School trips

An amusement park near Lviv where even a simple stroll turns out fun. A net park, enormous trampolines, slides whose sheer look takes your breath away. Then the animated dinosaurs, startlingly lifelike thanks to their sounds and movements. Swings, a rope park, fun for every taste. Nobody will have time to get bored.

We start with the Wonder Train: it leaves the town hall on Rynok Square and runs through the historic city while the tour plays over the speakers. Then — the Lviv Coffee Mine or the Chocolate Workshop.

After lunch we call in at the Science Museum: 2,200 sq m of space, 100 wildly varied interactive exhibits, themed zones for water, air, optics, acoustics, electricity, robots, Formula 1 and VR. In the robot section you can talk to RoboThespian. He answers questions in several languages and, if you ask, will sing or dance.

The “Ostvytsia” historical reconstruction park near Rivne. It offers a ride on a drakkar — an ancient longboat — a treat from an old-world oven, a clay-modelling masterclass or a quest about mythical creatures.

Then take your pick: Rivne Zoo or the “Alpaca Home” petting zoo. Here guests can feed fluffy alpacas, dwarf goats, rabbits, guinea pigs and peacocks.

The narrow-gauge line goes back to Austro-Hungarian times; today it is a sightseeing route in an open-top carriage. Along the Mizunka and Svicha rivers, with an audio guide and a musical accompaniment, we ride a scenic track to the rapids and the photo spot. The whole riverside of Vyhoda village is one big photo spot, with giant armchairs, swings and installations. After a million shots — lunch in a riverside cabin. Last of all the Vyhoda Narrow-Gauge Heritage Centre, an interactive museum where every exhibit can be touched.

Three days in one of the highest districts of Transcarpathia. On day one, the cliff-top fortress town of Tustan and a lunch of traditional Boyko cooking.

On day two, Lake Synevyr and Kolochava, a village with ten museums: the “Old Village” skansen, the “Árpád Line” about the Second World War, the “Kolochava Narrow-Gauge Railway”.

And on day three a chairlift carries us up Mount Hymba. From the top you can see the whole Borzhava ridge, sweeping in an arc from south-east to north-west. We come down to the Shypit waterfall along the “Crooked Ways” trail or by jeep, and call at the souvenir market to say goodbye.

A four-day tour: one hotel night (economy) or two (comfort).

Sumptuous Budapest on both banks of the Danube, aristocratic Vienna with its palaces and treasure collections. Heritage masterpieces or gems of the present — Buda Castle, the Fisherman's Bastion, the Vienna Opera, the Hofburg and Belvedere, Hundertwasser House, the Habsburg treasury and the New York Café — one of the loveliest cafés in the world. Everyone finds something of their own.

A 3–4 day tour: one hotel night (economy) or two (comfort).

A tour through the maze of Old Town streets, Wenceslas Square, Charles Bridge and the largest fortress in the Czech Republic — Prague Castle. We finish with a boat trip on the Vltava or national dishes in one of the city's medieval taverns. We also visit the famous Dancing House and the John Lennon Wall — named for the frontman of the legendary band The Beatles.

Mystical Romania enchants grown-ups and children alike. First the Salina Turda salt mine, 100 metres deep, the one they call underground outer space.

Then Cantacuzino Castle in Bușteni: neo-Romanesque, in the Romanian Carpathians, where the series “Wednesday” was filmed. And finally Dracula's castle, one of Europe's best-known medieval landmarks. The legend of the vampire count has made it the most visited site in the country.

Wrocław on the Oder: with a “children's” guide, the kids learn the true story of how the dwarfs appeared and the legends of the city and its people, and the panorama from the Sky Tower deck stays with everyone.

In Berlin we find out why the bear is the city's symbol; how Berlin overtook Venice for sheer number of bridges; and plenty of facts and stories about the Berlin Wall. We also visit one of Europe's oldest zoos, opened in 1844, and Germany's largest natural history museum, whose collection holds over 30 million exhibits and the world's largest mounted dinosaur skeleton.

A one-day tour to the Cheremske Nature Reserve — the first reserve in Volyn and a unique corner of Volyn Polissia. On the way, the Okonski Springs and a one-exhibit museum — the dugout canoe in Manevychi.

Inside: endless forests, dugouts of partisans and of those hiding from the occupying forces in the Second World War, a watchtower over the whole reserve, a long wooden walkway to an island in the middle of the marsh.

Lunch in the open air — on the island, beside Lake Trosne, or made from trout bought at the Okonski Springs and cooked at a little forest lodge near Kolky.

We stay in a hotel on the bank of the Ternava river. We visit Khotyn Fortress and hear the stories and legends that come with it. Then on to Bakota, to find out why a village flooded long ago is called the Ukrainian Atlantis. The main viewpoint opens onto a panorama of the Bakota bay, and the green trail to the cave monastery starts from the same spot. The oldest finds here date to the 2nd millennium BC.

The next day, Kamianets-Podilskyi Fortress — one of the “7 Wonders of Ukraine”, on the UNESCO tentative list — and the town's historic centre. We also visit the “Castles of Ukraine” miniatures museum, where our own Lutsk Castle has a place of honour.

Past and present, the tastes and scents of the Carpathians in one tour.

On day one we visit the Underhill Earth History Park in the Ivano-Frankivsk region — a themed museum about the natural eras of the Earth, with a planetarium, play and sports grounds, a food court and a souvenir shop. Lunch in the restaurant next door.

On day two Bukovel awaits. Besides the sightseeing lifts, there is the “Hutsul Land” ethno-park on the life of Carpathian highlanders, the VODA spa complex, the Lake of Youth and Ukraine's tallest Ferris wheel, 45 metres high. And the brave can try the extreme rides — zipline or Bike Zip.

A one-day trip for children and parents. We start with a show by the cleverest mammals of all at the “Oskar” dolphinarium. Since 2015 it has been the real jewel of the town, and the dolphins and fur seals – favourites of the whole region.

Later, lunch on Mount Bukovytsia. This is a modern ski resort in the Eastern Beskids, next to Truskavets and Skhidnytsia. We ride the chairlift up for the panorama of Truskavets, Boryslav and Drohobych. And, to finish, the "Limpopo" zoo in Medenychi.

A two-day route for those who love history.

On day one we visit any one of the Ternopil castles you choose: Kremenets, Vyshnivets or Zbarazh. Then a boat trip on the Ternopil Pond and lunch with a view of the water. After that the gypsum cave of Verteba on the left bank of the Seret — the only large cave settled three times over by the Trypillia culture, its labyrinths still yielding new scientific discoveries. Overnight in a hotel complex with a pool.

On day two we photograph the panorama of Zalishchyky: over a century ago this was a popular resort, with an express train running here all the way from Warsaw. Then the Dzhuryn waterfall, part of the Dniester Canyon. We finish the tour with a walk around Chortkiv, an old town of religious buildings and mysterious legends.