The Yablunytsia Pass. A Picturesque Carpathian Crossing

The Yablunytsia Pass lies in the Eastern Carpathians, on the border of the Transcarpathian and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. In the Middle Ages trade routes ran through the pass, and it was called the Tatar Pass, because as far back as the thirteenth century the Mongol-Tatar horde moved through this very place on its way to Europe. Its present-day name this geographic feature received from its location on the south-western outskirts of the village of Yablunytsia, in the Nadvirna district of the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

 

The Yablunytsia Pass

Lviv. Stryiskyi Park. To walk and walk

There are many reasons to love Lviv, and one of them is the abundance of parks and gardens in this overcrowded city, congested with traffic. Stryiskyi Park, the oldest park in Ukraine to hold the status of a monument of landscape-garden art of national significance, is considered by Lvivians and visitors alike a favourite place of rest — for its shady avenues, its romantic ponds with swans and little ducks, its sculptural fountains, its architectural gems, its attractions and its sports facilities.

Lviv. Stryiskyi Park

Rakhiv. A Staging Point for Tourists. To Go or Not?

Rakhiv is the highest-lying town in Ukraine and a town situated near one of the geographic centres of Europe. Lovers of mountain ascents come here to conquer the Ukrainian two-thousanders and the other summits of the mighty Carpathians. What can one see in Rakhiv, making an intermediate stop in the course of transit tourism?

 

Rakhiv, Transcarpathian region

Mykulychyn. The Narrow-Gauge Carriage Museum

Driving along the H09 highway Mukachevo-Ivano-Frankivsk-Lviv, in the centre of Mykulychyn the traveller will surely notice an old little carriage at the roadside and wonder why a railway rarity has been placed here.

 

Mykulychyn, Ivano-Frankivsk region. The narrow-gauge carriage museum

Lviv. Autumn at the Shevchenkivskyi Hai Open-Air Museum

The Klymentiy Sheptytskyi Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life in Lviv is a treasury of wooden-architecture landmarks and a place you want to return to. One or two visits are not enough to examine every exhibit in detail, and a walk here in the autumn season heightens the impression: paired with the golden magic of the season, it lets you hear your own thoughts, rest from the city's troubles and revel in the beauty of nature.

 

Lviv. Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life. Church of Sts. Olha and Volodymyr

Lviv. The Children's Railway Through Stryiskyi Park

For Railwayman's Day

and the anniversary of the opening of the Lviv Children's Railway

One of the most beloved recreation spots in Lviv, and a true fairy tale, is the children's railway in Stryiskyi Park.

Lviv. The children's railway in Stryiskyi Park

Morshyn. From Pump Room to Pump Room. A Health Walk

Morshyn begins with the mineral-water pump room, around which all the roads, avenues and paths converge. It can serve healing water to 6 thousand people at once.

 

Morshyn. The pump room

A Carpathian Hike. An Abandoned Cabin on the Polonyna

One of the most popular ways to relax and spend free time in Ukraine is hiking, combined with exploring natural and architectural landmarks. Usually people choose weekends or holidays for a trek across the Carpathian slopes and peaks. But short-term opportunities are worth taking too, to stroll along the picturesque trails, to fill up on positive impressions and to immerse yourself in the kingdom of Carpathian nature. In mushroom season you can pair the admiring of the scenery with a spot of quiet hunting and, in a couple of hours, gather a certain amount of forest produce to vary your diet.

 

The Carpathians. Ivano-Frankivsk region

Lviv. The Home for Rescued Animals

This is not a zoo, not a menagerie, not a safari park and not a zoological garden. Here, animals and birds rescued in various circumstances have found their refuge.

 

Lviv. The Home for Rescued Animals

Lazeshchyna. Three Wooden Churches in a Hutsul Village

The picturesque village of Lazeshchyna, so attractive to tourists, lies in the foothills of the main peaks of the Ukrainian Carpathians - Hoverla and Petros - to which marked routes have been laid. From Lazeshchyna trails lead to the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, up to the Chornohora massif and to protected natural tracts.

 

Lazeshchyna, Rakhiv district, Zakarpattia region