Most tourists associate the Carpathians with snow and skiing. Of course, this mountain system is replete with winter resorts, where you can learn trails of varying difficulty, enjoy wonderful views, taste delicious dishes and hot mulled wine. The ski season continues in the Carpathians until the end of March. And in some resorts where snow cover is supported by guns, and until the end of April. But this does not mean that with the end of the ski season, life in the region freezes. An excellent alternative to skiing is an active holiday in the Carpathians in the summer. What are the reasons to visit the region at this time, when most tourists flock to the beaches to the sea coasts? There are several of them. Firstly, it’s cheap. Summer in the Carpathians is considered the "low season". Accommodation prices are falling compared to winter. Secondly, a long daylight gives you the opportunity to make mountain trips - both on foot, cycling or on horseback. The Carpathians are rich in berries and mushrooms, fragrant medicinal herbs. Bathing in mountain lakes is also possible only in the summer. Well and sights. Especially a lot of them in Transcarpathia. Ancient medieval castles are good to see in the warm season.
Where are the Carpathians
This is a huge mountain system. It extends over the territory of several states at once. A massive horseshoe stretches the Carpathians from Ukraine, through the south of Poland and the north of Slovakia (here this part of the mountain system is called the Tatra Mountains), and then turn south, occupying most of Romania. Ranges have their own characteristics. In this article we will describe the summer holidays in the Carpathians in Ukraine, since it remains the cheapest and still does not involve obtaining a visa - only a passport is enough. Do not worry about the tense political situation. Residents of Western Ukraine are extremely hospitable, although they like to support the myth of their supposedly “Russophobia”. In this country, mountains extend in the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Transcarpathian regions. Ethnic nationalities inhabit the slopes: Hutsuls, fights and Rusyns (not to be confused with Russians). In addition, Hungarians, Romanians, Slovaks, Germans compactly live in Transcarpathia.
Where to relax in the Ukrainian Carpathians
The vast region gives everyone the opportunity to choose their own leisure activities. Would you like a relaxing stay? Then come to the sunlit valleys of Transcarpathia. Low mountains with soft outlines, hot climate, mineral waters and plenty of entertainment (for example, wine and cheese tours) are provided for you. If you want to improve your health, then the best sanatoriums are working for you on both sides of the Carpathians. Truskavets with its healing water "Naftusey" is the most famous health resort of Galicia. “Shayan”, “Polyana Kvasova” - a visiting card of Transcarpathia. In the mountain village of Kvasy, near Rakhiv, there is a sanatorium with unique radon baths. The best places to stay in the Carpathians in the summer are located in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. A real Mecca for lovers of mountain hikes are Yaremche, Tatars, Yablunitsa, Polyanitsa. Behind the pass, but even before the Danube lowland, on the southern slopes of the Carpathians, mountain resorts such as Yasinya and Kobyletska Polyana were located. And it is completely impossible to pass over the blue pearl of the land - Lake Synevyr. For historical sights go to the small towns of Transcarpathia - Mukachevo, Khust, Vinogradovo, Tyachiv.
Where to stay
Many travel agencies in Ukraine and even abroad offer permits to this region. In the Carpathians there is no shortage of sanatoriums, boarding houses and recreation centers. In the ski resorts, mini-hotels of family type work. They take vacationers in the summer. Many private estates give their details to travel agencies. So firms can send their customers to such family-run mini-hotels. Green tourism in Ukraine is extremely developed. People really appreciate staying in real farms where fresh milk and sheep cheese are served for breakfast . Directories are issued annually and pages on the Internet are updated for lovers of green tourism. Private vacation in the Carpathians in the summer is also good because you can provide yourself with inexpensive and quality food. You can arrange with the owners for a full board or for breakfast and dinner.
The mountains are calling!
If your goal is to conquer the peaks of the Ukrainian Carpathians, then it is better to choose places for recreation that are located near Goverla and Petros. With them begins the highest Montenegrin ridge in the region. Goverla is easiest to approach from the side of Vorokhta. To conquer Petros, you need to start your path with Yasyn, Keveliv or Kvasov. A very interesting route along the long mountain Bliznitsa. To easily climb its two peaks, and on the way and swim in the Lake of Love, it is best to live on the Svidovets ridge, in the Dragobrat ski resort. True, hotels in this wonderful place are quite expensive, and food too. Therefore, if you are interested in a vacation in the Carpathians in the summer at low prices, you should stay in large villages where a large offer and mutual competition reduce prices. It is possible to recommend Yasyn, Yaremche, Vorokhta.
Family holidays in the Carpathians with children in the summer
Of course, you can’t take a small child to the top of Hoverla, Petros, Gorgan or the Hamster. But in the Carpathians there are many other, easier routes. A little to the south of Yaremche begins the hiking trail of Dovbush, which even a small child can do. Children will also be interested in looking at the Probiy Falls on the Prut River. There is a small wildlife sanctuary in Yaremche where wild boars, roe deer, and royal deer live. Semi-tamed animals go to the fence so that people feed them. An excellent summer vacation with children in the Carpathians awaits you in Bukovel. This ski resort is considered No. 1 in Ukraine. Tourism infrastructure here is better established, wherever. Several chairlifts continue to operate in the summer. Bukovel has equipped several mountain lakes. There you can not only swim, but also ride on the "bananas" and kites. Very well there is a children's rest. There is a leisure center and various attractions.
