Central Ukraine

Layered with dark fertile soil, Ukraine's breadbasket heartlands are split between forested Polissya to the north and the endless agricultural flatlands of Podillya to the south. Life isn't complicated in these parts; people work the land and fish the streams and, when it's time to relax, they head to the woods or, in winter, the banya (bathhouse). Some say this region epitomises the 'real Ukraine' and, frankly, it would be hard to argue with that.

The highlights include a clutch of fortresses, a missile museum, two seriously elaborate fountains, and the show-stopping island town of Kamyanets-Podilsky. In the 19th century the region was the heart of Catherine the Great’s Jewish Pale of Settlement, birthplace of both Hasidism and the Jewish shtetl. The Nazis obliterated most traces of Jewish culture, although a few old Jewish cemeteries and synagogues remain.

Explore Central Ukraine

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Central Ukraine.

  • Fortress

    Kamyanets-Podilsky Fortress

    Built of wood in the 10th to 13th centuries, then redesigned and rebuilt in stone by Italian military engineers in the 16th century, K-P's fortress is a…

  • Museum

    Wehrwolf

    Between May 1942 and July 1943, Adolf Hitler paid several visits (accounts vary) to his regional military headquarters in a vast bunker 8km north…

  • Museum

    Avtomotovelofototeleradio Museum

    Big name for a small museum but worthwhile for anyone with a wistful soft spot for the days of Soviet mass production. This octagonal building near the…

  • Museum

    Museum of Strategic Missile Forces

    It’s not easy to find, but deep in Ukraine’s agricultural heartland, 25km north of Pervomaysk, lies one of Ukraine’s coolest museums. Better known as the…

  • Cemetery

    Jewish Cemetery

    Levi Yitzhak's mausoleum is in Berdychiv's huge Jewish Cemetery. For decades, with the exception of Yitzhak's mausoleum, the cemetery was overgrown and…

  • Park

    Sofiyivka Park

    Sofia Pototsky was a legendary beauty, and Uman's stunning park is her husband Count Felix's monument to her physical perfection. Having bought Sofia for…

  • Museum

    Korolyov Cosmonaut Museum

    Named after acclaimed Soviet rocket engineer and local lad Sergei Korolyov, this surprisingly well-curated museum is famous across the former Soviet Union…

  • Fountain

    Roshen Fountain

    Ukraine's original big-time spray show (since 2011), the Roshen Fountain lights up the Pivdenny Buh River every night in the mild months. Built by the…

  • Monastery

    Berdychiv Fortress

    The impressive brick-walled complex hogging the horizon as you approach Berdychiv from Khmelnytsky is widely known as the fortetsya (fortress), but it's…

  • Museum

    Joseph Conrad Museum

    Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski was born in 1957 to noble Polish parents in Berdychiv, then part of the Russian empire, and spent the first 4 years of…

  • Church

    Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul

    The Old Town's most prominent church perfectly illustrates how the Polish and Turkish empires collided in Kamyanets-Podilsky. Built in 1580 by the…

  • Tomb

    Pirogov Church-Mausoleum

    The second-most famous embalmed corpse in the former Soviet Union (after Lenin in Moscow) rests in the basement of a chapel in the suburb of Pyrohove…

  • Fortress

    Medzhybyzh Fortress

    The impressive Medzhybyzh Fortress stands proudly at the confluence of the Pivdenny Buh and Buzhok Rivers. Inside its gently crumbling courtyard are an…

  • Fountain

    Uman Fountain

    Move over, Vinnytsya: there's a new fountain in the 'hood. Uman's is not as gigantic or as hyped as the one that illuminates the Pivdenny Buh to the west,…

  • Church

    Church of St George

    The historic Polish section is dominated by the 19th-century Orthodox Church of St George, with its five spires painted a brilliant azure. One gets here…

  • Museum

    Podillya Antiquities Museum

    This imaginatively presented museum with English explanations takes visitors through the archaeology of Podillya in six easy steps. You begin in a Stone…

  • Historic Building

    Ratusha

    Polish Market Sq is lorded over by the tall 14th-century Ratusha (Town Hall). The renovated peach-hued building now houses three modest museums. Most…

  • Tomb

    Rabbi Nachman's Tomb

    Rabbi Nachman (1772–1810) was the 18th-century sage who founded the Breslov branch of Hasidism. Tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims flock to Uman every…

  • Museum

    Regional Museum

    This large and diverse museum is well worth an hour or two for its interesting archaeological artefacts, bug-eyed taxidermy and large WWII exhibition with…

  • Museum

    Pirogov Garden-Museum

    About 1.5km before you get to the chapel containing Pirogov's body, you can see his house, now a museum. It's actually more interesting than you'd expect,…