Biking the Carpathians of Ukraine
below: enjoy many more pictures like this in our Carpathian photo galleries: Hutsulschyna, Hoverla Mt., Hutsulschyna, Stiy Mt., Yavirnyk Mt.,
A beautiful mountain road near Verkhovyna |
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Accessible yet wild mountains
The Carpathians are great for cycling, but have not yet been assimilated by cyclists like Crimea. There is an abundance of automobile roads — both paved and unpaved — which are suitable for cycling, and it is possible to get to any region of the mountains on your bike some way or another. The Carpathians have not yet been turned into a massive tourist attraction, so you're pretty much on your own to plan and execute your trip. Some travel agencies and private entrepreneurs have also begun to offer small-scale bike tours.
The Carpathians are suitable for both long-distance trips of up to 400 km (see below) and short day trips from any town or village that you stay in. There is an abundance of both paved automobile roads and dirt logging roads in the mountains for mountain bikers. If you intend on doing serious mountain biking, consider finding a mountain bike tour guide on the Internet, as logging roads suitable for bikers are poorly marked on the map and you can get lost easily.
A road patch in the Carpathians. Watch out for the tar! |
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Carpathian roads
Roads are marked paved or unpaved on the map, but sometimes the roads on the map are not properly categorized! Road surfaces are often not good enough for road bikes; hybrids and mountain bikes are more appropriate. Roads at less than 800 m. elevation are usually lined by homesteads and villages along the way. Not only will you enjoy the mountains but you will get a very good idea of how people live up here. This may be a drawback if you are looking for wilderness solitude; on the other hand, Carpathian folks live close to the land, and the hand-built cabins, haystacks, and horse-drawn carts can even enhance the scenery. Plus, the people are quite friendly, and if you speak Ukrainian you won't be lonely.
Bike equipment
Don't expect to see any bicycle shops anywhere. You may find basic bike accessories in small general stores, but the inner tubes will be for the old Soviet bikes, so bring along your own spares. Finding water is not a problem in inhabited areas, but if you are biking through wilderness areas a filter is nice to have if you have doubts about the water sources you have found. Filters are not available in Ukraine. Rain gear (at the very least an umbrella!) is essential.
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Roadside picnic areas like this are fairly common along busier roads |
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Accommodations in the Carpathians
As always in Ukraine, there is a wide variety of accommodation types in the Carpathians: hotels, tourist camps (turbazy), private bed and breakfast inns, private homes, sanatoriums...
Nice hotels can be found in the cities around the Carpathians (Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyia, Chernivtsi, Uzzhhorod) and in popular tourist destinations such as Yaremcha, Slavsko, and Kosiv. Bringing your bicycle into the the hotel is usually not a problem. You can book a hotel room in advance through a travel agency or just show up and hope they have a room available. Hotel rooms may be booked directly at TryUkraine.com by using the form on the left column of our home page.
Private inns are quickly sprouting up and may soon be as common as in other European countries. Here the prices are lower than in hotels (typically 25-80 UAH), the hosts are nice and friendly, and the atmosphere is cosy. The only difficulty is finding them. People are afraid of the tax police and generally do not hang up "Zimmer frei" signs, so you may have to ask around to find them. Before you leave on your trip, do some Internet searching to get a some addresses and phone numbers just in case you can't find an inn when you get there.
In the Carpathians any home is a potential place to spend the night |
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A last resort are rooms in private homes. Here the conveniences may be next to nonexistent and the linen not very fresh, so if you plan on staying in such places, you may want to bring a sheet or two or a light sleeping bag. You will probably be invited to eat with your hosts, and you can buy fresh milk from the locals in the morning (yum). To find a place to stay just tell people you need a place to stay and are willing to pay (5-25 UAH is a typical price), and you will have no trouble at all.
Suggested cycling routes through the Carpathians
Here is a list of possible long-distance cycling routes through the Carpathians. These are not "official" routes, but come from the author's experience, and from studying maps and talking to other cyclists. The author has personally done the third route on the list and parts of the first, and pictures are posted on the bottom half of the Hutsulschyna photo album. To get advice on routes please visit our Ukraine message board.
REGION |
ROUTES |
DISTANCE |
NOTES |
| Northwest Carpathians near Polish border |
Volovets train station - Nyzhni Vorota - Volosyanka - Velykyy Bereznyy - Perechyn - Uzhhorod train station OR Perechyn - Poroshkovo - Polyana - Svalyava train station |
first route - 125 km, second route - 160 km |
Relatively easy terrain. Max. elevation 800 m. Smaller roads criss-cross the region and can be added to route. Possible passport checkpoint near Polish border. Convenient access on Kyiv-Uzhhorod train route. |
| Central Carpathians |
Volovets train station - Pylypets - Mizhhirya - Kolochava - Komsomolsk - Ust-Chorna - Ust-Turbat - Yasinya elektrichka station |
150 km |
Includes dirt road over 1100 m. pass 30 km. before Yasinya. Route can be extended from Yasinya to the south or east. |
| Southern Carpathians |
Kolomiya train station - Stopchakiv - Kosiv - Yavoriv - Kryvorivnya - Ust-Putyla - Selyatyn - Ruska - Shurdyn Pass - Shepit - Berehomet - Storozhynets - Chernivtsi train station |
205 km |
Includes 40 km. of gravel roads and climb up to 1200 m. pass. Passport checkpoint near Romanian border. |
| Chornohora ridge |
Kvasy elektrichka station - follow train tracks back 4 km. to gravel road leading to Petros Mt. - follow toward Hoverla - descend into Luhy - Bohdan - Rakhiv elektrichka station OR Hoverla Mt. along ridge to Chorna Hora Mt. - steep descent to Zelene - Iltsi - Verkhovyna |
first route - approx. 70 km, second route - approx. 100 km |
1400 m. vertical climb on old Austrian road up to 2000 km. Mountain bikes only. Quite grueling. |
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