Where to spend the May holidays in Ukraine
This year, we are going to have especially prolonged May holidays. And it’s a perfect opportunity to make an additional vacation in order to rest, refresh oneself after long winter and gather new impressions while traveling through the country. We have selected top three May tourist directions for you that can grant unforgettable recreation and provide with vivid emotions.
Western Ukraine: Lviv, Uzhgorod, Kamianets-Podilskyi
Ukrainian west firmly holds leading position in the rank of tourist regions with the highest tourist attractively. And that is no wonder, for it is the true storage of various treasures: natural, historical and architectural, cultural. In addition, it is the only region where you can see, hear, and feel true spirit of Ukraine.
The most popular destination for May vacation is invariably Lviv, the colorful Ukrainian city with vivid European charm. You can stay there for two or three days, or even over the whole holiday period, now that the city always offers something to see and to visit. Moreover, vivid festivals that will take place in the city in May are an excellent bonus to the usual Lviv attractions: antique temples, medieval kamenitsas (stone houses), old fortifications and original museums.
If you spend May holidays in Lviv, don’t miss the city Beer Festival, which is combined with the Batyar’s Day, the holiday devoted to the vivid authentic Lviv subculture, this year; the ethno-jazz festival Flugery Lvova and the Festival of Pysanka, during which the city will be adorned with Easter eggs made from various materials: chocolate, wood, balloons.
Another amazing West-Ukrainian city where you can spend several May days with interest and benefit is the ancient and original Uzhgorod. You may see its original architectural masterpieces, visit the Zakarpattia Museum of Folk Architecture and Heritage, which keeps authentic samples of wooden architecture, and, of course, visit city's main attraction – the medieval Uzhhorod Castle, which is considered to be one of the best preserved fortifications in Ukraine.
However, the most important event, for which you should visit Uzhgorod during May holidays, is the Blossoming of Japanese Cherry Trees. The Japanese ornamental cherry trees frame the streets that are adjacent to the Uzh River quay (often nicknamed as Cherry Lane). In the blossoming period these streets turn into astounding Garden of Eden. The blossoming peak, when bare cherry trees’ branches get covered with lush hats of pink flowers, produces a breathtaking sight.
The fabulous Kamianets-Podilskyi is also reckoned among the most popular and interesting tourist directions in May. It is worth staying there for several days in order to see its majestic fortress – one of the most beautiful historical monuments whose powerful walls with bastions still impress with their might and grandeur – to stroll through ancient quarters, to visit town council with dungeons and torture chamber, and to see magnificent cathedrals. In addition, you should inevitably fly a balloon and enjoy the beauties of blossoming Kamianets-Podilskyi from bird's-eye view.
Crimea: Southern Coast and Yevpatoria
Crimea is especially charming in spring: it gradually dresses in bright green clothes, actively prepares itself for beach season, and is not crowded with tourists yet. The island welcomes those, who visit it during May holidays, with spring warmth and fresh mountain air and shows them its best attraction sights. Moreover, some of them are worth seeing exactly in spring.
Given that most Crimean beauties are concentrated at the Southern coast, it is it that you should choose as major destination in May. It is probably the most admirable part of the peninsula. It features picturesque rocks and stone cliffs, small bays, fabulous palaces and castles. Walk along Yalta quay, visit historical center of winemaking industry in Crimea, Massandra, ascend the cableway to one of the most delightful Crimean Mountains’ peaks – Ai-Petri. In addition, don’t fail to visit gorgeous Emperor’s residences: Vorontsov, Livadia and Massandra Palaces.
Staying in Crimea in May, it is worth seeing Ukraine’s highest waterfall Uchan-Su. In summer, it usually dries up and, instead of a turbulent flow, one can see just a few lazy water streams, trickling down. And in spring, during active melting of mountain snow, the Uchan-Su looks truly spectacular. The Nikitsky Botanical Garden has something to show in May too. It is a period of Parade of Tulips, during which more than one and a half hundred sorts of these world-favorite spring flowers, both classical and peculiar and exotic ones, bloom one after another.
You can use one day for a trip to Yevpatoria, where the opening of the holiday season, accompanied by series of interesting events, will take place in early May. The most interesting events include mass theatricalized costume procession ‘Parade of Epochs,’ life statues championship and guided tour ‘Culinary Mazes of Little Jerusalem,’ during which participants will visit city's best restaurants, specializing in the national dishes of various peoples who live on the Crimean peninsula.
Odesa is the brightest gem of Ukraine’s South and it preserves its tourist magnetism throughout the year. However, during the May holidays it becomes even more attractive. Although, it is yet too early to take a sunbath on its magnificent beaches, you can still admire elegant architecture, fantastic sea panoramas and peculiar monuments. Stroll along the historic center, drink coffee in one of original cafes on the Deribasovskaya Street, feast your eyes upon gorgeous Opera Theater and don’t fail to talk to Odesa’s locals, who will surprise you with inimitable sense of humor.
Another popular tourist direction of Ukraine’s South is Vilkovo, the unique town situated on the border of Ukraine and Romania at the picturesque confluence of the Danube River and the Black Sea. Thanks to numerous canals that occupy almost a half of town’s territory, Vilkovo is nicknamed Ukrainian Venice. Being there, don’t fail to make a boat tour on local gondolas, admiring charming hand-made islands, gulfs and backwaters, and to taste wine ‘novak' made of the namesake sort of grapes.
