Feel the soul of Ukraine. Grand Tour (full 10 days)

Group meets in airport.

Transfer to hotel and check-in.

Lunch.

“Kyiv through the Ages” walking tour. As you explore Kyiv through the ages, you will see some of the most wonderful monuments and sites in the capital of Ukraine. Here is Kyiv close-up: The Zoloti Vorota or Golden Gates, St. Sofia Cathedral, the old citadel “whence the land of Rus began,” Andriyivskiy Uzviz with its beautiful Andriyivska Church. You will see for yourself why Kyiv is called both ancient and eternally young! Free time.
In free time, we suggest you visit the Museum of Ukrainian Nation Making. (pay additionally) The first innovative museum of Ukrainian history, where the past is combined with modern technologies. It was created a state-of-the-art museum in which the glorious chapters of our history come to life. It will take you only 1,5-2 hours to get acquainted with the centuries-old history of the Ukrainian nation. You will see 25 exhibits featuring historic scenes with absolutely realistic 3-D figures of national heroes — kings, hetmans, military leaders, scholars, artists and sportsmen. Each installation has interactive audio and video content as well as special effects, that immerse the visitor into the atmosphere of the respective era and, of course, media - guides in 8 languages. The Museum of Ukrainian Nation Making - is the museum of the future.

Breakfast.

“Kyiv through the Ages” walking tour. As you explore Kyiv through the ages, you will see some of the most wonderful monuments and sites in the capital of Ukraine. Here is Kyiv close-up: The Zoloti Vorota or Golden Gates, St. Sofia Cathedral, the old citadel “whence the land of Rus began,” Andriyivskiy Uzviz with its beautiful Andriyivska Church. You will see for yourself why Kyiv is called both ancient and eternally young! Lunch. St. Sophia Cathedral tour - the world famous monument of architecture and monumental painting of the eleventh century. The base of the cathedral remembered in the annals as a 1017 and under 1037 r.Budivnichim Cv. Sofia chroniclers called the Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev. Sources indicate that in this case, Jaroslav completed undertaking of his father, Vladimir - Baptist of Russia. Dedicated to the Wisdom of God, the cathedral, on a plan of founders, was to argue for Christianity in Rus. One hour Dnipro trip (may - october)- From the boat during the trip you can see beautiful Podil buildings, golden domes of ancient temples - the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Vydubitsky Monastery and St. Michael's Church. Among the green tree crowns, you can also view magnificent historical monuments - the monument of Prince Vladimir Monomakh, the Column of the Magdeburg Rights and The Motherland Monument. October -may - visiting one of city center museum. 

Departure by comfortable bus (DVD, conditioner) from the Central Railway Station
Chernobyl and Prypyat’ are not objects for all tourists. If you visit these places, you will never be the same again. Some time ago on the world’s map appeared Chernobyl and then Sarcophagus – the monument of the human carelessness. It is a story of the largest technological disaster, the spirit of dead city will give you a feeling of a joy life and apocalypse. The exclusion zone atmosphere gives you a clear understanding of price of the human failure.
Arriving to Kyiv, Central Railway Station, Southern terminal.

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra has been the centre of spirituality for orthodox Christians through the centuries, the repository of wisdom and the chronicles, the holy site where pilgrims came in order to touch the holiest of objects. Founded in 1051, the monastery is visited by thousands of tourists from all over the world every year.

Additional: The Lavra also boasts a Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, where the works of artists embody the country’s history from ancient Scythian and Sarmatian tribes to modern times. Transfer to railway station Depart to Vinnytsia by train, a picturesque Podillian city that lies along the banks of the Southern Buh River.

Breakfast.

Depart for Kamianets-Podilskiy. The main site of this town is the Kamianets-Podilskiy fortress, an immense fortification built over the 15 th and 16 th centuries. This impressive site has given the town the nickname, “Flower on Stone.” Over the course of its centuries-old history, this museum town with a natural canyon formed by the Smotrych River saw many ruinations and reconstructions, but it has maintained its architectural originality.

