If you are going to meet your sweetheart in Ukraine, consider including sightseeing into your plans. This country with rich history and culture has much to offer its visitors: magnificent churches, baroque palaces, old fortresses and buildings, museums, archaeological sites and more. Whatever region of Ukraine your lady lives in, you will find places to visit within easy reach of her city or town. If you have enough time to get acquainted with this beautiful country, consider taking longer tours. It can be a fascinating experience for you both.

Kiev

Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is a charming city on the banks of Dnepr River. It was the ancient centre of Slavic culture and the capital of powerful Kievan Rus state (9-12th centuries). Evidence of that era - St. Sophia Cathedral and Kiev Pechersk Lavra complex of monasteries, cathedrals, and caves - still stand today.

Modern Kiev is a dynamic European city with historical center that preserved unique architectural landmarks filled with the spirit of past. If you take a bird's-eye view of the city, you will see a lot of magnificent golden domes amidst chestnut trees. These are orthodox churches Kiev was always famous with. You may visit St. Andrew Church of 18th century, majestic Vladimir Cathedral, St. Michael cathedral, and many others. In addition to religious architecture, Kiev has a lot of other sights, ruined forts and museums. The most famous is Golden Gate, heavily fortified main entrance to the city of Kiev dating back to 1037.

Kievan streets, squares, and parks are among its attractions as well. The main street named Kreschatik has no traffic on weekends and holidays for people to walk freely. It leads to the Independent Square with the Monument to Independence, a column of 50 meters high with a women on top of it symbolizing Ukraine. Another street to visit is Andreevskiy Spusk, often called Ukrainian Montmartre. Artists and sculptors show and sell their work here.

If you like getting acquainted with Ukrainian history, visit Pyrohovo, an open-air museum in the outskirts of Kiev. It includes over 200 structures brought from all over Ukraine: churches, barns, and other rural buildings. The buildings and special exhibition halls contain about 40,000 ethnographic items, including clothing, jewelry, ceramics, tools, etc. Souvenir shops are also available there. The area of the museum is about 150 hectares of land.

Lvov

Each Ukrainian region has its own history, culture, and spirit. Without visiting Lvov, the city in the Western part of the country, your idea of Ukraine will definitely be incomplete. Lvov is special. Well-preserved buildings of 14-15th centuries and paved narrow streets will take you back to the Middle Ages. The city is especially charming in the evening in the pale lantern light when there is no noise from cars (historical center of Lvov is fully pedestrian) and organ sound is heard from a catholic church.

Actually, the unique Lvov's architecture reflects almost all trends of the European art since 13th century when the city was founded. It survived over 30 wars, fires, and sieges, and each time was successfully rebuilt acquiring new structures without destroying the old ones. This resulted in the harmonic combination of various styles: Gothicism and Baroque, Renaissance and Roman style, Rococo and Empire style, modern eclecticism and constructivism. There are about 2 thousand historical, cultural, and architectural monuments in Lvov. Among them are a lot of orthodox and catholic churches, cathedrals, and monasteries.

Those who are not much interested in history still like Lvov for unique impressions it gives. You may simply walk down the old streets, look into fancy-dressed windows, and drink the tastiest coffee in numerous cafes. Coffee is the integral part of Lvov's culture. Cozy coffeehouses favored by literary and artistic Bohemia make a particularly fascinating atmosphere of the Old City. Don't forget to buy Lvov's souvenirs in the art market. You may get handmade ceramic bells, beer mugs, pots, crafts made of wood, leather and precious stones, unique coffee sets, and, of course, embroidered shirts.

Kamyanets-Podolskiy

Kamyanets-Podolskiy is the third city in Ukraine after Kiev and Lvov by the number of architectural monuments. Its uniqueness lies in the blend of fairytale landscapes with old city architecture and a mighty fortress constructed during the era Kievan Rus state. In various stages of its history, Kamyanets belonged to Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, and Russia, which is reflected in the way it looks now. The mysterious old city will meet you with defense walls and towers, fancy buildings, monasteries, churches, galleries, and museums. Kamyanets is located in Podilski Tovtry National Nature Park famous by Smotrych River canyon, one of the most beautiful in Europe. If you are lucky, you may get to one of the festivals regularly held in Kamyanets, for example ballooning festival, military history festival, motor rally, or others.

Sophievka

Sophievka Dendrological Park near the city of Uman (Cherkassy region) is the world's landscape architecture masterpiece of 18 - 19th centuries competitive with such European art treasures as Versailles (France), Balbi Garden (Florence, Italy), and San-Susi Park (Potsdam, Germany). The park was built by a rich Polish magnate Stanislav Pototsky in honor of his Greek wife Sophia and was presented to her at the day of her birthday in 1802. It was Sophia's idea to create a romantic park in Roman and Greek mythology style. Beautiful compositions of water, land, architecture and sculptures astound even most sophisticated visitors. The park abounds with unique marvelous sceneries, exotic plants and trees, sky-blue ponds, rock-works, fountains and cascades, grottoes and antique sculptures.

Crimea

Crimea is a picturesque peninsula in the south of Ukraine washed by the Black and Azov Seas. Its recreational potential is really grateful: unique beautiful nature, natural health resources, and thousands of historical monuments left by multiple folks that populated the peninsula in different times. Being the inspiration for poets and artist since antiquities, Crimea is also a popular place to shoot films, as it allows to recreate the variety of historical epochs and places. Over 250 films were shot here since Soviet times.

Nowadays Crimea is a large tourist center. Its cultural and natural sights attract millions of people each year. The most prestigious part to rest in summer is Crimea's Southern Coast. It was here where Russian Czars and other elite started building their summer residences at the end of the 19th century. The emblem of the Southern coast of Crimea is Swallow Nest Castle atop a towering rock. Now tourists can visit Massandra Palace built for Alexandr III, the residence of the last Russian emperor Nicolas II Livadia Palace in Yalta, Vorontsov Palace and Park in Alupka and others.

The Southern coast of Crimea is also known as mountain Crimea. The main attractions here are Bakhchisarai Khan Palace, cave towns and monasteries, ruins of medieval fortresses, canyons, waterfalls, caves, mounts and rocks. You'll be amazed with the variety of landscapes and sceneries. Natural and historic components here are located in sequence, which makes Southern coast of Crimea the number one mountain region in the world in terms of tourist routes convenience.

Odessa

The city of Odessa is the port on the Black Sea, but not a part of the Crimea. It is one of the raciest cities in Ukraine. It's known by optimism and effervescent sense of humor of its inhabitants. Odessa has the most developed entertainment industry in Ukraine. Numerous restaurants, casinos, and discos impregnate the city with holiday atmosphere, especially in summer when life concentrates on the seacoast.

If you like historical and cultural places Odessa is worth visiting as well. It has always been a large trade port, which resulted in its multicultural look. Odessa's architecture resembles that of Italy and France of the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Prosperous businessmen built their mansions and other places to show their wealth. You will see a lot of extraordinary buildings, beautiful parks and squares. One of the finest in the world is Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre. Among Odessa's emblems are Deribasovskaya Street, Primorskiy Boulevard with the monument to Odessa's founder Duke de Richelieu, and Potemkin Stairs that contain 192 steps. The stairs were originally a gift from Earl Vorontsov to his wife Elizaveta and were renamed to commemorate the mutiny on Battleship Potemkin in 1905.