Ukraine · Local picks
100+ Places to Visit in Ukraine
These are the places worth knowing in Ukraine, from Kyiv's golden domes and Lviv's coffee cellars to Odesa's opera house, the Carpathian waterfalls and the castle of Kamianets-Podilskyi. Read current travel advice first, and confirm opening hours locally, as wartime closures change quickly.
Places to Visit in Kyiv
Arts and Culture
- Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (Pechersk)
The great cave monastery above the Dnipro, with golden domes, bell tower views and candlelit underground passages. - St Sophia's Cathedral (Old Kyiv)
An eleventh century cathedral with original mosaics and frescoes, and a bell tower with views over the old city. - St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery (Old Kyiv)
The bright blue monastery with gold domes, facing St Sophia across a square where memorials to fallen defenders stand. - Motherland Monument and War History Museum (Pechersk)
The huge steel statue above the river and the national museum of Ukraine in the Second World War beneath it. - Pyrohiv Museum of Folk Architecture (Pyrohiv)
Wooden churches, windmills and farmhouses from every region of Ukraine, spread over open hills at the city edge. - Vydubychi Monastery (Pechersk)
A quiet monastery by the river, much less visited than the Lavra and lovely among the botanical garden trees. - Mystetskyi Arsenal (Pechersk)
A vast former arsenal turned into the city's leading venue for exhibitions, book fairs and cultural festivals. - National Art Museum of Ukraine (Old Kyiv)
The best single overview of Ukrainian art, from icons to the avant garde. - National Opera of Ukraine (Old Kyiv)
Opera and ballet in a grand early twentieth century house, with performances timed around curfew.
Things to Do
- Andriivskyi Descent (Podil)
A steep cobbled street of galleries, souvenir stalls and old houses winding down from St Andrew's Church to Podil. - Kyiv Funicular (Podil)
A short, cheap ride linking the upper city by St Michael's with the riverside district of Podil. - Peizazhna Alley (Old Kyiv)
A walkway of playful mosaics, sculptures and city views just behind the history museum. - Golden Gate (Old Kyiv)
A reconstruction of the medieval city gate, surrounded by some of the centre's best cafés.
Shopping and Markets
- Bessarabsky Market (Khreshchatyk)
A covered market of pickles, cured meats, honey and fresh produce at the top of the main avenue.
Nature and Outdoors
- Volodymyrska Hill Park (Old Kyiv)
Leafy terraces above the Dnipro with a statue of Prince Volodymyr and the best sunset views in the centre. - Trukhaniv Island (Dnipro River)
A green river island reached by a footbridge, with sandy beaches, cycling paths and summer picnics. - Hryshko National Botanical Garden (Pechersk)
Lilac and magnolia gardens in spring, with views of the Vydubychi Monastery domes below.
Restaurants
- Puzata Hata (Citywide)
A canteen chain where you point at borscht, varenyky and salads, ideal for a first taste of everyday Ukrainian food. - Kanapa (Andriivskyi Descent)
Modern Ukrainian cooking with forgotten regional recipes, served in a wooden house on the descent. - Ostannia Barykada (Maidan Nezalezhnosti)
A hidden restaurant beneath Independence Square that tells the story of Ukraine's protests through its menu and decor. - Kyiv Food Market (Lukianivka)
A food hall in a former factory with dozens of stalls, good for groups who cannot agree on dinner.
Cafés
- One Love Espresso Bar (Old Kyiv)
Serious specialty coffee in a tiny bar, a favourite of Kyiv's coffee crowd.
Stays
- Hyatt Regency Kyiv (Old Kyiv)
A central international hotel overlooking St Sophia, with shelter arrangements guests are briefed on. - 11 Mirrors Design Hotel (Khreshchatyk)
A design hotel on a quiet central street, close to the opera and Bessarabsky Market. - Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv (Podil)
A large riverside hotel in Podil, handy for the funicular and the riverfront.
Events
- Kyiv Independence Day commemorations (Citywide)
On 24 August the city marks independence with flags and memorial gatherings rather than the old parades.
Places to Visit in Lviv
Things to Do
- Rynok Square (Old Town)
The heart of the UNESCO old town, ringed with painted merchant houses and the town hall. - Lviv City Hall Tower (Rynok Square)
Climb the steps of the town hall tower for rooftop views over domes and red tiles.
