Day trip from Lviv

[Edgeley]

I'm looking at taking a short break in Lviv, Ukraine and would like to take a train trip out of town to see a bit of the countryside (probable date for this: Monday 17th September). I would be grateful if anyone can suggest a destination about 1 - 1.5 hours distant from Lviv which has a reasonably regular service. Any other information (eg whether reservations/pre-booking is required) will be welcome.

 

[oldman]

This site gives some excursion possibilities. One close to Lviv is Stare Selo Castle. Others with rail links are Zolochiv (the railway calls it zlochiv) and Sambir which is a bit further. Both have suburban trains, and long-distance which can be booked online. For suburban times see http://railway.lviv.ua/schedule/ in Ukrainian, for mainline see https://booking.uz.gov.ua/en/. Frequencies are not great on any routes.

I visited Zhovkva which is not far from Lviv but there is only one train there and you would have to come back by marshrutka (minibus).

 

[DEE-DE]

Regarding pre-booking, it seems to be impossible in Ukraine to buy local tickets in advance. I only tried with Odessa Railway but have heard the same about Lviv Railway.

 

[Edgeley]

Thanks for your information oldman and DEE-DE; some useful pointers there. Given the low frequency of the rail services I'm now inclining towards a coach tour as being a more practical option.

 

[route101]

I'm looking at taking a short break in Lviv, Ukraine and would like to take a train trip out of town to see a bit of the countryside (probable date for this: Monday 17th September). I would be grateful if anyone can suggest a destination about 1 - 1.5 hours distant from Lviv which has a reasonably regular service. Any other information (eg whether reservations/pre-booking is required) will be welcome.

Bit off topic but how are you getting to Lviv?

 

[Edgeley]

Bit off topic but how are you getting to Lviv?

Flying from Luton.

 

[route101]

Flying from Luton.

I see , ii see Ryanair are starting flights from STN later this year. I wonder if many people are starting to go to Lviv on city breaks.

 

[jimm]

City breaks may be a factor but quite a lot of families of Ukrainian and Polish descent in the UK have roots in the region around Lviv, which was part of Poland between the two world wars.

A travel agency in Oldham started running charter flights from the UK to Ivano-Frankivsk (the runway at Lviv was not long enough to allow a 737 or A320 to land and take off back then) soon after the Soviet Union collapsed, due to demand from people who wanted to visit relatives they had not seen since the 1940s. While that generation is no longer around, I'd expect there is still some degree of traffic for family visits to be had. Wizzair has been flying to Lviv from Stansted or Luton for a number of years now.

 

[Edgeley]

Wizzair has been flying to Lviv from Stansted or Luton for a number of years now.

Interesting comments, jimm though not quite right on this bit. Wizzair operated a Luton-Lviv service for a short while around 2009 but has only re-started the route this year. Lviv Airport and some of the other tourist infrastructure got a revamp prior to Lviv being a host city for the European football championships in 2012.

 

[route101]

City breaks may be a factor but quite a lot of families of Ukrainian and Polish descent in the UK have roots in the region around Lviv, which was part of Poland between the two world wars.

A travel agency in Oldham started running charter flights from the UK to Ivano-Frankivsk (the runway at Lviv was not long enough to allow a 737 or A320 to land and take off back then) soon after the Soviet Union collapsed, due to demand from people who wanted to visit relatives they had not seen since the 1940s. While that generation is no longer around, I'd expect there is still some degree of traffic for family visits to be had. Wizzair has been flying to Lviv from Stansted or Luton for a number of years now.

Interesting , not come across many Ukrainians in the UK , visa needed for them .

 

[Elwyn]

I spent a few days in Lviv in about 2008. It’s quite interesting. The older architecture is Habsburg (it was called Lemburg in the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire ie up to 1918). It was renamed Lvov and was part of Poland till the end of WW2 when Polands borders we re-drawn. Most Poles were then expelled westward to Poland by the Russians, and it became Lviv. So it’s had a turbulent history. It wasn't very expensive in 2008. Don't know if that is still the case.

 

[oldman]

It was renamed Lvov and was part of Poland till the end of WW2 when Polands borders we re-drawn. Most Poles were then expelled westward to Poland by the Russians, and it became Lviv.

Not quite. As part of Poland it was officially Lwów (pronounced lvooff), after Stalin annexed it in 1939 and again in 1944 the Russian name Lvov (lvoff) was widely used, now it's Ukrainian Lviv (lveeff). What a difference a vowel makes; each change cost a lot of lives.

 

[Class45]

Interesting , not come across many Ukrainians in the UK , visa needed for them .

I think Jimm is referring to those of us who's parents or grandparents settled in the UK after WWII. My father was Polish and came form Lwow. Now I know about the Wizzair flights I think a visit might be on the cards.

