly back to Europe from Odesa then you can skip it as it is located far from the sights of the western part of Ukraine.
What’s the best route when I go to Ukraine for 10 days?
Though Ukraine is the biggest country in Europe by territory, the majority of sightseeings is located in its capital Kyiv and nearby and within the triangle Lviv - Uzhgorod - Kamianets-Podilskyi. So you can arrive in Kyiv, spend 3-4-5 days there (city itself plus Chernobyl & Chernihiv) and then rent a car and drive west to the Carpathian mountains and Lviv. On your way to Lviv visit Kamianets-Podilskyi with Podilsky Tovtry and then travel to the Ukraine region of Transcarpathia full of castles, ski and SPA resorts, accommodations in remote areas surrounded by untouched nature. After that head to Lviv and fly back to Europe.
Where in Ukraine can I do winter sports?
Bukovel is the right choice. It is a modern resort with 16 lifts with a total capacity of 34,700 people/hour. There are 67 tracks, lots of accommodation options with 9+ rating at a price of 50 EUR for a double room, ski-pass at around 25 EUR and restaurants with Ukrainian and European cuisine.