2 mystical sights of Ukraine
At the end of summer, my husband and I love to travel, most often choosing destinations in Ukraine. We have a lot of plans, average money, so we always try to save on accommodation. I wanted to see unusual and even “mystical” places in Ukraine, in the end we put together the following route (we drove from Dnepropetrovsk):
Lviv, Zolochiv castle-museum.
Kyiv (4 hours drive).
Odessa catacombs.
We have allocated 3 days for the trip. Having decided on the route, we undertook to book tickets, choosing the company basfor. ua based on the reviews. We booked tickets in advance, we used promotional codes when buying, which allowed us to save about 50 UAH. in every direction.
Mystical Lviv, or our review of the Zolochiv Castle: day 1-2
We had to leave for Lviv from Dnepropetrovsk, but it so happened that a couple of hours before departure, I had to go to Dneprodzerzhinsk for work. Of course, we were in a panic, we called the operator of Basfor, and the girl immediately put us to rest: with pre-purchased tickets, we could sit at any stop, in our case, I agreed with my husband and we got on the bus in Dneprodzerzhinsk!
We loaded normally, a nice bonus for us, as for travelers, was the fact that we had a transfer in Kyiv. For 4 hours while we were waiting for the next bus, we managed to have lunch and take a walk along my favorite Andreevsky Spusk. Moreover, the bus was half an hour late, although the operator called us and warned us about it.
We walked, saw enough, and already at 6.30 we got off in Lviv, and less than 2 hours later at 8.10 we boarded a bus to Zolochev. Another 70 km and we are on the spot, admiring the beauties of the mysterious castle. The castle, or rather the museum-reserve, impresses with its dimensions, there are many mysterious places and corners in it, it just seems that ghosts walk here in the evenings.
Zolochiv Castle))
The locals have many legends associated with the Zolochiv Castle: it was a fortress, a school, and a prison. There is nothing to do in the castle without a guide, pictures are forbidden there, but just wandering around and looking at the walls is not interesting. There are a lot of people, which confuses the impression a bit, and we had to wait 2 hours for a free tour. Prices are lifting - only 10 UAH. for the entrance, with a tour it turns out 50.
These buildings are so old that you can feel their spirit. On the other hand, you think about the greatness of the architecture and the requests of the ancestors!
The impressions are not very good, but the reviews about Zolochev itself are positive: the city is very beautiful. Accommodation really costs a penny (100 UAH in a hostel), you can have a cheap meal. For example, we dined at the Golden Horseshoe, choosing traditional Ukrainian food, where could we go without it if we came to Western Ukraine. After walking around Zolochev all day, we moved to Odessa that evening.
And this is a photo of the Zolochiv castle from above) Not ours, unfortunately, but very I liked it, and you also wanted to show the town.
Review of the rest in Odessa: day 3
In general, 15 hours on the road, of which 4 we again devoted to Kiev, and we are in the Ukrainian South Palmyra. After arriving in Odessa, we immediately settled in Hostel No. 1, having spent 200 UAH on accommodation for a day. Odessa is beautiful in itself and you can’t get around it all in a day, and my husband and I first went to Teschin Bridge, hung our padlock there, then walked along the embankment and went to the catacombs - our main goal. For a trip to the catacombs, we were taken from Odessa, and taken to the village. Nerubayskoye, which is included in the price of the tour.
I used to be in the Kiev catacombs, which is near the Lavra, but the Odessa catacombs made a strong impression on me. The length of the catacombs is 3 thousand km, and this is really a different world. We were 6 people, and we paid 800 UAH for the tour, it turned out to be 135 UAH. from each.
During the tour we saw:
Flooded places.
Underground lake.
And the wild catacombs where the blockages occurred. It was quite scary here, and even our guide was terrifying!
We were even given the pleasure of sawing the shell rock ourselves
These are the wells we met along the way)
In the catacombs you can really see the unknown Odessa, because the whole old city was built from shell rock mined here underground. We walked around the catacombs for about 3 hours, walking about 6 km.
And these are the catacombs)
We spent about 4.5 thousand hryvnias on the entire three-day trip, getting unforgettable impressions. Of course, in the future I want to visit all the mystical places of Ukraine!
