Ukraine: from region to region 15-day tour to the most intriguing places of ancient Ukraine All year round Explore the most interesting sights all over Ukraine and learn about the great history of the country. Be dazzled by glittering church domes, wide boulevards and glamorous nightlife in Kyiv, the capital city; learn about the Slavonic culture in Chernihiv and dwell on the Cossacks epoch at the other famous towns; admire the palace and park complexes, imagining living in the previous centuries; disclose the secrets of Ukrainian unique handicrafts and visit the magnificent monasteries. Don’t miss a chance to drink some coffee in the well-known and certainly stunning Western city Lviv and take an opportunity to see the beautiful Carpathian Mountains, go hiking on their highest peak or just go for a stroll in the truly fresh air. Get unforgettable memories from Kamyanets-Podilsky with its marvelous stone fortress and take pictures of the so called “movie-star fortress” at Khotyn. Day 1, Kyiv Meeting at the airport in Kyiv. Transfer to a hotel. Accommodation at the hotel. Welcome dinner. Meeting with a guide and a short presentation of a tour. Day 2, Kyiv Breakfast. A 3-hour bus tour around the historical districts of Kyiv: Golden Gate (the unique monument which reflects the art of fortification of Kievan Rus), a majestic St. Sophia’s Cathedral, St. Volodymyr’s and St. Michael’s Golden Domed Cathedrals, an exuberant St. Andrew’s Church. A walk along Andriyivsky Uzviz (Andrew’s Descent) – Kyiv’s “Monmartre” - where the peculiar Ukrainian souvenirs may be bought. Lunch (optionally). Excursion to the museum-reserve and monastery Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (an ancient Kyiv Cave Monastery). A walk along the historical district of Lypky: the House of Parliament, Mariyinsky palace (an official residence of the President of Ukraine for ceremonial purposes) and Mariyinsky park, the marvellous panoramic views over the Dnipro river; Khreshchatyk street (the main street of a city with its splendid architecture) and Maydan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). Dinner. Visiting theatres (the Opera House, the philharmonic), clubs and discos optionally. Day 3, Kyiv - Kozelets – Chernihiv (165 km) Breakfast. Kozelets – the mid-18th-century Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Nativity built in the late Ukrainian Baroque style with the amazing 27m-high iconostasis, the Regimental Chancellery Building (the current Town Hall). Chernihiv – the historical places of the old part of a city – Boryso-Hlibsky Cathedral with the stunning silver Royal Doors, the Transfiguration Cathedral with its two distinctive bell towers, the Regimental Chancellery, the burial-mounds on the Boldyn hill, Troyitsky and Illinsky Trinity Monasteries, the impressive Antoniy caves with 315 m of passageways, galleries and chapels. Accommodation at a hotel. Dinner. Day 4, Chernihiv - Nizhyn – Kachanivka – Hustynya – Lubny – Poltava (470 km) Breakfast. Nizhyn – Pokrova Church, St. Michael’s Church of the Greek Community, the so-called Cossack Cathedral of St. Nicholas, a rare survival from the days of Nizhyn's Cossack glory; the Neoclassical complex of the famous Nizhyn Lyceum, the monument to Mykola Gogol. Kachanivka – a national historic-cultural reserve - the Tarnowski palace and park complex of the 18-19thcenturies, the beautiful architectural and natural ensemble and the only Ukrainian homestead preserved as a complex. Visiting the old Hustynsky and Lubensky Mgarsky Monasteries. Journey to Poltava. Accommodation at a hotel. Dinner. Day 5, Poltava – Opishnya – Poltava (160 km) Breakfast. Poltava – a pretty and quaint city on the Vorskla river with the Iron Column of Glory, topped by a golden eagle, the Poltava Battle Museum, the early 18th-century Khrestovozdvyzhensky Monastery (Elevation of the Cross) and Spaska Church. Opishnya – a „pottery capital” of Ukraine (visiting the National museum-reserve of the Ukrainian pottery). Returning to Poltava. Dinner. Day 6, Poltava – Chyhyryn – Subotiv – Cherkasy (280 km) Breakfast. Excursion to the national historic-cultural reserve “Chyhyryn” with about 35 monuments of archaeology, architecture, history, ethnography, nature and art (Chyhyryn - the old Cossack Hetmanate capital with the ruins of the fortifications on Bohdan Hill; Subotiv - the birthplace and the burial place of the Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the 17th-century Illinska Church). Journey to Cherkasy. Accommodation at a hotel. Dinner. Day 7, Cherkasy – Kaniv – Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky– Kyiv (270 km) Breakfast. Visiting Kaniv (T.Shevchenko’s grave and museum, the Assumption Cathedral) and Pereyaslav - Khmelnytsky (a so-called “town-museum” with