Between 1974 and 1983, the East German Boizenburg Shipyards produced 22 motorized ships for use as cruise vessels on the rivers of the Soviet Union. Designated as Series 301 ships two specially renovated and re-modeled vessels still serve on Ukraine’s historic Dnieper River.
Odessa - Kiev cruise is an excellent 12-day showcase of what is arguably Ukraine’s best-known geographical feature and most important ancient trade route. Sailings take place between May and September, when the summer sun provides an excellent chance to work on that suntan lounged on a deck chair like an elegant leisure-seeking Westerner.
The grassy north shore of the Black Sea has seen many nations come and go. The stone age Trypillian Culture and the ancient Sarmatians showed evidence of a diversity of gender roles rarely seen elsewhere, and the arrival of the Goths and Huns in the region eventually spelled the end of the Western Roman Empire. The Tatar invasion that left such great destruction in Kiev Rus eventually resulted in a Khanate being installed in Crimea, one that the Russians couldn’t conquer until the rise of Catherine the Great. And the ideas that inspired the legendary Cossack states at the edge of the Russian Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth evolved romantically with time into modern Ukraine’s national identity.
Through it all, the Dnieper River flowed. Traders plied its waters from time immemorial, since before the Byzantine Empire emerged and Norse adventurers, the Varangians, followed the Gothic sagas southward. It was these Norsemen who helped found both Kiev Rus, the first great Russian state, and the city of Kiev itself. Naturally, they built upon the banks of this great river, which today remains a waterway worth experiencing.
Golden Ring Cruises provides an entire summer of opportunities to enjoy a leisurely drift down, or cruise up, the Dnieper, a waterway that is inseparable with how Ukrainians see themselves. There is, after all, no better view into the soul of this country than a cruise on its waters. Of course, the real advantage of booking your cruise with Golding Ring is the ability to seamlessly transition your vacation from ship to shore with fantastic tour extensions in Ukraine and other former Soviet countries, especially Russia. After all, what more luxurious way is there to follow the road of the Varangians to the Baltic than by traveling to Moscow and catching a high-speed train to beautiful St. Petersburg? You will truly have plenty to tell after you return home.
