Arrival in Kiev. Transfer from the airport. Check in and dinner at a hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.
City tour of Kiev with visit to St. Sofia Cathedral. Kiev is not only the capital of Ukraine but also the mother city for all Eastern Slavic peoples. Kievan Rus, the state from which Ukraine, Russia & Belarus are all descended, was established here between the 9th & 11th centuries. The modern centre & the remains of the old city are both on the hilly west bank of the Dnipro, third largest river in Europe
Lunch at a local restaurant.
*Excursion to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery. Founded three km south of where Kiev stood in 1051, the Caves Monastery was Kievan Rus first & for a long time most famous monastery. Spread across wooded slopes above the Dnipro, it is a unique array of gold-domed churches, underground labyrinths lined with mummified monks, & elegant monastic buildings turned museums, one of which has a hoard of Scythian gold to rival that of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
* City tour “Old Kiev” with visit St. Andrew’s church located at the northern end of the street & at the top of the charming Andriyivsky uzvis. It is an inspired 1746-61 Baroque interpretation of the traditional Ukrainian five-domed, cross-shaped church by Rastrelli. The slender curves of its blue, white, gold & green exterior stand out against the skyline, perched up above the Podil district at the crest of the historic Upper Town, at the supposed site where the Apostle Andrew erected a cross. Its richly decorated interior features a three-tiered iconostasis & several paintings from the 18th century.
Transfer to the airport. Accommodation at a hotel in Odessa

Breakfast at the hotel.
City Tour. The city center was designed to a classical plan with wide tree-lined streets, stretching south from Prymorsky boulevard. Its beauty lies in the early 19th century buildings, the shady promenade, the park tumbling towards the sea & the sweep of the Potemkin Steps. The 193 steps, built between 1837 & 1841, descend from a statue of the Duc de Richelieu in a Roman Toga. At the eastern end a Pushkin statue & a British Tiger Gun, captured in 1854 during the Crimean campaign, stand before the pink-and-white colonnaded Odessa City Hall. At the western end of the boulevard is the Palace of Vorontsov – the residence of a former governor of the city built in 1826 in a classical style with surprising Arabic detailing on the interior. Another highlight of the city is Opera & Ballet Theater designed in the 1880s by Viennese architects Felner & Gelmer in the Habsburg Baroque of the day, with a number of Italian Renaissance features.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Archeology museum. Odessa has an excellent collection of museums. After lunch at local restaurant you will visit Archeology museum. Established in 1875 it was the first museum of its kind in the former Russian Empire. The highlight is the Gold Room, which has jewellery & coins from early Black Sea civilizations, including the 1st Slavic coins of St. Volodymyr (10th century AD). Russian & Ukrainian art are well covered in the Art Museum. Its maze of over 15 rooms on 2 floors has treasures, which run from 15th century icons onwards & includes works by Levitsky, Ayvazovsky & Repin. Transfer back to the hotel or local restaurant for dinner.
Transfer to the railway station. Train Odessa-Simferopol.

Simferopol –Bakhchisaray - Yalta Upon arrival to Simferopol you will be met & transferred to a small town of Bakhchisaray that brings you face to face with the Tatar era of the Crimea. From the 15th century until 1783, Bakhchisaray (Turkish for “garden palace”) was the seat of the Crimean khans. You’ll see there the Khans’ Palace built primarily by Russian & Ukrainian slaves in the 16h century under the direction of Persian, Ottoman & Italian master builders, the Ambassador’s Gate, The Fountain of Tears, harem & historical museum.Continue to Yalta that lies between the gently curving shore of Yalta Bay & the Crimean mountains, reminiscent in different ways of Cornwall, the Costa del Sol, Windermere & the French Riviera.
Lunch at a local restaurant
Accommodation at a hotel in Yalta

Yalta. Breakfast at the hotel.
City Tour. Livadia Palace built in 1911 as a summer residence for Nicholas II in Italian Renaissance style with pretty Florentine & Arabic courtyards. In February 1945 Stalin, Roosevelt & Churchil held their Yalta Conference here. The tour ends with wine-tasting at Alupka. Crimea now produces some very good vintages & at the wine center next to Vorontsov’s Palace you’ll have an introduction to the regional wines with, of course, an opportunity to sample & purchase some of the best from the Massandra winery.

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to the airport. Departure.