Travel Focus on Ukraine
Ai-Petri plateau in Crimes, Ukraine
Cheapflights recently released the third edition of its quarterly industry report, Travelnomics.
The report gives an insight into UK travel trends, with our latest issue focusing on ten of the destinations hardest hit by the economic downturn. This week we turn the spotlight on Ukraine.
The Travelnomics of Ukraine
Deep in Eastern Europe rests a large, strategically valuable nation that has been plagued by wars and invasions throughout its history. Ukraine is a fascinating country with a historically rich nature, having adopted customs and language from its previous overlords including Russians, Mongols and the Polish-Lithuanian Empire. The nation marked by injustice and controversy has now redefined its image emerging as beautiful, peaceful and free since its independence from Soviet rule in 1991 and more recently the 2005 Orange Revolution.
Ukraine bears the many scars with pride. Many castles remain in ruins, German bunkers can be found and explored and the many memorials to countless battles prove how much the people have stood up against. The ability to rise up, rebuild and display the unique onion-domed orthodox churches, Baroque palaces and Byzantine styling of the St Sophia Cathedral is awe-inspiring.
The culturally diverse country has much to offer from all corners of its boundaries: Yalta to the south, Lviv in the west, Kharkov in the east and of course Kiev, the capital, home of the gorgeous St Michael’s Cathedral and the celebrated Independence Square.
Between Lviv, the architecturally astounding city also known as the Florence of the East, Yalta, the seaside city on the Black Sea and Kiev, in the country’s heart, the Ukraine has much on offer to travellers of every description.
Top 5 things to do in Ukraine
A hen in the Carpathian Mountains
- To the north, near Belarus, is a small town called Pipryat. It was here that reactor #4 at the Chernobyl power station exploded in 1986, sending out clouds of radioactivity with a force 90 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. Today, tours operate daily within the ghost town – which has remained abandoned, and radioactive, ever since the disaster occurred.
- On the western borders lie the Carpathian Mountains, which run a course through Hungary, Ukraine and Romania. The Carpathians are a great place to spend some time skiing or searching for the fabled Carpathian vampires.
- Odessa, originally founded by Catherine the Great, was once the most important trade port of the Soviet Union. Now, however, it’s a popular tourist destination for those seeking therapeutic resorts. Be sure to walk the Potemkin Stairs from bottom to top, and check out the scenery from above. The sight will dazzle you.
- Kupala is a traditional Slavic festival held near the summer solstice. The idea is for young villagers to make offerings to pagan gods in the hopes of boosting fertility, and often to find a future husband. It’s a great excuse for a party, and the prospect of swimming in the nude probably doesn’t help to deter curious tourists.
- As their national sport is football, the Ukrainians are thrilled to be co-hosting the European Championships with Poland. So if you’re an avid football fan then 2012 is an ideal year to visit.
To keep up with the Ukraine related fun, follow us on Twitter
Images provided by Flickr users Viktor Kaposi, and Anatoly Kraynikov
Resources
Further reading on Cheapflights.co.uk: Flights to Ukraine, Travelnomics Report
Other websites: Must See Destinations, Ukraine’s Tourist Office
This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 5:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.