GUIDED TOURS IN WESTERN UKRAINE
Lviv Ecotour offers English Language Tours out of Lviv in Ukraine
Lviv Ecotour offers English language tours of Ukraine lasting from one to several days. We drive in Ukraine to see farms, rural towns and villages, places of worship, cemeteries and other landmarks. The guide, who is also a driver, is knowledgeable in Ukraine’s history and current affairs. The guide will gladly answer in English language any questions related to history, politics, farming, economy and other aspects of life in Ukraine.
Whether you are seeking a trip to your ancestral area to reconnect to your roots, a trip to the Carpathians near Lviv, off the beaten path in the rural countryside, or focus on a specific location or town – we will try to provide exactly what you are looking for in a tour tailored to your interests and time.
The Tour itinerary can be flexible and the guide has no memorized script. Ukraine tours on this page are for illustration. Our Ukraine Tours are for those who have some interest in learning about Ukraine and its history. We can start the tours at your chosen location. A vehicle to fit the size of a tour group is provided. The guide/driver is experienced in driving safely in Ukraine, and the transport is air-conditioned, with seat belts and conventional safety features.
Choose from the following selection of Tours in Western Ukraine with a Guide in English:
One-Day Countryside Tour near Lviv:
a trip through Ukrainian countryside to visit old churches, synagogues, castles and cemeteries in towns and villages near Lviv. On this trip, you will enjoy the rural scenery along the way and will get a glimpse of the Ukrainian country life and fertile fields in one of the world’s best farming areas
Two-Day Cultural and Scenic Tour:
visit a UNECSO listed wooden church, ruins of an ancient fort in what was once the powerful capital of a medieval Slavic kingdom, a Museum of Easter Eggs, a scenic part of the Carpathian Mountains, and shop for souvenirs at a large market over the waterfalls in a Carpathian resort town
Three-Day Tour of Western Ukraine:
this Tour will take you through a town with some remaining Art Nouveau architecture, over the mountains into Transcarpathia, to one of the wine-producing areas of Ukraine with a more temperate climate, Europe’s last remaining virgin beech forests and a picturesque mountain lake in a national park
Four-Day Tour of Western Ukraine:
travel through Ukraine’s farming heartland to the powerful Kamyanets-Podilsky fortress, continue to the capital of the former Austro-Hungarian province of Bukovina, on to the scenic Hutsul Carpathian Mountains, visit a souvenir market over the waterfalls, Ukraine’s biggest ski resort, and return to Lviv via Transcarpathia
ONE-DAY COUNTRYSIDE TOUR:
A Trip through Ukrainian Countryside to Visit Old Churches, Synagogues, Castles, Cemeteries near Lviv.
See One-Day Countryside Tour on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/EsjNQBsGc4vnmNB47
If you are in Lviv and wondering how to fill in an extra day, why not go with Lviv Ecotour on a Tour to the Ukrainian Countryside Outside of Lviv. The area around Lviv is filled with amazing things. It is one of the few places in Europe that offers the most authentic tourist experience.
The Tour includes seeing wooden churches in villages near Lviv, a visit of two castles, and two small towns east of Lviv with old synagogues and Jewish cemeteries, among other things. On this trip, you will enjoy the rural scenery along the way and will get a glimpse of the Ukrainian country life. The Lviv Countryside Tour is for an individual or a small group.
What to see on this Tour
Wooden churches included in this Tour represent a unique style of Ukrainian folk architecture. Built from hard oak wood, they have lasted for centuries. One of the wooden churches on the Tour is from 1697. It is well hidden behind country houses, barns and vegetable gardens. A narrow dirt path used mostly by chickens and farm animals runs up to the church from the village street. When the church suddenly appears behind the clutter of rural objects, the view is breathtaking. Several wooden churches in Ukraine and Poland have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Several Jewish cemeteries and synagogues visited on this Tour are the silent reminders of the culture that ceased to exist in Galicia after the Holocaust. An old Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of Brody is truly amazing and has the highest possible tombstones standing in long straight rows in tall grass. The Brody synagogue is an impressive building that survived war-time bombing and decades of relentless work of the elements on the building that has been without a roof since the War.
