Kamyanets Podilsky

It could probably be agreed, in general, that Kamyanets Podilsky has the greatest potential for historical tourism in the Ukraine. The old town is, as per, the most interesting part. In times gone by several communities, Ukrainian, Polish, Armenian and Jewish have lived side by side but at the same time isolated and restricted to their own kind.

This multi-ethnic population ultimately led to a mishmash of interesting building styles, some of which were wrecked in the many invasions KP was witness to (Ottoman, Nazi, Soviet) but others that remain untouched.

So, KP has all this to offer you'd think it'd be crawling we tourists. Bus loads of old, high belted shufflers filming everything in sight on massive handy cams. Well, no, not really. It was fantastically quiet. We were able to wander around this fortress uninterrupted. And what's more, the tourists and strictly regulated by boring old health safety so you could pretty much walk anywhere you want withing the castle walls.

This experience is something that has since gone extinct in Western Europe.