As the capital city of Ukraine Kiev (Kyiv) is

А political and administrative center of the state;
a spiritual, cultural, historical, scientific and educational hub of Ukraine;
a place that houses the official residences of the head of the state - the President of Ukraine, the Parliament of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the Supreme Court of Ukraine and other central bodies of the state power;
the place where the diplomatic missions of foreign states and international organizations are stationed in Ukraine.

Kiev is a gateway to Ukraine and is still the easiest city to travel to the country. As the capital and the largest city, it usually grants visitors their first impressions of Ukraine, The simple fact remains that there is an amazing amount to see and to do in this city. Without any exaggeration, it is one of the most majestic and greenest cities of Europe, Flowering chestnut trees cover the streets for summer period, and during this time, no other city could seem so green and full of beauty.

Even more picturesque is Kiev simply geographically, built on a series of steep wooden hills that rise above the wide channel of the slow-moving Dnipro. The city spreads over 42 km from North to South along the banks of the mighty Dnipro River.

At 2,286km the Dnipro is the Europe's third longest river and the Ukraine's defining waterway, Early Ukrainian civilization was borne from the Kievian Rus trade routes along the Dnipro and the largest band of the Ukrainian Cossacs began their independent governments on the river's largest island Khortytsya. Cruising down the river has long been "thing to do" when visiting Ukraine, but those who are not travelling by ship may still find they keep crossing the Dnipro in their journey as the river has always the cultural and political boundary between East and West.

Despite a population of about three million, Kiev feels very natural, and each of the hundreds of golden church domes rises up on just the right place, A host of renovations makes the city skylines more impressive every year, Kiev's post Soviet makeover relies heavily on historical references: the birthplace of Slavic Orthodoxy, Kievan Rus and the Cossacks. These days it is hard to visit the city and not to be impressed by these conceptions of the past, Kiev is a beautiful city to walk around, starting from the central Khreshchatyk Street and taking in museums, restaurants and gardens. Halfway down is the impressive Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). The traditional Ukrainian rynok (food market) should be a part of the travel experience: taste-testing honey or cream on your knuckle, tumbling through rutabagas and sniffing smoked chickens. At the end of Khreshchatyk, visit the Bessarabski Rynok romantically shortened to Bessarabka and wander amongst the flower-sellers and farmers from the countryside selling their homegrown vegetables and fruits. Perhaps the most striking of the Kiev's sights are

• The Cave Monastery or Pecherska Lavra
• Museum of Historical Treasures and Jewelerry
• Andriyvsky Uzviz (Slope)
• St. Andrews Church
• St. Volodymir's Cathedral
• St. Sofia Cathedral
• Maryinsky Palace

Kiev region:

Pereyaslav Khmelnitsky - This small Ukrainian town can be called a museum itself. More than twenty museums are open to the public including the museum of Folk Life and Architecture; the Hrygoryi Skovoroda (an Ukrainian poet and philosopher) Memorial Museum - he worked here as a professor of the local college in the mid -18thc.; the Sholom Aleichem (a Jewish writer) Museum.