17 Best Kyiv Alternative Tours 2021

M

Alinka’s “Awful Kyiv” tour was the quirkiest tour I’ve ever taken. The weather “helped” us with a rain, but I’m used to it, and it could not spoil this very unusual walk. I did not have any expectations before the tour, I just wanted to experience something more than the guidebooks are recommending. And I got it – a feeling of living one day as a local (since I’ve booked 2 tours with Alinka, we spent quite some time together). I’ve got a chance to see how many contrasts Kyiv has to offer: just imagine seeing almost ruined wooden buildings (inhabited ones!) and super fancy penthouse right next to it, and then – a garbage dump, surrounded by strange yet beautiful graffities and amazing views of the city from this same garbage dump. Church that looks as a factory in Chernobyl, the radiotower built on the cemetery and so much more! I especially loved taking that old red tram and walking among buildings that Alinka funny called “inhumane architecture”. We finished our tour in the district full of bars, where I spent my last hours in Kyiv. Alinka showed me her favorite bar, and we were sitting there for some time talking like good old friends! Alinka even helped me calling cheap local taxi to deliver me to the airport. Thank you for a perfect last day of my trip! I’ll be back for more!

Reviewed by Maria / Airbnb • June 10, 2019

Awful Kyiv Walking Tour

H

An excellent experience

We headed to Chernobyl for a 1 day tour with Green tour, which was fantastic. Chernobyl as you can imagine was an amazing experience and I highly recommend using Green tour to do so. We was picked up promptly outside of our hotel in Kiev city centre. We were greeted by Konstantin and Jane, both of which were very knowledge and both are a credit to your service. They went above and beyond what was expected of them and gave us information of other things to do around Kiev. Both of them made the trip that little bit extra special.

Reviewed by Holly0707 / TripAdvisor • September 11, 2019

Chernobyl & Pripyat Small-Group Day Trip from Kyiv

S

Absolutely fantastic

We spent the day with Konstantinis. He was so informative and helpful, answering any questions we had throughout the day. His English was excellent. He really made the day a memorable one. He went out his way for every request we had.

The tour itself isn't cheap but it's good value as it lasted the whole day. It's a very eerie and incredible experience from start to finish and there was a lot more to it than I expected.

Reviewed by Steve P / TripAdvisor • May 19, 2019

Chernobyl & Pripyat Private Day Tour from Kyiv

Simply Awesome-The guide and the tour

If you want to tour churches, this is not the tour for you. Want military history, nope not for you either.
Do you want to see the real Ukraine, the real Kviv, Han this is the tour for you. We spent the day walking though the real Kviv most tourist never see. We spent time where the real Ukrainians live not just where the tour buses go. We saw the underbelly, we saw the beautiful graffiti, we saw amazing city views from high above the city.
The best part wasn’t even the tour itself, it was the guide. We talked we conversed, I learned about many different topics from an expert. We discussed politics, history, economics, jails, guns, art, how the youth live, how other lives. We talked about everything under the sun.
She was magical, we saw the rich and we saw the poor. Great tour but the guide was even better than the tour itself.
I cannot rate this high enough, 10 stars would barely scratch the surface. The guide is lovely, knowledgeable, fun, laid back and beautiful.
Towards the end of the tour she will show you a bunch of bars, restaurants and cafes and many other things that will turn your good trip into a great trip. 15 stars!!

View gallery

Reviewed by David • July 23, 2019

Awful Kyiv Walking Tour

Yanna is so sweet!

It was my third time in Kyiv and this time I brought friends with me to Ukraine. We enjoyed the walk very much and even though I had done also another walking tour from Like A Local it was awesome that the two routes had very little in common. Yanna showed us some beautiful buildings, little statues of Kyiv symbols, took us to the cafe with best eclairs and shared her personal feelings and opinions about Ukraine and was flexible to finish a bit earlier when we got hungry. Thank you, Yanna, for a lovely day!

Tour in Kyiv: Kyiv Hidden Gems Tour with a Local. Photo by Ülane.

View gallery

Reviewed by Ülane • October 15, 2019

Kyiv Hidden Gems Tour with a Local

A must do in Kyiv

By far one of the best decisions I made in Kyiv, was to have a tour with Alina. The unique knowledge that you will gain about the city of Kyiv and the hidden gems within it makes her tour absolutely worth every penny.

She is also a very pleasant, kind and intelligent girl, to the point that you forget that you are actually on a tour - she has that natural ability to make you feel welcome, and that you are in the company of a friend exploring the beautiful city of Kyiv.