 

[jimm]

Interesting comments, jimm though not quite right on this bit. Wizzair operated a Luton-Lviv service for a short while around 2009 but has only re-started the route this year. Lviv Airport and some of the other tourist infrastructure got a revamp prior to Lviv being a host city for the European football championships in 2012.

Fair enough. I knew there was a gap in the Wizzair service at some point, hadn't realised it was quite so long. Whether there is enough demand to sustain both their services and Ryanair remains to be seen.

Interesting , not come across many Ukrainians in the UK , visa needed for them .

Large numbers of Poles and Ukrainians ended up far from home during the Second World War, whether in the Polish military or taken all over Europe by the Germans as forced labourers, etc. Many settled in places like the UK, France, Canada and the US, rather than go back to Communist-run countries.

Mistrust of the Soviet regime meant few of them were willing to risk travelling back to their former homeland until that system was gone. My father was a solicitor and on a number of occasions had to organise transfers of legacies to Ukraine after people had died in the UK and left money to relatives still living there.

When Ukraine became independent in 1991, the travel agency - I believe the owner's parents were Ukrainian and had come to the UK as refugees themselves - got a lot of enquiries about visiting the region from people who had settled in the UK and saw an opportunity. They ran weekly charters during the summer months to Ivano-Frankivksk (the long runway there was a legacy of dual use as an air force base) for a number of years at a time when the only scheduled direct flights between the UK and Ukraine were to Kiev.

 

[Dougal2345]

Just arrived in Lviv by train a few hours ago (I'm not the original poster, this is just a coincidence). The trams were all at a standstill, which messed up my plan to get to my hotel - a power failure I assume. Saw one being towed by a huge lorry. Most of the trams are very old, but I saw a modern one, pantograph down, creeping along presumably on battery power. Seemed to have been been fixed just after I got to my hotel on foot, exhausted...

Anyway, tomorrow I'll be exploring on foot, but the day after I may try a train based day trip from the options already mentioned, and if so will report how it goes.

 

[reb0118]

Most Poles were then expelled westward to Poland by the Russians, and it became Lviv. So it’s had a turbulent history. It wasn't very expensive in 2008. Don't know if that is still the case.

Many of the said Poles ended up in Breslau (now Wroclaw) the capital of Silesia.

 

[route101]

Just arrived in Lviv by train a few hours ago (I'm not the original poster, this is just a coincidence). The trams were all at a standstill, which messed up my plan to get to my hotel - a power failure I assume. Saw one being towed by a huge lorry. Most of the trams are very old, but I saw a modern one, pantograph down, creeping along presumably on battery power. Seemed to have been been fixed just after I got to my hotel on foot, exhausted...

Anyway, tomorrow I'll be exploring on foot, but the day after I may try a train based day trip from the options already mentioned, and if so will report how it goes.

How is Lviv? Many tourists ?

 

[Dougal2345]

How is Lviv? Many tourists ?

Yes it had a nice touristy bustle about it in the old town area, cafes and such. Nothing of the political problems has been apparent to my shallow gaze - same with Kiev, which I've just left today, and which actually seems a lot nicer and happier than, say, Bucharest or Minsk...

I didn't do a rail day trip from Lviv in the end, there was plenty to see in the city for the two days I was there. Not a great deal of railway interest, but at the "suburban station" - about 5 minutes walk from the main one - there's an old tank loco with a coach and a few trucks seemingly permanently parked there. Might be something to do with the Railway History Museum, which I didn't get to in the end. I believe there's also a narrow gauge "children's railway" in Stryiskiy Park, but I didn't get there either...

On the train to Odessa now, nice modern stock but a lot of jerking and banging (no silly comments please)... Free WiFi though

 

[Edgeley]

Enjoy the rest of your trip, Dougal. A number of former Eastern bloc places have 'children's railways' (Budapest is one, though I didn't have time to travel on it when I was there); I think they were intended, in communist times, to train prospective teenage employees for the rail industry.

 

[Dougal2345]

Enjoy the rest of your trip, Dougal.

How did your trip to Lviv go, by the way? Did you try a day trip from there in the end?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I haven't booked yet, but you can reach Lviv from Krakow which has good air links from the UK (more than just Ryanair).
There are a couple of daytime TLK trains from Krakow to Przemysl, connecting with cross-border UŽ trains to Lviv (and on to Kyiv).
Times are on the DB planner. Seat61 has some details and photos. All bookable online I think.
BA also has some astonishingly cheap fares from Kyiv to Heathrow (43 USD!).

 

[Edgeley]

How did your trip to Lviv go, by the way? Did you try a day trip from there in the end?

I had a change of plan and went for an alternative holiday destination but I hope to use the information I have collected about Lviv on a future occasion.