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Does anyone have experience near Verkhovyna and Carpathian National Park?

We have a fishing trip planned for late spring. Right not the war issue could swing either way so I am not going to worry too much about that. I have a few acquaintances in Lviv and Kiev and they are very positive about the trip, safety, etc. Besides, I have a side in the war and I think my treating the country as normal and spending my money supports that side.

So lets concentrate on the people and the experiences. This part of the world looks stunning and the fishing looks pretty much "okay" which is good enough. Has anyone tried to cross the border into Romania or into Slovakia or Hungary? Any issues or problems. We fly into Lviv, then drive to Verkhovyna. We will be moving from Verkhovyna after about a week to Kosice so that border crossing is the one I am most concerned about. From there we know great fishing grounds that we have visited in the past that lay a little further west.

Of course if things get ugly I want to be able to run from Verkhovyna to the Romanian border.

@Fred

I hear nothing but good about Lviv. it's been on the radar for years but I don't like to spend hours and hours going to a dead end destination unless there is some great event. So I have been researching and plotting the great fishing adventure so Lviv would be in the course of events and not just a far away point to hit and bounce back from. Arrive Lviv, then on to the Carpathians to fish, then into Slovakia for more fishing and a couple of castles that I missed on earlier trips and then on to Budapest (sort of expected I guess).

@Fred, I think you add a lot to everything you comment on, and I appreciate your input. I finally got around to research your reference. Pretty interesting. Thank you for the point in the right direction.

Posted by
4637 posts

James, you will be on the other side of Ukraine, hundreds of miles from the war zone. Crossing borders into EU should not be a problem with an American passport. Check if rental car could be an issue. Verkhovina is a mountainous area. Verkhovina translated into English means highland. It was part of Czechoslovakia between world wars. I haven't been in Verchovina or Carpathian National Park personally, my son was. I heard and also saw on his pictures that that are very beautiful areas.

Posted by
20023 posts

Ilja you are always a good source. Thanks. I wasn't worried about the ability to cross the border, but the time to do so. I have heard of delays of 5 or 6 hours while cars are searched. Not worried about rental cars. I will hire the transport. May end up hiring on both sides and walking across the border (picture middle aged man and young wife in fishing waders with poles in hand crossing the check point). Also not worried about the war unless Put in makes good on a recent comment that he could be in Kiev in 3 weeks if he wanted.

This is what I found elsewhere on the web and its a little disturbing:

The main obstacle is indeed the waiting time at the border which is
usually depends on the traffic. I know a person from Prague who
crosses Slovakia-Ukraine border (on his private car) at least 10 times
per year. He says it is very unpredictable - from 1,5 hour to 10
hours....

Which is why hiring to the border then getting out and walking to the other side, then having someone waiting sounds appealing.

Ilja, your next post is correct, Putin going to Kiev would be stupid. If he did that the world would be "outraged", they would freeze his Delta Skymiles Card and give him a good round of public condemnation.

Posted by
4637 posts

He probably could be in Kiev even sooner but it would be very stupid. Putin is coldly calculating former KGB agent but I don't think he is stupid. Besides Kiev is still many hundreds miles away. Your plans are safe.

Posted by
14922 posts

On that area of Czechoslovakia in the inter-war period that was in anglophone historiography known as "Sub-Carpato Ruthenia," or just " Ruthenia" for short.

Posted by
14922 posts

@ James...You should find Lviv interesting. A good friend of mine over 20 years ago in 1992 went to Lviv when he was a grad student, showed up with his US passport, no problems even back then. It used to be called Lemberg, the 4th major city and a province capital in Austria-Hungary. That's why he went to check out/explore old Lemberg.