border into Ukraine travelling in a southerly direction to Lviv (Lvov), where we stay overnight on the train. (B L D) Thursday 26th May Lviv to Kolomyia Lviv is a city in western Ukraine and regarded as one of the country’s main cultural centres. Its castle has a commanding view of the historic city centre. In the morning we enjoy a vintage tram tour of the city. The metre gauge system uses grooved rail and currently operates over nine lines with Czech-built KT4, and a few older T4, type trams. Following lunch there will be an afternoon guided city tour. The market square, with its intriguing buildings, fountains and sculptures, is in the historical centre of the city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are cobbled side streets, cathedrals, churches, palaces, and a variety of buildings representing several architectural styles, from Renaissance to Modernism. Our train will be diesel hauled when it leaves Lviv mid evening for the journey to Kolomyia. This city is an industrial centre located on the Prut River and a notable railway hub. We stay here overnight on the train. (B L D) Friday 27th May Steam through the Mountains to Rachov Today is one of the highlights of the tour as we travel into the Carpathian Mountains over a spectacular steeply graded line through scenery of unsurpassed beauty. Our train leaves Kolomyia in the morning, hauled by two Er class 0-10-0 steam locomotives, travelling westwards along the valley of the Prut River to Delatyn. Here the route turns southwards into the mountains. We cross an impressive 30 metres (100 feet) high viaduct at Yaremche, a spa town surrounded by picturesque wooded mountain tops and nicknamed ‘Pearl of the Carpathians’. We continue winding our way through impressive mountain terrain, along deep valleys, over viaducts and bridges, and through tunnels, to Rachov (Rakhiv). We depart Rachov in the evening, diesel hauled towards the Black Sea and Odessa. We stay overnight on the train. (B L D)
Saturday 28th May Arrive Odessa We arrive in Migayeva late in the afternoon and from here our train is hauled by an Er class steam locomotive to Odessa. Odessa is a major seaport located on the north-west shore of the Black Sea. It is also an important transport hub for freight, integrating ports with the railway, and for international passenger trains connecting with Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, and elsewhere. On arrival in Odessa we transfer to the Black Sea Hotel for dinner and overnight accommodation. (B L D) Sunday 29th May Day in Odessa Odessa is situated on terraced hills overlooking a small harbour and today we have a sightseeing tour and a tram tour of the city. In the 19th Century it was the fourth largest city of Imperial Russia but its historical architecture has a style more Mediterranean than Russian. It is an industrial city with a naval base and home to a fishing fleet. Odessa is a popular tourist destination and also known for its huge outdoor market, the Seventh-Kilometre Market, the largest of its kind in Europe. Lunch will be in the famous steak house in Odessa. We depart in the early evening, hauled by electric traction to Zhitomir where we stay overnight on the train. (B L D) Monday 30th May Homeward Bound Our final trip by train is from Zhitomir to Kiev hauled by an L class 2-10-0 steam locomotive. On arrival at Kiev we transfer to Boryspil Airport for our British Airways flight to London. We arrive in London at around 17.45. (B)
Tour Summary Price per person Single supplement
£3175 £295
Price includes: • Return flights from London to Kiev • 2 nights hotel accommodation with breakfast • 7 nights accommodation aboard our train in new sleeping cars with 2 vacuum toilets per coach, with wash basin • Shower car • 7 breakfasts on the train • 8 lunches and 9 dinners • Saloon car available at a supplement • The services of a tour manager Meals included each day are shown as: B = Breakfast - L = Lunch - D= Dinner May 2011 M
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European Tours - Secrets of Belarus - Highlights of Ukrainian Steam
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