About one hour from Lviv, you will be able to see two castles. One of them, the Olesko Castle dates back to the 13th century. This is the oldest of the castles in the area. It is known as the birthplace of the famous Polish king Jan III Sobieski who turned the course of the world history by defeating the Turkish army near Vienna in 1683. The Olesko Castle is a museum featuring 16th and 17th-century art. It is an interesting site that is rich in history and interiors composed of furniture and paintings reflecting the lifestyle of its residents from several centuries ago. If you like old paintings and furniture and plan to visit the castle museum, note that the castle is closed for visitors on Mondays. There is a fee to enter the museum, which can be paid at the castle gate. Olesko Castle also has a restaurant and a WC.
Brody is one of the two towns near Lviv that can be visited on this Tour. At one point in time, Brody was a thriving Jewish community at the eastern border of the Austrian Empire. It is the birthplace of Joseph Roth who wrote the novel Radetzky March. Sigmund Freud’s mother, Amalia Nathansohn Freud, was also born in Brody in 1835. The town features a Market Square, remnants of an old fort and a number of century-old buildings as evidence of the town’s once prosperous past.
The total duration of the tour is about 6 to 8 hours.
One-Day Countryside Tour Gallery:
TWO-DAY CULTURAL AND SCENIC TOUR:
Ukraine’s Highest Mountains and Local Tourist Attractions.
See Two-Day Cultural and Scenic Tour on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/rpBVJGWT9FZRwJrs9
DAY 1: we begin by driving to the south of Lviv on a winding scenic road through small towns, villages and open fields. One hour out of Lviv we reach Rohatyn with its beautiful wooden church dating back to the 1500-s, and a statue of Roksolana on the main town square. The next town, Burshtyn, is a monument to the Soviet industrial period with its giant smokestacks spewing clouds of black smoke from a coal-fired power plant. Here we can visit an old Jewish cemetery, the only reminder of Burshtyn’s once multicultural past. Shortly afterward, we get to Halych. Ruins of an old fort on a hill overlooking the area date back to the days of the mighty Kingdom of Galicia. Next on our route is one of the main urban centers of Ukraine, the town of Ivano-Frankivsk. An hour away is Kolomiya with its famous Museum of Easter Eggs. Also in Kolomyya, we can visit the Hutsul Art and Crafts Museum.
DAY 2: we observe spectacular mountain views while the road gets bumpy at times on the way to Verkhovyna. This is the heartland of the Hutsul country. To better experience the local culture, we can stop for a demonstration of musical instruments by a local musician. Then on through the mountains towards Yaremche. Here we visit a souvenir market overlooking the waterfall. After that, we drive for some 4 hours to Lviv. If you are into hiking and fit for long walks, a Day 2 option could be a hike to the highest mountain of Ukraine, Mount Hoverla, or another less strenuous hike in the area.
Two-Day Cultural and Scenic Tour Gallery:
THREE-DAY TOUR OF WESTERN UKRAINE:
Visit Ukraine’s Carpathian Towns and Enjoy the Mountains.
See Three-Day Tour of Western Ukraine on Google Maps : https://goo.gl/maps/iTjzRo4iwAfgEFSV9
DAY 1: Sambir is the first sizable town on our way out of Lviv. Its glory days date back to the discovery of oil in the nearby mountains. The good old times are still recognizable in once rich Art Nouveau mansions in quiet streets radiating from the Market Square. An old synagogue and a Jewish cemetery are interesting landmarks in Staryi Sambir, which is the next stop along the way. We enter the Carpathian foothills where there is a wooden church in Rozluch, originally built by the German settles before World War 1. After Turka, the road climbs up showing beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, including the high peaks of the Bieszczady in Poland. We drive in very close proximity to the Polish border. Even though Poland on the other side of the road appears only a few steps away, this is a heavily monitored area being the Eastern frontier of the European Union. Next, the road dives into the Transcarpathian part of Ukraine and suddenly everything gets a tint of Hungarian flavor. UNESCO listed St. Michael’s Church in Uzhok can be seen on a hill to the right. Before reaching Uzhhorod, the Castle in Nevytske is an interesting short detour.
