The Carpathians
University buildings are often called 'dreaming spires', but Chernivtsi's is more like an acid trip. This fantastic, Unesco-listed red-brick ensemble,…
Must-see attractions in The Carpathians
The Carpathians
Built atop a 68m-tall volcano, Mukacheve's highlight is this dramatic castle that pops up from the surrounding plain west of town, like something in a…
The Carpathians
On the hill overlooking the town stands the 15th-century castle with massive walls and beefy bastions built to withstand Turkish assaults. The main palace…
The Carpathians
This well-curated exhibition of Hutsul artefacts is probably the best of its kind in Ukraine. Decorated stove tiles and other ceramics, musical…
The Carpathians
Kolomyya's most eye-catching attraction is a monster concrete Easter egg, which sits rather self-consciously on the town's main square. Inside in an…
Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection
The Carpathians
The city's punctiliously renovated Greek Catholic cathedral is a fine example of baroque symmetry crafted in the mid-18th century. Huge bronzes of St…
The Carpathians
A few steps off pl Rynok stands this eye-pleasingly symmetrical baroque church built by the Armenian community in 1762. Beyond the golden doors the…
The Carpathians
Few would brave the potholes to the sprawling Carpathian village of Kosmach, 35km to the southwest of Kolomyya, were it not for the privately run Oleksa…
The Carpathians
Ask any Ukrainian which is the country's finest castle and many will say Khotyn Fortress. Eastern European filmmakers love to use this massive fort…
The Carpathians
Declared a Unesco Biosphere Reserve in 1992, this protected area is made up of six separate locations, four of which can be found around Rakhiv. Some 90%…
The Carpathians
When you’ve had enough of Chernivtsi’s barmy traffic, head for the tranquillity of vul Kobylyanskoyi, a pedestrianised street running between vuls Holovna…
Carpathian National Nature Park
The Carpathians
This is Ukraine's largest national park and the heart of the Carpathians. Only about a quarter of the area is completely protected, but that hasn't…
The Carpathians
A short walk west of the immediate city centre, hemmed by the Uzh River on its southern flank, lies the Czech Quarter, an unexpected neighbourhood of…
Museum of Hutsul Folk Art and Life
The Carpathians
For those not seeking craft bargains, the main reason to vist Kosiv is to visit the Museum of Hutsul Folk Art and Life. It's worth visiting for a wide…
The Carpathians
In addition to housing the tourist office and the museum, Frankivsk's art-deco town hall, the only one built in this style in the country, is an…
The Carpathians
This old-school museum stands on the hill behind the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve headquarters building. The exhibition is surprisingly informative, rich…
Folk Architecture & Life Museum
The Carpathians
Next door to Uzhhorod Castle, this is one of the tidiest open-air museums in the country, albeit small. Highlights include several Hutsul cottages with…
The Carpathians
Mukacheve's attractive main square, more a wide boulevard than a classic piazza, extends southeast from the town hall. At its northern end stands a…
The Carpathians
Around 1.6km south of the Rynok, the city's main stretch of green is a great place to shake out the picnic blanket, hire a rowboat on the lake or chill…
The Carpathians
Built in 1911, it's pretty obvious at first glance that this beautiful concert venue began life as a synagogue. Its intricately carved terracota facade…
The Carpathians
Painted a garish Disney-princess pink, the huge, mid-19th-century Orthodox cathedral that straddles gated parkland between vuls Holovna and Kobylyanskoyi…
The Carpathians
The dominating feature on maydan Vichevy is the fountain, a popular meeting spot. If you descend the steps below the fountain's main 'bowl', you can stand…
The Carpathians
Chernivtsi's cathedral is nicknamed the 'drunken church', because of the four twisted turrets surrounding its cupola – painted blue with golden stars,…
The Carpathians
Within the town hall lurks the Soviet-era Regional Museum, which has displays on various archaeological digs in the region, a worthwhile room of folk art…
The Carpathians
Set on the exquisitely central European pl Teatralna, Chernivtsi's main drama and music theatre is a beautiful art nouveau confection that wouldn't look…
The Carpathians
This museum brings to life the now virtually extinct Jewish culture of Bukovyna, focusing on the period between 1774 and 1941.
The Carpathians
Fifteen kilometres southwest of Rakhiv lies what Ukraine contends is Europe's geographical centre, just before the village of Dilove. Ukraine is not the…
The Carpathians
With its own police station, bus station and dedicated bank branches, this 33-hectare bazaar is like a town unto itself. As a conduit into Ukraine for…
The Carpathians
Kosiv is a minor Hasidic pilgrimage destination, though almost all the town's Jews were murdered by the Nazis on the Miska Hora (Town Mountain), a hill…
Regional Administration Building
The Carpathians
Nicknamed the 'White House', this Soviet-realist hulk is worth seeing for its sheer size and bombast. The two glum-looking traditional Ukrainian musician…
The Carpathians
Castle aside, Mukacheve's most impressive chunk of architecture is its mint-green secessionist/neo-Gothic town hall, an unusual find in rural Ukraine. It…
The Carpathians
Monumental, recently renovated and built in the neoclassical style, this 18th-century former Jesuit church is worth a peek inside for its huge iconostasis…
The Carpathians
In addition to Chernivtsi's fabulous university building, Josef Hlavka was also the architect responsible for the Former Armenian Cathedral.
The Carpathians
Ensconced in the 17th-century Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the city's oldest building, this museum is packed with a jumble of religious sculptures…
The Carpathians
Chernivtsi’s former synagogue was once famous for its exotic African/Middle Eastern style, but was turned into a cinema in 1954.
The Carpathians
The Former Jewish Cemetery is a melancholic jumble of leaning, overgrown headstones to the west of the city.
