in Ukraine Christmas day is on 7th January for most of Ukrainians, and i do hope you have seen more than you mentioned.Best,Sofia

im from jordan,,hopefully one day i'll visit ukraine and enjoy it's beauty

I was born in Ukraine which really makes me want to go back there. The strange thing is that I speak Russian instead of Ukrainian. The place you really should visit is the summer houses on the outskirts of Donetsk!!! My grandparents hand built one with my family about when I was 3. They are amazing! Watch out for the aggressive dogs though. Near it is a railroad for a train that transports coal. The one thing travelers should know is that they don't have to pack any spray for ticks or poison ivy because there isn't any! If you plan on visiting there bring a camera to record all the beautiful things there.

I am traveling to Kiev soon. I have found a church that works with homeless children. I am planning on spending time and taking gifts with me to donate.
I am also looking forward to seeing the sights!

thank you for all the information,Kiev sounds like the perfect vacation.One day I would like to visit.

I'm from California, leaving for Kiev tomorrow morning! I went backpacking through-out Europe about 9 months ago from the Netherlands, Austria and Ukraine just for the heck of it... now I'm excited to go back cuz I met a really wonderful family there and a really interesting girl named Elena that loves the study of fine-arts like me and is a real artist like me that studied in the UK last year. So I will be staying with her and her family and will be touring all of Ukraine's beauty over there with her. Wish me luck!

Ukraine is a fairly interesting place. There is still an obvious, and apparent Russian influence left over from the Soviet days especially in the eastern and rural parts of the country. If you don't speak Russian, or have any connections with Ukrainians, I would recommend hiring a guide or being part of an organize tour prior to arriving. A car service is an absolute must. Avoid the Taxi drivers at the airports, they are aggressive about getting fares, will take advantage naive travelers. (From what I could tell they were completely unregulated). I recommend a tour or guide because the cities such as Kiev, Donetsk, etc, are not easy to navigate due to the lack of visible street signs and addresses. (They are on the building some of the time, but are difficult to read) The infrastructure definitely needs work. One of the other posters mentioned visiting a suburb of Donetsk. We did just that. We had dinner with a wonderful family, but the water was cut off to the town that day. This is a fairly common occurrence due to distribution problems in the outlying areas. (This happened in two different suburbs, in two different parts of the country. This is the reason a lot of houses still have functioning outhouses). Food, beer & liquor are cheap, but products such as clothing and cars are expensive. Westernized hotels are also very expensive 200+ USD a night. Also be aware the ‘pigeon drop’ scam is alive and well there. (Some idiot tried it on us) I would definitely recommend going to Odessa. Out of the five places we visited, it was the easiest to get around in and seemed to be the most friendly. (A large number of tourist visit Odessa) Watch out for stray dogs, they are ubiquitous around the major cities. The women are beautiful, but obviously avoid the marriage/dating services. (Also, in most westernized hotels there will be professional working girls in the lobby. I’d avoid them as well) Do not bring traveler checks, nobody will exchange them. Credit cards are accepted in some places (most hotels, major grocery stores, shops in the malls), but Ukraine is still mainly a cash economy. Do not allow your credit card out of your sight if you do use it. There are plenty of places to change money. Only use the ATM in the hotels or large banks. Do not use the stand alone ATMs. All and all, the trip was a great time and Ukraine is a fun place to visit. You just have to be careful and realize restaurants, hotels, etc that a tourist might visit, are just beginning to get the knack of being service oriented.

I never been to the Ukraine, but i plan on visiting some day!
have heard that it's very beautiful there?

I study in Kiev and I would say that the city is pretty good to live in. But frankly speaking hotels are extremely expensive and very low quality.I like Kiev's beauty I think this the right place to come(at least one time). But talking about the rest of Ukraine.... just take a look at villages!!! Some of them don't even have lights on the streets; roads are broken and dirty. Kiev in Ukraine is like Moscow in Russia so called the Third Rome.