References

I have been using the services of “UkraineTour” since 2008, and so far, I have been very pleased with them. They are one of the oldest and most reliable travel agencies in Ukraine. The service is excellent and fast. Almost every year I travel from the US to one of Ukraine’s regional cities. It is a long trip by air and train, and “UkraineTour” always provides a convenient itinerary for me. The staff is trustworthy, polite, and enjoyable to work with. “UkraineTour” is the agency to go to for both foreign and locate clients and I highly recommend it.

We trawled the net and TripAdvisor and came up with UkraineTour. Dmytro patiently “shoe-horned” one of his standard offerings into the time available and already booked flights, booked internal travel, guides to meet us at each stop, accommodation, etc, and it was cheaper than the big tour company. We clearly knew what was included and what we had to pay for (not like all the “optional extras” add-ons in the big tour companies).
We had excellent guides throughout, each with their own special expertise – Helen in Kiev knew the names of all the saints in the monasteries and churches, Yuriy helped us understand Odessa, and Alex has deep military and naval knowledge of the Crimea (being an ex-Soviet submariner) .
They tailored Dmytro’s itinerary to suit the vagaries of the weather, and our own preferences.
There are very few minor learnings that apply to any bookings – go with his recommendations on accommodation (after checking on TripAdvisor) – Dmytro knows his country extremely well (we loved Best Western in Sevastopol, although Bristol – Yalta could be upgraded); check all the paperwork to make sure everything is correct (e.g. visa numbers); and if you are an Australian citizen in particular, allow at least 8 weeks to get a Ukrainian visa.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Ukraine – it’s not fully “tourist-used” as much of the rest of Europe, but that’s part of its attraction – we also got an appreciation of the recent social history and alignment issues between EU and Russian spheres (on the other hand, our son and his wife thought that Odessa was far more happening than Ibiza and other Mediterranean hot spots – Ukraine is how you find it, provided you know where to look, and I’m sure Dmytro’s guides can help you do that).
We strongly recommend Dmytro and UkraineTour guides, and would have no hesitation in using them again.

We travelled to Ukraine for the very first time from May 6 to 16, 2013. We found Ukraine Tour by searching online. Dmytro was wonderful in helping us to organize our tour. Our trip covered many cities in a short amount of time: Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsh, Yaremche, Chernivtsi, Kolomyia, Khotyn, Kamyanets-Podilsky, and Kiev! We traveled on planes, trains and automobiles and had an incredible time visiting this stunning country. Before leaving, Dmytro was very patient answering all of our questions and in helping us to plan ahead of time. As this is an online company, we felt nervous wiring cash deposits to someone we’d met over the internet and we appreciated having confirmation once monies were received. With minimal trip confirmation ahead of leaving, our multi-city itinerary required that we put blind faith in guides meeting us in different cities at various times – sometimes very early in the morning. I’m happy to report that all but one meeting was successful. In that one instance, we were able to reach a UkraineTour liaison and quickly resolve the miscommunication. The tour guides and drivers that we met in Ukraine were extremely knowledgeable, friendly and eager to share stories of their beautiful country. Thank you, Dmytro, and everyone at Ukraine Tour for all of your help in coordinating our trip of a lifetime. You planned a really great itinerary and we are grateful.

