Please be at the appropriate airport at least 3 hrs prior to flight departure time. Scope representative will assist you with check-in. Your baggage must be checked to your final destination Odesa (code ODS). If you have more than one piece of checked baggage, a surcharge of $50 will be collected at airport by agency representative.

At Warsaw Airport you board your non-stop flight to Odesa. Lunch on board. Expected arrival at your hotel is 5:00PM. Dinner at nearby restaurant.

After dinner, take a stroll through the cobblestoned boulevards, where decorated palaces (now museums) add distinctive French and Italian styles to its display. Odesa comes equipped with all the amusements characteristic of a seaside town: jewelry stands, ponies, street clowns, dancing monkeys and balloon-sellers.

Today you will be introduced to the largest seaport on the Black Sea and the third largest city in Ukraine.   Your morning tour will include the Prymorski Boulevard and legendary Potemkin Staircase leading to the sea, the famous Opera and Ballet Theater, Troyitska and St. Paul Churches and the Art Museum.   Lunch in a downtown café.  You are free this afternoon to explore Odesa’s greatest shopping spot, the extravagant 18^th c. Passazh corridor,  where a vaulted glass roof shields designer boutiques and posh cafes.  Dinner under own arrangements.  Tonight – a special treat!  A performance at the newly restored Odesa Opera House.

A full day excursion to Bilhorod Dnistrovsky (until 1944 Akerman), a port city 100 km from Odesa.  At  the beginning of the new era the site was first occupied by a Greek colony and later a Roman colony called Tira.  From the 13thc. Bilhorod was part of the Galician-Volyn Principality.  Captured by Turkey in 1484 and renamed Akerman, it was the capital of the Bilhorod Horde.  This 13-15 c. fortress was built on the ruins of the ancient city of Tira.  It is a unique monument of medieval defense architecture, the largest and sturdiest structure of its kind in Ukraine.  Lunch and wine-tasting at a local restaurant.  Late afternoon return to Odesa directly to the train station for our overnight sleeper train to Crimea.   Packed meal will be provided in lieu of dinner.

Morning arrival at  Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, where we will have breakfast in a local restaurant.  Enroute to Yalta  we visit Bakhchysaraj the 15 ^th c. capital of the Crimean Khaganat.  Lunch in a local Tartar restaurant  “Khan Girej” before we continue in our touring coach to Yalta.  Dinner at hotel.

From the Greek word meaning shore, one of the most popular Black Sea resorts on the entire Crimean peninsula, Yalta has a wonderful Mediterranean climate and is set in the midst of 4,000 ft. mountains.  Our morning city tour takes us to Alupka, situated on the coastal Ai-Petri.  We visit Vornotsov’s Palace.  Our next stop is wine tasting in Massandra vineyards, where you can enjoy the local versions of Madeira, Sherry and Port wines,  and specially this region’s world  famous Muscatel.  Lunch at “Helena Restaurant”, known for its original local cuisine.  Our final afternoon stop is Livadia Palace, where the “Big Three” met and set the history for Eastern Europe.   Return to hotel for dinner.

Today you join your touring coach for a full day excursion to Sevastopol.  Founded by the Greeks in the 5^th c., Sevastopol was the bastion of the Byzantine Empire on the north shores of the Black Sea.  It sustained considerable damage during the Russo-Turkish War of 1855 and WW II spectacularly presented in the great Panorama painting, which you will see.  The Black Sea fleet anchors in present-day Akhtiarsky harbor.  The highlight of your trip will be a visit to Chersonesus, an archeological preserve, founded by the Greeks in the 4 ^th c.BC.   Afternoon free to enjoy the promenades of Sevastopol.  Late evening return to Yalta.  Dinner at hotel.

An early breakfast and we join our touring coach for the drive via the beautiful Crimean Golden Highway back to Simferopol for our morning  (circa 10AM) flight to Kyiv.  Lunch at hotel, and then we will enjoy an afternoon walking tour of Kyiv  - its promenades, Majdan where the Orange Revolution took place and its  new underground shopping malls.  Dinner at hotel. 

Morning panoramic city tour of Kyiv includes: Khreshchatyk Boulevard, Volodymyr’s Hill, Kyiv National University, the Opera House, St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral and the 11^th century Golden Gate.  The highlight of this tour is the St. Sophia Cathedral constructed in the 11^th c. by Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Its construction reflects a strong Byzantine influence and its interior is a unique harmonious union of mosaics and fresco paintings. Directly opposite St. Sofia (about 500 m.) you will visit the newly (1999) reconstructed St. Michael’s Sobor.  Lunch in the artisan section of Uzviz.  Afterwards we leave you there for an afternoon of shopping in an open air bazaar of more than 100 kiosks.  Dinner at hotel.

Morning is free to discover Kyiv on your own.  Lunch at hotel (or a downtown restaurant)  and we continue on an afternoon tour of Pecherska Lavra (Monastery of the Caves), an active monastery founded in the 11^th c. and center of Christianity for Kyivan-Rus. Its complex of churches reflects a unique Ukrainian baroque style which is only surpassed by the beauty of the newly reconstructed Uspenskyj Cathedral (1998), destroyed by Soviet mines in 1941. The labyrinths of the “near” and “far” caves hold over 115 burial niches containing remains of St. Antoniy, Nestor the Chronicler, and many religious and political leaders. World-renowned Scythian Gold treasures are exhibited within its walls.  A short Dnipro River cruise – and we return to our hotel for dinner.

An early AM flight will take us to L’viv.  Transfer to hotel and lunch.  For those who will not be swarmed by relatives, we will organize a leisurely walking tour of the UNESCO protected L’viv city center.   Dinner under own arrangements.

The entire day is free under own arrangements.   Optional tours will be available to nearby Carpathian regions of Slavsk and Frankivsk, or to Krekhiv and Zolotchiv.

Situated in the Western part of Ukraine, L’viv, the “City of Lions”, is its heart and soul. Founded in the 13^th c. by King Danylo Halytckyj, it was named in honor of his son Lev (Leo).  Through centuries of Polish, Austrian, and Soviet occupation, L’viv was the gateway to “the East”, but with independence in 1991, L’viv is finally free to develop its own Ukrainian identity.  Highlights of the first city tour are  Rynok, the 15-16^th c. city square, the Dominican Church, Armenian Church Complex, the Chapel of the Bojim Family, the Armenian Quarters, the Opera House and L’viv University.  St. George’s Cathedral, the stronghold of Western Ukraine’s Catholic Church, is our final stop before lunch in a local café.  Remainder of the day and dinner under own arrangements.

This morning’s tour is to Shevchenko Haj, an open air museum with an active Bojko Church and replicas of Western Ukraine’s Lemko and Bojko villages dating back to the 18^th c.  This “village” is a popular Sunday outing for L’viv residents.  We continue to Lychakiv Cemetery to view graves of Ivan Franko, Solomija Krushelnytcka, Volodymyr Ivasiuk, Oleksander Tysovsky and many others.  Lunch and remainder of the day  under own arrangements.
Evening Gala Farewell Dinner at a specialty restaurant.

Our morning is free to say Goodbye to family and friends and to Ukraine. A midday transfer takes us to L‘viv airport for our flight to Warsaw with connection to New York or Newark.