Chernobyl City Tour

Everyone has heard of Chernobyl. When reactor number 4 exploded in 1986 it caused the worst nuclear disaster ever, contaminating huge areas of land with deadly radiation resulting in an emergency evacuation of all the towns in the vicinity. But that was over 30 years ago, and today things are different. What was once a poisoned wasteland has slowly but surely recovered, and after being declared safe to visit in 2009, the towns that surround the site are now attracting curious travellers from all over the world. Without human inhabitants for three decades, Pripyat is now a ghost town almost entirely reclaimed by nature, with trees growing up through abandoned fairgrounds, schools and homes, with lush greenery covering every surface. Wildlife that has not been seen in the area for over a century such as lynx, European Bison and even the rare Przewalski’s horse wander freely along abandoned roads where cars and buses once travelled. The area is especially popular with photographers, eager to capture the strange post-apocalyptic scenes.

There are very few places in the world where you can actually walk through a nuclear disaster zone, and more than that take a trip back in time. Soviet era propaganda can still be seen displayed on walls and Soviet Union signs adorn many buildings, giving visitors a glimpse back into the not too distant past. Pripyat was once a thriving town called home by many people, with nearly 50,000 inhabitants at one time. The majority of the population were operating staff, technicians and builders who worked at the nuclear plant and lived in the town with their families, and because Pripyat was a ‘new town’ everything was built to the latest standards, with top of the range hospitals and schools. A local band called Pulsar used to play regularly and were hugely popular. It is difficult to imagine how the post-apocalyptic ghost town seen today was once a brand new thriving community, where the average age was just 26 years old. The atmosphere today in what were once such popular sites like the fairground – complete with derelict ferris wheel – the local swimming pool, hotel and kindergarten is eerie. You can almost imagine what it must have been like to live there when the town was a buzz of young families and ambitious young engineers.

For many travellers visiting Kiev, just 2 hours to the south, Pripyat and the surrounding area makes for a fascinating, once in a lifetime experience. It is not called the Exclusion Zone for nothing, and the only way to gain access is as part of an organised tour. Chernobyl Tour is the most comprehensive, professional tour you can take, led by friendly and informed guides. There is a focus on education so each visitor leaves with a greater understanding of what caused the accident, what life was like before it and the devastating effect it had on the local community and for the whole of Ukraine.

The tour meets at 8.30am at the Monument of Grigory Skovoroda where your tour guide will check your passport and dress code. The adventure begins at 9am with the drive to Chernobyl, passing through Dytyaky checkpoint at the border of the 30km ‘Zone of Estrangement’. The next check point is at the 10km mark where we will then make a stop at the cooling channel to feed the fish (if the weather is warm enough). The tour then takes in a viewing of Reactor number 4 from a 300m distance, a stop at the Red Forest to view the wildlife, and then onto the town of Pripyat itself. We will visit the hotel, hospital, kindergarten, school, amusement park, swimming pool and other sights. It is back to Chernobyl for lunch to reflect on the morning’s activities, and then we will pass back through the checkpoint where this time we have our levels of radiation measured – though rest assured there is no danger in visiting the area just for the day. Arrive back into Kiev at around 6pm, with some fantastic memories of one of the most fascinating and unique places in the world.

Explore Chernobyl with Chernobyl City Tours