🇺🇦 Ukraine

10 best places in Kyiv

Kyiv is a city of golden domes above the Dnipro river, where thousand-year-old cathedrals meet buzzing coffee shops and steep green hills.

Sight

Saint Sophia Cathedral

An 11th-century cathedral with unique Byzantine-era mosaics and frescoes, a UNESCO site.

Sight

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra

An 11th-century cave monastery of golden domes and underground galleries of relics.

Sight

Maidan Nezalezhnosti

The country's main square, a symbol of independence and civic life.

District

Andriivskyi Descent

A winding cobbled artists' street of galleries, souvenirs, and views over Podil.

Museum

National Museum of the History of Ukraine in WWII

A memorial complex crowned by the Motherland Monument above the Dnipro.

Sight

Golden Gate

The reconstructed main gate of medieval Kyiv from the time of Yaroslav the Wise.

Park

Mariinskyi Park

A royal-era park overlooking the Dnipro, next to parliament and the Klitschko footbridge.

Market

Bessarabsky Market

An Art Nouveau covered market from the early 1900s, stocked with goods from across Ukraine.

District

Podil

A historic riverside trading district of cobblestones, bars, and Kontraktova Square.

Restaurant

Kanapa

A restaurant of authentic Ukrainian cuisine with a view of St. Andrew's Church.

FAQ

Can you travel to Kyiv right now?

The country is at war and under martial law, with air raid alerts and night-time attacks a routine part of life. The city itself is very much alive: the metro, cafes, museums and theatres are open and many sights are accessible. Visiting is possible, but it is a deliberate choice, and standard travel insurance does not cover war risks.

How do you get to Kyiv with the airports closed?

Ukrainian airspace is closed to civil aviation, so everyone arrives overland. The usual routes are train or bus from Poland (Przemysl, Chelm), or from Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. The railway runs to schedule and is reliable, but the trip from the border to Kyiv takes many hours.

What is the weather like in Kyiv?

The climate is continental: winter usually sits between zero and minus ten, summer reaches 25-30. The nicest windows are May and June, when the chestnuts bloom, and September with its warm dry autumn. In winter, cold can be compounded by power cuts after strikes on the grid.

Can foreigners move to Ukraine?

Many nationalities enter visa-free for up to 90 days, though under martial law border checks are stricter and questions more detailed. Long-term status runs through work, study, business or family, and the rules on staying and leaving shift with the situation. The more common pattern right now is the reverse one, with Ukrainians taking temporary protection in the EU.