 Ancient World TourAncient World Tour
Kiev – Odessa – Sevastopol – Yalta – Feodosia– Kerch - Kiev
11 Days/10 Nights
 DAY 1 – KIEV
Arrival followed by a short-time loop tour across Kiev, which is not only the capital of Ukraine but also the mother city for all Eastern Slavic peoples. Kievan Rus’ the state from which Ukraine, Russia and Belarus are all descended was established here between 9th and 11th centuries. Check-in and dinner at the hotel.
DAY 2 – KIEV
Breakfast at the hotel. This morning first you will visit the golden-domed Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Monastery. The Caves Monastery was the first one and for a long time the most famous monastery of Kievan Rus’. Spread across wooded slopes above the Dnieper River, it is a unique array of golden-domed churches, underground labyrinths lined with mummified monks, and elegant monastic buildings turned into museums, one of which has a hoard of Scythian gold to rival that of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. After lunch at a local restaurant a tour to St. Sophia Cathedral & Monastery complex with its 11th century magnificent frescoes & murals. It is the city’s oldest functioning church built in 1037 in honour of Prince Yaroslav’s victory over a rival tribe Pechenegs. Proceed to St. Andrew’s church located at the northern end of the street and at the top of charming Andriyivsky uzvis.
Dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY 3 – KIEV-ODESSA
Breakfast at the hotel followed by departure for morning Kiev–Odessa flight. This morning panorama city tour includes Prymorsky boulevard with its beautiful early 19th century buildings, shady promenade, the park tumbling towards the sea and sweep of the Potemkin Steps. The 193 steps, built between 1837 & 1841, descend from a statue of the Duc de Richelieu in a Roman Toga about halfway along the boulevard. Continue to Pushkin statue, a British Tiger’s Gun, captured during the Crimean campaign & the Palace of Vorontsov – built in 1826 in a classical style with surprising Arabic decorations of the interior. After lunch at a local restaurant you will visit Archaeology museum established in 1875. The main exhibit is the Gold Room, which has jewelry & coins of early Black Sea civilizations, including the 1st Slavic coins of St. Volodymyr.
Check-in and dinner at the hotel.
DAY 4 – ODESSA – OLVIA – ODESSA
Breakfast at the hotel followed by full day trip to ancient town Olvia located in village Porutino some 120 km from Odessa. Packed lunch boxes are provided by the hotel. Today Olvia is one of the most exciting sites for archeologists to dig. First established in the sixth century B.C., Olvia became one of the most distant outposts of the Greek empire. It was conquered by Goths and Romans during its nearly 1,000 year history, but it remained a symbol of Greek culture in the Black Sea region.
Return to Odessa followed by dinner at the restaurant.
DAY 5 – ODESSA – BELGOROD-DNISTROVSKY – ODESSA
Breakfast at the hotel. Trip to Tyras-Belgorod Fortress. For centuries the fortress watched over the calm waters of the Dniester Estuary. Founded in the sixth century B.C. as the Greek city of Tyras, the site was mentioned by Strabo, Ptolemy, and Pliny. Built in the Middle Ages, the fortress functioned as a military post for Byzantine, Moldavian, Turkish, and Russian forces until the early nineteenth century. With three gates, 20 towers, a defensive wall, and a moat, Tyras-Belgorod is the only remaining medieval fortress in Southwestern Ukraine.
In the course of the day - lunch at a local restaurant.
Dinner at the hotel or a local restaurant.
DAY 6 – ODESSA – SEVASTOPOL
Breakfast at the hotel followed by full day coach transfer to Sevastopol (530 km), which used to be a closed city during Soviet times. Located by inlet of the Black Sea, currently Sevastopol is a naval base and a seaport with 2000 historical monuments and sites. En route lunch at a local restaurant in Kherson (220 km from Odessa).
Check-in and dinner at the hotel.