Arts and Culture
- Lviv National Opera (Svobody Avenue)
A gilded opera house at the head of the main boulevard, with ballet and opera at gentle prices. - Lychakiv Cemetery (Lychakiv)
A forested cemetery of sculpted tombs and the sobering Field of Mars for those killed in the current war. - Armenian Cathedral of Lviv (Old Town)
A small fourteenth century cathedral with a courtyard and remarkable twentieth century murals. - Dominican Church (Old Town)
A baroque church with a great oval dome just off Rynok Square. - Pharmacy Museum (Old Town)
A working pharmacy from the eighteenth century with a museum of old remedies in its back rooms. - Shevchenkivskyi Hai Open Air Museum (Lychakiv)
Wooden churches and houses from western Ukraine set in woodland on the edge of the city. - Lviv National Art Gallery, Potocki Palace (Center)
European paintings in the rooms of an elegant palace near the centre.
Nature and Outdoors
- High Castle Park (Old Town)
A hill park with a viewing mound above the old town, best at sunset. - Stryiskyi Park (Center)
Lviv's prettiest park, with ponds, old trees and a summer cascade.
Restaurants
- Lviv Handmade Chocolate (Old Town)
A multi floor chocolate shop and café where children watch sweets being made. - Kryivka (Rynok Square)
A themed restaurant styled as a partisan hideout, with hearty food and a password at the door. - Baczewski Restaurant (Old Town)
A grand Galician restaurant with a glass roofed garden, famed for breakfast and old family recipes. - Gas Lamp Restaurant (Old Town)
A quirky restaurant on several levels themed around the invention of the kerosene lamp, with a roof terrace.
Cafés
- Lviv Coffee Manufacture (Rynok Square)
Roasting coffee in a vaulted cellar and serving it upstairs, a classic of Lviv café culture. - Lvivski Plyatsky (Old Town)
A cake shop serving traditional Galician slices with coffee. - Svit Kavy (Rynok Square)
A long standing café on the square for coffee and people watching.
Bars and Nightlife
- Pravda Beer Theatre (Rynok Square)
A brewpub on several floors with house beers and a lively band. - House of Legends (Old Town)
A whimsical bar with a car on the roof and themed rooms full of city legends.
Shopping and Markets
- Vernissage Market (Teatralna Street)
Open air stalls of embroidery, wood carving, ceramics and art near the opera.
Stays
- Grand Hotel Lviv (Svobody Avenue)
A classic hotel on the main boulevard, steps from the opera and old town. - Hotel Leopolis (Old Town)
A boutique hotel on a quiet old town lane with spacious rooms.
Places to Visit in Odesa
Things to Do
- Potemkin Stairs (Primorsky Boulevard)
The famous giant staircase from the film Battleship Potemkin, linking the boulevard to the port. - Deribasivska Street (Center)
The pedestrian main street of cafés and terraces, leading to the City Garden. - Primorsky Boulevard (Center)
A tree lined promenade above the port with the Duc de Richelieu statue and sea views. - Mother-in-law Bridge (Center)
A small footbridge with love padlocks and harbour views.
Arts and Culture
- Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre (Center)
One of Europe's most beautiful opera houses, its gilded interior still hosting performances. - Odesa Catacombs (Museum of Partisan Glory) (Nerubaiske)
A guided walk through a small section of the vast limestone tunnels beneath the region. - Vorontsov Palace and Colonnade (Primorsky Boulevard)
A classical palace and colonnade with views over the harbour. - Odesa Fine Arts Museum (Center)
Ukrainian and Russian empire era painting in a palace with a grotto beneath it. - Odesa Archaeological Museum (Center)
Greek and Scythian finds from the Black Sea coast in a classical building. - Transfiguration Cathedral (Sobornaya Square)
The rebuilt main cathedral, damaged in a 2023 strike and being restored.
Shopping and Markets
- Privoz Market (Privoz)
The city's noisy, beloved market of fish, fruit, cheese and Odesa banter. - Passage Odesa (Deribasivska Street)
A grand nineteenth century shopping arcade with sculpted facades.
