Long touted as the Paris of Ukraine and the ‘most Ukrainian city in Ukraine’, Lviv has long had all the makings of a popular city-break destination. Acontinnd it looks like Lviv might be about to take up the well-deserved title of the next best European city break.
Lviv is somewhere I’d been dying to get to for years. After finally getting there in April 2018, this is what I thought of the city. Spoiler alert: it was worth the wait.
Lviv: worth the wait
Lviv is finally opening up to tourists
Despite having everything it needs to be a premier tourist destination, the so-called Lion City has had a lot of false starts.
When I first moved to Germany, WizzAir Ukraine connected the airport with a handful of cities across Europe (including my local WizzAir hub, Dortmund), but these were dissolved along with the company in 2015. Then in 2017, Ryanair announced it was entering the Ukrainian market with flights from Lviv and Kyiv Boryspil, but these routes were cancelled in July 2017 when the airline could not come to an agreement with Boryspil Airport.
Thankfully 2018 looks like a much better year for Lviv: WizzAir resumed its presence in the city at the beginning of the year and Ryanair flights are back on the cards beginning in October (including Stansted). While it might sound bureaucratic, these budget connections could mean a big boost for Lviv.
View of Lviv, known as the Paris of Ukraine
I honestly think Lviv has the potential to be the next big city break in Eastern Europe – so best to get there sooner rather than later.
Lviv as a weekend city break
So what is Lviv like to visit? Imagine a cocktail recipe for the quintessential Central European city: cobbled streets, rustic trams, pastel-coloured houses lining a market square, cathedrals around every corner… the list goes on. But the point is, Lviv has all of those – in spades.
I spent a lot of my time in Lviv simply walking around and admiring the architecture and the finding different views of the city. It really is a beautiful place to explore on foot or simply to watch from a coffee shop.
St. George’s Cathedral, one of Lviv’s many churches
Lviv Opera & Ballet House
However, that’s not to say that Lviv doesn’t have anything unique to offer of its own: the city has changed hands many times in its 600-year old history and was once home to sizable populations of Jews, Armenians and Poles (in addition to Ukrainians) each of whom have left its mark on the city. And while these impressions might be hard to spot without the help of a friendly walking tour guide, it feels like the city is trying hard to reconnect with its past. In fact, a new museum focusing on the city’s history during World War II, Territory of Terror, is due to open in October.
Monument to Lviv’s former Jewish community, destroyed in World War II
Lviv is also a bit of a mecca for coffee aficionados and it is something people love to talk to you about. The coffee mine is apparently a great experience, which I passed up in favour of a glass of wine.
But what really stood out for me about Lviv (as cliched as it sounds) was the energy and life in the place. I was in the city from Thursday to Sunday and every evening the market square was full of locals drinking beer, hanging out or listening to spontaneous performances of Ukrainian folk songs. It was on a scale I’ve never experienced in another city before. It felt like a city people really loved to call home.
Why should you visit Lviv?
Rynok Square (Market Square) on an early morning
The number one reason to visit Lviv is to get a real taste of Ukraine. I had read before how proud the city was of its Ukrainian (and fiercely non-Russian) heritage, but I didn’t fully appreciate the extent of this until I tried to ask simple questions in Russian and was always answered in fluent Ukrainian. I gave up pretty quickly and switched to English.
Lviv is the centre of Western-oriented Ukrainian thinking, where people staunchly believe the future of the country lies with the EU and not with its Eastern neighbour, Russia. In fact, Moscow only gained influence over this area in World War II; previously the area had been more closely associated with Poland and Austria and even Lithuania.
In fact, the vast majority of the city’s tourists are Ukrainians from across the country, highlighting the city’s fame as not just a beautiful city, but a hub of Ukrainian culture.
Lviv University
Another important reason to go to Lviv is the cost of everything. Lviv is a very, very, very good value destination. In three days and four nights, I spent less than €130 – including hostel accommodation. It was genuinely difficult to spend money there: bus tickets cost as little as 45 cents, while a two-course meal (including steak) with two 500ml glasses of beer only set me back €12.
Plus, if you are looking for great hostel accommodation, I can fully recommend DREAM Hostel for a great location, clean and comfy beds and really modern facilities.
Falling in Lviv
Early evening in Lviv’s Old Town
I have to say I absolutely loved my time in Lviv. It’s hard to pin-point a particular aspect of the city or sight I fell in love with, instead I think it was the overall atmosphere of the place that won me over. It was completely different to Kiev (although I visited in November 2010, so it’s hardly a fair comparison) but still distinctly Ukrainian and perfectly European. Despite having to wait four years to visit, the city did not disappoint.
Essentially Lviv is possibly one of the most perfect Central European city breaks you could enjoy – on a very cheap budget. Just make sure to visit in spring or summer when the sun is shining – you’ll love it as much as I did.
More Central European breaks:
Zagreb: the city of love… and heartbreak
36 hours in Warsaw
