Where to Stay in Lviv, Lvivska Oblast

What is Lviv known for?

Its old town is the draw. The medieval centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, gathers churches, chapels, and museums around the market square and the Lviv Town Hall, all watched over from the High Castle above. Cobbled lanes climb the hill.

Coffee houses, theatres, and old churches fill the streets of Lviv.

What are the main landmarks in Lviv?

Lviv holds one of the densest sets of old monuments in Ukraine. Its churches lead the list. Saint George's Cathedral crowns a hill west of the centre, while the Armenian Cathedral of Lviv, the Dormition Church, and the Bernardine Church and Monastery stand among the streets of the Old Town.

The Lviv Town Hall marks the market square. Above it all rises the High Castle, and the Lviv National Museum and the Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery hold the city's great collections.

What is the history of Lviv?

Lviv was founded in 1256, in the age of the Ruthenian princes. It was named for a prince. The city took its name from Leo the First of Galicia, the eldest son of Daniel, King of Ruthenia, and it grew as a trading town on the routes between east and west.

Merchants gathered here. Around the market square rose the Lviv Town Hall, the churches, and the stone houses of a wealthy medieval town. Over the centuries many peoples shaped Lviv.

Its old town shows their work. Ukrainian, Polish, Armenian, and Jewish communities lived and built side by side here, and their churches still stand together, from the Armenian Cathedral of Lviv to the Dormition Church and the Bernardine Church and Monastery. The trades left their mark too.

The Pharmacy Museum and the Lviv Arsenal recall the old crafts and defences of the town, while Saint George's Cathedral rose as the seat of the church above the city. For its layered old centre Lviv was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Where is Lviv?

Lviv lies in western Ukraine, the capital of Lvivska Oblast. Hills shape the city. The Old Town sits in a hollow among low rises, with the High Castle standing on the height above it, so the streets climb and fall across the slopes toward the surrounding uplands.

The land rolls away on every side. Lviv is the largest city of western Ukraine and the hub of Lvivska Oblast.

What is the climate of Lviv?

Lviv has a temperate, continental climate, wetter than the plains to the east. Snow and hard frost mark Lviv's winters. Summers stay mild rather than hot, and rain falls freely through the year on the hills around the city, greying the Old Town and the High Castle in the cooler months.

Cloud lingers over the slopes. Snow settles across Lviv in winter.

How do you get to Lviv?

Lviv is the main point of entry for western Ukraine. Roads and railways meet here. As the largest city of the west, Lviv draws in the rail lines and highways of Lvivska Oblast, and its airport connects the city to the rest of Ukraine and to Europe beyond the nearby western border.

Trains reach the old centre. From the station, trams and buses climb into the Old Town below the High Castle.