approximately 30 museums, one of the most interesting of which is the Museum of Folk architecture and Everyday life; among other attractions are the 17-18th-centuries Ascension Cathedral and the Collegiums building - now the museum of Hryhoriy Skovoroda). Journey to Kyiv. Accommodation at a hotel. Dinner. Day 8, Kyiv – Ostroh – Lutsk (460 km) Breakfast. Excursion to Ostroh - the cradle of education and enlightenment in Ukraine, the place where the first complete edition of the Bible in Old Church Slavonic was printed and the well-known Ostroh Academy was established - visiting the castle of the Ostrozki princes and the Epiphany Church. Arrival to Lutsk. Accommodation at a hotel. Dinner. Day 9, Lutsk – Berestechko – Olesko – Lviv (230 km) Breakfast. Lutsk – a 2-hour tour around the main city of the Volyn region (the outstanding 14th-century Lubart’s castle with its 13m-high brick walls and tall towers – a centrepiece of the old town, St. Peter’s and Paul’s Cathedral with the entrance to the city’s wide network of underground tunnels). Berestechko – a town known as a place of the biggest battle of Khmelnytsky period; the museum-reserve „Cossack graves”. Olesko – the 18th-century French chateau-style Olesko castle standing on top of a hill surrounded by a dense swamp - the unique historical and architectural monument. Journey to Lviv. Accommodation at a hotel. Dinner. Day 10, Lviv Breakfast. Lviv – a 3-hour tour around one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine – the Assumption Church (Uspinnya) and Three Saints Chapel, the Dominican Cathedral, the Rynok Square – the heart of the city (Renaissance period), the City Hall (Ratusha), the Latin Cathedral with the Chapel, the ancient Armenian quarter and the Armenian Cathedral, the Liberty avenue (Prospekt Svobody), the Opera House, Town Arsenal – a part of the city’s original fortification system. Free time or visiting museums, exhibitions, famous cafes, theatres, clubs, discos optionally. Dinner. Day 11, Lviv – Ivano-Frankivsk – Yaremche (205 km) Breakfast. Journey to the Ukrainian Carpathians through Ivano-Frankivsk to Yaremche. Ivano-Frankivsk – a city tour (Rynok square – a traditional heart of a city, where a mix of colourful buildings circle the star-shaped town hall, the baroque Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection, the former Armenian Church with an attractive, undulating baroque facade and twin, rounded bell towers). Yaremche - visiting a pretty resort at the Carpathians with the beautiful waterfall „Probiy” and the hutsulian souvenir market. Accommodation at a hotel at Yaremche. Dinner. Day 12, Yaremche – Kolomyya – Chernivtsi (140 km) Breakfast. Kolomyya – National Museum of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttya Folk Art (one of the best exhibitions of its kind in Ukraine); the eye-catching “Pysanka” Museum, show-casing the colourful, hand-printed Easter eggs (Ukrainian tradition), the Old city. Chernivtsi - a tour around this lively and energetic city (the instantly intriguing University Complex – a former residence of Bukovynian patriarchies – with all red-brick facades, green domes and a few Moorish touches; an attractive building of the Music and Drama Theatre, the City Hall). Accommodation at a hotel. Dinner. Day 13, Chernivtsi – Khotyn – Kamyanets-Podilsky (100 km) Breakfast. Excursion to Khotyn – the 15th-century Khotyn fortress – an impressive massive fort overlooking the Dnister river, preferred by filmmakers above all Ukrainian castles, worth visiting by all means (a fortress can be called a real movie star). Kamyanets-Podilsky - a majestic stone fortress, built on a rocky island near the River Smotrych, with numerous fortifications and intricate architectural decorations, which dates back to the beginning of the 12th century; the Furrier’s and Potter's towers, Russian and Polish gates, the Castle bridge; the Complex of the of Old city – the City Hall, Rynok square, an Armenian well, St. Peter’s and Paul’s Cathedral, the Dominican Monastery. Accommodation at a hotel. Dinner. Day 14, Kamyanets-Podilsky – Medzhybizh – Kyiv (470 km) Breakfast. Journey to Kyiv through Medzhybizh visiting the 16th-century Sieniawski castle - a mighty fortress which looms at the confluence of the Southern Buh River and its Buzhok tributary, being spectacularly reflected on the water near the small dam. Arrival to Kyiv. Accommodation at a hotel. Dinner. Day 15, Kyiv Breakfast. Free time. Transfer to the airport. Leaving Kyiv. *The organizer is entitled to the right to make the slight changes to the program without changing the general content of a trip. www.terraincognita.info [email protected] UKRAINE, Kyiv, Mala Zhytomyrska str., 16/3, of.4 Tel. +380443616801, Fax +380672313200, Mob. +380982259997 .