Lunch.

Depart for Khotyn. The Khotyn Fortress towers majestically on the hilly banks of the Dnister River. At Khotyn, the site of many battles, you can touch history surrounded by unforgettable natural beauty!

Depart for Chernivtsi.

Check into hotel.

Breakfast.

Sightseeing tour of colorful Chernivtsi, filled with elegant mansions built when the city was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This is a real paradise for photographers! The most striking and original complex is the one-time Metropolitan residence. Today, it houses the University of Chernivtsi and has been added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. Lunch. Visiting Kolomyia is famed for its museums, whose genuine richness lies in its vast collections of artisanry and art. The Museum of Folk Arts of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttia contains some of the most beautiful examples of wood carving and encrustation, masterpieces of embroidery and ethnic costumes, musical instruments and weapons, ceramics and weavings, icons and sculptures.

Depart to Kosiv, the center of Hutsul folk arts. Here you will meet master artisans who will show you some of the aspects of uniquely Hutsul crafts.

Arrival to Kosiv. Check into local Hutsul home.

Breakfast.

Depart for Kryvorivnia. Nestled in a deep valley, this tiny village 7 km from Verkhovyna saw the lives of many famous Ukrainians cross paths, drawn to its picturesque location and extraordinary energy. Here you will see The Hutsul Grazhda or Homestead, the small mountain fortress in which the mountain people once lived. Kryvorivnia is also home to the wooden Christmas Church, build according to the local architectural traditions and one of the oldest in Ukraine.

Transfer and introduction to Verkhovyna. Lunch.

The impenetrability of the mountains kept civilization and urban culture at bay for many centuries. Here you will catch a glimpse of many fascinating customs, traditions, rituals, folklore and legends that disappeared long ago from other parts of Ukraine. Even in other corners of the Carpathians, they have not always been well preserved. Visit the Roman Kumlyk Museum of Folk Musical Instruments. Visit the Museum of Sergei Paradzhanov’s famed film “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.”

Breakfast.

Along the way, we visit the Carpathian souvenir bazaar in Yaremche. Visiting Ivano-Frankivsk - the capital of Prykarpattya. The main difference is an advantage of the spirit of modern over the atmosphere of typical Galician provinciality.

Arrival to Lviv. Check into hotel.

Breakfast.

Sightseeing tour by bus around Lviv, the cultural centre of Western Ukraine and the modern-day capital of Halychyna. Sometimes called “Little Paris,” Lviv welcomes guests with its Medieval beauty, preserved in buildings from the 14 th and 15 th centuries, Gothic churches and narrow cobbled streets. Among the sites worth visiting are the Church of Sviatoho Yura or St. George’s Church, the Lviv Polytechnical Institute, the Organ Hall, and the buildings of the one-time Halych Sejm or legislature, Prospekt Svobody and Adam Mickiewicz Square. You will tour the Ratusha or City Hall and enjoy a bird’s eye panorama of this beautiful city. Lunch and excursion. The walking tour of Old Lviv encompasses Ploshcha Rynok or the market square that is a kind of small open-air museum: all the buildings around this square are architectural monuments of the 16 th through 19 th centuries. In fact, the entire center of Lviv is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Dinner.

Breakfast.

Visiting three castles that are part of the “Golden Horseshoe” around Lviv: Olesko, Pidhirtsi, Zolochiv castles. The birthplace of Polish kings and one of their historic residences, the Olesko castle was later the seat of several renowned Polish families. Today, the castle contains a collection of old wooden sculptures, furniture and tapestries. Majestic Pidhirtsi is famed not only for its 17 th century palace, built for “pleasure and recreation after military exploits,” but also for its once-gorgeous park with its sweeping panorama of the broad valley below and chapel built in the style of St. Peter’s.

Transfer to railway station.

Departure to Kyiv by train.

Arrival to Kyiv in the morning. Transfer to the airport.