Tour Overview
Welcome to Ukraine! Find yourself in the cradle of Slavic civilization on our tour to Ukraine, a country poised to become a leader in the New Europe. From the candy-colored facades of the buildings along Lviv’s Market Square, to the lush Crimean Peninsula, to an 11th century monastery in Kiev, Ukraine’s fascinating history and ancient, unique culture is the focus of iExplore Ukraine Experience.Spend eight days exploring this resilient region influenced by Polish princes and Lithuanian lords, by Cossack hetman and Turkish khans, by Russian communists and by Ukrainian poets and nationalists.
Day by Day Itinerary
Day 1: Lviv, UkraineWelcome to Lviv. Upon arrival you will be met by your private vehicle and driver and driven to your hotel. The four star Opera Hotel has been styled to resemble its neighbor, the Lviv Opera House, and features paintings and portraits of Ukrainian opera stars with classic furnishings. All rooms have internet access, satellite TV, a mini-bar and air-conditioning. The hotels restaurant serves local and international cuisine.
Opera Hotel
Day 2: Lviv
This morning after breakfast enjoy a tour of the city with your private car and driver. Founded in the 13th century by the prince of Galicia on a hill along the east-west trade routes, Lviv was a much-envied strategic center, especially for its control of the Carpathian passes. Conquered by the Poles in 1349, Lviv seems more central European than Russian. The city came under Moscow’s rule for the first time in 1939. Occupied by Germany from 1941 to 1944, and again by the Soviets following World War II, Lviv’s ethnic heritage was severely repressed. Begin exploring on Prospekt Svobody (Freedom), almost half a mile of wide, tree-lined boulevard near the Poshcha Rynok, the Market Square. This old cobbled square, surrounded by 16th- 18th century merchant’s dwellings, was the center of social and economic life for hundreds of years. Key attractions of the square include the 19th century Town Hall and the Lviv History Museum. Lunch at Vienna Café. The Lviv Historical Museum, housed at No. 6 Rynok Square, was at one time the Royal Chambers. The old stone building contains an Italian Renaissance courtyard and a traditional Galician woodcut parquet floor as well as a fine collection of 18th century furniture, silver and clocks. On Lviv’s main square id the oldest working pharmacy in the country. The Pharmacy Museum was founded in 1735, when it was called an apothecary, the shop is fronted with two bas-reliefs- one of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, and one of his daughters, Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health. Inside the Pharmacy Museum, its walls lined with old shelves stacked with little boxes, antique bottles, vessels, scales and other instruments from years gone by when medicine was more of an art than science. Opened in 1966, the museum exhibits over 2,000 items relating to the search for potions, herbs and concoctions than might cure humankinds ills.
Breakfast, Lunch
Opera Hotel Day 3: Lviv- Kiev
After breakfast this morning, you will be driven by private car to thee airport for a morning flight (in economy class) to Kiev. Upon arrival in Kiev, you will be met and driven by private car to your hotel. Located in central Kiev, the Podol Plaza Hotel is within walking distance of Andreyevsky Street. All rooms are air-conditioned with mini-bars, personal safes, internet, TV and hair dryers. The hotel features a restaurant serving local and international cuisine. Enjoy a full day tour of Kiev with your private car and English-speaking guide. Kiev is the mother city of all eastern Slavic peoples. Kievan Rus, the state from which Ukraine, Russia and Belarus are all descended, was originally established here in the 9th century by Slavicized Scandinavians from Novgorod. Today the modern capital on the Dnipro River is a city of three million, encompassing countless surviving architectural and artistic treasures. From November to December 2004, Kiev was the focal point of Ukraine’s “Orange Revolution”, in which citizens demonstrated, committed acts of civil disobedience and called strikes to force a second run-off election. Pro-Western Viktor Yuschenko overturned the first run-off election, won by Russian-leaning Viktor Yanukovych amid widespread allegations of fraud. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant featuring traditional favorites. A tour of Kiev includes St. Sophia Cathedral, the oldest church in Kiev; Andreyevsky Street, connecting the upper town with the lower; the Golden Gates; and the Friendship Arch. The St. Sophia Cathedral and Monastery complex houses Sofiysky Sobor, the city’s oldest church and site of the first school and library in Kievan Rus. Its location near the Royal Palace and the seat of the metropolitan made St. Sophia’s the site for royal ceremonies and the signing of treaties.
