I am planning to visit western Ukraine next spring in order to do a bit of family history research. For that part of the trip, I will be in three towns just to the east of Lviv. This portion of the trip can be dome in two days. I know this is off the main tourist trail, but I want to make a vacation out of the rest of the time.
I am thinking of spending three days in Lviv (where I have to be anyway to get to the places mentioned above), which is suppose to be very nice, more western oriented than the rest of Ukraine. My question is what to do from there?????
I am leaning towards taking the train to Budapest, about 12 hours, and spending maybe 3 or 4 days in the city, and a one day trip to the Danube river towns nearby. Or I could stay in Ukraine, going to Kiev. Poland is relatively close, but I have already been there.
Any opinions? For the entire trip I will probably have about 11 or 12 days from the eastern US.
Eastern Europe Plans
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Prague or Budapest are definately Options. You said you've been to Poland, but have you been to Krakow?
Also Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia arent too far away and are definately different.
I guess it depends on how much you want to travel and what you want to see.
Bob - Thanx for the reply. I have been to Krakow as well as Prague. The Baltic countries are quite far by train.
Yeah you're right, but lookin at my atlas, you're not really near anything close. Lublin isnt bad, I went to the concentration camp and it was pretty interesting but thats about all that was there. Odessa is nice too, but thats too far away and it isnt the right season. I havent been to Kiev so I cant comment on that.
-Bob
A great on-line guide for most of Eastern Europe is
www.inyourpocket.com
Bob - Thanx for double checking your atlas. I guess my question boils down to: given that I have about 8 or 9 days to play with, starting in Lviv, what is the best itenarary???????? Right now, I am thinking about 3 days in Lviv, a day of travel, and about 4 days in Budapest and around. You are correct - Liviv is not near much that seems appealing. By the way, I have also been to Lublin, the concentration camp - Mjadanek (sp?) was compelling. I was in the city early on a Sunday - we walked around the compact old town for an hour or so, it was dead at the time, but even during regular workday or Saturday hours, maybe 2 or 3 hrs. in the town would be enough, plus time at the camp.
Marc - Thanx a lot for the tip on the website!! I checked it out briefly and it seems good. Unfortunately for me, it does not include Ukraine - not a surprise, but since it includes Belarus and Moldova, I am dissapointed Ukraine is not there.
Fodors
Lviv is very pleasant: I recommend the George Hotel (Hotel Zhorzh, plotscha Mitskevycha 1) and its restaurant and Travel Bureau.
Budapest will feel familiar to you, since you know Baroque Catholic cities. Kyiv has a more "foreign" feel, being Orthodox and Slavonic. Budapest has more for you to do in music and the arts than has Kyiv.
So the choice depends on you. Odessa, too, is just a night away.
For a rather job lot of web sites I list:-
Ukraine Embassy, Washington: http://www.ukremb.com/, then enter "Travel links"
http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~oleh/ukr-page2.html, under "Cities"
http://goeasteurope.about.com/travel/goeasteurope/msubua.htm
http://www.avana.net/~russiah/travel.htm
Rail, in Ukrainian: http://www.uz.gov.ua/
Question and answer groups:
http://www.egroups.com/search?query=Ukraine&submit=Search
Please write if I can help further. Welcome to Europe.
Ben Haines
Perhaps my Kiev web site with your travel plans: www.geocities.com/jeffkiev/
will be of some assistance.
Good luck!
For a view of a few cities around Ukraine, check:
http://home.att.net/~db-ukraine
One possible sidetrip you might not have thought about would be a trip to the Tatry mountains. You can either fo to the Slovak or Polish side, or both. I was in Zakopane, on the Polish side, last March and it was like being in the alps for a tiny fraction of the costs. The Slovak side is also increadibly beautiful. Zakopane is an easy 2 hour bus from Krakov. From the Slovak side you could take a train to Kosice in Slovakia. As far as Kiev v. Budapest goes, although Kiev has some impressive buildings (especially churches) and monuments, overall I would have to recommend Budpaest. Much more vibrant.