Day 1 - Kiev
Arrival.
Transfer.
Orientation city tour,
check in & dinner at a hotel.
Day 2 - Kiev
Breakfast at the hotel.
Visit to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Monastery.
The Caves Monastery was Kievan Rus first & for a long time
most famous monastery. Spread across wooded slopes above the
Dnipro, it is a unique array of gold-domed churches, underground
labyrinths lined with mummified monks, & elegant monastic
buildings turned museums.
After lunch tour to St. Sophia Cathedral & Monastery
with its magnificent frescoes & murals. It is the city’s
oldest standing church built in 1017-1031 in honour of Prince
Yaroslav’s victory over a rival tribe Pechenegs.
Continue to St. Andrew’s church located
at the top of the charming Andriyivsky uzvis. It is an inspired
1746-61 Baroque interpretation of the traditional Ukrainian
five-domed, cross-shaped church by Rastrelli. The slender curves
of its blue, white, gold & green exterior stand out against
the skyline, perched up above the Podil district
at the crest of the historic Upper Town, at the supposed site
where the Apostle Andrew erected a cross.
Day 3 - Kiev - Odessa
Breakfast at the hotel
Departure for morning Kiev–Odessa flight.
Check-in and lunch
Panoramic tour that includes
Prymorsky boulevard with its beautiful early
19th century buildings, the shady promenade, the park tumbling
towards the sea & the sweep of the Potemkin Steps.
The 193 steps, built between 1837 & 1841, descend from a
statue of the Duc de Richelieu in a Roman Toga about halfway
along the boulevard.
Continue to Pushkin statue, a British
Tiger Gun, captured in 1854 during the Crimean campaign
& the Palace of Vorontsov – the residence
of a former governor of the city built in 1826 in a classical
style with surprising Arabic detailing on interior. Another
highlight is Opera & Ballet Theater designed
in 1880s by architects Felner & Gelmer in the Habsburg Baroque
of the day, with Italian Renaissance features.
The day ends with dinner at the hotel.
Day 4 - Odessa
Breakfast at the hotel.
The sandstone on which Odessa stands is riddled with about 1000
km of tunnels, quarried out for building in the 19th century.
They have been used by smugglers, revolutionaries & WWII
partisans.
Your morning tour includes visit to one of the network of tunnels
in Nerubayske, which sheltered a group of partisans
during WWII & now has been turned into the Museum
of Partisan Glory or Catacombs museum. Odessa has an
excellent collection of museums.
After the lunch you will visit Archeology museum established in 1875. The highlight is the Gold Room, which has jewellery & coins from early Black Sea civilizations, including
the 1st Slavic coins (10th century AD). Russian & Ukrainian
art are well covered in Arts Museum. Its maze of over 15 rooms
on 2 floors has treasures from 15th century icons onwards &
includes works by Levitsky, Ayvazovsky & Repin.
Day 5 - Odessa
Breakfast at the hotel.
Free time in the morning for shopping or revisiting one of Odessa’s
many museums.
Check out & departure transfer.
