Why Go?Clipping the country’s southwest corner, the Carpathian arc has endowed Ukraine with a crinkled region of forested hills and fast-flowing rivers that feel a continent away from the flatness of the steppe. This is the land of the Hutsuls, whose colourful folk culture is laced through thin villages stretching languidly along wide valley floors. It’s also rural Ukraine at its best, where tiered wooden churches dot hillsides, horse-drawn carts clip-clop along potholed roads, babushkas shoo geese, and marshrutka (fixed-route minibus) passengers cross themselves as they whizz past roadside chapels.

The ‘Hutsulshchyna’ may be Ukraine’s epicentre of rural folk culture, but this is also a leading holiday spot. The local peaks have been a long-term hit with Ukrainian hikers and skiers; the Carpathian National Nature Park, the country’s biggest, lies in this region; and within the park’s boundaries rises Mt Hoverla – Ukraine’s highest peak at 2061m. It’s also home to Bukovel, Ukraine’s glitziest ski resort.

pop 3.5 million

The Carpathians Карпати

When to Go

Jul Picnic on flower-filled polo-nyny (summer pastures) as you listen to the tinkle of cow bells.

Sep–Nov Watch local vintners bringing in the grape harvest in the Transcar-pathia region.

Dec Enjoy some hearty Hutsul après-ski during the Carpathian ski season.

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Best Places to Eat¨¨ Reflection (p139)

¨¨ manufactura (p125)

¨¨ Cafe-muzey pid Zamkom (p142)

¨¨ Beer Club 10 (p125)

Best Places to Stay¨¨ on the Corner (p131)

¨¨ Smerekova Hata (p135)

¨¨ Good morning B&B (p131)

¨¨ pid Templem (p125)

Ivano-Frankivsk . . . . . 124Carpathian National Nature Park & Around . . . . . . . . . . . 127Yaremche . . . . . . . . . .128Bukovel . . . . . . . . . . . .130Kolomyya . . . . . . . . . . 131Kosiv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Verkhovyna . . . . . . . .134Rakhiv . . . . . . . . . . . . .134Bukovyna . . . . . . . . . .136Chernivtsi . . . . . . . . . .136Transcarpathia . . . . . .140Uzhhorod . . . . . . . . . .140Mukacheve . . . . . . . . . 143

©Lonely¨Planet¨Publications¨Pty¨Ltd

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