UKRAINE THE SPECIALS

 

 

DAY 1

Arrival at the airport. Transfer to the hotel.

 

DAY 2

Kyiv
Visit St. Volodymyrsky Cathedral and continue to the Opera House, established in 1867. See Golden Gates, a major landmark of the Ancient Kiv and historic gateway to the ancient city fortress. Walk around the Sophievskaya Square with the monument of Bohdan Khmelnitsky. Continue to Mikhailovskaya Square with the monument of Princess Olga. Visit Michael`s Zlatoverhy Cathedral. Explore Motherland Statue and War memorials. Lots of examples of classic Soviet  era memorial statuary as well as some amazing exhibits of military hardware. Visit the Museum to the Great Patriotic War (WWII) and find weapons, battle maps, hundreds of original photographs, and a moving installation at the end of the exhibit symbolizing the great losses suffered. Departure to Babi Yar, a site of a series of massacres carried out by the Nazis during their campaign against the Soviet Union. For two days around 35 thousand Jewish people were killed. There is a memorable sign at the site.

 

DAY 3

Kyiv – Simferopol (1600km./15h.)
The tour starts with a visit of the State Aviation Museum with many impressive Soviet civil and military aircraft on display. Continue to Chernobyl' Museum, a fascinating and moving museum. Walk along  quaint cobblestone Andrievskiy Uzviz street lined with souvenir sellers, galleries and museums. Overnight train to Simferopol.

 

DAY 4

Simferopol – Sevastopol (70km./1h.30min.)
Arrival in Simferopol. Transfer to Sevastopol. Visit the main bastions of Sevastopol “Marmelon vert”, Point battery and Malakhov hill, a huge park area and an open air memorial complex dedicated to the defenses of Sevastopol  during the Crimean war as well as World War II. Explore the complex that includes Kornilov's bastion, a defensive tower, cannons of the first heroic defense of Sevastopol and a monument to Admiral Kornilov, mortally wounded on the defense line. Visit the amazing museum Panorama, which depicts the siege of Sevastopol with a display a little like a diaorama, but much more impressive. Continue to the Black Sea Navy museum.

 

DAY 5

Sevastopol
Departure to the battlefield of Alma (20 September, 1854) considered to be the first battle of the Crimean War. An Anglo-French force defeated General Menshikov's Russian army, which lost around 6,000 troops. Continue to Sapoune Ridge, the scene of dramatic events during the Crimean War. See the Balaklava battlefield and the site of the International Monument of Reconciliation of Russian Federation, France, Great Britain, Italy, Ukraine and Turkey. Arrival in Balaclava. Visit the World War Two German fortress further up in the hills.

 

DAY 6

Sevastopol – Simferopol (70km./1h.30min.)
Departure to Simferopol. Visit Simferopol Local Lore Museum and explore its rich Crimean War exposition. Overnight train to Kyiv.

 

DAY 7

Transfer to the airport.