DAY 2: When Stalin and the Western Allies redrew maps of Europe after World War 2, they put Uzhhorod only a hair’s breadth away from the Slovak border. The giant statue of a Soviet soldier is still looming over the border crossing on the western edge of the city. Uzhhorod is a quiet town cut in half by the river with an embankment where many people like to rest on benches in the shadow of large trees in the summer. Our next town Mukachevo looks very much like a smaller sibling of Uzhhorod, both being distinctly Hungarian in appearance. The town Berehovo, where Hungarian is the first language for the majority of people, has thermal springs that draw tourists to a spa resort nearby. Vynohradiv and Khust on our way both have ruined forts dating back several centuries. From Khust, the road takes us into the higher mountains towards Lake Synevyr.
DAY 3: Lake Synevyr is located in a beautiful setting amid forested mountains. It is reached from the highway by a scenic road. Some distance away is another natural attraction, Shypit Waterfall surrounded by mountains with a beech forest. Next, we are on the main West to East highway of Ukraine heading to Drohobych to see one of its wooden churches, now on the World Heritage list by UNESCO. Drohobych also has a town hall, an old Gothic church, and a large restored Choral synagogue. The town preserved its quaint old-time look that has been lost in Lviv with the arrival of crowds of tourists.
Three-Day Tour of Western Ukraine Gallery:
FOUR-DAY TOUR OF WESTERN UKRAINE:
A Tour Designed to See the Best Parts of Western Ukraine.
See Four-Day Tour of Western Ukraine on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/zNsxNZfg4fA54bHK6
DAY 1: we drive east from Lviv towards Ternopil. As we approach the area of Ukraine known for its black soil, farms become larger and fields gradually turn into an endless sea of crops. In the town of Ternopil, we stop to view Ternopil Lake and then drive south towards Kamyanets-Podilsky. On the way, we cross a small river Zbruch, which just over 100 years ago served as the border between Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire. To a trained eye, the division is visible even today. We stay overnight in Kamyanets-Podilsky where you can enjoy the famous Castle and the Old Town.
DAY 2: after Kamyanets-Podilsky, we stop to admire the Fortress of Khotyn overlooking the mighty Dnister River. Once an impenetrable fortress is now a museum with great views of the surrounding plains and the river near the historic junction of three international borders. This was a tri-border intersection for the USSR, Romania, and Poland before WW2. The road takes us further to the capital of the former Austrian province of Bukovina. Although somewhat run down, Chernivtsi still retains some of its past European glory. Then on to Ukraine’s most peaceful town of Kolomyya to visit a Museum of Easter Eggs. Between Kolomyya and Yeremche lies the most picturesque stretch of the road in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine. If time permits, we stop in Verkhovyna at the Museums of Hutsul musical instruments. The owner is an accomplished musician and will demonstrate local folk tunes. We overnight in Yaremche with its souvenir markets and summer crowds of tourists.
DAY 3: we travel south deeper into the Carpathian Mountains, towards the Romanian border. At your choice, we can take a loop road through Ukraine’s best ski resort Bukovel. In winter, its well-groomed slopes can rival Alpine resorts of Austria and France, owing to an investment by one of Ukraine’s oligarchs. An all year round lift runs to a summit with a view of Ukraine’s highest mountains, including Mount Hoverla at 2016 m. After another hour on a winding road and over a mountain pass, we reach the Geographical Center of Europe marked by a monument at the side of the road. Get your passports ready at a checkpoint as we start driving in close proximity to the Romanian border. During the night, the Tysa river that runs to our left separating Ukraine from Romania is used to bootleg tobacco and spirits into the European Union in a constant hide-and-seek game with the border patrol on both sides. A short hike to a ruined castle overlooking the town of Khust can be an opportunity to break a long drive and stretch your legs. This area of Ukraine is closely linked to Hungary, and the Hungarian language rivals Ukrainian in many local communities. We stop for the night in Mukachevo.
DAY 4: Mukachevo is located in the Transcarpathian Lowland on the great Hungarian plane. From here it’s a straight road to Lviv over the Carpathian Mountains. But first, we stop at Palanok Castle. The area around the town of Mukachevo is for Ukraine what California is to the USA. Being sheltered from cold northerly winds by the Mountains, it is the source of early fruit and vegetable for other parts of Ukraine. Vineyards are common here although local wine is produced mainly for the local market. At your choice, a 2-hour (60 km) detour can be taken to visit Shypit Waterfalls in the Carpathian Mountains on the way to Lviv. We arrive in Lviv on the afternoon of Day 4.
Four-Day Tour of Western Ukraine Gallery:
