A Winter Tale in A European City : Lviv

Last year, me and my nine friends - I mean we were like an army - tried to plan a vacation in Europe. We didn't have a specific route on our minds, especially when your trip planned to be in February. As people who are in their right mind, we decided to make a trip to Ukraine and why not it is frozen in there in winters, our Turkish lira collapsed against all other major currencies and man, the towns in Ukraine, especially in the western part, looked dreamy.

Without any hesitation, we bought our tickets from Ukrainian Airlines (that was cheap but huge mistakes, we'll turn back it later.). Early in the next day, we found ourself in-plane and headed towards Ukraine.

As expected we didn't land to Lviv airport due to extreme weather, surprising ha, and we landed Kyiv airport and stay in there almost 1 day and get back to our destination. Some of our friends were investigated by police at the airport. I felt that it will go down from the hill so quickly. 

We finally arrived at our Airbnb on the same night with huge disappointment of our legendary first day. But when we saw the Lviv Opera, they all became meaningless. We absolutely stunned by the beauty of the city.

As a serious planner, I have planned each day of our one-week-vacation to explore this beautiful city. The first day we tried to explore the city roughly. If you don't have any idea about Lviv; Lviv is a small city but has lots of monuments, historical buildings and sightseeing. I also heard that it is the cultural capital of Ukraine. I mean it deserves that title absolutely. When we finally finished our initial exploratory trip to the old town we get back to our Airbnb. And we felt a bit fancy and bought tickets for the ballet performance in Lviv Opera. Man, the inside of the building was spectacular as its facade.

From the second day, we explore every inch of the city street by street. I have to admit that I didn't expect that much rich experience. I recommend everyone to visit this amazing city without any hesitation. I will share the must-do list below.

TO-DO nad NOT-TO-DO LIST

1 - Buy a ticket for Lviv Opera

2 - Visit every church you see (Especially Latin Catedral and Chapel of Boim Family)

3 - Eat from Lviv Chocolate Factory as many as possible (the prices are amazingly low and deserts are magnificent)

4 - Eat breakfast at Baczewski Restaurant (it was one of the most satisfying meal. Be sure to be early in there, because you may wait up to 1 hour to get a table)

5 - Climb the town hall to see the panoramic view of the city. (I must warn you if you have claustrophobia, it may be a disaster for you to climb through the stairs)

6 - From Austrian strudel to Italian pizza, you can taste from different cuisines. Be open.

7 - Even though it is not up in my alley, the nightlife scene is quite dynamic. You do you and party hard. 

8 - In most of the museums, there will be adorable elderly ladies who cannot understand English. Be respectful and accept their help.

9 - Eat dinner at Lviv Beer Theatre with live music. You are welcome :)

10 - Stay away from people who tried to sell you thing in Ukranian language. Probably they are drug dealers.

11 -  Taxi drivers are prune to overcharge you. Find a local who can help you as we do.

Hope it will help you!