Coffee, Chocolate, and a Dose of the True Ukrainian Spirit Cost of Trip from Kyiv to Lviv: 1,425 Hryvnia (Roughly $55 for housing, transport, food, and souvenirs) While studying in Kiev, I’ve had the amazing opportunity of living with a Ukrainian host family who enjoys welcoming students from all over the world. Both of my […]

Trip to Lviv from Kyiv: An Indescribable Place, Described through Photos Weekend or Longer Trip Price: $150 inclusive for three days Best way to get there: Train Worth it: Absolutely When I stumbled off the night train at six a.m. in Lviv, the far western Ukrainian city, I was already beginning to understand just what […]

Chernobyl Tour/Чернобыль Тур Chernobyl-tour.com Tours should be booked two weeks in advance One-day round-trip tour from Kyiv – $165 The town of Chernobyl, Ukraine is directly connected with arguably the most famous – or infamous – disaster in nuclear history: the explosion at Reactor #4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on 26 April, […]

Mention train travel in the former Soviet Union, and almost inevitably the discussion will at some point turn to the infamous “platzkart,” or third-class wagons. For those Westerners who have never traveled platzkart, the concept has taken on an almost horror-story-like quality over the past few decades, conjuring up images of cramped, uncomfortable quarters and […]