The city of Lviv, Ukraine, is the largest to be found in the western part of the country and it is the largest cultural center in Ukraine. It has a populate of around 800,000 people and if you visit Lviv from other Ukraine cities you will notice that it has a distinct European flavor to the city as well as a distinct culture and architecture base. This is due to the fact that over the last 120 years, Lviv has been part of five or more different countries, each exerting itself on the city as it saw fit. Many of the churches in the city, for example, are reminiscent of the ones you find in nearby Krakow, Poland.
The city itself is easy to get to with a small international airport that has connections to Warsaw, Toronto, Manchester, Frankfort, Moscow, and other cities in Russia. You can also get to the city via railway and bus, which is especially handy if you want to enter the city from one of the other surrounding countries.
Do not be surprised, however, to see some rundown areas of Lviv that are left over from the days of the Soviet and pre-Soviet regime peaking into the center of the city. Lviv’s historic center and tourism areas are the heart of the city itself, but the outlying areas of Lviv still retain that depressed feel, which, is historic in its own way. The city is difficult to do business in or to find a job if you are a resident as this is one aspect that has it behind its sister cities in the country. However, the people in Lviv are extremely open and friendly in Lviv and there are plenty of churches, wooded hills, cafes, and more all within walking distance of any portion of Lviv that make this city well worth the effort to see.
You can find out even more great information about Urkraine at the Travel West Ukraine Blog.
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