Rest in the Carpathians in the summer: private sector
Hard to believe, but only twenty years ago, finding housing in the mountains was difficult. Only local residents of such health resorts as Truskavets, Morshin, Shayan and Beregovo handed over their homes to visitors. Now everything has changed, and the mountain people of the Carpathians will massively convert their housing into mini-hotels. The benefit of such entrepreneurship is strongly encouraged by the state. Therefore, now even those vacationers who come to the Carpathians for rehabilitation do not settle in sanatoriums, but in a cheaper and more comfortable private sector. Health resorts sell "coursework" - a set of procedures that can be performed on their basis. Private hotels can be of several types. For fans of green tourism, authentic Hutsul manor houses are created. They are built in remote places, on the mountain slopes, in the style of folk architecture. In the villages there are ordinary cottages with gardens, parking lots, sometimes with a pool. Ski resorts are built in the style of alpine chalets. Sometimes the owners rent apartments with a full set of dishes and a kitchen. And sometimes full board is offered.
Wellness rest
The healing waters of Truskavets, Skhidnitsa, Morshyn, Shayan, Polyana Kvasova, Beregova thermal pools, Kvasov's radon baths are all very difficult to list! When choosing a health resort, carefully check the profile of the institution. Carpathian specializes in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Water “Naftusya” is very much appreciated in this regard. But in Truskavets, on the basis of local sanatoriums, other ailments are also cured, in particular, related to injuries and pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. Several years ago, a new well was punched in Beregovo and the Zhavoronok thermal pool was opened. The complex of hot pools in the village is gaining more and more popularity. Kosyno, at the very border with Hungary, where you will have an unforgettable vacation in the Carpathians in the summer. In the village of Kvasy, a unique source of Burkut beats, having only two analogues in the world (in German Baden-Baden and French La Bourbul). You can settle directly in the sanatorium "Mountain Tisa" or in the private sector. In addition to treatment with baths and mineral water, here you can take a course of azerocerotherapy.
Cognitive rest
The Carpathian region is very interesting from an ethnographic point of view. Hutsuls and fights do not resemble the lifestyle of plain Ukrainians. You will be amazed by the architectural style of wooden churches and old huts. Rest in the Carpathians in the summer will be incomplete if you do not see a holiday of seeing the shepherds to the high mountain pastures - meadows. This event takes place in early June and is accompanied by colorful processions and concerts. Transhumance sheep breeding is a trade that is now being revived in the Ukrainian Carpathians. In early summer, shepherds with sheep go for alpine rays for lush grass to return only with the onset of the first cold weather. And then cheese festival takes place everywhere in the region (in Transcarpathia it coincides with the celebration of young wine). The old wooden Strutkovskaya church can be seen in the village of Yasinya. And for souvenirs in the Hutsul style, go to Yaremche.
Historical sights
The highlands of the Carpathians became inhabited relatively recently - from the seventeenth century. The villages Yasynya, Mikulychin, Tatarov, Yaremche developed on the site of temporary camps of shepherds. But the foothills were inhabited a long time ago. A summer vacation with children in the Carpathians will become more rich in memories if you go to medieval castles. Especially in excellent condition is now Palanok in Mukachevo. Visiting this fortress, whose defense from the Austrians was led by the courageous woman Ilona Zrini, will be an excellent pastime for the whole family. Not far from Mukachev there is a hunting castle of counts Schönborn. Now there is a sanatorium "Carpathians". In Khust, the ruins of a ninth-century castle are visible on a rock. And halfway between Uzhgorod and Mukachev, in the village of Seredinny, you can see the ruins of the Templars.
For nature lovers
The pristine beech forests in the vicinity of Kvass are on the UNESCO list. If you walk along the peaks of the Montenegrin ridge from Goverla to Pop Ivan with its observatory, you do not have enough strength, you can observe the local beauties from the carpathian tram. It follows the ancient narrow gauge railway, laid back during the reign of Austria-Hungary, from the village of Vygoda (Ivano-Frankivsk region) along the Mizunka river. But, in principle, the local nature is so beautiful that even traveling in a regular train between the points of Yaremche-Rakhov can be equated to an excursion. Forests are rich in berries and mushrooms. On the meadows, you can collect herbs and blueberries. To live as close to nature as possible, any recreation center is suitable. In the Carpathians in the summer you can swim in the mountain rivers. For lovers of adrenaline rafting is organized.
For lovers of comfort
Tourism infrastructure is developing in the region from year to year. There were a lot of boarding houses, recreation centers and just private hotels, where it is proposed to relax in the Carpathians in summer with a pool. In Yaremche, this is Rubel, Romantic SPA Hotel and Ursa Major, in Gorbany in Yablunytsia, Krasnaya Polyana in Polyanitsa, Khutor Solonets and Karpatska Vezha villa in Migovo, and Shayan - Chervona Ruta and Ernie Laz. Especially a lot of luxury hotels in the resort of Bukovel. Suffice it to mention the five-star Radisson Blue Hotel.
Reviews
How do tourists characterize summer holidays in the Carpathians? Reviews say that the only thing that can overshadow your vacation is the weather. Therefore, before leaving for the Carpathians, you need to familiarize yourself with the forecast for the coming days. The rest of the infrastructure for tourists here is wonderfully developed. Finding housing in the summer is easy, because the main influx is observed during the ski season.