General info about the region

The Ukrainian Carpathians are the mountains range in western Ukraine. In German-speaking countries, it’s also known as Waldkarpaten. Their wild beauty impresses with its lush greenery, the rustic settlements here live in harmony with nature. The biggest cities of the region are Uzhgorod, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khust, Mukachevo, Rakhiv, Yaremche, Kolomyja, Slavske attracts ukrainian and foreign tourists by its authentic atmosphere and cultural particularities.

The region is rich for the wide net of rivers. The largest rivers here are Dniester, Tysa (Tisa), Czeremosz, Stryi, Prut.

Among the most interesting architectural monuments, one should mention Lemkos churches, Boykos churches in Velykobereznianskyi district, the wine cellars in Serednie, synagogues in Uzhgorod, "Pysanka" museum (the museum of Ukrainian traditionally painted Easter eggs) in Kolomyia, Skyt Maniavskyi in Maniava.

There are a huge number of natural attractions in Ukrainian Carpathians. The most famous among them are waterfalls Shypit, Woievodyno, Huk, Kamianetskyi, Skakalo; Lakes Brebeneskul, Nesamovyte, Maricheika, Synevyr, Lebedyn. The Valley of daffodils and, of course, Dragobrat and Hoverla mountains also belong to Carpathian highlights.

As an insight for the real nature lovers, it’s worth to say a few words about flora and fauna of Ukrainian Carpathians. Fauna is quite rich and diverse here. It counts 440 types of biological species, including 79 mammals, 280 birds, 53 fish, 17 amphibian and 11 reptile species. Among the mammals, in particular, there are brown bear, lynx, wolf and wildcat. Out of 41 biological species which are on the European Red List, 19 can be founded in Carpathian Mountains.

Carpathians flora is also widely known with its forests (there grow beech, spruce, oak, alder, ash, fir, juniper tree and mountain pine) and greenery. In Carpathian region there exist over 2000 species of spore and flowering plants.

On 28.06.2007 the Ukrainian Carpathians were included to the list of UNESCO World Heritage. According to UNESCO, they are the largest deposits of pristine mixed leafy forests in Europe and at the same time the first natural object in Ukraine, which was included into the UNESCO World Heritage list.