We spent three days in the largest city in western Ukraine waiting for our friend Peter who did not arrive. The city was named in honor of Leo, the eldest son of Daniel, King of Ruthenia, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia from 1272 to 1349. Lviv was the center of the historical regions of Red Ruthenia and Galicia. The historical heart of the city, with its old buildings and cobblestone streets, survived Soviet and German occupations during World War II largely unscathed. A mysterious and architecturally lovely city, full of restaurants, bean-perfumed coffeehouses, and rattling trams is a continent away from the Soviet brutalism of the east. It’s also a place where the candle of Ukrainian national identity burns brightest and where Russian is definitely a minority language. No other city is more geared up for visitors and no other attracts so many of them. Lviv has the best range of hotels in the country, but COVID-19 killed it all. During the day city still looks busy, at night, it is death pretty early around 11 PM, but some clubs still remain open till 6 AM with just a few patrons inside (Fashion Club – entrance 100 UAH, Cuba Libre 150 UAH; Split Club – entrance 300 UAH, Cuba Libre 150 UAH; Rafinad – entrance 100 UAH; and the last and the only busy and worth visit – Malevich Club – entrance 100 UAH, Cuba Libre 125 UAH). Also, we do recommend refilling the water before arriving in the city, because most of the gasoline stations in Lviv are smaller, we found water only at Ukrnafta – for a “tip” at the beginning, but at the end, they charged us horrible 300 UAH – so it became our most expensive water refilling in our life.
Parking location – Lviv: 49.846575N 24.021185E (330 UAH / day)