LVIV NEW YEAR’S TRIP 6 DAYS

After breakfast we continue acquaintance with Lviv. During a city tour, you complete mosaic picture of the history and the present of this fourth largest city of the Dual Monarchy. We drive to the Ivan Franko University, the oldest university on the territory of today’s Ukraine. With its 120,000 students, Lviv remains one of the country’s most important educational centers. On the Jura Mountain, next to St. George’s Cathedral – the center of the Greek Catholic Faith – you will learn the religious context and hear about the role of the Church in today’s Ukrainian society. After the lunch break we continue our city tour with a focus on the Art Nouveau style. True lovers of this architecture style will admire entire neighborhoods where they are barely able to hide their cameras. There are a number of magnificent buildings, decorated with masks, sculpture heads, geometric figures, chestnut and cranberry leaves. From our tour guide you will learn how the Art Nouveau made its entry into the Galician region. Someone has once told that each society is worth as much as is its attitude to commemoration of the predecessors. In this regard we would like to offer you to visit Lychakiv cemetery. Here you learn a lot about important personalities who had been writing the history of these lands for centuries. In the afternoon we pay a visit to Lviv’s Brewery. Founded in 1715, it is the oldest brewery in the country and enjoys a very good reputation in Eastern Europe. The brewery also houses a beer museum, where we have a beer tasting. Later in the evening we take a walk and get immersed in a splendid Christmas market. The evening is at your free disposal.  

Today you can visit open-air museum in Lviv – the Museum of Folk Architecture and Everyday Life, that keeps 120 architectural monuments on the territory of over 50 hectares. Here you can feel authentic atmosphere of Ukrainian province. It shows individual characteristics of regions such as Hutsulshchyna, Boykivshchyna, Lemkivshchyna, Transcarpathia and Bukovina. But those who want to explore more treasures of the region take a trip to the province. After the breakfast, we leave Lviv and visit the Olesko Castle, the oldest surviving castle in Galicia, as well as the magnificent but now dilapidated former Pidhirtsi Palace. Both are associated with the Sobieski family. Its story was closely linked to the political struggle between Poland, Lithuania and Hungary. While strolling through the castle’s halls you listen to a fabled story of the birth of a Polish king. The castle in Pidhirtsi would obviously be a splendid piece in the Galician crown, if it was not in a bit neglected condition. The castle was often the scene of amusing events, festivities and permanent receptions for the local nobility. Here you also hear a story of a woman in White that haunts these lands during full moon. Approximately 30 km farther eastward is located the town Brody. In 1894, during the Austro-Hungarian rule, here was born a famous Austrian writer Joseph Roth. What once was Council of Four Lands, the central body of Jewish authority in Poland, is nowadays a small Ukrainian town. You see the ruins of the largest synagogue in Galicia, where Israel Ben Elisie married his first wife. In addition, you visit the old Jewish cemetery and discover the Swaby district where the descendants of Swabian settlers lived. In the evening we come back to Lviv.

This day you can spend sauntering Lviv and surroundings on your own. For example, you may drive to the High Castle – a hill, from where you have the most beautiful view on the city. Or you can have trip to provincial towns of Lviv region. We start our way to Drohobych. Here we visit one of the oldest wooden churches in the region – the church of St. George which has been recently inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. It is one of the oldest and the best-preserved timber churches of Halychyna. From the 14th century, the city had grown into an international center of salt production. Later oil production in the neighboring region invited here Western investors, that brought the city to its heyday. Today the investors are out of the first place and Drohobych has become a provincial city, which still has a lot to offer. Drohobych is known as the birthplace of Bruno Schulz, who with his ‘Cinnamon shops’ made a great contribution to the history of literature. The Soviet officials had been very anxious to erase the name from the memory of the people. We, among other things, can see Villa Landau, where his frescoes were found and where Bruno Schulz was shot. Our next stop for today is Truskavets – famous for its mineral springs Ukrainian resort located in the picturesque area amid the mighty Carpathians. There we visit an exciting craft market, full of traditional ornate carvings, ceramics, embroidery and various antiques. Here we also visit Christmas market. In the afternoon we return to Lviv, where you have several hours to get ready for the celebration. And in the evening, you are cordially invited to the New Year’s Eve party with Lviv flavour! At first, with lounge music on the background you reminisce what happened during the whole year. Finally comes happy New Year, don’t forget to make a wish! Your mood gets more cheerful, lively music make your legs dance. Delicious traditional festive meals are complemented with a decent drop of wine. And the last person who leaves the dance floor will get a bottle of sparkling wine.

In the morning we have some additional time to sleep, what is no surprise after joyful celebration! Anyway, we have interesting program for today. We have a trip to Zhovkva, renaissance town, designed by the Italian architect Cataneo. There we visit the Collegiate Church, the Basilian Monastery and the oldest wooden church in this region, which has been recently declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. In Zhovkva we also visit Zhovkva Castle, part of the city ’s fortification system in the past, which today is considered one of the most important architectural monuments of the Ukrainian Renaissance. Only 12 km further we drive to village of Krekhiv, where visit one-of-a-kind St. Nicolas Fathers Basilians monastery. Here, in the forest, are kept cells of 17th-century monks Joil and Silvester. Nearby the healing source can be found. Legend has it that the appearance of the Mother of God has been seen here several times. In the evening we will come back to Lviv. This is our last evening on this trip and we crown it with a farewell dinner.

In the morning you still have some time to once again walk this beautiful city and buy some souvenirs. We hope you have discovered Lviv, its culture and nature, joyfully celebrated New Year’s Day and will keep you emotions for your lifetime. We are always happy to become your devoted companion for your future travels!