Nature and Outdoors
- Shevchenko Park (Center)
A big seaside park with paths down to the shore. - Arcadia Beach (Arcadia)
The city's summer party beach; check local notices, as swimming rules and closures have changed during the war. - Lanzheron Beach (Center)
The beach closest to the centre, below Shevchenko Park. - Odesa City Garden (Deribasivska Street)
The oldest park in the city, with a musical fountain and street painters.
Restaurants
- Kompot (Deribasivska Street)
A cosy local chain serving Odesa home cooking with breakfast all day. - Bernardazzi (Philharmonic)
Elegant dining inside the philharmonic building, with live piano most evenings. - Dacha (Frantsuzkyi Boulevard)
Odesa home cooking in an old summer villa with a leafy garden.
Cafés
- Gogol Mogol (Center)
A whimsical café of mismatched furniture and inventive desserts.
Bars and Nightlife
- Fanconi 1872 (Katerynynska Street)
A historic café restaurant with a busy terrace on one of the old main streets.
Stays
- Bristol Hotel Odesa (Center)
A restored grand hotel around the corner from the opera. - Hotel Londonskaya (Primorsky Boulevard)
A historic hotel on the boulevard with a fine staircase.
Places to Visit in Yaremche
Nature and Outdoors
- Probiy Waterfall (Yaremche)
A roaring waterfall on the Prut River in the middle of town, with a footbridge over the gorge. - Carpathian National Nature Park (Yaremche)
Ukraine's oldest national park, with marked trails through beech and fir forest. - Dovbush Rocks Trail (Yaremche)
A short forest trail among huge boulders linked to the legend of the outlaw Oleksa Dovbush. - Mount Hoverla (Vorokhta)
Ukraine's highest peak, a long but popular summer day hike from the Zaroslyak trailhead. - Manyava Waterfall (Manyava)
A tall waterfall reached by a forest walk near the old Manyava Skete monastery. - Synevyr Lake (Synevyr)
A dark mountain lake known as the eye of the sea, reached across the ridge in Zakarpattia. - Kamianka Waterfall (Skole)
A pretty waterfall in the Skole Beskids, an easy walk from the road. - Makovytsia Mountain (Yaremche)
A short climb above town with sunset views across the forests.
Shopping and Markets
- Yaremche Souvenir Market (Yaremche)
Stalls of Hutsul woollens, wood carving, mushrooms and cheese by the waterfall. - Kosiv Market (Kosiv)
A weekly craft market of Hutsul carpets, ceramics and embroidery, once listed by UNESCO for its craft tradition.
Things to Do
- Vorokhta Railway Viaduct (Vorokhta)
An old stone Austro Hungarian railway viaduct in a quiet mountain village. - Bukovel Resort (Bukovel)
Ukraine's biggest ski resort, with summer hiking, biking and lakes. - Dragobrat (Yasinia)
A high road to Ukraine's highest ski village, with summer ridge walks.
Arts and Culture
- Manyava Skete (Manyava)
A seventeenth century mountain monastery in deep forest. - Kolomyia Pysanka Museum (Kolomyia)
A museum shaped like a giant painted Easter egg, full of decorated eggs from across Ukraine.
Places to Visit in Kamianets-Podilskyi
Arts and Culture
- Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle (Old Town)
A fairy tale fortress on a rock bridge over the Smotrych canyon. - Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (Old Town)
A Catholic cathedral with a minaret left from Ottoman times, topped by a statue of Mary. - Polish and Ruthenian Gates (Old Town)
Old defensive gates and water works on the river below the town. - Kamianets Town Hall (Old Town)
One of Ukraine's oldest town halls with a museum of local justice. - Khotyn Fortress (Khotyn)
A dramatic medieval fortress on the Dniester, a short ride away. - Armenian Market Square (Old Town)
The old Armenian quarter with church ruins and a small bastion. - Dominican Monastery of Kamianets (Old Town)
A restored monastery church on the slopes of the old town.
Things to Do
- Kamianets-Podilskyi Old Town (Old Town)
An island of churches, towers and lanes looped by the river canyon. - Turkish Bridge (Old Town)
The stone bridge linking the old town to the castle. - Sunset at the castle viewpoint (Old Town)
The road above the castle gives the best evening view of the fortress.
