To get the right impression of Ukraine as a whole one should necessarily visit the Transcarpathia beside other regions. The cultural peculiarities formed under the impact of the neighboring countries, the local inhabitants and their customs, and of course the magnificent nature of the locality are the reason why Transcarpathia is worth visiting for a foreign tourist as well as for a Ukrainian resident from any other corner of the country.

The celebrated local vines and the ample Hungarian cuisine in the traditional restaurants called “colyba”; bathing in thermal pools, hot water tubs and pure cold mountain streams; folk songs performed in a contemporary way and the mountain peak landscapes – even the most sophisticated tourists will be overwhelmed by such a storm of manifold impressions!

 Every sightseeing tour normally includes the famous castles of the region. The Mukachevo or the Palanok castle is indeed the most prominent one. Its bastions are marked with sculptures reflecting its history. These are the Turul, the mythical bird as the Hungarian national symbol, and the monument to the brave castle owner, countess Ilona Zrini and her son. Musicians playing romantic melodies in the courtyard create a wonderful atmosphere for the today’s visitors.

Another famous tourist destination, the Shenborn hunting castle in Chenadiyevo town is a real work of architectural art surrounded by a huge park. In spring, beautiful Chinese cherry trees blossom around a picturesque pond the shape of which resembles the outlines of the 19th-century Austro-Hungarian Empire. The evergreen shrubbery labyrinths lead to the castle entrance. Today the whole territory is given over to the Karpaty health resort however the interiors have preserved their initial look. One of the beliefs connected with the castle says the peculiar chandelier which survived till nowadays would start to swing if a faithful wife stands under it.

There are two more interesting 18 century castles not far from Uzhgorod. They are the Templar castle in the Serednye village and the Nevitsky castle in the Nevitske town. Today they are both just majestic ruins with vague outlines of the defense constructions, living chambers and watchtowers. The Nevitsky castle (the name is derived from the Slovak “bride” – such name is related to the history of Mogol invasions when all the town’s young girls were hidden inside the castle for safety) is today the venue for the annual ethnic festival called The Brides’ Castle.

To see the entire picture of everyday life of the people who inhabited the area a couple of centuries ago it is a must to visit the architecture and culture museum in Kolochava village. The Hutsul, Boiky, Lemky, Jewish, Slovakian, Czech and Hungarian cultures are interlaced in this small settlement of the 18-19th cc. precisely reproduced from the constructions, works of art and household items of those times preserved till today.

The natural treasures of the Carpatians are the Synevir lake also called the “see eye” due to its shape; the scenic Shepit waterfall, the Borzhava ridge, the wonderful daffodil valley and much more.

With a booked and rented apartment in Mukachevo or Beregovo you can see all the wonderful places the region is famous for, get to know the local traditions and experience the unique way of life its inhabitants lead.

Dobovo.com is always happy to offer you comfortable accommodation in the desired parts of Ukraine!

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Before you leave:

No need to pack heavy bags of all the necessary things you think you might need during your trip. Most of the hygiene and food products as well as medicine you use back home can be found in Ukrainian stores and pharmacies. You will be surprised to find many familiar brands.

Airport:

Kiev Boryspil International Airport is the major international air gate of the country. It is located 34 km from Kiev. You can take a taxi to get to the city or use one of the regular bus routes (Sky Bus, Poliot etc.)

Accommodation:

Booking lodgings ahead is a must. You can of course stay in a hotel advertised at the airport, or trust the people offering their apartments for rent at the railway station, however you most probably won’t be satisfied with the service you get for the price you pay in the first case or with the location, living conditions and safety in the other.

Thus booking an apartment online in advance is the wisest and simplest of the things you can do to arrange quality accommodation for the time of your trip.

Money:

The national currency is the Ukrainian hryvnia, the notes are available at face values of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500. You won’t experience a shortage of ATMs or banks in any of the Ukrainian cities, so you can withdraw money and change your currency any time. You can also use your payment card in most of the big stores.

Language:

Ukrainian is the national language. Russian is also widely spread and prevails in some of the Eastern cities as well as the Crimean region. Most of the youth knows English, most cafes have their menus translated for foreign guests, however you won’t find any street signs in English, except in the big cities.

