Chernobyl by Day, Kyiv by Night
- 12 People Maximum
- Moderate Activity Level
- Urban Exploration
Join us on a unique exploration that blends Soviet history with contemporary politics, breathtaking Orthodox monasteries with memorials to tragedy. We’ll visit everything from awe-inspiring UNESCO sites to hidden passages beneath the streets of the Ukrainian capital—as well as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and the ghost town of Pripyat—as we dive headfirst into centuries of Ukrainian history. We’ll have a whole team of experienced guides at the ready as we delve into one of Europe’s most fascinating—and drastically underrated—capitals. Along the way, we’ll also find plenty of time to enjoy fantastic food and drink, good company, mischief, and mystery. Our time in Ukraine will be breathtaking, surprising, and occasionally challenging, but always memorable.
- Hands-on history
- Post-nuclear ghost towns
- Soviet legacy
- 21st-century Kyiv
Itinerary
Day 1: Welcome to Ukraine!
Arrive in Kyiv and check into your room at the delightfully brutalist Hotel Salyut, conveniently located just down the road from the deepest metro station in the world. This evening, we’ll settle in with dinner and drinks at a traditional restaurant nearby, and get to know the people we’ll spend the next week exploring with.
Hotel Salyut, Kyiv
Welcome Dinner
Day 2: Old Kyiv
Today, we’ll learn about the history of Kyiv on a guided walk through some of the most iconic landmarks in the Upper Town district, including the Saint Sophia Cathedral, the Golden Gate, and the wonderfully bizarre Landscape Alley. After, we’ll enjoy a lunch full of local treats at a themed restaurant on Andriyivskyy Descent. In the afternoon, take in the magnificent Lavra Monastery complex, one of Ukraine’s most important Orthodox sites, before exploring the system of catacombs beneath the church. We’ll also visit the Holodomor Monument and Museum to learn about one of the most difficult periods in Ukrainian history: the Famine-Genocide of the 1930s. We’ll end the day with a banquet at a rustic village-style restaurant situated in an ethnographic complex in a Kyiv suburb.
Hotel Salyut, Kyiv
Breakfast, Dinner
Day 3: The Rebel City
Today we’ll be learning about more recent events in Ukraine’s history, kicking off with a visit to Mezhyhyria, the private residence of exiled former president Viktor Yanukovych. Marvel at the disgraced leader’s display of wealth as we tour his estate, his classic car collection, and his lavishly decorated home. After lunch back in the capital, we’ll head over to the nearby Motherland Monument to experience the sheer awe of this towering Soviet symbol. We’ll spend the rest of the afternoon in a subterranean space beneath the monument, which now houses Kyiv’s Museum of the Great Patriotic War. At the end of this long and thought-provoking day, we’ll finish with a sumptuous evening meal, settling in at a popular Georgian restaurant in Kyiv to eat, drink, and talk about all we’ve seen.
Hotel Salyut, Kyiv
Breakfast, Dinner
Day 4: Hidden Gems
We’ll begin the day with a visit to Kyiv’s Chernobyl Museum. Focusing on the human stories connected to the catastrophe, this curious and colorful museum makes the perfect primer for your imminent trip into the Exclusion Zone itself. After lunch, we’ll take a tour through Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) as we learn about the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution. We’ll visit the places where it happened, guided by a local expert who experienced the events firsthand. Next you’ll have a choice: You can either head underground for a guided "urban exploration" tour, navigating through storm drains and tunnels beneath the Ukrainian capital; or if you prefer, you can stay topside for a tour of Kyiv’s eye-catching street art highlights. We’ll have an early dinner tonight, in a Ukrainian restaurant close to our hotel—you’ll want to get a good night’s sleep afterwards, and save your energy for what’s to come.
