Day 1

• the Dytiatky checkpoint – the entrance to the Exclusion Zone, at 30km distance from the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant;

• the village of Zalissia with abandoned households, shops and other buildings – one of 188 settlements that were fully evacuated after the accident;

• the Leliv checkpoint – the entrance to the core of the Zone at 10km distance from the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant;

• the village of Kopachi only 4 km away from the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The whole settlement was turned into a burial site because of contamination. One of the few buildings that were left is the local kindergarten with children’s bedrooms, toys and books still inside;

• the machine-tractor station – the graveyard of the contaminated agricultural vehicles including tractors, trucks and an old trolleybus, which is used as an overnight stop by stalkers;

• the Red Forest – a place of the first and worst radioactive fallout. Crossing the so-called western trace of contamination on board of the bus;

•  the concrete-reloading unit – the essential point for the Sarcophagus construction in 1986;

• the Yaniv railway station – the graveyard of the contaminated railroad passenger cars and locomotives at 1 km distance from Prypiat-town;

• the ghost-town of Prypiat – extended program. About 4 hours of the walk for the in-depth exploration of the abandoned Soviet Paradise town, built especially for the ChNPP workers and fully evacuated after the accident.

Exploration of the most famous places in Prypiat including the Amusement Park with the Ferris Wheel that was never launched because of the accident, the Polissia Hotel, the Town Hall, the Palace of Culture Energetic, the central square, the main stadium and other iconic locations.

Visiting off-the-beaten-path places: the swimming pool “Lazurnyi”, the “Jupiter” factory, local schools and kindergartens, the river port and the most prestigious Prypiat café at the quay, the hospital, where the firefighters and NPP workers were brought at night of the accident,  and other sites; 

Attention! Entering buildings in Prypiat is officially prohibited because of their poor condition.

• hotel check-in and dinner in Chornobyl town which is the current administrative center of the Exclusion Zone. That is the only settlement of the Zone where people are officially allowed to live. The level of radiation background is the same as in Kyiv: normal.

Day 2

• the radar Duga-1 well-known as “Russian Woodpecker” and “Hidden Eye of Moscow” – the over-the-horizon radiolocation station that was spying on the USA from Chornobyl woods before the accident. About 2 hours for exploring the site of the giant antennas and a walk through the secret soviet military town Chornobyl-2 that was built especially for maintaining the radar and horizon tracking of the ballistic missiles’ launch;

• the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant –sightseeing drive around the decommissioned power plant and stop at the observation point only 250 m away from the damaged reactor 4, that is now double covered by the Old Sarcophagus (Object Shelter) and the Arch (New Safe Confinement);

• the memorial "Life for Life” in front of the administrative building of the ChNPP;

• unfinished reactors 5 and 6 with half-constructed cooling towers of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant 3rd stage;

• the town of Chornobyl – an exploration of the capital of the Exclusion Zone. Walk through the city center: the Memorial "Wormwood Star” with the Alley of Sorrow, the monument to Lenin, the local post-office and other operating facilities of the town. The St. Elijah Orthodox Christian Church and the river port with abandoned radioactive ships and steamers on the Prypiat river. Discovering Jewish history of Chornobyl-town: a synagogue, the Jewish cemetery, a monument to the Holocaust victims, the grave of tsadik Menachem Naum of Chernobyl (Tver) – a place for Hasidic pilgrimage from all over the world;

• the memorial “To Those who Saved the World” – the monument erected by the local firefighters in memory of first responders to the nuclear accident; 

• the robots exhibition – the open-air demonstration of transport vehicles and robots that were used in 1986-87 clean-up activities;

•  visiting self-settlers – the residents of the Exclusion Zone.

You can find all these locations on the map of the Chornobyl Zone.

Please keep in mind that there can be some changes in the route due to weather conditions and/or restrictions from the Governmental institutions.

To spend more time on the chosen locations or to visit even more of the interesting places of the Zone please book a private tour or a multi-day tour (3-5 days).

Day 1

7:30-7:50 a.m. – meeting in Kyiv

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*meeting place on the map*

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! Simplify your way to the meeting point and order our transfer – pick-up/drop-off service.

Please, be in time for registration and don’t forget your PASSPORT.

Your guide will be waiting for you near the bus with a radiation sign and a sign of a 2-days tour under the windshield. The guide will double-check your passport data to make sure that all the details are correct and correspond to information in your tours’ electronic ticket. Please, pay the  remaining cost of your trip and welcome on board.