Highly recommended to all!

Reviewed by Anwar • May 05, 2019

Kyiv Backyards Walking Tour with a Local Blogger

Alina is awesome

It’s not like a tour, but like meeting a friend in Kyiv who knows every little story behind buildings, monuments and murals, and who doesn’t rush to follow a schedule. We saw interesting street art, heard lots of stories of corrupted politicians (surprise!) and were impressed with the density of backyard bars, cafes and other establishments. Alina is sweet, thoughtful and flexible in any situation – even if it involves a 8,5mo baby :) and great tips for other things to see and do, including bars.

Image by Ülane who visited Kyiv Backyards Walking Tour with a Local Blogger.

Tour in Kyiv: Kyiv Backyards Walking Tour with a Local Blogger. Photo by Ülane.

Activity in Kyiv: Kyiv Backyards Walking Tour with a Local Blogger. Photo by Ülane who visited that tour.

View gallery

Reviewed by Ülane • November 02, 2018

Kyiv Backyards Walking Tour with a Local Blogger

Hidden Gems, the title of this tour fits !

Yanna speaks English fluently. She isn't pushy, knows how to handle in a perfect way with visitors to her city (what is generally called 'tourists').
After her tour I performed the walk mentioned in the Lonely Planet. Besides the starting point + about 300 metres + the end of her walk, nothing was common !
So I recommend to everyone visiting Kiev to book her walking tour !

Reviewed by Eric • August 01, 2018

Kyiv Hidden Gems Tour with a Local

MUST SEE in Kyiv - so much fun

Yanna is friendly and very knowledgeable. We walked around the central area for a good 4 hours, but she told these stories that really brought the city to life. After the tour you'll probably know a lot of interesting places that even the locals haven't heard of. This was a great way to spend my first day in Kyiv. 10/10 would recommend to a friend.

Tour in Kyiv: Kyiv Hidden Gems Tour with a Local. Photo by Martin.

Image by Martin who visited Kyiv Hidden Gems Tour with a Local.

View gallery

Reviewed by Martin • July 02, 2018

Kyiv Hidden Gems Tour with a Local

True hidden gems

I would like to thank Yanna for her fascinating stories on the old and modern history of Kiev. She is enthusiastic, mobile, intelligent person.
I am firmly suggest Yanna as a guide for her deep and factual knowledge and wish her all the best.
Oksana Soul

View gallery

Reviewed by Oksana • June 17, 2019

Kyiv Hidden Gems Tour with a Local

Great Tour

We did the Hidden Gems Tour with Yanna and it was great. She showed us around the city, pointing out the not so obvious and provided us with a lot of information.

Reviewed by Kristin • June 16, 2019

Kyiv Hidden Gems Tour with a Local

Super

It was super tour with Alina. She is professional guide.
Ms Asa from Iceland was enjoyed and like tour with local blogger Alina.

Reviewed by Inna • July 04, 2019

Kyiv Backyards Walking Tour with a Local Blogger

Great tour

We had a great trip! Guide was very knowledgeable.

Reviewed by Anne • May 27, 2019

Chernobyl & Pripyat Small-Group Day Trip from Kyiv

W

Wonderful and Comprehensive Tour

Chernobyl has fascinated me since the reactor exploded in 1986. One reason I came to Ukraine was to visit Chernobyl. The small group with whom I traveled entered the radiation exclusion zone and got our dosimeters and first visited the town of Chernobyl. Although some people live there, I didn't see a soul. The nuclear power plant is about 10 miles north near the town of Pripyat, where the workers lived. There were four operating reactors and two under construction that were abandoned after the explosion. Several of the reactors remained on line until the last one was decommissioned in 2000. Reactor 4 now has a huge sarcophagus covering the damaged reactor and the previous concrete dome placed to stop the radiation leak.

Pripyat is a spooky ghost town being reclaimed by the forest. It's hard to believe that it was a functioning city of 50,000. Residences, government buildings, a hotel, soccer stadium, amusement park, and a school are all deteriorating and being reclaimed by nature.

The tour itself was very well organized and allowed us to see a great many places in and around the plant and Pripyat. Lisa, our guide, expertly showed us all the fascinating things to see. Lunch was included in the tour at the power plant.

