Kyiv has dozens of museums, and the main trap for a visitor is their days off: many close on Monday and Tuesday, and some rest on Wednesday. We picked 11 museums worth seeing, grouped them by theme and gathered their hours so you can plan a route without closed doors. We covered St. Sophia’s and the Lavra in detail in our 2-day route, so here we only mention them.

At a glance: what to choose

  • The country’s history: the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, the Museum of the Hetmanate.
  • Ancient Kyiv: St. Cyril’s Church, the Kyiv History Museum.
  • Art and interiors: the Khanenko Museum, the Chocolate House, PinchukArtCentre.
  • Folk culture: the Ivan Honchar Museum.
  • Something unusual: the Museum of One Street, the Microminiature Museum, the Natural History Museum.

History: from princes to hetmans

The National Museum of the History of Ukraine stands on Starokyivska Hill, where the settlement of ancient Kyiv began. It is one of the largest and oldest history museums in the country. It is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00, with the ticket desk until 17:00, and a single ticket is valid for 30 days and also opens the Treasury branch at the Lavra.

The Museum of the Hetmanate occupies a late 17th-century stone house in Podil that locals call the Mazepa House. Its holdings number over 9000 items: Cossack weapons, regalia, seals and the hetmans’ belongings, plus Ukraine’s largest collection related to Pavlo Skoropadskyi. You can see it in an hour or an hour and a half. The museum is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00.

St. Cyril’s Church is one of only 19 buildings from the princely era surviving in Ukraine, first mentioned in 1179. Inside are 12th-century frescoes and early works by Mykhailo Vrubel, and the marble iconostasis was made deliberately low so as not to hide the murals. It is open from 10:00 to 18:00 every day except Wednesday. The Kyiv History Museum, near Teatralna, shows the archaeology of 10th–13th-century Kyiv and changing exhibitions; it is open Wednesday to Sunday from 12:00 to 19:00.

National Museum of the History of Ukraine. One of the country’s largest history museums, on Starokyivska Hill

National Museum of the History of Ukraine. One of the country’s largest history museums, on Starokyivska Hill

2 Volodymyrska St, Kyiv

from100UAH
Museum of the Hetmanate. The historic “Mazepa House” in Podil and the story of the hetmans from Khmelnytskyi to Skoropadskyi

Museum of the Hetmanate. The historic “Mazepa House” in Podil and the story of the hetmans from Khmelnytskyi to Skoropadskyi

16B Spaska St, Kyiv

from50UAH
St. Cyril’s Church Museum. 12th-century frescoes and early works by Mikhail Vrubel in one church

St. Cyril’s Church Museum. 12th-century frescoes and early works by Mikhail Vrubel in one church

12 Oleny Telihy St, Kyiv

from70UAH
Museum of Kyiv History. The capital’s largest museum association, with exhibitions in the city center

Museum of Kyiv History. The capital’s largest museum association, with exhibitions in the city center

7 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St, Kyiv

Art and mansions

The Khanenko Museum is the mansion of patrons who spent over 40 years collecting art from Europe, Asia and Ukraine. The Don Quixote Hall with its tapestries, the rococo Golden Study and the oak staircase are worth the visit on their own. Hours: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 to 17:30, Thursday from 12:00 to 19:30, and closed on Monday and Tuesday.

The Chocolate House is a dark brown palazzo from 1901, open for the first time since 2022. Six of its nine state rooms survive intact: the Moorish Room, the Garnet Dining Room and an Art Nouveau hall with iris stained glass. It also hosts a permanent Ivan Marchuk exhibition of forty works from museum collections. PinchukArtCentre is a contemporary art center with free admission that twice, in 2007 and 2009, represented Ukraine at the Venice Biennale. It is open Wednesday to Sunday from 12:00 to 21:00.

The Ivan Honchar Museum near the Lavra holds over 15 thousand pieces of folk art: embroidered shirts, rushnyky towels, ceramics, pysanky eggs, Cossack Mamai folk paintings and about 500 folk icons. It is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, and the last Friday of the month is an open day.

Khanenko Museum. A late 19th-century patrons’ mansion with lavish interiors and art exhibitions

Khanenko Museum. A late 19th-century patrons’ mansion with lavish interiors and art exhibitions

15–17 Tereshchenkivska St, Kyiv

from250UAH
Chocolate House. A 1901 palazzo-style mansion with authentic state rooms and a permanent Ivan Marchuk exhibition

Chocolate House. A 1901 palazzo-style mansion with authentic state rooms and a permanent Ivan Marchuk exhibition

17/2 Shovkovychna St, Kyiv

from200UAH
PinchukArtCentre. A free contemporary art center in the Bessarabka quarter

PinchukArtCentre. A free contemporary art center in the Bessarabka quarter

1/3-2 Velyka Vasylkivska St (Bessarabka quarter), Kyiv

Free
Ivan Honchar Museum. A national center of folk culture with a collection of embroidered shirts, folk costumes and “Cossack Mamai” paintings near the Lavra

Ivan Honchar Museum. A national center of folk culture with a collection of embroidered shirts, folk costumes and “Cossack Mamai” paintings near the Lavra

19 Lavrska St, Kyiv

from30UAH

Unusual collections

The Museum of One Street on Andriivskyi Descent is the only museum in the world devoted to the history of a single street, with over 350 death masks and Bulgakov’s belongings. It is open daily from 12:00 to 19:00. At the Microminiature Museum on the Lavra grounds, microscopes reveal a rose inside a hair and a caravan of camels in the eye of a needle. And at the Natural History Museum the skeletons of a mammoth and a prehistoric whale stand side by side, along with Ukraine’s largest meteorite collection.

One Street Museum. The world’s only museum about the history of a single street

One Street Museum. The world’s only museum about the history of a single street

2-B Andriivskyi Descent, Kyiv

from200UAH
Mykola Siadrystyi Museum of Microminiatures. A rose inside a hair and a camel caravan in the eye of a needle, on the grounds of the Lavra

Mykola Siadrystyi Museum of Microminiatures. A rose inside a hair and a camel caravan in the eye of a needle, on the grounds of the Lavra

9 Lavrska St, Building No. 4, Kyiv

from100UAH
National Museum of Natural History. Four worlds of nature under one roof

National Museum of Natural History. Four worlds of nature under one roof

15 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St, Kyiv

from150UAH

Museums with a guide

Contemporary art is easy to see on the Artistic Kyiv tour: Podil murals, Mystetskyi Arsenal and PinchukArtCentre in 3 hours, with the guide adapting the story to the current exhibitions. The city’s architecture, which no gallery can show, comes alive on Kyiv Art Nouveau, 2.5 hours through the center past the House with Chimaeras and the apartment buildings of Khreshchatyk.

Artistic Kyiv. Podil street art, Mystetskyi Arsenal and PinchukArtCentre

Artistic Kyiv. Podil street art, Mystetskyi Arsenal and PinchukArtCentre

Next: Nov 13 at 11:00

3 hours

from450UAH
Kyiv Art Nouveau. Early 20th-century architecture from Horodecki to Ginzburg House

Kyiv Art Nouveau. Early 20th-century architecture from Horodecki to Ginzburg House

Next: Nov 13 at 17:00

2.5 hours

from400UAH

Good to know

  • Most museums close the ticket desk 30–60 minutes before closing time, so arrive early.
  • During an air raid alert, visitors are sent to a shelter, and the visit may run longer.
  • Ticket prices and current hours are on the cards above.

If you are traveling with kids, also see our guide to Kyiv with kids with science museums, Miniland and the oceanarium.