Posted: 02/09/2007--25/11/2008 || Rate this Article: 3 || Views|| Sign In || Register ||Hello Guest
Not very many tourists opt to go to the Ukraine for their holidays, but given the recent influx of attention to tourism within the Ukraine, perhaps they should. The Ukraine caters to the middle-class tourist with a taste for the more subtle nuances of culture. If youre traveling to Europe, a side-trip to Ukraine can be not only the perfect compliment to the more commercialized experience of Britain, per say, but also entirely affordable given the burgeoning popularity of travel airfare sites.
Your trip to the Ukraine should start with Kiev. Kiev has earned notoriety for being the mother city of not only Ukraine, but of Russia and Belarus as well. For evidence of this grand lineage, one has only to visit the north-eastern quadrant of the city, called the Old Town. It is here that St. Sophie Cathedral, the oldest church of an old city, stands. Unlike some other historical buildings, she continues to earn her reputation: tourists can venture inside for views of elaborate mosaics and frescoes. Old styles merge with new ones a few blocks down from the cathedral, where Kievs main commercial center can be found. At the end of a street lined with quaint, bustling shops, you can find the Bessarabsky Market, full of fruit and vegetable vendors. If you still cant get enough of the ancient flavor, the renowned Podil District can be located north of the Old Town. Here, many historic merchants have set up shop next to the river port. The center of the Podil District is, however, the Kontraktova ploshcha, a majestic, park-like square filled with restaurants, galleries, and businesses. Kiev also features the Cave Monastery founded in 1051, Dominion Cathedral, Historical Treasures Museum, and Folk Architecture Museum.
The Ukrainian city of Kamyanets- Podilsky is second only to Kiev. It is situated approximately 25 km from where Ukraine meets Romania and Moldova. Kamyanets-Podilsky contains a historically significant bridge which, for centuries, was the only link between the town and the mainland. Around this bridge, dozens of towers have been built over the centuries, most of which are open to tourists. Like Kiev, Kamyanets-Podilsky contains more than its fair share of churches, monasteries, and museums made out of historical buildings (such as the 14th-century former town hall).
Of course, not all travelers enjoy traipsing through museums and cathedrals. For such travelers, there is Yalta, the seaside city (perched on the southern coast of Crimea) made famous by Alexander II when he made Livadia his summer residence. Most tourists in Yalta will intuitively gravitate toward the naberezhna Lenia, a vehicle-free waterside promenade spattered with jetties, art markets, snack bars, beaches, and more. Yaltas best beaches, however, lie along Yalta Bay west of the mouth of the Bystra. In the approximate center of the bay, a chair lift is located that deposits riders at Darsan, a lookout on the hill above the way reminiscent of a temple. Theres something in the Yaltan air that hints at peace, relaxation, and sultry confidence. Of course, if idling on beaches doesnt strike the fancy of someone in your party, Yalta also offers the culturally significant Alexandr Nevsky Cathedral (a piece of neo-Byzantine architecture built at the turn of the century) and the Chekov House-Museum (where great Russian playwright Anton Chekov spent the last five years of his life).
Thus, though Ukraine doesnt immediately come to mind when considering potential holiday locations, it offers plenty for tourists of all ages to see and do. The best part- as it is relatively undiscovered in terms of tourism in the western world, the prices both getting to and staying in Ukraine are wonderfully inviting.
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