One of my travel goals is to visit a new country every year, and I am proud to say I added a couple new pins to my travel map this past summer! I crossed the country border to Eastern Europe, specifically to Ukraine, which involved taking an overnight train from Krakow to Lviv. In this post, I will share my favorite things about Lviv, a stunning but underappreciated city.
Since my partner is Ukrainian, I had only heard about Ukraine from the 2014 Malaysian Airlines passenger plane crash that occurred over eastern Ukrainian airspace, so I really had no idea what to expect from the country. I also watched Winter on Fire, a Netflix documentary on the Ukrainian fight for freedom, which is far more relevant for our visit to Kyiv later on.
Tl;dr: I had no expectations of Lviv, nor have I even heard of it before the trip.
However, what I discovered in Lviv took me by surprise in the best way. The historical richness of Lviv, a small, quaint European town, is unmatched by any other town I have been to in terms of beauty. Originally known as Leopolis, or the lion city, Lviv took its name from Leo, the eldest son of King Galicia. This is why the city emblem features a Lion.
When compared to similar towns in Western Europe, everything is comparatively less expensive here. The best of all? In Lviv, there are hardly any foreign tourists! It seems that most tourism in Lviv comes locally or from the nearby bordering countries. It is after all known as the cultural center of Ukraine. But even though we visited in the middle of Summer, the tourist spots were not overcrowded and we hardly ever had to wait. What a truly hidden gem.
1. Join the Lviv Free Walking Tour
To get a bearing on the city, I highly recommend starting off with a free walking tour of Lviv. It starts daily at 11 AM every day from the Market / Rynok Square (double-check the time here) – just look for the person carrying a bright yellow umbrella!
This tour is 100% free and operates in popular destinations in Europe. We had been taking advantage of the free tour in other cities, such as Krakow and Budapest, and can vouch for the quality. There is no commitment or strings attached and the tour should only take you 2.5 hours. If you like the tour, you can leave a small optional gratuity at the end of it. It’s a great way to get familiar with the city while learning about its rich history.
The only downside is that the tour tends to be conducted in big groups, but hey, it’s free!!
2. Ivan Fedorov Monument
If you choose to do the free walking tour, you’ll come around this area at some point. Ivan Fedorov is a printing pioneer in Ukraine and he spent much of his days in Lviv. Fittingly, the area where the monument stands is now known for its vintage market that sells second-hand books, used records, and vintage pins.
We came back after the tour because I wanted to check out the vintage market even though most books and records they have were written in Cyrillic.
There is also a very grand-looking Catholic church next to this area, which you should have also visited if you do the tour.
3. Lviv Opera House
The free walking tour ended here at the square in front of the Opera Hall. While there isn’t much to see of the opera house (unless maybe if there is a show), you can hang out at the square, take pictures or have a cold beer while people-watching.
To the east of the square is a cool market called Vernissage, where you can find interesting trinkets, souvenirs, and t-shirts. You should definitely check out some Vyshyvanka, which is traditional Ukrainian embroidered clothing, and Vinok, which is a wreath made of Ukrainian flowers that women wear on festive occasions. It’s got a coachella vibe to it... except that Ukrainians have been wearing these long before Coachella even existed!
4. See the city from above from the Lviv City Hall Clock Tower
Get a 360-degree view of the city from above by going to the City Hall and climbing up the Clock Tower. There is a super nice observation deck on the top where you can see all the buildings in the city. It’s actually not very tall, but Lviv is a flat town with no highrises, so you don’t really need to go up high to get a good view.
I have to warn you that you do have to climb quite a bit of stairs to get to the observation deck—no other options. It’s not that bad though, and on the way up, you can see the clock mechanism up-close!
It’s also not free to go up the tower—you pay a small fee at the bottom of the staircase before you start climbing, but it was so cheap I don’t remember how much we paid.
Other free options to see the city from above are the rooftop of House of Legends and Lviv Handmade Chocolate, but the city hall tower is still much higher than these two.
5. Watch the pyrotechnic show at House of Legends at 6 PM
House of Legends is a whimsical, narrow building with a black dragon, various paintings, and a black tram on its facade. Every day at 6 pm, they have a small pyrotechnic show and the dragon would spew small fireworks. The building is technically a restaurant/café (decorated in chimney-sweeper theme) but you can go in and explore without ordering anything.
Go up to the rooftop via a narrow staircase, where on the way up you get a glimpse of the different themes of each floor. I felt like I was in a Hayao Miyazaki movie when I was there. Bonus: If you make it to the rooftop, there is a white Trabant car just casually parked there.
6. Lviv Handmade Chocolate
This was a pretty freakin’ delicious one—you can’t leave Lviv without trying their handmade chocolates! They have hundreds of different chocolate variations, in all kinds of shapes and forms—there are block chocolates, chocolates in boxes, or fresh chocolates you can choose from behind a glass panel.
Aside from the traditional chocolate flavors, they have interesting options like smoked dark chocolate, chocolate with ginger, and chocolate with sour cherries. They also have a cafe where you can get cakes, coffee, and hot chocolate drinks.
The building itself is also worth checking out. It’s old but nicely maintained. You can go up the spiraling staircase to the rooftop and enjoy your chocolates there (if you find a seat, that is—there were not that many).
There are a few oddities that we noticed as we ascended the staircase to the rooftop, including uneven floors and staircases that go up a few stops before coming down. According to Yuri, this might have happened when the store first only occupied the building facing the street before expanding to include the building next to it and connecting by a staircase. The two buildings' floors are constructed at different heights, so they had to make due by adding some strange architectural details to the staircase. However, it functions?
7. Purchase coffee from Lviv Mining Manufacture, or L'vivska Kopalnya Kavy.
You absolutely must check this place out if you enjoy coffee! They are conveniently located on Rynok Square and offer a large selection of roasted coffee beans that you can take home. Each bean is described in detail on the English menu, and the staff members are fluent in the language. You can choose to buy as much or as little as you want of each roast. At the back of the coffee roaster is a coffee-themed souvenir store worth checking out as well.
8. Visit an ode to the oldest coffee house at Pid Synʹoyu Flyazhkoyu (Under the Blue Bottle)
Yes, THAT blue bottle coffee. You’ve probably heard of Blue Bottle coffee from California that has gained major popularity around the world, but did you know what the “Blue Bottle” name refers to?
As it turns out, the pioneer of coffee houses in Europe who first brought about the idea of a coffee house to Europe is a Ukrainian soldier named Yuri Kulczycki. It was said Kulczycki came to Vienna after spending years in Turkey and discovered the coffee house experience there, which he brought over to Vienna. He then created the first coffee house in Vienna in 1683 called “Under the Blue Bottle”. The coffee house no longer exists, but you can find the reincarnation in Lviv under the same name! (Source: BBC Travel)
Where to stay in Lviv
The touristy part of Lviv, the old town, is very small so you won’t have any problems finding a place to stay. Find Rynok Square (Market Square) on Google Maps—anywhere within a block or two from this spot is a great option.
The three of us stayed at a 2br apartment on Brativ Rohatyntsiv street and we really could not have asked for a better place. The apartment is modern and spacious. It’s actually a one-bedroom apartment, but the living room had been repurposed into a second bedroom. The location is amazing—it’s super close to everything, so we didn’t need to use any public transport—we just walked everywhere. It was also super affordable at US$40 a night.
Click here to book the same apartment
After a whole day exploring Lviv, we grabbed a taxi to the Lviv main station (10–15 minutes ride) and took the overnight train to Kyiv.
I hope this was useful to you guys who are planning to visit Lviv! As always, let me know in the comment below if you have any feedback. I’d love to hear from you!