Family Trip to Ukraine

Be sure you have excellent insurance on the car you drive in Ukraine. The potholes have to be seen to be believed. Leave yourself tons of time. Even better: hire a car and driver.

Four nights in L'viv seems quite short to me by comparison to six days in the smaller towns. You'll have a high ratio of sitting-in-car time to actual sightseeing time in the small towns, and as far as I know there are no local tourist offices to provide assistance except in L'viv. I fear that part of the trip could be somewhat frustrating if it goes on for six days. I consider myself an adventurous traveler (and used to be semi-competent at Russian 45 years ago), but western Ukraine by bus was a challenge. You should expect nothing but pit toilets at roadside rest stops, but all that I saw were staffed and clean.

As of May/June 2018 most ATMs in Ukraine charged fees, but with persistence one could find one that was free.

Funny, 4 nights would be bit long for me in Lviv. Next I would stay in Chernivsti and make a day trip to Kamyanets. I would also fly to Budapest after a night in Kyiv, but that's just me

Thank you for your replies, acraven and James E.

I wanted to further explain my choice of spending 3 nights each in smaller towns. This is a pace we’ve enjoyed in the past. Travel with children can be slow, tedious, frustrating, and exhausting if we move around too much. It is much more enjoyable to stay in one place longer and day trip to nearby attractions. We like to have plenty of flexible time because we don’t want to be stressed about seeing a certain amount of attractions. If something happens (illness, exhaustion, kids are tired of constantly being on the move, etc.) we can have a do nothing day without missing out on planned activities. Before we had children we traveled at a much faster pace; a RS pace. But now we can sit at an atmospheric cafe while sipping our espresso and truly enjoying each bite of a sublime pastry. Now we feel we actually come to know a place on a deeper level rather than just blitzing through, checking off a must-see list. Also, because of our slower pace our children actually enjoy travel and love learning about new cultures. They don’t feel like they’re just being shuffled around through a series of one night stays with parents who are more interested in covering ground than having a memorable family vacation.

steps off soap box

Does anyone have a recommendation for a driver/guide?

I love Lviv and can easily spend a week there - lots to see and do, not to mention all the great cafes. If you're traveling with small kids, you're wise not to rush from place to place.

In Lviv, your kiddos will probably enjoy the Lvivska Maisternia Prianikiv (Львівська майстерня пряників), Krakivska st, 14 - a gingerbread shop with a huge assortment of lavishly decorated cookies of all shapes and sizes. They have hands-on workshops.

There's also the Lvivska Maisternia Shokolady (Львівська майстерня шоколади), Serbska st, 3 - same idea but chocolate instead of gingerbread.

The open air Museum of Folk Architecture (Музей народної архітектури і побуту) is another good place to take kids.

A good place to eat with kids in Lviv would be Puzata Khata (Пузата хата), there are a couple of locations, cafeteria style with lots of choices, inexpensive and the line moves quickly. And if you tire of Ukrainian food, there is a chain called Celentano, also has several locations in Lviv, pasta and pizza, they have a children's play area.

It's been quite a while since I was in the Ivano-Frankivsk / Kolomiya / Chernivtsi area, the roads back then were dreadful. I have friends who recently rented a car at the Lviv airport and drove from Lviv to Chernivtsi and back, they said the roads are still not great - and they are experienced road-trippers.

As for where to stay, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomiya are only about 60 km apart, Ivano-Frankivsk is much bigger so might have a better selection of lodging, but I think Kolomiya has a charm if its own. From there it's very close to places like Kosiv (don't miss the market in Sat. morning), Yaremche (I've heard a lot of people say it's become a total tourist trap, but the location is gorgeous).

The fortress in Kamianets-Podilsky is definitely worth a visit, as is the one in Khotyn.