I’ve never quite been on a tour as brilliant, exciting and informative as this! We had booked the trip well in advance after a friend came back and highly recommended it! I had also avoided watching the TV show just to be on the safe side. Our tour guide, Ada, was a credit to the company she works for. Her knowledge was amazing and Ada really knew her stuff! She was patient, very talkative and very friendly. She answered all of the questions I had with a great amount of detail. I also want to give a big shoutout to our driver for the day, Anatoli. We found out some amazing stuff about him on our way back (I won’t ruin the surprise for anybody going who may have him as a driver)! I would recommend this tour to absolutely anyone and if ever I find myself back in Kyiv, I would go and do it all again!

This tour was my 50th birthday present from my lovely 'other half', she knew that I had always been fascinated with Chernobyl having remembered the whole event from my teens. As a photographer, Chernobyl opened up incredible opportunities to capture images from places that most people will never see. Firstly, our guide, Irina - Irina's knowledge and passion for this tour was incredible. She had worked at Chernobyl and her husband grew up there before the evacuation, so her insight into the events that actually happened are based on personal experience. Irina speaks perfect English (and other languages I believe) so we were fully able to converse and appreciate all the facts and vast information that she shared with us. Seeing all of the sights was incredible, but it was made memorable thanks to Irina and determination to throw her heart and soul into the tour. Secondly, our driver, Andrei - Andrei was a 6ft 5in Ukranian ex-special forces monster......... and he was the perfect gentleman. Andrei did not speak English, but it didn't matter as we all did numerous hand gestures and, where relevant, Irina would translate. Andrei ensured that the long drive was comfortable and we stopped for regular comfort breaks along the way. Whenever we stopped, Andrei would be the first out of the vehicle to open the door my my partner and he was 100% focused on making sure we were safe whilst enjoying everything. He also has eyes like a hawk, he would spot any wildlife long before we could, he was a big part of a truly memorable day. The tour - What can I say, I am still blown away 10 days later and will be for years to come. Everything was very well organised from start to finish and Irina kept up on track so that we could see everything........ this can be a challenge when dragging around a photographer (me) who spots a million opportunities at every stop! I cannot say enough good things about this tour, but if Chernobyl is on your list of things to do then these wonderful people will not disappoint. This whole experience is certainly a lifetime highlight for me and Irina and Andrei made it truly memorable. Thank you :-)

So I imagine everybody who's taken one of these tours recently has seen the HBO series depicting the events, read up some more; explored online whether you can go, is it safe etc; just like me. That's exactly what I did, I found these guys online; compared to other operators, but couldn't find a better looking tour or itinerary. So yesterday was the day - I'd been excited for time; and came back tired, and blown away by the experience. Tours are made by the guide - at the end of the day - the website can be as hot as you like but it's all down to the enthusiasm and knowledge of the guide and Vicky was all of that, and more. You could tell she was absolutely immersed, and wanted to share, she is credit to this tour co! Even the two hour drive up was full of info - her sharing the itinerary, going through the health and safety aspects - making it captivating, formal but fun, the 'battle for chernobyl' video shown and pointing out everything along the way. The formalities through the checkpoints were explained and made easy, the guiding around everywhere safe and confident, the hot spots pointed out, and the stories all made it a perfect day for me. I'd do this again; but extend to touring inside the plant - I'm really interested in this sort of stuff and think I've developed a passion for dark tourism - tourism that shows you real life, stuff that shouldn't be shoved under the carpet. Thanks for helping me ticking off one of my bucket list experiences! Thanks for a great day with great people and give Vicky and the driver my regards.