Touring Chernobyl 25 Years Later

Ukraine tends to be far from the beaten path, even for Eastern Europe; however if you can allocate the time its well worth the visit. Kiev, the capital, is a fantastic city with good night life. And you’ll need a full day to venture north to Chernobyl, where the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history took place on April 26th, 1986.

Book a tour in advance, as you need to provide your information and get clearance to enter the restricted area. It seems that every tour is different. You can spend days wandering around the abandoned city of Pripyat where 50,000 people once lived. The main attractions we saw were the town center, amusement park, hotel, rec center including full size pool, and elementary school. There is also a “vehicle graveyard” where all the emergency vehicles used in the evacuation of Pripyat and its surrounding areas are now kept. Nothing is allowed to leave the contaminated area; you’ll be scanned twice for radiation on your way out, so be sure not to get too much mud on your shoes.

If you’re wondering where to book the tour, try http://www.ukrainianweb.com/chernobyl_ukraine.htm, this is where we booked ours and they were great. Cost varies depending on group size, but you’re looking at somewhere around $150 per person, which includes transportation.

The tour is eerie, however the experience is well worth it. Either before or after be sure to visit the Chernobyl Museum in Kiev.

See below for a video montage of the tour

Chernobyl Pictures

Chernobyl Reactor #4 Map