Belarus, Ukraine & Moldova

Itinerary

• Days 1-3: Minsk (Belarus), Brest

  Begin in Minsk, capital of Belarus, for a fascinating glimpse into its socialist past. Half of Minsk’s population perished during WWII and little remained of the city. Visit the monuments that honor their memory, the Gallery of Russian and Modern Belarusian Art, and stop at the manor house of Polish and American hero (and friend of Thomas Jefferson) Tadeusz Kosciuszko. In Brest, admire the massive UNESCO-listed stone Brest Fortress, built by Czar Nicholas I in the mid-1800s.

  HIGHLIGHTS

  • Minsk’s main street, the animated promenade, Nezavisimosty Avenue
  • Visit to a rural farmhouse for lunch with a local family
  • Memorial for the 1943 Nazi village massacre in Khatyn
  • UNESCO-listed Brest Fortress, defended from the Nazis for a full month before falling
• Days 4-6: Lviv (Ukraine)

  Crossing the Ukrainian border, arrive in Lviv, founded in the 13th century. Conquered by the Poles in 1349, Lviv feels very Central European, with its lovely UNESCO-listed Old Town Square surrounded by Renaissance and Baroque merchant dwellings. Step back in time at the open-air ethnographic museum featuring Ukrainian villages from the 18^th-20^th centuries, then fly to the capital, Kyiv.

  HIGHLIGHTS

  • Lviv’s lovely Old Town, with Prospekt Svobody, Ploshcha Rynok (Market Square), and the Town Hall
  • Pharmacy Museum, its walls lined with old shelves stacked with little boxes, antique bottles, vessels and scales
  • Lychakiv Cemetery, where some of the graves are crowned with sculptures by Ukraine’s most prominent artists
  • Visit the workshop of a local painter who specializes in religious icons
• Days 7-9: Kiev

  In Kyiv, visit some of Ukraine’s most important sites including the St. Sophia Cathedral, the Caves Monastery, and the Chernobyl Museum. Stroll and shop on the cobbled Khreshchatyk Street, filled with galleries, shops, cafés, and artists’ studios. Learn traditional egg-painting with a local artist, then fly to Odessa, a renowned seaport on the coveted Black Sea coast.

  HIGHLIGHTS

  • Golden Kiev, capital of Ukraine and mother city of Eastern Slavic peoples
  • Pecherskaya Lavra, or Caves Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded in 1051
  • The Chernobyl Museum, remembering the 1986 explosion and fire at Reactor #4, only 62 miles from Kiev
  • Paint an egg step-by-step at an artist’s studio, learning the traditional art of this treasured folk craft
• Day 10: Odessa

  Explore Odessa, a cultural center and strategic naval base, climbing its much-filmed Potemkin Steps and touring its Partisan Caves, where resistance fighters hid during WWII.

  HIGHLIGHTS

  • The Potemkin Steps, immortalized in Sergei Eisenstein’s film Battleship Potemkin
  • The stately Odessa Opera House & Ballet Theatre, a baroque symbol of the city
  • Catacombs where the Ukrainian partisans took their resistance movement literally underground
• Days 11-14: Chisinau (Moldova), Transdniester

  Next is Chisinau, Moldova’s tree-lined capital. Survey some of Moldova’s ancient monasteries and sample the deep red wines for which the country is gaining a reputation. Embark on a day trip to the Transdniester region, a narrow strip of land bordering Ukraine where separatists have declared a disputed independence.

  HIGHLIGHTS

  • Stefan cel Mare Park, a luxuriant and open green area in the center of the capital
  • Lunch with a local family in their home
  • Cave Monastery in Orhei Vechi, excavated in the 13th century and inhabited until the 18th century
  • Transdniester region, a de facto presidential republic offering a fascinating glimpse back into Soviet times