Ukraine

Travel advice: the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office currently advises against all travel to Ukraine. We will only confirm arrangements here when official advice allows, so please check the current FCDO travel advice before planning.

Ukraine is one of the largest countries in Europe, with wide farmland plains, the Carpathian mountains in the west and a long Black Sea coast in the south. Its capital, Kyiv, stands on the hills above the Dnipro river and is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe. Its best-known landmarks include St Sophia's Cathedral, with mosaics dating back almost a thousand years, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery with its cave churches, the golden domes of St Michael's and the sloping street of Andriyivskyy Descent.

Ukrainian cooking is warm and generous. Borscht, the beetroot soup Ukrainians consider their own, varenyky dumplings, holubtsi cabbage rolls, salo cured pork fat and pampushky garlic buns are traditional favourites. Embroidery, painted Easter eggs (pysanky) and choral singing are important parts of the culture. In the west, Lviv has a well-preserved old town with a strong café tradition, and Odesa on the Black Sea is known for its grand staircase and opera house. Kyiv's chestnut trees, its wide boulevards such as Khreshchatyk and the Golden Gate, a rebuilt eleventh-century city entrance, are among the familiar images of the capital.

Our catalogue includes a private walking tour of Kyiv. It is listed for reference only while the travel advice above applies. If you would like to explore Eastern Europe in the meantime, we can suggest journeys through Poland, Slovakia, Hungary or Romania. Neighbouring Poland, in particular Kraków and Warsaw, shares part of this history and can be arranged as a city break or combined on a rail tour.