Food: 

It is a common misconception that the Ukrainians only eat borsch with lard and drink vodka. Although they do, there are so many more delicious things than those for a foreigner to taste! You will find numerous local cuisine restaurants serving traditional food at moderate prices. Besides, there are Italian, Chinese, French, Indian restaurants so you won’t have to hunt for food or make fire while you are there.

Drinking water:

You shouldn’t expect the running water to be safe to drink. It must be thoroughly filtered or boiled before drinking. Most locals buy drinking water from stores, order bottled water delivery to their homes or take water from a spring for free, and you should better follow their example.

Smoking:

The Parliament has recently adopted the law prohibiting smoking in public places. However it is not so easily carried to effect, so most restaurants and pubs still have rooms for smokers and non-smokers, you can smoke on streets, at bus stops and in parks. Whether it’s an advantage or shortcoming for you, such is just the case with smoking in Ukraine.

A trip to any country can be stressful, difficult and challenging. However the more you learn about the destination, the better prepared you get, the higher is the possibility for your trip to be a positive experience despite all the challenges you face.

You still can buy tickets for Jennifer Lopez’s show «Dance again» in Kiev on November 13. The best hits will make you dance for sure and even when it’s almost winter it will be really hot in Kiev. If you would like to come but still doubt because you didn’t find a place to stay, we’ll help you — the biggest discounts for 13.11 can be found here.

If you like punk-rock or at least tattoo or Canada you definitely need to come to new Billy Talent’s show «Dead Silence» on November 25 in Kiev. The fans were waiting for three years for their new album and finally you can enjoy the last songs, dance and freak. Nothing’s changed — we’ll offer you the best prices for these days here.

For those who know what PARTY HARD is Californian electro-pop-hip-hop band LMFAO will burn Palace of Sports on December 12. Champagne Showers and Party Rocking with no «sorries» are guaranteed for those who are Sexy And Know It We advise you to prepare special LMFAO costumes and dance moves in advance and we from our side have already prepared for you the best options of accommodation.

The apocalypse is said to be coming soon so don’t loiter and you still will see enough!

Romantic and mysterious Lviv offers a variety of entertainment this fall, it always scents of famous local coffee and chocolate, and the coming festivals will help you to luxuriate in them in full even if you have only few days of stay in Lviv .

Lviv has always been proud of it’s tradition of coffee. The citizen of this city Franz Yuri Kulchitsky found in 1683 one of the first coffee- shops in Europe and shortly Lviv was known for it’s traditional and unique ways to make and serve coffee.

Festival “For a cup of coffee to Lviv” is held since 2007, the participants offer special festival drinks, make presentations on the history of coffee and trade fairs where you can buy the best sorts and coffee-sets. Live jazz music, warm blankets and soft glow of street lamps will complete the atmosphere.

The weather is expected to be sunny and DOBOVO.COM will help you with accommodation all over Ukraine.

Date: September 28-30, 2012, Market Square

Love is celebrated in all forms of art and urban sculpture is no exception. Virtually every city and town of Ukraine has its own monument dedicated to all those in love. Such monuments are used as totem points, they are surrounded by legends and endowed with magical features.

The place from which start the trip of romantic places in Ukraine is the Love Tunnel in the town of Klevan near Rivne.

No trains pass the old railway stretch any more, today it is a wonderful place for love couples, curious tourists and simple dreamers to have a walk, especially in spring and summer when the green trees form а tunnel-like passage promising romantic adventures.

No one can deny that love reigns not only over people of all ages but also over other live creatures of all kinds. This was acknowledged by the sculptor from Zaporozhye who created a Monument to kissing dogs. Traditionally this element of urban art has attracted much attention and become the object of some popular beliefs: the newly-married couples make their common wishes under the arch formed of the two giant dogs, and the wishes certainly come true.

The project of Monument to Lovers that won the contest among Kharkov architecture students several years ago wasn’t marked by particular originality or imagery. Anyway, the idea was brought to life and the place became a mecca for newly-weds and a popular dating point. Not all the citizens find the sculpture a success, however it’s hard not to admit that the two somewhat awkward figures reaching for a kiss vividly express pure affection.

