What to do while in Ukraine

Situated 70 km from the Polish border in western Ukraine, Lviv is a vibrant cultural and historical center famous for its picturesque old town and easy-going coffee-house culture. The area around Ploshcha Rynok (Market Square) is a UNESCO world heritage site, its cobbled streets and stunning architecture a proud symbol of the city's rich past. Lviv, has long been a focal point for tourists, whose experience will now be enhanced by the investments made in infrastructure in the build-up to UEFA EURO 2012. While the crowning glory is the newly constructed Area Lviv, with a tournament capacity of 30,000, fans will feel the impact of regeneration work throughout their stay - from the new terminal building at the airport links and excellent hotel accommodation. And aside from the stadium itself, there will be few stunning places from which to watch a match than the beautiful surrounds of the official fan zone in front of the Lviv Opera on Svobody Square.

CITY: LVIV Population:  735,000 Area:  171km² Altitude:  324m above sea level. Lviv is a mysterious, but charming city for Ukrainians, who are attracted by its European atmosphere, and for Europeans, who feel and see the city’s authentic national colouring. It lies just 70km from the Polish border and has a coffee-house culture more akin to Austria and Hungary. And while other cityscapes were whitewashed by Soviet rule, Lviv's colour continued to shine through. Standing between eastern and central Europe, possessing a great tourism potential, the Lviv region is certainly attractive economically. Motto:   Open to the world More than 160,000 students study here. The city contains 60 establishments for higher education. THINGS TO SEE Lviv encompasses 55% of all Ukrainian monuments of cultural significance and 1.5 million museum artifacts. If anywhere sums up Lviv it is the beautiful Rynok Square (Market Square), which has been the centre of political, public, cu...