Kharkov is the former capital of Ukraine, a beautiful and interesting students’ city. The number of entertainments and interesting places there is no less than in Kiev, so it may surely be considered to be a great idea for a weekend trip.
It is called the students’ city for the reason that it has lots of high schools and their presence determines the rhythm of the city and creates some special atmosphere. We do not hesitate to advise you to go to Kharkov for a couple of days and remember your school years there, or simply break away. By the way, as experience shows, almost every inhabitant of Kiev has some friends in Kharkov. Have not seen each other for a long time? Then, it’s time to go for a weekend to Kharkov! Pack your backpacks and start the journey.
If your weekends in the city coincide with some holiday or celebration, then immediately after arrival you may visit the Liberty Square, which impresses with its size and is considered to be one of the biggest in Europe. Townspeople believe that the Liberty Square can incorporate five Red Squares. Let’s believe Kharkov inhabitants.
Tired of urban landscapes? There is a great Gorky Park in Kharkov, and it combines all the major attributes of the exemplary park. The city (and the whole Ukraine) tried very hard to look presentable by Euro 2012 and the park became one of the main objects of interest. The Kharkov inhabitants have their own amusement park – attractions where you can test your own courage and pull out your nerves. The park and amusements are divided into zones – extreme, the children’s park, the medieval square, the Retro Park, the French area, various sports facilities and much more.
Another interesting way to spend leisure time in Kharkov – a cable car, which connects the Sumskaja Street with the Pavlovo Pole district. This unusual kind of transport looks like a long rope with a lot of buckets. But for some reason there are people instead of water. Travel time – about 20 minutes, so there will be enough time to think of the eternal, read a few pages of a favorite book, take 50 selfies or eat a sandwich. The price is also good – only 10 hryvnia.
Absolutely lovely and unique showplace – a children’s railway, located between the Gorky Park and the Forest Park. Looking at the title you might think that since it was made for children, the trains there are toy or tiny, but it is not that way. This is an absolutely real route of 3 kilometers and 600 meters, but all conductors, machinists and other workers are children. So they practice before becoming real railwaymen, and the city guests help them with this. We will help them too.
If you thought that the Ukrainian movie buffs have something to see only in Kiev and Odessa, we are here to dispel those beliefs. Surprisingly, the first real movie theater, which was built in the Russian Empire, is located in Kharkov. The theater “Bommer” was founded in 1908 and since then has carried out only one its direct function – it showed films. There you can touch the history, and imagine while watching an arthouse European film that the movies by Eizenshtein, Tarkovsky, Fellini and Hitchcock could have run here for the first time. This information at your own risk may be used at your first date in this theater. It sounds romantic and intellectual, so that your significant other will think that you are surely an art specialist or just very bohemian.
Kharkov inhabitants can proudly say that their city was the starting point for the careers of many artists in every sense of the word. They were, for example, scientists, musicians and actors. We can say that the creative atmosphere of the city is transferred to its exterior. On the streets of Kharkov there are quite a lot of different monuments, which significance is still puzzling locals and tourists. For example, a monument to the ears by a Moscow architect that was rumored to have most political and intricate meanings. On the streets you can also meet the Fiddler on the Roof, and it exactly symbolizes the creative atmosphere of the city. Nice bonus sites are the gear wheel, student-programmer, three monkeys, chicken eggs, and a soccer ball monuments.
Kharkov firmly says “Yes!” to gastronomic tourism. Places in the city are not inferior to the capital or resorts. In addition, there is an opportunity to discover absolutely new formats. There is a Cat Café in the city; its analogues previously appeared in Taiwan, Japan, Russia and Hungary. Here you will not only drink coffee with a dessert, but also you can pet purring furry workers, which is likely to help you relieve stress, or finally decide to have a cat.
You arrived to an unfamiliar city, and you do not know where to go and then following your habit you go to McDonald’s? Do not do it this way. In Kharkov, there is a great alternative – Club Sandwich Cafe, where you will find large portions and a rich selection of burgers and sandwiches for everyone. It is open around the clock and the food there may even be wrapped so that you could take it with you and enjoy lunch in the nature, or brighten up your stay on the cable car. A nice bonus for those who do not eat meat – vegetarian fast food BerryGood. From the phrase “burger with falafel for 9 hryvnia” it definitely becomes warm at heart.
Coffee houses with the possibility to take coffee with you are familiar to inhabitants of Kiev – Sweeter, UP&GO, Coffeelaktika; everything is very stylish and delicious. Individual attention should be drawn to “City Cafe 1654”. This is an incredibly beautiful restaurant with high ceiling, getting to that seems that you are not in Kharkov, but in New York.
When choosing places in Kharkov you may get sad and depressed if you do not have enough money to try everything and health to eat it all. We recommend that you listen to the locals’ advice, or be guided by your intuition; and we are sure that it will not deceive you.
We hope that after reading all of the abovementioned you will desire to explore our country, go to Kharkov; and then go further. Each city is unique, and we will keep convincing you of this.
Are you thinking of where to stay in Kharkov? Have a look here!