48 hours in Lviv

                 

  The scent of freshly brewed coffee wafting past grandiose cathedrals, derelict houses, mysterious wooden doors and romantic courtyards – Lviv’s occidental civility and decadent elegance come as a surprise even for connoisseurs of Eastern European travel gems. This western Ukrainian city is a polyglot and cosmopolite which preserves the architectural and culinary legacy of various states and empires that possessed it throughout the centuries.

With a good airport of its own and not far away from budget airports in neighbouring Poland, Lviv is one of Europe’s most intriguing weekend destinations – and it feels eons away from the troubles in Ukraine’s east.

Day 1

Morning

It might be wise to start your day in Lviv by losing some calories, because you’ll sure as hell gain more than you planned to while you’re here. There’s no better way to do it in Lviv than by climbing the City Hall tower located in the main square, Ploshcha Rynok. With a throng of city officials rushing to morning meetings, make your way through the corridors of power to the fourth floor, where you’ll find a steep spiral staircase leading to an observation deck at the very top of the Italianesque tower. From this vantage point, Lviv looks like a toy town teleported from your great-grandmother’s childhood.

For a well-deserved breakfast, head to Lvivski Plyatsky, just across the square. After the arduous climb you’ll feel no remorse for gorging on local classics: sweet and savoury strudels as well as syrniki (cottage-cheese cakes with raisins).After the meal, begin exploring the opulent houses of worship whose shiny cupolas you’ve just seen from above. Start with the Latin Cathedral, originally an austere 14th-century Gothic structure which now displays a fusion of styles that were in vogue in Europe over the last seven centuries. Next, check out the Dominican Cathedral, a richly decorated 18th-century baroque edifice. It’s surrounded by a small garden which comes with a modest book market positioned on the granite podium of the monument to Ivan Fyodorov, the man who printed the first Russian book in Moscow and died as a fugitive in Lviv.

Afternoon

For lunch spiced with some modern art, head to the former Bernardine monastery where an unmarked but hard-to-miss ancient wooden door opens into the Museum of Ideas (idem.org.ua). This gallery is combined with a popular bohemian hangout, where they serve some of the best western Ukrainian dishes – such as banosh (Carpathian polenta with homemade cheese) and bograch (a local version of Hungarian goulash) – and a multitude of nalivki (fruit liqueurs).

After that, you might need a serious nap followed by afternoon coffee – a must in the city that’s all about coffeehouses. Coffee was brought herby Turkish traders in medieval times, along with the ancient way of making it on sand stoves. You can literally dig into local coffee culture at Kopalnya Kavy (Coffee Mine): enticingly aromatic beans are extracted here from an underground storage which you can tour. After tasting the brew (served inevitably with more fruit liqueur), drop by the souvenir shop, if only to pick up the ‘Local’ discount card – a crucial item if you follow our dinner advice.

Evening

How about splurging on what dubs itself ‘the most expensive restaurant in Galicia’? A crucial spoiler here – the ‘most expensive’ claim doesn’t have to be true. The place is camouflaged as a shabby-looking apartment complete with a burly resident who greets you at the door and shows you an opulent Freemason hideout. No more words here, or we’ll break our secret vows. Just show them your ‘Local’ card, which will make all those extra zeros in the intentionally outrageous menu suddenly disappear (giving you a 90% discount).