Spending evenings and meeting dawns alone is a difficult task, especially if one leaves in a fairy tale. Shortly after a bench for those in love and a love tree were set at the Dnepropetrovsk quay the citizens found another monument dedicated to love. It shows Kolobok, the fairy tale character, and his friend invented by the local iron forgers. The Koloboks in love quickly became one of the favorite places of interest for citizens and the city’s guests.

Kiev can boast some truly unusual monuments many of which become symbols of the great feeling. Everyone who has ever been to Ukraine’s capital is familiar with the monument to the Lamp-posts in love on the main city square. And in one of the passage-ways on the Khreshchatik street, a couple of chairs having a date is sitting cozily together on a bench.

The popular tradition of bounding a relationship with a lock on a wedding day or any other suitable day brought about a problem of lack of memorable places for all those wishing to follow the tradition. A great solution was found in Odessa. They created a big Loving Heart which is a metal frame that will be able to carry over two thousand “love locks”.

And in one of Odessa city parks a Tree of Love grows that fruits loving hearts. The sculptor’s initial idea was to place two small angels holding a heart under the tree. But then it was decided that the magic fruit should belong to people. So now anyone can not just take a picture with the original work of art but also get a small part of love it contains – one just needs to give it a good shake

Whatever part of Ukraine you choose to visit out of interest or on business, Dobovo.com is always there to help you rent a good apartment so you can fully enjoy your trip.

Best apartments for rent in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Zaporozhye, Rivne, Kharkov and many other cities of Ukraine – only here, at Dobovo.com. (GJ56NWWMZU29)

 Sevastopol’s greatness and glory is reflected in the numerous monuments and historical signs that speak of the heroic past of the city. Steles and towers, buildings and sculptures – the witnesses of the great events have left mementoes for the future generations for ages.

Today Sevastopol is primarily a huge trade port that never freezes even though the Crimean winters have recently become overly cold. The city and its outskirts attract guests by the wide sandy beaches and the countless ways of having good time all the year round. Such leisure activities as wind- and kitesurfing, diving or paragliding have become traditional and popular among tourists visiting the place.

Those interested in ancientries or fond of original photo shoots will certainly enjoy the ruins of Khersonese – the ancient Greek settlement founded around the VI century BC. In that distant age the area was part of the Roman and the Byzantine empires, this was a real city with its ramparts, houses, wells and a functioning clay water pipe. Now this is a picturesque ensemble of fully or partly preserved pillars and wall rests keeping the breath of antiquity and astonishing with their beauty.

The highest lighthouse of the Crimea and the whole Ukraine is situated in Inkerman. This is a small town formally included into the Sevastopol territory in the middle of last century. The place is extremely scenic due to the St. Clement monastery located here, one of the oldest cave-monasteries of the Crimean peninsula. The monastery windows carved in rock on the right bank of the Chernaya river seem to hover above the ground…

Apart from that, Inkerman is famous for the vintage wines produced on the Inkerman winery which is one of the largest classical wine-making enterprises of the Crimea. An excursion down the cool wine cellars usually ends with a tasting ceremony warming the guests’ hearts with the sun of the Crimean vineyards.

Another town that became part of the modern Sevastopol half a century ago, Balaklava, is famous for its huge harbor never affected by storms. It makes a wonderful view with boats entering its calm waters.

However, the major tourist attraction of Blaklava is the submarine base which has long been a secret strategic site with a code name “City Telephone Station”. The base is formed of underground channels, and was constructed to ensure defense for people and machines in the event of nuclear war. The long damp passages, dark waters of the deep channels and the heavy anti-shock doors could serve a great set for an action-thriller. Nowadays anyone can take an excursion route and observe the exhibit items formerly used as threatening weapons.

 Sevastopol and its suburbs is one of the Crimea’s outstanding locations impossible not to visit. If you rent an apartment in Sevastopol you will enjoy trips to natural reserve areas, lounge on the wide golden beaches and discover many curious facts of the city’s life and history.

Dobovo.com is always happy to help you find and choose an ideal apartment for a vacation or a business trip.

The backgrounds of Lviv originate from the castle on the Prince Mountain, which eventually was renamed to High Castle. The castle was the main defensive fort of the city that was built by Danilo Halitsky.

