Hutsul Alps (also known as Marmarosy) is a mountain range located on the territory of Romania and Ukraine (in the southern part of the Rakhiv district of the Zakarpattia region). Ukrainian part of the mountains is called Rakhovsky mountains.

Marmarosy is the most diverse and picturesque mountains in the Ukrainian Carpathians thanks to high altitude (over 1,900 meters), diverse geological structure, deep valleys (up to 1,500 meters). The Ukrainian-Romanian border passes through them. Photos by: Alexander Kotenko.

let’s go hiking in the mountains

Tags: landscapes · Zakarpattia oblast

Pidhirtsi Castle, sponsored by the Polish Hetman Stanislaw Koniecpolski and built by Wilhelm Beauplan in 1635-1640, is a well-preserved Renaissance palace surrounded by fortifications. It is located in the east of the Lviv region, in the village of Pidhirtsi.

The castle has a square shape. From the east, south, and west it is surrounded by a deep moat and ramparts. The park, laid out around the castle, belongs to the monuments of landscape art of national importance. Pidhirtsi Castle on Google Maps. Photos by: alexdoomer2009.

take a walk around the castle

Tags: fortress · Lviv oblast

An elegant hunting castle-palace of the Counts Schonborn is located 10 km north-east of Mukachevo, in the Zakarpattia region.

In 1728, the Austrian Archbishop L.F. Schonborn received the vast land near Mukachevo as a gift from Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. The new owners chose a picturesque Beregvar tract for hunting and built a wooden hunting lodge. In 1890-1895, E.F. Schonborn built a beautiful stone castle-palace in its place.

explore the castle-palace

Tags: Mukachevo city · Zakarpattia oblast

The Ukrainian Carpathians is part of the Carpathian mountain system located in western Ukraine, on the territories of the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, and Chernivtsi regions. The total area of the mountains is more than 24 thousand sq. km.

Summer and winter are the most popular seasons to visit the Ukrainian Carpathians. However, in autumn, you can see a real riot of colors which makes the mountain scenery incredibly beautiful and picturesque. Photos by: Alexander Kotenko.

the mountains in autumn

Tags: landscapes · Zakarpattia oblast

Svirzh Castle is a castle located in a small village of Svirzh in the Lviv region. It is a unique monument of defensive architecture of the 15th-17th centuries. The castle, originally built as a fortress, lost its original appearance after the reconstruction made in the 17th century.

Despite its favorable defensive location – on Mount Belz, surrounded by impassable swamps and lakes – the castle with moats and a drawbridge could hardly have any significant defensive value because of the palace style of its architecture.

take a look at the castle

Tags: Lviv oblast

Dzembronya is a small village located on the steep slopes of Chornohora Ridge in Verkhovyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region, near the border with Romania. It is the most high-altitude village in Ukraine and probably one of the most picturesque ones.

Despite the fact that the population of Dzembronya is only about 250 people, the length of the village is about 10 km. There are no enterprises, collective farms, industrial facilities here.

beautiful mountain village

Tags: Ivano-Frankivsk oblast · landscapes

This wonderful landscape park was founded in the village of Buky in 1996. The village is located in Skvirsky district of the Kyiv region, approximately 110 km from Kyiv.

It all started when a local entrepreneur Ivan Suslov bought 2.7 hectares of land which was used as a dump. It cost him only 20 thousand USD. He was able to turn this land into a beautiful landscape park. It attracts thousands of tourists who come here to admire the beautiful countryside. Photos by: Igor Golovach.

visit the park

Tags: Kiev oblast

If you wake up early, while traveling on the Vorskla River around Okhtyrka in Sumy region, you can see this surprisingly colorful scenery. Photo by: Sergey Stepanenko.

quiet summer morning

Tags: landscapes · Okhtyrka city · Sumy oblast

Nevytsky Castle is located near the village of Kamyanytsya in Zakarpattia region, 12 km north-east of Uzhhorod. The castle was built in the 13th century on a hill above the Uzh River valley in place of an earlier wooden fortress.

In 1241, it was destroyed by the Mongol-Tatar’s hordes, but, in the second half of the 13th century, it was restored.

explore the ruins

Tags: abandoned · fortress · Zakarpattia oblast

Synevir is the most famous and largest lake in the Ukrainian Carpathians, located in the upper reaches of the Tereblya River, in Mizhgirya district of Zakarpattia region. The area of its water surface is about 4-5 hectares. The lake is rich with trout, but fishing is prohibited.

It is located at an altitude of 989 meters above sea level, the average depth – 10-12 m, the maximum depth – 24 meters. In 1989, the areas surrounding the lake became the National Park Synevyr. Lake Synevyr on Google Maps. Photos by: anderver.

beautiful lake

Tags: landscapes · Zakarpattia oblast