TOP
Exploring Tourism in Ukraine
Ukraine
icon Worldwideicon
Places to Visit Details

Chernobyl Zone

Kiev, Ukraine

After the explosion on the 4rth Block of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, all the population in the radius of 30 km was evacuated and an exclusion zone under military control occurred.

The area is available for tourists since 1999. All volunteers are able to see the consequences of the nuclear disaster.

Nature step-by-step recovers itself. Now flora and fauna of the abandoned zone are getting richer than in any other place in the country. The “red” forest is green and alive, “dead town” of Prypiat is filled by the singing of birds instead of noises of heavy traffic, people rumors, and children laughing

There have been growing numbers of visitors to the Exclusion Zone each year, and there are now daily trips from Kyiv offered by multiple companies. In addition, multiple-day excursions can be easily arranged with Ukrainian tour operators. Most overnight tourists stay in a hotel within the town of Chernobyl, which is located within the Exclusion Zone. According to an exclusion area tour guide, as of 2017, there are approximately 50 licensed exclusion area tour guides in total working for approximately nine companies. Visitors must present their passports when entering the Exclusion Zone and are screened for radiation when exiting both at the 10 km checkpoint and at the 30 km checkpoint.

The Exclusion Zone can also be entered if an application is made directly to the zone administration department.

Some evacuated residents of Pripyat have established a remembrance tradition, which includes annual visits to former homes and schools. In the Chernobyl zone, there is one operating Eastern Orthodox Christian church, St. Elijah Church. According to Chernobyl disaster liquidators, the radiation levels here are "well below the level across the zone", a fact that the president of the Ukrainian Chernobyl Union Yury Andreyev considers miraculous.

Check out more Places to Visit