Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Carpathians Highlights
Set up base camp in
Kolomyya
(
Click here
) to visit its museums and arrange
hikes into the hills.
Soak up the easy-going atmosphere of cosmopolitan
Uzhhorod
(
Click here
)
, a
border town with attitude on the frontier with Slovakia.
Wander the pastel-coloured heart of
Ivano-Frankivsk
(
Click here
), a pleasant
gateway to the mountains.
Make an easy-going ascent of Ukraine's highest peak,
Mt Hoverla
(
Click here
)
.
Bargain hard for Hutsul souvenirs at markets in
Kosiv
(
Click here
)
and
Yaremche
(
Click here
)
.
Snap on skis for a bit of downhill fun at ritzy
Bukovel Ski Resort
(
Click here
).
Join Bukovyna's student population at trippy
Chernivtsi University
(
Click here
)
,
one of Eastern Europe's most mind-boggling places of learning.
History
Formed some 50 million years ago, during the same geological upheavals that produced
the Alps, the crescent-shaped Carpathians were the cradle of Hutsul civilisation, and
they're still home to this hardy mountain tribe.
A natural barrier between the Slavic countries and Romanised Dacia (Romania), the
Carpathians have always provided a refuge from conquest and authority. When the Mon-
gols sacked Kyiv in 1240, many of the city's citizens fled here, and when Poland and
Lithuania invaded in the 14th century it's questionable how much control they exercised
