Dubno Castle

Dubno sits just off the M06 to Lviv, roughly four and a half hours west of Kyiv, and it is a place you stop at rather than plan a weekend around. The city goes back to the 1100s and the old town is pleasant enough for a wander, but the reason to pull off the road is the castle on the bluff above the river.

Dubno Castle

Founded in 1492 by Prince Konstantin Ostrogski, the castle looks out over the Ikva, which runs 155km through this part of Rivne oblast. Inside the walls you get the palace with several rooms on the history of the town and of Ukraine, an exhibition of torture instruments, a small cafe and a 3D cinema. The underground passages are the part that will keep children moving, and there are enough towers, cannons and courtyard corners to fill a camera.

Entrance including every exhibition was 65 UAH for an adult when we visited, less for children and concessions, and guided tours can be booked at the gate. Take one if you can. Almost all the labelling is in Ukrainian, so without a guide you will be looking at objects rather than reading about them, and the torture exhibition in particular loses most of its point that way.

Antique House Restaurant

Antique House is right beside the castle entrance, and walking in you are not immediately certain it is a restaurant at all. The tables are set like a banquet and the whole room looks staged. Someone turned the lights on for us, put music on, and produced two very heavy menus in Ukrainian and, unexpectedly, English. Salads, soups, meat dishes and puddings, and there are rooms upstairs if you decide to stay the night.

If you are carrying on west, Olesko Castle is about an hour and a half further along the same road and the two make a much better day together than either does alone. Heading back towards the capital, Zhytomyr is the sensible place to break the drive.