Kyiv is one of the greenest cities in Europe, and you do not have to go far to take a break from cobblestones and museums. The center has two botanical gardens and a tropical greenhouse, the outskirts have open-air museums, and half an hour away there is a former residence with an embankment and fields of flowers. Here is where to go in every season and how to get there.
At a glance: what to choose
- Spring: lilacs at the Hryshko Botanical Garden, tulips at Dobropark.
- Summer: lavender and peonies at Dobropark, long evenings at Mezhyhiria.
- Fall: maples and oaks on the slopes of the Hryshko garden, Pyrohiv and Mamaieva Sloboda.
- Winter and bad weather: the climatron of the Fomin Botanical Garden, the lights of Dobropark.
Hryshko Botanical Garden
The Hryshko Garden covers 130 hectares of the Zvirynets hills above the Dnipro and grows over 16 thousand species, forms and varieties of plants. Kyiv’s most famous view is the lilac alley looking out to the golden domes of Vydubychi Monastery: 21 lilac species, about 90 varieties and roughly 1500 bushes. In the fall, the maple, oak and linden collections are the brightest.
The garden is open every day: from May to August from 8:30 to 21:00, and from September to April from 8:30 until dusk. The greenhouses, over 2000 square meters with tropics and an orchid house, are open Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 17:00. From Pecherska metro station, take bus No. 62 or trolleybus No. 14 to the last stop.
The tropics in the city center
The Fomin Botanical Garden is Kyiv’s oldest garden: the first plantings were made in 1839, and Universytet metro station is right next to it. Its pride is a climatron 30 meters tall and a Livistona palm over 200 years old, the oldest and tallest in Ukraine. In all, the garden has over nine thousand plant species, from arctic to tropical, so it is a refuge even in winter.
The VDNH Greenhouse is a 1958 building wrapped in ivy and grapevines, with a tropical collection over 70 years old. Feijoa, mandarins, lemons and palms grow in its three halls, and a cafe operates right among the greenery. The greenhouse is seasonal, open from March 1 to November 1: on weekdays from 12:00 to 20:00 and on weekends until 21:00.
Fomin Botanical Garden. Kyiv’s oldest garden: a 30-meter climatron, a 200-year-old palm and over 9,000 plant species
1 Symona Petliury St, Kyiv
from75UAH
VDNH Greenhouse. A tropical plant collection over 70 years old under one glass dome
1P28 Akademika Hlushkova Ave, Kyiv
from150UAHOpen-air museums
Pyrohiv is the largest open-air museum in Ukraine: 133 hectares, over 300 authentic buildings, windmills on the hills and villages from every region of the country. The grounds are open daily from 9:00 to 18:00. To avoid getting lost, join the Saturday Pyrohiv tour: three hours on foot with a guide among churches and windmills.
Mamaieva Sloboda is a rebuilt 18th-century Cossack settlement seven kilometers from Khreshchatyk: 98 structures on more than 9 hectares, the wooden Church of the Intercession, a thatched tavern, a forge, a pottery and windmills. It is open from 10:00 to 18:00 and closed on Mondays.
Pyrohiv Open-Air Museum. 133 hectares, seven historical and ethnographic regions and more than 300 authentic buildings from all over Ukraine
1 Akademika Tronka St, Kyiv
from100UAH
Mamaieva Sloboda. An 18th-century open-air Cossack village in the middle of Kyiv
2 Mykhaila Dontsia St, Kyiv
from200UAH
Half a day out of town
Mezhyhiria is 140 hectares of a former private residence, open to everyone since 2024. It has an embankment on the Kyiv Sea, an animal area with deer, ostriches and peacocks, a garage of vintage cars and the wooden Honka residence, which you tour with a guide. In winter the park is open from 9:00 to 18:00, and from May 1 until 22:00. Minibus No. 355K runs from Heroiv Dnipra metro station right to the entrance.
Dobropark in Motyzhyn, 29 km from Kyiv, is 364 hectares of fields that bloom differently every season: tulips in spring, lavender and peonies in summer, hydrangeas and grasses in the fall, and in winter the park is lit with garlands. In summer there is a pool, and you can stay the night in its cabins.
Mezhyhiria Landmark Park. 140 hectares of a former residence with peacocks, vintage cars and the Kyiv Sea embankment
19 Ivana Franka St, Novi Petrivtsi village, Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast
from50UAH
Dobropark. Flower fields, a swimming pool and outdoor leisure near Kyiv
Motyzhyn village, Bucha Raion, Kyiv Oblast (Zhytomyr highway, 29 km from Kyiv)
from350UAHBig parks for a whole day
If you are ready for a drive, choose one of two classic landscape parks. Oleksandriia Arboretum in Bila Tserkva, about 85 km away, was laid out in 1793: over 400 hectares, the Rotunda, colonnades and ponds. And the easiest way to see Sofiyivka in Uman is on a tour: the Island of Love, waterfalls and the underground River Acheron in one day.
Good to know
- The VDNH Greenhouse is closed in winter, and the Hryshko garden greenhouses do not open on Monday and Tuesday.
- Mamaieva Sloboda and the Honka residence at Mezhyhiria are closed on Mondays.
- Wear comfortable shoes for the slopes of the Hryshko garden and the hills of Pyrohiv.
- Tickets and current hours are on the cards above.
For more walking ideas, see our 2-day Kyiv route, and for families, our article on Kyiv with kids.