DAY 7 – SEVASTOPOL
Breakfast at the hotel. Lying near the entrance to the port of Sevastopol are ruins of Chersonesus, a Greek colony founded in 422 BC. Later it was under Roman, Byzantine & Genoese control and it was from here, considered to be the birthplace of the Russian Orthodox Church, that the Christian faith began to spread all over Ukraine.
 Lunch at a local restaurant.
For those particularly interested in the Crimean campaign the highlight of this tour is likely to be the time spent at the Panorama Museum. An evocative 360-degree painting merges into a relief model vividly capturing the siege by the British, French and Turks and defense of Sevastopol during 1854-55.Among other main sights we will also visit The Valley of Death, the site of Charge of the Light Brigade. One can imagine himself Lord Raglan and view the whole north valley and all the events of October 15, 1854. On the way back to Sevastopol we will make a short stop at a very picturesque Balaklava Harbor, the place where the British base was located. 
Dinner at the hotel or a local restaurant.
DAY 8 – SEVASTOPOL – YALTA
Breakfast at the hotel followed by trip to Yalta, the city that lies between gently curving shore of Yalta Bay and Crimean mountains, reminiscent in different ways of Cornwall, Costa del Sol, Windermere & French Riviera. Upon arrival enjoy sightseeing tour of this charming town including visit to Livadia Palace built in 1911 as a summer residence for Nicholas II in Italian Renaissance style with pretty Florentine & Arabic courtyards. In February 1945 Stalin, Roosevelt & Churchill held their Yalta Conference here. Transfer to a fairy-tale Swallow’s Nest castle for lunch.
Afternoon visit to Alupka the most exotic palace-park complex on the whole coast. Designed and built between 1828 and 1846 by English architects for the English-educated Count Vorontsov the palace is a bizarre combination of Scottish castle on its landward side and Arabic fantasy facing the sea.
Check-in and dinner at the hotel.
DAY 9 – YALTA – SUDAK – FEODOSIA
Breakfast at the hotel. Our destination today is a small town Sudak, at the base of a shallow bay, situated about 125 km north-east of Yalta along the twisted & rocky coastline. It was once one of the main Genoese trading centers on the Great Silk Road. The main sight of the town is 14-15th century Genoese fortress, which we’ll see in the morning. The fortress zigzags up & around the hillside at the western edge of the beach, its silhouette is a striking combination of towers & crenulated walls. Unfortunately of 18 original towers, only 10 have survived, most with their original Italian names. Packed lunch boxes provided by the hotel. Continue to Feodosia. The old name of the city is Kafa and it was well known as the biggest slave market of the Crimea between XII-XVII centuries. Now it is a popular recreation place with excellent sand beaches, many cafes & restaurants. Founded as far back as 6  B.C., the city belonged to the Golden Horde before the Genoese occupied it, ruling from the 13th to 15th centuries and turned it into a rich trading port. Today Feodosia is a pleasant conglomeration of elegant old mansions, sand beaches, good museums and a number of Genoese stone walls and Armenian churches. The highlight of this afternoon tour will be the visit to local History museum.
Check-in and dinner at the hotel
DAY 10 – FEODOSIA – KERCH – FEODOSIA
Breakfast at the hotel followed by full day visit to Kerch (100 km), situated at the eastern tip of the peninsula. The city was founded as Panticapaeum (6th cent. B.C.) by Greek colonists from Miletus and was a forerunner of all Milesian cities in the area. Lunch at a local restaurant. Among main sight are ruins of the ancient acropolis on top of steep hill of Mithradates. Archaeological remains, discovered in catacombs and burial mounds near the city, are exhibited in the archaeological museum (founded in 1826), which is famous for its Greco-Scythian antiquities. The Church of St. John the Baptist is dated from the 8th century. Transfer back to Feodosia.
Dinner at the hotel.
DAY 11 – FEODOSIA – SIMFEROPOL – KIEV
Breakfast at the hotel followed by check-out and departure transfer for Simferopol-Kiev flight. |