Breakfast, Lunch
Podol Plaza Hotel Day 4: Kiev
After breakfast, meet your guide for a full day private sightseeing tour. Visit the Caves Monastery, or Pecherskaya Lavra, Kievan Rus’ first monastery, founded in 1051. The monks dug caves and underground labyrinths, living and studying in them, and their mummified bodies still line the walls. Here the historian monk Nestor compiled much of the earliest known history of the Slavs, “The Tale of Bygone Days” and passed on the crafts of icon-painting and building. The Dormition (meaning ascension) Cathedral was built from 1073 to 1089 on the monastery grounds. Kiev’s second great Byzantine Church, the Dormition Cathedral was the model for the early 12th century churches of Russia’s Golden Ring towns. Enjoy lunch at Village of the Tsar Folk Restaurant (Tsarskaya Tselo). This restaurant, located in the old Pechersk Fort, has an 18th century interior, with functioning water mills and sunflowers surrounding huts where guests eat. The authentic menu of more than 100 Ukrainian dishes is presented in English as well as Ukrainian. The wait staff wears national costumes, and folk musicians and sometimes dancers perform. This is a place for people who want to experience an historic Ukrainian atmosphere. After lunch, visit the Chernobyl Museum. The museum explains the combination of human error and design flaws responsible for the 1986 explosion and fire at Reactor #4, only 62 miles from Kiev. The reactor, put into commission only three years before, exploded and burned during a shutdown, blowing tons of radioactive material into the atmosphere.
Breakfast, Lunch
Podol Plaza Hotel Day 5: Kiev- Simferopol- Bakhchysaray- Yalta
After breakfast at your hotel, your guide will pick you up and take you via private car to the airport for a morning flight to Simferopol (economy class). When you arrive in Simferopol you will be met by your waiting private vehicle, driver and guide and continue on to Bakhchysaray where you will enjoy lunch and begin your sightseeing. One of the highlights of Bakhchysaray is the magnificent Khan’s Palace, the seat of the Crimean khans, the last descendants of Genghis Khan’s hordes in the western world. The 16th century Ottoman and Persian architects and builders directed their Russian and Ukrainian slaves during the construction of the palace. The main mosque dates from 1740, and inside contains several original wooden carvings including the ceiling in the khan’s private prayer room and a carved wooden balcony, which was intended for women only. Bakhchysaray Palace, meaning “palace of gardens”, was the capital of the Crimean Khanate from the early 16th century until 1783 when the Russian Empire annexed the Crimea. The Tatar people were pressured into leaving their homeland, most emigrating to neighboring Ottoman regions. In 1944, Stalin deported the remaining Crimean Tatar population to Central Asia. Perhaps the most interesting part of the complex is the Historical Museum. Its twelve rooms contain a variety of exhibits examining Tatar culture and the life of the khans, and includes textiles, furnishings, glassware and documents and old photos. The wonderful four star Oreanda Hotel is situated right on the coast of the Black Sea in downtown Yalta. The hotel offers a restaurant, bar, café, Finnish Baths, sauna, swimming pool, shops, private bathing beach, beauty shop, room service and indoor pool.
Breakfast, Lunch
Oreanda Hotel Day 6: Yalta
This morning your guide will take you on a full day private tour. This tour includes a walk along the waterfront promenade interspersed with lush parks and streets lined with stately sanatoria and grand mansions. Also visit the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a beautiful Byzantine structure built at the turn of the century. Stop for lunch at a local restaurant to enjoy a meal of traditional favorites.
After a delicious lunch, continue sightseeing at Livadia Palace. In 1911, Czar Nicholas II had a magnificent Italian Renaissance-style palace built on a cliff overlooking the Black Sea. Constructed from Crimean white granite and surrounded by manicured lawns and gardens, Livadia was a serene refuge for the imperial family. Livadia is perhaps better known as the setting for the Yalta Conference of 1945 where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met to decide the fate of Europa following World War II. Today, Livadia Palace houses exhibits dedicated to the imperial family as well as to the Yalta Conference. Then, visit Vorontsov palace and Park in Alupka. Alupka Palace was designed by English architects in 1828 and built over the next 20 years for the wealthy governor of the Crimea, Count Mikhail Vorontsov. One side of the mansion, facing inland, has the façade of a Scottish castle, while the side facing the sea has Islamic features. The huge park surrounding the palace ascends from the seacoast, festooned with over 200 kinds of roses and planted with Mediterranean and subtropical greenery. Fountains, waterfalls and ponds dot the landscape.
Breakfast, Lunch
Oreanda Hotel Day 7: Yalta- Simferopol- Kiev
This morning you will be transferred from your hotel to the airport in Simferopol for your mid-day flight to Kiev (economy class). Upon arrival in Kiev, transfer by private vehicle from the airport to the Podol Plaza Hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to relax or for independent discovery.
Breakfast
Podol Plaza Hotel Day 8: Kiev- Depart
Today you will be driven to the airport for your flight home.
Breakfast
( 
