By bike from Kamianets-Podilskyi through Bukovyna to the Carpathians

From the castle city to the mountains. About 155 km by bike, from Kamianets-Podilskyi in Podillia over the Dniester to the Bukovyna region and the first hills of the Carpathians. The first half follows the river valleys; the second climbs gradually from about 150 m to nearly 800 m, with about 1,300 m of ascent in all.

The route. Kamianets-Podilskyi – Khotyn – Novoselytsia – Chernivtsi – Storozhynets – Vyzhnytsia – Berehomet.

On the way. Kamianets-Podilskyi has a medieval fortress on a rock in a bend of the Smotrych canyon, one of the best-known sights of Ukraine. Khotyn Fortress, on the Dniester, is a large 13th–18th century stronghold; the great battles of Khotyn took place here in 1621 and 1673. Chernivtsi has the Residence of the Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans, now Chernivtsi University, a 19th-century brick complex that is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and a neoclassical town hall. Beyond Storozhynets the road runs along the foothills into the Vyzhnytsia National Nature Park and the wooded Carpathian hills.

Good to know. The Carpathian part has more traffic on weekends and the weather changes quickly in the hills. Plan two to three days, with a rest day in Chernivtsi.

Picture: Khotyn Fortress on the Dniester, Rbrechko, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.