Pyrohovo Museum of Folk Architecture

Lonely Planet review

Ukraine is dotted with 'open-air' museums like this, full of life-size models of different rustic buildings. However, the Pyrohovo Museum of Folk Architecture, 12km south of Kyiv, is one of the most fun and best maintained.

Two things make it stand out. Firstly, the quaint 17th- to 20th-century wooden churches, cottages, farmsteads and windmills are divided into seven 'villages' representing regional areas of Ukraine. So in just one long afternoon you can journey from the architecture of eastern to western to southern Ukraine.

Secondly, in summer, workers enact different village roles, carving wood, pottering, doing embroidery and driving horses and carts. There are restaurants, pubs and stalls selling barbecued shashlyk . The place is perfect for kids.

Arsonists claimed three of the old dwellings in 2006, but the character of the museum remains intact. Throughout the year Pyrohovo hosts various festivals - the biggest is during the countrywide Ivana Kupala festival. Ukrainian musicians play at weekends.

The museum is near Pyrohovo village. To get here, take bus No 27, trolleybus No 11 or marshrutka No 172 from the Lybidska metro station; the museum entrance is hard to miss.