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Big & Diverse

Ukraine is big. In fact it's Europes biggest country (not counting Russia, which isnt entirely in Europe) and packs a lot of diversity into its borders. You can be clambering around the Carpathians in search of Hutsul festivities, sipping Eastern Europes best coffee in sophisticated Lviv and partying on the beach in Odesa all in a few days. Ukrainians are also a diverse crowd: from the wired sophisticates of Kyivs business quarters to the Gogolesque farmers in Poltava, the Hungarian-speaking bus drivers of Uzhhorod to the Crimean Tatar cafe owners just about everywhere, few countries boast such a mixed population.

Despite their often glum reticence and initial distrust of strangers, travellers to the country quickly find out that Ukrainians are, when given the chance, one of Europes most open and hospitable nations. Break down that reserve and youll soon be slurping borshch in someones Soviet-era kitchen, listening to a fellow train passengers life story or being taken on an impromptu tour of a towns sights by the guy you asked for directions. Much social interaction takes place around Ukraines hearty food, always brought out in belt-stretching quantities. Learn a bit of Ukrainian and you double the effect.

A diverse landscape obviously throws up a whole bunch of outdoorsy activities from mountain biking and hill walking in the Carpathians to bird spotting in the Danube Delta, from cycling along the Dnipro in Kyiv to water sports in the Black Sea. But if the idea of burning calories on hill and wave has you fleeing for the sofa, rest assured that most Ukrainians have never tried any of the above, but love nothing more than wandering their countrys vast forests, foraging for berries and mushrooms or picnicking by a meandering river.

As we have now all sadly realised, history didn't end around 1989, and that's doubly true in Ukraine. Having only appeared on the map in 1991, the country has managed two revolutions and a Russian invasion already, and fighting in the Donbas is still ongoing. History ancient and recent is all around you wherever you go in this vast land, whether it be among the Gothic churches of Lviv, the Stalinist facades of Kyiv, the remnants of the once-animated Jewish culture of west Ukraine or the Soviet high-rises just about anywhere.

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Ukraine travel - Lonely Planet