It has been three weeks since our return from our trip to Ukraine – plenty of time to reflect on our travel experience and to assess it. WOW!! What a wonderful, informative, and memorable trip. “Hats Off” to UkraineTour for making it all comfortable, affordable and worry-free!
Our travel included six cities (Kiev, Sevastopol, Yalta, Odessa, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk). In each city, as planned, someone greeted us at the airport/train station with a sign. We were driven to our apartments, picked up for each day’s tour, and returned to the apartment or to the airport/station to catch the transport to the next city. Everything happened “on time”, as planned. Like, I said, it was worry-free.
Without exception, our private guides were very friendly, thoughtful, and flexible, accommodating to our needs and suggestions, and offering ideas for our free evening time. They possessed excellent English, and were extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their city’s culture and history. The city tours were excellent.
We stayed in recently renovated apartments in Kiev, Sevastopol, Yalta and Odessa. The accommodations varied, yet all were clean, well-supplied with towels, extra bedding, and dishes, etc. Some had a laundry machine (a valuable amenity after 9-10 days of travel), and most of the beds were nice and firm. In retrospect, staying in the apartments was a good opportunity for us to experience apartment living, as our relatives in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk hosted us to dinners in their one-room apartment homes.
In Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk we stayed at hotels (apartments were not available due to the May/Easter holidays). I just cannot resist “putting in a plug” for the Hotel Pid Templem in Ivano-Frankivsk. It is located downtown at the edge of the pedestrian malls, has rooms with tasteful décor, a small, cozy restaurant/patiobar (breakfast is included) for less cost than the larger hotels. What a “gem”! We highly recommend it.
Looking back, our trip was indeed memorable. A huge “Thank You” to our English-speaking UkraineTour guides (Elena in Kiev, Alex in Sevastopol, Serge in Yalta, and Elena in Odessa). These cities have an incredible cultural, political and military history and they provided us with a depth of understanding that totally enriched our travel experience.
Our biggest “THANK YOU”, however, must go to Dmytro, North American contact for UkraineTour. It was his willingness to modify the itinerary (Kiev-Odessa-Crimea Tour became Kiev-Crimea-Odessa); his willingness to add to the itinerary (my brother and wife deciding to join us); his readiness to adjust the itinerary when UkraineAir cancelled our flights, and his capability to book the extra hotels and trains so we could visit our relatives which won us over to Ukraine Tour. Looking back, there were 59 email contacts with Dmytro to “iron out” and finalize all the adjustments to our itinerary. Throughout this time, Dmytro’s consistent attention to detail, his instant feedback and his willingness to accommodate our interests won our trust in him and Ukraine tour. We began to trust that it would all work out and indeed, it worked out flawlessly. We very much appreciated his time and great effort to make our trip successful.
If the opportunity ever arises in the future, we will not hesitate to use UkraineTour again. For anyone seeking a totally trustworthy and professional tour company for Eastern European trips, we highly recommend UkraineTour.

Well . . . what can I say more . . . BUT “Thank you“ to you and your team.
Starting from Kiev , really enjoyed my stay in the capital and am honoured to have been there for “Victory Day “ . I experienced the “ underground . . . magnificent, the restaurants and of course just to get the adrenaline going . . . . the “ bungee swing off the bridge and the bungee slide “ , they say the longest in Europe !!! The boat excursion on the river and still plenty more. It was great to say the least . We received our train tickets from your Kiev driver Constantine. . . thank you .
The trip to Rvine . . . good . . . . met your driver and used him for the two days there and he was our guide to the “ Tunnel of love “ in Klevan , well what more do you want to experience there in such a small place . . It was absolutely beautiful . Invited him for supper the last night at the hotel and he collected us the next morning took us to the station for our way to Lviv . Excellent train trip .
Well . . . Lviv . . . . what a part of history that is . Met up with a Lviv guy and did four great excursions with him and his team . . . we did a 3 hour round the city by bus to cathedrals , the cemetery and museums , the next day it was 2 hours on foot around the centre of the city and saw so much , I can’t believe it . The 3rd day we did some excursion on the out skirts of the city and to the countryside for 7 hours to the castles and the last day we went on one excursion to the mountains . . . well what beautiful countryside that is .
Train trip to Odessa . . . excellent !!! We were met at the station in Odessa by a driver , not in the arrivals building but at the door of the train carriage where we disembarked . . . what more can I say but a “ great service , with a smile “ . Met Odessa manager Olga, left our luggage with her and we went into the city to have some breakfast and a walk around , met Olga again at the apartment with our luggage . . . again “ great service with a smile “ .
Well Odessa is a “ star place “ , not so much the city itself but the surroundings . . . the beaches I think are some of the best I been to , the Black Sea , I mean so calm and absolutely beautiful to swim in . I really and truly enjoyed that.
We went on an excursion to Shabo Winery and again out of this world , so “ spick and span “ and beautiful and then to cap it all the “ wine tasting “ was good , there wasn’t time to taste and spit the wine out , it was taste and swallow . It was from wine , sherry , brandy and all , really great . There will always be memories of that in the back of my mind . Train tickets and bus ticket delivered to the apartment by Julia . . . fantastic .
Train trip to Donetsk was relaxing and had some time to catch up on sleep as per usual because it looks like to me the people in Ukraine , no matter where you go don’t know what sleep is , it’s party , party and more party . . . Don’t get me wrong , it’s also just down my ally. Arrived in Donetsk at Eva Hotel . . . great reception and room was great . . . thank you.
I will keep in contact with you. Thank you once again.

This was my third trip to Ukraine using UkraineTour. The driver was on time for all my needs and got me to the airport and train station with plenty of time to spare. When I arrived back in Kiev he was waiting outside my train car; I couldn’t ask for anything more. Thank you for having my train tickets ready when I arrived. It’s nice to have one agency that can handle all accommodations. My apartment in Kiev was clean and centrally located. I have always been treated well by the staff at UkraineTour. I would recommend their services to anyone planning on traveling to Ukraine.