Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe, after Russia. The country is rather flat and includes the autonomous region of Crimea in the south.

Most of the Crimean Tatars were forcibly moved to Central Asia in 1944 to suppress their nationalist intentions.

The official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian; one of the three East Slavic languages, closely related to Russian and Belorussian.

Tatar Mongols invaded the area in the 13th century but the western Ukrainian principality of Galicia, founded in the 12th century, suffered less from the Mongol invasion.

Annexed by Poland in the 14th century, although the Ukrainian Cossacks allied themselves with Russia.

The partitions of Poland saw much of the land handed over to Russia in 1667, while Galicia became a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1772 to 1919.

The Cave monastery, Perchersky, was founded in the early 11th century and is one of the most sacred buildings of the Russian Orthodox church.

The ruins of the Golden Gate also date from the same period and was once the main entrance to the city.

Kiev was the centre of the Rus principality in the 11th and 12th centuries AD, and it is still known as the Mother of Russian Cities.

From London travel to Ukraine by train…

It’s easy to travel by train from London to Ukraine. It’s also safe, comfortable, affordable and an adventure. Eurostar and German Railways link London with Berlin, then there are daily sleeper trains from Berlin and Warsaw to Kiev. There’s even direct sleeping-cars several times each week from Berlin to Odessa and Simferopol in the Crimea.

Some say the answer lies in the place’s celebrated cosmopolitan mix of nationalities, which has historically seen large Jewish, Greek, Russian, Moldovan and Ukrainian populations mixing freely with any number of sailors and visitors from around the world. Fashions and foreign goods have always been more plentiful in Odessa than elsewhere in the Slavic world, and this has helped foster something of an “Odessite” identity among locals. The very real communal spirit was generated by the fact that almost ninety percent of the adult population have historically been employed in some shape or form at the port, which spreads its tentacles out through Odessa and links Odessites in some way. They even have created their very own distinctive local accent and dialect, something that very few cities in the former Soviet Union could claim!

In the nineteenth century while the rest of the Russian Empire trundled on under a backward and oppressive administration, Odessa always played the role of colorful “window to the world”, and the city has maintained an air of freedom about it to this day. Even the town’s first governor was a Frenchman, and until the revolution Odessa attracted its fair share of European aristocrats as well as a healthy mix of playboys and international scoundrels…

Odessa also went through the same Soviet experience as everyone else, but it seems to have come out far less “damaged” than the rest of Ukraine. No other city in Ukraine can boast of anything like the pulling power of Odessa, the Black Sea port city that dominates the country’s embryonic international tourist trade. With a reputation for big city adventure, sunshine, laughter and sophistication, it’s no wonder that when it comes to summer city breaks you can’t beat Odessa. Luxurious hotels, cozy private apartments, first rate restaurants and clubs, and, certainly, magnificent sunny beaches await you in Odessa!