Hotel Salyut, Kyiv
Breakfast, Dinner
Day 5: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
Leaving early from our hotel, we’ll travel by private bus to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. We’ll meet our Chernobyl guide, while a documentary film playing on the bus will bring us up to speed on the accident, its causes, and its many repercussions. On our first day in Chernobyl we’ll visit the reactors themselves to witness ground zero of the accident, admire the new containment structure installed in 2016, as well as check out some of the other facilities around the nuclear power plant. Between excursions, we’ll take lunch in the Chernobyl workers’ canteen, surrounded by scientists and engineers currently stationed at the plant. Later, after a long day of exploring, dinner will be served at a restaurant in Chernobyl town. Our accommodation for the night is at a hotel nearby, located inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
Basic Hotel, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Breakfast, Dinner
Day 6: The Streets of Pripyat
At the time of the Chernobyl accident, the workers’ city Pripyat had a population of 49,000 people. It was evacuated soon after the event, and now survives as one of the world’s most famous ghost towns. Today, we’ll get to know this empty city intimately, walking its desolate streets, and visitings its abandoned schools, hospitals, and theaters. We’ll see all of Pripyat’s main landmarks, including the fairground, swimming pools, and also some fabulous street murals. After lunch back at the Chernobyl canteen, we’ll then get to visit one of the Exclusion Zone’s best-kept secrets: the DUGA radar installation, or "Russian Woodpecker," that rises to a height of 150 meters at the heart of an abandoned Soviet military base. Late in the day we’ll return to the capital for one last night at our Kyiv hotel.
Hotel Salyut, Kyiv
Breakfast, Dinner
Day 7: Do Pobachennya & Departure
After one final group breakfast, we’ll head to the airport for our individual flights home, say farewell (and see you soon) to new friends, and bid Ukraine adieu! If you choose to extend your time in Ukraine, your guides will be happy to offer additional tips and recommendations. Until the next adventure!
Breakfast
The total cost of this trip is $2,935. For those traveling by themselves, single accommodations can be provided, subject to availability, at an additional cost of $450. Please contact us to request a single room.
Some elements of this tour will be physically demanding. Our two-day exploration of Chernobyl involves no more than walking—but there will be a lot of that, and over rough ground, so be sure to bring proper walking boots or other outdoor footwear. Long sleeves and full-length pants are also required inside the Zone.
The urban exploration tour, on Day 4, will be particularly challenging. Expect to get wet as you climb up and down ladders and crawl through tight spaces beneath the streets of Kyiv. You’ll need to be in good physical shape for this section of the tour, and it’s absolutely not for the claustrophobic—but if that doesn’t appeal, just let us know and we’ll book you for the street art tour alternative.
Kiev Boryspil International Airport (KBP) is your best option when it comes to booking flights into Ukraine. You should aim to arrive in Kyiv on Day 1 by 4 p.m., and depart anytime on Day 7. Traveling to and from your hotel in the city center is easiest by taxi, which should cost no more than $25 each way. Uber is very popular in Kyev, too. If you decide to extend your stay, your guides will be only too happy to suggest additional activities for you.
- Six nights of hotel accommodation.
- Daily breakfast and dinner.
- The company of two experienced foreign tour guides in addition to four local Ukrainian guides, each stepping in to tell you about their specialist subjects.
- Private transport throughout the trip, in a comfortable minibus.
- Admission to all proposed activities and events, including museums, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and the ethnographic complex.
- Transportation and flights to and from Kyiv, Ukraine, including airport transfers.
- Travel insurance (recommended).
- Additional meals and drinks outside of Atlas Obscura offerings, including lunches and alcoholic beverages.
- If applicable, applying for a Ukrainian visa (find out if you need one here).
Trip FAQ
Is Chernobyl safe to visit?
Chernobyl is very much safe to visit. The outer area, the 30km Zone, acts as more of a buffer space between the contaminated land and the rest of Ukraine. This area is more or less fine—people live there full-time, they grow crops, raise livestock, and so on. Radiation levels in the 30km Zone are lower than the standard background radiation in a typical developed city. The largest dose of radiation our travelers usually get is from their trans-Atlantic flights. Most important, as always, is following the site’s regulations. Chernobyl’s security team are really thorough, and last year alone they safely catered to 60,000 visitors.
What positive impact will I have by taking this trip?
The Chernobyl tourism industry has received a lot of media attention in recent years, and not all of it has been positive. On this trip, we'll explore parts of the 1,000-square-mile Exclusion Zone that most tourists never get to see. We’ll talk about the effects of tourism in the Zone, both the positive and the negative. But rather than joining the crowds at the more populated tourism hotspots, we will spend our time eating, drinking and talking with local people, many of whom would otherwise see little financial benefit from the increasingly corporate Chernobyl tourism industry.
