Things to Do

Your guide to the best places to visit in Kyiv

Pechersk Lavra Complex

Pechersk Lavra

The Monastery of the Caves, a working monastery and UNESCO site above the Dnipro. The caves underneath still hold the mummified monks who dug them, and reopened to small groups in 2026.
Independence Square

Independence Square

Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the centre of Kyiv and the site of four political rallies since 1990. Free, always open, and impossible to miss.
Prypiat Ferris Wheel

Chornobyl Tour/Prypiat

A day trip into the exclusion zone to see Reactor 4, the Red Forest and the abandoned city of Prypiat. You can only go on an organised tour, and the zone has been shut to them since 2022.
Khreshchatyk Street

Khreshchatyk Street

Kyiv's main street, 1.2km from European Square down to Bessarabska. Closed to traffic at weekends, and one of the 20 most expensive shopping streets in Europe.
The Ukrainian State Museum Of The Great Patriotic War

National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War

Second World War history in the hillside under the Motherland Monument, with tanks and aircraft outside. Open Tuesday to Sunday.
Kyiv Dnipro River Cruise

Dnipro River Cruise

What could be better than a boat trip on the river Dnipro in the warm summer weather?
Kyiv Funicular

Kyiv Funicular

Take this 3 minute trip for amazing views over the Dnipro river and surrounding area.
The main pavilion at VDNH, a white colonnaded building with a gold spire topped by a red star, reflected in the fountain pool in front of it

Expo Center of Ukraine (VDNH)

287 hectares of Soviet exhibition pavilions and parkland on the edge of Holosiiv Forest, across the road from the metro. Hire a bike to see any of it.
The Kyiv Whale, a faceted sculpture of a whale raised on white metal poles, seen from below against a pale evening sky

Kyiv Whale

A 12 metre whale suspended above VDNH, built from plastic bottles collected across the city. Free, and best seen after dark when it's lit.
Football at Olympic Stadium Kyiv

Olympic Stadium

Ukraine's national stadium and the venue for the Euro 2012 final. Before the full-scale invasion you could book a guided tour inside on set days.
Park Kyyivsʹka Rusʹ

Park Kyyivsʹka Rusʹ

A full-scale reconstruction of ancient Kyiv in Kopachiv village, with horse stunt shows, archery and combat festivals, two buses out from Vydubychi.
Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Monument

The Cossack hetman on his horse, on the square in front of St Sophia's. One of the oldest monuments in Kyiv and the backdrop to the city's Christmas market.