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8:00 a.m. SHARP – departure from Kyiv

 ! Please, be in time. In case of no-show the trip prepayment (25%) is not refundable.

The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is about 120 km away. It takes up to 2 hours of a drive (depending on traffic) on board a comfortable bus with air conditioning or a comfortable private car. 

On your way to the Zone you will review the detailed itinerary of the trip and receive safety instructions. The guide will be happy to answer all your questions regarding the trip, radiation and nuclear accident. You will also be offered to watch documentaries about Chornobyl accident.  

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10 a.m. approximately – arrival at the Chornobyl Zone

We arrive at the Dytiatky checkpoint which is the official entrance to the Exclusion Zone. Take your time at the local information centers for tea/coffee/snacks while the guide will be taking care of the paperwork needed for the visit. That is your chance to buy unique souvenirs in memory of the trip and everything you may need during the trip: from a Geiger Counter to paper tissues.

After passport control conducted by the local police, we begin the tour inside the Exclusion Zone. We drive between locations on board of the bus and walk on-site by foot – to explore the locations.

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! Please, note: in a 2-day tour we don’t have a scheduled lunch in a canteen on a first day, so please have some water and sandwiches with you for a bite on the way.

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6 p.m. approximately – hotel check-in and dinner in Chornobyl town hotel

We stay overnight and have dinner at one of the Chornobyl town hotels.

You can pre-order a hearty and ecologically-clean dinner, breakfast and lunch for a total price. That is a traditional Ukrainian meal made of ecologically clean products. It is not included in the cost of the trip and is optional. Please, pre-order your dinner in advance.

If you are a vegetarian, please inform CHORNOBYL TOUR manager about your eating habits when booking the trip.

Day 2

8.30 a.m. – breakfast in Chornobyl town hotel

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2.00 p.m. approximately – lunch

We will visit the local canteen #19, that’s serving the ChNPP employees and visitors.  

It is not included in the cost of the trip and is optional.

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6.00 p.m. approximately – departure from the Chornobyl Zone

On our way from the Zone we go through radiation control twice to make sure that we are completely clean and are not contaminated by radiation (don’t have any radioactive particles on our clothes or shoes).

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8:00 p.m. approximately – arrival back in Kyiv

Must have in the Zone:

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PASSPORT (not ID) – it should be the one that you specified in the application for the trip! It is impossible to enter the Zone without a passport. 

* CHERNOBYL TOUR shall not be liable for your failure to enter the Exclusion zone because of the wrong passport number / name / date of birth / nationality or wrong passport on the day of the trip.

CLOSED SHOES – boots or sneakers, which fully cover your feet without fancy openings, please. 

CLOSED CLOTHES – trousers (no shorts, no knee-breeches, no skirts) and a jacket or a shirt with long sleeves. Your clothes should fully cover your legs and arms without fancy openings, please. 

! It is PROHIBITED to wear any open type clothing and footwear in the Zone.

To make sure your trip is comfortable and enjoyable, we advise you to:

• have comfortable shoes and clothes as we are going to walk a lot on-site 

• check the weather forecast and be prepared for rain or shine – dress warmly for freezing temperatures, have a hat for hot weather, waterproof shoes and spare socks for rain, snow or dew on the grass 

• have a repellent for mosquito season 

• have some wet wipes or paper tissues

• have some sandwiches and bottled water with you to have a bite on the way

To see the invisible – book a DOSIMETER

In order to fully understand and feel the most special matter of the Chornobyl zone – namely, radiation – we highly recommend you to rent the reliable personal Geiger Counter. Just click on the checkbox "Dosimeter" when you are ordering the tour.

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"To go to the Chornobyl zone without a dosimeter is like going to the usual tour with your eyes blindfolded."

 - Sergii Mirnyi, CHORNOBYL TOUR founder, radiation reconnaissance officer.

Limitations:

Legal issues
No weapons (even with a legal permit) are allowed within the territory of the Exclusion zone.
Visitors under the influence of alcohol or drugs are not allowed to visit the site.

Age limit
According to Ukrainian law every visitor of the Exclusion zone should be over the age of 18. No underage visitors will be admitted under any circumstances. Notarized parental consent or even their personal presence in the trip do not change this rule.

Almost there?
Meanwhile, you still can see the Chornobyl zone! Get an unforgettable helicopter tour or plane tour to see the Exclusion zone from the skies!