Nature and Outdoors
- Smotrych Canyon (Old Town)
A deep canyon walk beneath the old town, beautiful in autumn. - Bakota (Dniester Canyon)
A flooded valley of the Dniester with a cave monastery and wide views.
Places to Visit in Chernivtsi
Arts and Culture
- Chernivtsi National University (Center)
The former residence of the Bukovinian Metropolitans, a UNESCO listed brick fantasy of courtyards and painted halls. - Chernivtsi Drama Theatre (Theatre Square)
An ornate Viennese theatre at the centre of the old town. - Chernivtsi Jewish Cemetery (Zelena Street)
One of the largest Jewish cemeteries in the region, a quiet reminder of the city's past. - Bukovinian Village Museum (Chernivtsi)
An open air museum of wooden farmhouses and churches.
Things to Do
- Olha Kobylianska Street (Center)
A pedestrian street of Austro Hungarian houses and cafés. - Central Square of Chernivtsi (Center)
The town hall square, a gathering place lined with old buildings.
Stays
- Hotel Bukovyna (Center)
A central hotel within walking distance of the university and old town.
Shopping and Markets
- Kalynivskyi Market (Chernivtsi)
A sprawling market famous across the region for clothes and goods.
More to Explore
We are still checking these with fresh sources, so confirm opening times before you go.
- Alchemist Bar (Khreshchatyk, Kyiv)
A long running cellar bar with live music and a friendly late crowd, closing in good time before curfew. - Kyiv Vinyl Market at Kontraktova (Podil, Kyiv)
Weekend stalls and small shops around Kontraktova Square for records, books and Soviet curios. - Dzyga Art Center (Old Town, Lviv)
A small independent gallery and café that helped revive the city's alternative scene. - Old Town hostels and guesthouses (Old Town, Lviv)
Budget rooms in old apartment buildings within walking distance of Rynok Square. - Lviv Coffee Festival (Old Town, Lviv)
An autumn festival of tastings and stalls celebrating the city's coffee tradition. - Lviv Christmas Market (Rynok Square, Lviv)
Wooden stalls with mulled wine and crafts around the Christmas season, which runs into January. - Kuma (Center, Odesa)
A cheerful spot for varenyky, borscht and stuffed cabbage at everyday prices. - Humorina (Citywide, Odesa)
Odesa's April Fool's comedy festival, scaled back during the war but still marked. - Hutsul restaurants by the waterfall (Yaremche, Yaremche)
Wooden restaurants serving banosh with brynza cheese, mushroom soup and trout. - Zipline over the Prut (Yaremche, Yaremche)
Zipline rides across the river valley for a fun mountain thrill. - Mountain chalets in Yaremche (Yaremche, Yaremche)
Family run wooden chalets with saunas, the classic Carpathian stay. - Hutsul Brynza Festival (Verkhovyna district, Yaremche)
A late summer festival around cheesemaking on the high pastures. - Hutsul Museum in Verkhovyna (Verkhovyna, Yaremche)
Folk culture of the Hutsul highlanders, including the trembita horn. - Yaremche craft beer and wine terraces (Yaremche, Yaremche)
Small terraces by the river where locals end a hiking day. - Dniester Canyon rafting (Dniester Canyon, Kamianets-Podilskyi)
Summer rafting and kayaking past cliffs and waterfalls. - Cafés on Zamkova Street (Old Town, Kamianets-Podilskyi)
Simple cafés below the castle for varenyky and coffee. - 7 Days Hotel Kamianets-Podilskyi (New Town, Kamianets-Podilskyi)
A large family hotel with a water park, across the canyon from the old town. - Medieval festivals at the castle (Old Town, Kamianets-Podilskyi)
Reenactments and knights' tournaments held in summer when conditions allow. - Kamianets Botanical Garden (New Town, Kamianets-Podilskyi)
A small university garden on the canyon edge. - Bukovinian restaurants on Kobylianska (Center, Chernivtsi)
Hearty Bukovinian food in old town cellars. - Taras Shevchenko Park, Chernivtsi (Center, Chernivtsi)
A leafy central park with paths and benches. - Coffee houses around Theatre Square (Center, Chernivtsi)
Viennese style coffee culture inherited from the Habsburg era.