In summary, this was a great tour and provided everything I wanted to experience. I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by wahunt / TripAdvisor • October 07, 2019

Chernobyl & Pripyat Private Day Tour from Kyiv

D

Awesome "Awful Kyiv Tour"

I always seek for the unique experiences, and Alina's " Awful Kyiv tour" really stands out of the crowd. Full of irony, her stories get a whole different view on Kyiv (the city I visited a couple of times). First of all, it was fun and entertaining, secondly, it felt like an adventure, we loved it. We are in awe of the sparkling ones, so it really provokes many thoughts: which of these are really ugly places, and which ones are beautiful ones. It was a gloomy weather, and I guess it was a very good time to stay in the city. I remember Alina laughing at me. , abandoned plants and factories, the strange sculptures and towers. Locals were sometimes so curious, that's how I understood that it's really a local place where they almost never see tourists.

We took a walk through the industrial part of the city, Alina showed me some cool cozy bars, where I loved it and met many friendly locals. That was a fantastic experience, considering the fact that I would love to relocate to Kyiv, and finally, I stopped feeling as a tourist here. Thanks Alina, keep in touch!

Reviewed by Dmytro / Tripadvisor • June 12, 2019

Awful Kyiv Walking Tour

S

Fascinating tour with an excellent guide, focus strongly on safety as well as sharing insights

This was a long day's tour, but a video on the way across to the site gave a good introduction and then our guide was very thorough in explaining what would happen and the important elements for keeping safe (which really are important - as radioactivity in allowed areas are very low, but the guide showed us areas off the beaten track where the geiger counter showed this was much higher).

From the gigantic hidden soviet transmitter in the forest to the deserted stadium and fairground in Pripyat, to the enormous cover for the still highly radioactive power station, it was all really fascinating.

We spent a lot of time researching the safety of the visit, and we personally felt sufficiently reassured about it, and the guide was extremely professional and gave highest priority to safety, which gave us great reassurance throughout the day.

Reviewed by stu2303 / TripAdvisor • August 11, 2019

Chernobyl & Pripyat Private Day Tour from Kyiv

H

Excellent day out

There were 11 people in our group in total with a driver and tour guide. Our guide spoke excellent English and was able to give us plenty of information about Chernobyl and Pripyat. The transport was very comfortable and the documentaries about the disaster before arrival was a great way if breaking the journey and learning more before arrival. The whole day felt well managed and at no point did we feel hurried along. Looking at some of the larger groups we were really pleased we booked with Green Ukraine. Whilst there are other companies with more Trip Advisor reviews our group really felt that this trip was value for money. Thank you again for the opportunity to visit a place which we need to learn from

Reviewed by Hethbum / TripAdvisor • August 19, 2019

Chernobyl & Pripyat Small-Group Day Trip from Kyiv

K

The quirkiest tour in Kyiv

I live in Kyiv for a few years and know all the major sights. However, Alina's Awful Kyiv was delightful and exceptional. She showed me places that I never knew existed, even if some of them I pass by daily. She showed another lense to look at certain buildings or places. Alina has a deep knowledge of the history of the city, but she does not bore you with unremarkable names and dates. Her guiding style is very entertaining and flexible to your needs. She is a charming guide with constant curiosity and hunger for knowing more about her beloved city and passionately shared her knowledge with you. I would recommend to anyone who wants to explore the beautiful or the 'awful 'Kyiv.

Reviewed by Krisztina / TripAdvisor • May 13, 2019

Awful Kyiv Walking Tour

C

One of the best tours I have ever taken! Book it now!

Yanna was our guide on this tour and I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the best tours that I have ever taken. Her enthusiasm, knowledge, interest, passion and friendly persona were fabulous.
This tour will suit anyone who wants to know some of the basic tourist information but who would also like to - as the title of the tour suggests - see a deeper side to Kiev that most tours do not cover.
Yanna gave us so much information and also suggested places to eat and shop.
Real value for money.
Thank you Yanna
(future Minister of Tourism?!)

Reviewed by Catherine • July 04, 2019

Kyiv Hidden Gems Tour with a Local

S

Its easy to fall in love with Kyiv with such a fun and witty guide

I had a wonderful time on the tour with Alina, she is well informed and give you interesting and fun facts about the city and its history. She made me so comfortable it was like taking a walk with a friend, while telling me about her people and culture. Because of her I discovered many places I would have never found on my own and wouldn´t have the background facts /story behind it. I can recommend Alina and her tour to everyone, you will have a lovely time and learn a lot about Ukraine and Kyiev, don´t miss your chance to get a true experience.

Reviewed by Stephanie • December 28, 2018

Kyiv Backyards Walking Tour with a Local Blogger