Times are weird. It is less than 8 month ago that I visited Ukraine. I never got around to write this review, before the war started. And now it feels like writing about a past gone by.

In the summer of 2021, I travelled across Europe from Hamburg to Bucharest and on to Suceava. I stayed in the European Union, wary of travel restrictions and being stuck in quarantine. As last stop, though, I crossed the border at Suceava into Ukraine. I have a fondness of stamps in my passport and stepping outside of the EU felt like an adventure. Chernivtsi was an obvious stop being across the border from Suceava. I had also read Juha's review. Canyon, castle and marshrutka sounded lik a winning combination.

The town is split in three parts: the new town (rather boring, but green), the old town across the canyon on a rocky hill and the castle on yet another rocky hill, all connected by bridges. The old town is bordered on both sides by rivers, creating a strong natural defensive position. The defensive position is augmented via plenty of fortifications. Best parts are on the western side of the old town. There are townhouses, garrisons and churches to accompany the old town.

The most touristy part is the castle, pictured by both Juha and Tsunami. Side note: I somehow lost my pictures of the place. The castle is big and when I visited a medieval fair was ongoing. It was quite popular with local tourists. Personally, I felt reminded of Pskov.

In WW2, Kamenets-Podilsk was the site of one of the first large scale executions of Jews. 23.600 Jews were killed by a German Einsatzgruppe in the Kamenets-Podilsk Massacre.

OUV

I share Juha's and Tsunami's opinion, that most European countries would have nominated Kamenets-Podilsk already. It is a nice fortification and castle plus old town and has a distinct Eastern European feel. Small caveat: The city was undergoing renovations at the time of my visit. I assumed Ukraine was preparing a nomination in earnest.

Getting There

Caveat: While the war is ongoing, the getting there bit section is a bit pointless. Hopefully, this information will become relevant again.

I visited as a day trip from Chernivtsi. The bus station in Chernivtsi is to the South of the city centre. You can take a local bus to get to the bus terminal. The schedule of the bus going to Kamjanez-Podilskyj isn't available online. I would recommend going early and waiting for the next bus. Or go the day prior and check the current time table.

In Kamjanez-Podilskyj, the bus station is in the new town (check google maps). From there, you have to walk 30min to get to the old town. Again, schedules are hard to get by, so just go to the station and hope and pray to catch a connection. On my return, major roadworks were ongoing and we spent one hour at least in a terrible traffic jam.