Chornobyl
Ukraine · Kyiv Oblast · 115 m
Description
Chornobyl is the exclusion zone around the reactor that exploded in April 1986, a thirty kilometre circle of abandoned villages, returning forest and one emptied city. Pripyat was evacuated in a single afternoon and left standing, its school books, fairground and swimming pool still where they were. Before the full-scale invasion the zone took well over a hundred thousand visitors a year on licensed day tours from Kyiv. Russian troops occupied and mined the area in 2022 and tours have been suspended since, with no reopening date, so this is a destination to plan for rather than book.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 2 days (optimal 1 day)
Travel season
Best time to visit: May – September
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Pripyat, the abandoned city
- Reactor 4 and the New Safe Confinement arch
- Pripyat fairground and its ferris wheel
- Duga radar array, the Russian Woodpecker
- Azure swimming pool and School Number 3
- Chornobyl town and the memorial to the liquidators
- Kopachi and the abandoned villages of the zone
- Przewalski's horses and the wildlife of the zone
- Red Forest and the dosimeter readings