According to the legend, the settlement was named in honour of his son Lev. But according to another legend, Lviv was founded not by Danilo Halitsky but by Lev Danilovich.

This city was an outstanding scientific and cultural center throughout its history. Lviv University is one of the oldest universities in Europe. It was founded in 1661.

This city is known for the fact that typography in Ukraine originates from the base of Lviv printing house where in 1654 Ivan Fedorov printed his famous book “The Apostle.” This edition is also known for containing a Lviv’s coat of arms, Fedorov’s typographical mark and his afterword. He published eight books, including – Ostrog Bible in Ukraine.

Lviv is built on the hills. The average height is 289 meters above the sea.

Lviv is concidered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, because of intertwining past and present. Lviv is the city of councils, churches, monuments and new areas. That is Lviv.

Odessa is famous as a city with a mysterious soul and an extraordinary temper. It is inhabited by anecdote and song characters, its backyards are full of unbelievable tales, living heroes walk down its streets, and under its ground there live secrets of history. Today tourists can choose from a great variety of theme excursions offered, such as “Odessa Markets”, ”The Jewish Odessa”, “The catacombs of Odessa”, “The Literary Odessa” and “The Criminal Odessa” to name a few. This port city is so motley and versatile one could never characterize it in few words or fit it in any frame.

Besides the world-known Potiomkin Steps familiar even to those who have never been to Odessa, the Duc De Richelieu monument and the Deribasovskaya street which has long been the city’s acknowledged brand, there are so many more astonishing, touching and amusing points of interest that can help a curious  visitor to fully experience the city’s spirit.

The Odessans are aware of their city’s history and are proud of it. This is seen from the number of monuments dedicated to the famous personalities and significant historical events in the city. They include the Monument to the Founders of Odessa, the José de Ribas monument, the Heroic Defense of Odessa memorial. In 2004 a peculiar sculpture commemorating an interesting historical fact was installed on the Zhvanetsky boulevard. Its name is Monument to Orange. It is believed that after the resourceful Odessans sent these fruit to the Russian emperor Paul I he started building a port in Odessa and investing into the city’s development. With love and not without irony the locals call the sculpture a “monument to the bribe”.

“Mum Odessa” – since old times the citizens have called their motherland this tender name, and this is also how one of the famous monuments of the Literature Yard is called. The “mum” holds in her hands the future city administrators  - De Ribas, Devolan, Langeron, Richelieu, and Vorontsov, and firmly stands on the three whales that represent the commerce, the art and the medicine.

People of art – writers, poets, musicians who have been born here and worked here – have played a significant part in the formation of the city’s unique character. In this curious city they don’t only construct monuments to great figures of the past or the famous contemporaries. There is even a “Monument to the Future Odessa Genius”. The great “eagles” of literature – Pushkin, Gogol, and Babel – whose life and work was closely connected with Odessa,  bent over an egg waiting to see who will be the next talent.

And here comes Rabinovich. Do you know him? He’s the central figure of countless anecdotes, jokes and stories, and just a vivid generalized character, an old sly and pinching Odessan Jew. The sculpture is called just the same: “The Monument to Rabinovich, the Character of Odessa anecdotes”, it is a tiny man wrapped in an old plaid cunningly looking through his monocle either at the sky or at the passers-by who put coins on his table.

The very well-known song by Mark Bernes about Kostya the Fisherman is so loved by the Odessa citizens that they have already placed several monuments depicting the plot of the song in different parts of the city. And of course, the image of a typical Odessa woman, Aunt Sonia, should by no means be left unattended. One could hardly find a better place for this monument – the famous Privoz market. Aunt Sonia has a bundle of dried fish with her, wears a wide brim hat and looks rather amiably with a cat rubbing against her legs.

In this city you will encounter surprises, weird things and riddles at every step. There is the 12^th chair with hidden treasures from the world-known novel by Ilf and Petrov, there is Karlsson who lives on the roof, there is a house with a single wall…

When you get to Odessa you will certainly want to stay for longer to see, hear, and feel as much as possible. Renting an apartment in Odessa you will be free spending your time, and you will surely feel at home in this wonderful city.

Dobovo.com is the ideal option for those who value their time and comfort. Great apartments in Odessa and other Ukrainian cities are available for booking here.