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Ukraine, former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Cities Ukraine : Bakhchisarai, Dnipropetrovsk, Kaniv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kremenchug, Kyif [capital city], Lugansk, Lviv, Mariupol, Odessa, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Ust-Dunajsk, Uzhorod, Yalta, Zaporizhyie

Country in eastern Europe bordering the Black Sea to the south, the Russian Federation to the east, Belarus to the north and Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania [ southwest the delta of the Danube ], and Moldova to the west.

Ukrainian landscape: mostly of fertile plains or steppes and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the Dniepr, Donets, Dnister and the Southern Bug as they flow down into the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov.

Capital City Ukraine : Kyif.


car hire, hostels, hotels, tour operator, travel guides, transportation / traveling to ukraine

links


Camping

 Korobki

Car Rental

 Sixt 
Pick-Up Station / Return Station: Kiev Airport, Kiev Downtown and Simferopol Airport

Hostels

 Hostelbookers.com  - Great Hostels, Free booking
Hostelbookers.com is one of the worlds largest online booking services for hostels. All hostels you see here are offering realtime prices and availability.

Hotels Ukraine

 Expedia.com
 Hotels.com

Travel Agents / Tour Operators

 Blacksee-Crimea 
This site is an on-line travel guide to what for most western travellers is a new destination - the beautiful Crimean Black Sea coast. Here you will find detailed information to help you plan your vacation, and you can book self-catering holiday accommodation in Yalta or Gurzuf, or hotels throughout Crimea and Ukraine




 Solo East Travel - located in Kiev
Travel to Ukraine with SoloEast. Located in Kiev (Kyiv) it's licensed to provide travel and visa assistance, hotels, air and train tickets, tours to Ukraine and other services for travellers. Tourism Administration of Ukraine License #425695

Travel Guides Ukraine / Related books

 Amazon.com - Books about Ukraine

Ukraine, The Bradt Travel Guide - by Andrew Evans (Author)
Book description : There has never been a better time to travel to Ukraine with visas no longer necessary for most tourists. Visitors to the country will discover traditional churches, monasteries, and sacred sites providing a contrast to the notorious, but compelling, landmark of Chernobyl. Sites can easily be explored by rail, river cruise, or sea ferry, and also on foot--the ideal way to take in rustic villages of old-world eastern Europe.
Features include: Detailed coverage of new hotels and restaurants; A region-by-region guide to the provinces , including the stunning Crimean peninsula; Kiev - the birthplace of Slavic civilization - in fresh detail; Thorough language section in both Russian and Ukraine.
Paperback: 464 pages; Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides; 2.00 edition (March 1, 2007); Language: English; ISBN-13: 978-1841621814 
Ukraine - Lonely Planet Travel Guides 
by Sarah Johnstone (Author)
Product Description : Be dazzled by the golden domes of myriad Orthodox cathedrals, be awed by the monumental Stalinist architecture of Kyiv, be inspired by the breathtaking natural beauty of the Crimean peninsula. On the edge of Europe, Ukraine is a land of the unconventional and quirky, a unique mix of cosmopolitan and Soviet, and this insightful guide shows you how to make the most of it all.
Paperback: 216 pages; Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications (September 17, 2005); Language: English; ISBN-13: 978-1864503364

Transport / How do I travel to Ukraine

 Airport of Kiev = Boryspil International Airport, located 30 kilometers from the city center. The city's other main airport Zhuliany-Kyiv, located 7 kilometers from the center, handles domestic flights.

 Airline Tickets / Discount Flights - Flights to the Ukraine

Ukraine is connected to European and Asian cities via an extensive network of railways and roads. Train and Bus travel are the least expensive and most convenient way to reach just about any location

 Ukrainian Buses .

 Online Maps Ukraine [ Uni Texas - Perry-Castañeda Library - Map Collection Europe  ]


Links 

 Travel Insurance - online travel and holiday insurance for UK and Irish residents

 Web-portal Ukrainian Government

 Kiev / Kyif - capital city - northern Ukrain
Kyiv made its mark as a city break destination soon after independence, with its grand palaces, Orthodox cathedrals, medieval monasteries and the winding streets and brightly coloured houses of the old town. You will find a lively nightlife with restaurants serving interesting local dishes.

 Bakhchisarai
 Chernobyl / Chornobyl - not far from Kyiv - known for nuclear accident in 1986
On April 26 1986, the Chornobyl-4 nuclear reactor suffered a catastrophic nuclear meltdown and fire, resulting from a flawed reactor design, and mistakes made by the tired plant operators, who violated procedures intended to ensure safe operation of the plant. A secondary factor contributing to the accident was the fact that plant operators were insufficiently trained and unfamiliar with many characteristics of the reactor.
 Dnipropetrovsk
 Kaniv
 Kharkiv / Kharkov - second largest city in Ukraine
 Kherson
 Kremenchug
 Lugansk
 Lviv
Lviv which has a wealth of rococo, neo-classical and renaissance style buildings arranged along picturesque cobblestone streets
 Mariupol
 Odessa
Wandering along the cobbled streets of the old town one can feel the Turkish and Balkan influences of past centuries. A must-see with an eclectic mix of Slavic and Turkish influence
 Sevastopol
 Simferopol
 Ust-Dunajsk
 Uzhorod
 Yalta
 Zaporizhyie


 Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains are equally as grand and the foothills are dotted with unspoiled medieval towns and villages.
 Crimean Peninsula -  autonomous
The Crimean peninsula attracts summer revellers to the lovely seaside resort of Yalta because of its Florida -like climate and to see the luxurious dachas which used to belong to the communist elite.
Crimea.
Steeped in history, Crimea is a fascinating region to explore, as well as a great place to relax. Across the centuries it has attracted settlers such as the Greeks, the Venetians and the Genoese - all of whom founded cities along the coast and inter-married with the local people. The western terminus of the Great Silk Road was on the Crimean coast. After a long period as part of the Byzantine empire, it was overrun by Chingiz Khan's Golden Horde and remained a Tatar Khanate until annexed by Imperial Russia in the eighteenth century . This rich history is still alive today in its fabulous palaces and historic sites, and in the culture and way of life of today's Crimean people.
Cities: Feodosiya, Yalta, Yevpatoriya, Kerch, Sevastopol, Simferopol
 FC Dynamo Kyiv
 News - Kiev Post
 Tiraspol
Capital of the self-proclaimed independent Trans-Dniester Republic
 Ukrainiansoccer.net

Cuisine - Ukrainian Cooking

Popular all over the globe is Ukrainian borsch. It is made with fresh vegetables – cabbages, red beet, tomatoes etc. adding pork fat pound with garlic and parsley. The combination makes borsch boast of exquisite aroma and marvelous flavor. There are more than 30 recipes for the true Ukrainian borsch (each region has at least one) and requires up to 20 diverse components.
Very popular in Ukraine are all kinds of kasha (cereal porridge), vareniki filled with cottage cheese, smashed potatoes, stewed cabbage or berries. Among the favorite dishes are also meat and potato stew – pechenja, Ukrainian bitki (chops) with salo (pork fat) and garlic filling, cold boiled pork stewed with cabbage and salo, krucheniki (chopped tenderloin stranded over a filling) etc.

 The Best of Ukrainian Cuisine - by Bohdan Zahny
Now updated with a complete list of menu terms in Ukrainian and English, this unique cookbook presents both traditional and contemporary Ukrainian cuisine in an easy-to-use menu format. Ukrainian dishes call for a variety of ingredients including natural products such as meat, poultry, fish, mushrooms, eggs, vegetables and fruits. Here is a comprehensive guide to Ukrainian cooking, including favourites like: zakusky (appetisers), ioushky (cabbage soup), kasha (buckwheat groats), pyrizhky (stuffed pastries), and medovyky (honey cakes).
Paperback 300 pages (August 1998); Publisher: Hippocrene Books, Inc; 0781806542

History of Ukraine

The Ukrain was founded by Swedish Vikings [ 'Varangians or Rus' ], who gave the Ukraine its first powerful dynasty, the Rurik dynasty. During the 10th and 11th centuries these Vikings in the east created the largest and most powerful state in Europe and, ironically, laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries.
Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, soutern parts of Kievan Rus were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; northern parts formed Mongol dependent Muscovy.

Independence: 1 December 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Borderland: A Journey Through the History of the Ukraine - by Anna Reid
The Ukraine is one of the most neglected countries in the world. It has a population of 52 million - larger than Britain's - and a land mass the size of France; it also has Chernobyl, and after Russia is the largest nuclear power. The word 'Ukraine' means 'borderland' and for most of its history the lands that make up present-day Ukraine have been a collection of other countries' border regions. Prior to Stalinism and Nazism, Ukraine was ethnically extremely diverse, including Russians, Poles, Jews, Greeks and Armenians. Their ghosts linger in language, literature, and architecture, quite distinct from Russia's.
Paperback 272 pages (March 6, 2003); Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicholson history; 1842127225
 National museum of History of Ukraine - see Kiev Museums
The museum's extensive exhibits consist of eight sections dealing with various aspects of Ukraine's history from prehistoric times to the present. The museum has rich collection of archeological and ethnographical findings, coin, works of art and old books. Behind the museum there is a path that provides a good view of Podil, Kyiv's lower town from the highest point of Old Kyiv.

Music, Culture & Entertainment

The most distinctive musical instrument unique to Ukraine is the bandura, a circa 7th century invention used for folk music. Starting in the 15th century, traveling musicians (kobzars) used the bandura for epic folk tales (dumy), while the secretive, blind kobzari invented their own bandura music.

Ukraine Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette)  - by Meredith Dalton
Paperback 240 pages (September 1, 2001); Publisher: Kuperard; 1558686320
 Info Ukes - Ukrainian Music Library
Classical Music, Bandura, Popular Music, Traditional Music and more

Web Portals / Search engines

  Info Ukes
 Ukraine Today
 Ukraine web cameras projects
 Ukrainian Web
 Visit Ukraine - Travel Agent in the USA

Bakhchisarai, Dnipropetrovsk, Kaniv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kremenchug, Kyif [capital city], Lugansk, Lviv, Mariupol, Odessa, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Ust-Dunajsk, Uzhorod, Yalta, Zaporizhyie


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