When backpacking in Ukraine, I organised a day tour of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone covers an area of 1,000 square miles and straddles the official land borders of Belarus and Ukraine. When I backpacked to the city of Bobruisck in Belarus in 2007, I remember reading about how close I was to the Belarussian side of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and when you look at the map, I was pretty close to Rahachow in Belarus which is in the CEZ. So, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is a special region that requires a permit to enter. This image shows a rough idea of the borders around the CEZ.
You have a choice of a day tour, or even overnight stay (yes you can stay overnight in Chernobyl). However, I decided on just the day tour. The tour does mean you are in the exclusion zone for most of the day and have a slight risk of being affected by the radiation, yes even 29 years after the disaster. So for me, in and out in a day was what I wanted.
Most hostels and hotels in the city can help you organise the tour to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. To get into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone you need to have a permit. It’s a security monitored area you are going to, so you can’t just rock up and enter. If you hired a car and drove to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone region, you’d be turned away at the border between real life Ukraine and the excluded zone. It’s a very very sensitive area given the significance of the Chernobyl disaster. Only 13,000 tourists visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone each year. This averages out at only 35 people per day. There are only around 20 guides that have a licence to take tourists into this highly sensitive area and all are fully trained and knowledge in fields of science as well as being able to work as a tour guide.
In terms of booking, I used Solo East (https://www.tourkiev.com/). There are around 10 different websites or companies organising tours to Chernobyl. I chose Solo East as they were helpful in organising it and are also the first and original Chernobyl tour operators. The tours date back to 1999. Prices vary from $110 – $200 US for a day trip. The price includes everything for the day – access to the sensitive zones. You must make sure you book the Chernobyl tour well in advance and all visitors must submit their passport details to the tour companies at least one day before the tour. This is important. You won’t have any reference on your passport that you visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). The checks are just made for security reasons and you must have your passport on you during your visit to the CEZ.
All tours are not exactly the same – some of the places you see may vary, weather can also play a factor in it – the route of your tour will just depend on what happens that day. Believe it or not, the tour bore some similarity with how my DMZ tour was organised in South and North Korea – oddly almost 4 years to the day. I toured the DMZ on 24th December 2011, I toured the CEZ on 23rd December 2015. I met up with my tour guide at 8.15 am outside the Kozatskiy hotel in Maidan Square, Kiev. I was staying at the Tiu Kreschatyk Hostel round the corner also a good spot for doing a Kiev Night Tour. The tour was organised by Igor, our driver and tour guide for the day was Misha. You can do tours in a mini bus or in a car. I was able to get a tour in a car with just two other guys – Martin (Germany) and Brett (USA).
Here is the exact brief I was given by Solo East the day before the tour:
We’ll depart from Kozatskiy hotel, which is on the main square – Independence (Maidan) – the hotel is the second building on the right from McDonalds. We meet outside, in front of the hotel.
Meeting time – 08:15 a.m.
Departure time – 08:30 a.m.
Arrival back to Kiev – around 6:30 p.m.
Important:
BRING YOUR PASSPORT!!!
Dress code: long sleeves, long pants, close type shoes.
We suggest to take some bottled water with you. The lunch will be served either around noon or around 3 p.m. (depending on the canteen’s availability).
Taking pictures and video: Allowed almost everywhere (except check points, security devices and certain areas specified by your guide).
When I meet Igor and Misha, they check my passport details match the form, we all sign the declaration and payments are checked. You can pay in cash (USD or Ukrainian Hryvnia), by PayPal or by online transfer. We are given three things each:
– A wristband which proves we have permission to enter the CEZ
– An information sheet about Chernobyl and Radiation
– A postcard from Chernobyl
We are also given a Geiger Counter to share for the day, where we can check radiation levels at various points.
So without further ado, we got in the car and we swerved our way chicane style out of Kiev, heading for the CEZ, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, starting off with the Dityatki Checkpoint, Chernobyl Town and the Duga Radar System. Here are some videos from the drive up to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone:
[…] was able to backpack round the sights of the city, learn more about Ukrainian culture and tour the Chernobyl Exclusion zone (some 29 years after the disaster in the area). My writing about Chernobyl will come in time, and […]
I really enjoyed reading this very interesting post! Thanks for sharing it! keep up the great work as usual!
[…] train from Krakow in Poland, it was time to tour some parts of the Ukraine (Lviv, Kiev and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone). I started off in the city of Lviv, which is the hardcore heartland of the Ukraine. This city […]
[…] in Kazakhstan writing this and perhaps the aftermath of touring Auschwitz, Birkenau and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have influenced my thoughts recently. They were fairly sad and gory trips, but we knew that of […]
[…] was able to backpack round the sights of the city, learn more about Ukrainian culture and tour the Chernobyl Exclusion zone (some 29 years after the disaster in the area). My writing about Chernobyl will come in time, and […]
[…] into the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan after what had been a pretty intense few weeks of travel (I toured Chernobyl and Auschwitz in consecutive weeks). It was Christmas Eve, there was snow in the air and I needed a […]
[…] my trip out of Kiev to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and being based in the Tiu Kreschatik Hostel, we arrived at the CEZ entrance. The area beyond this […]
[…] after the trip from Kiev and passing through the Dityatki Checkpoint into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the next stop was in […]
This was really interesting to read about. I’m quite interested in going there myself one day. Looking forward to reading part 2 🙂
Zascha recently posted…Travel Scotland On A Budget
Hi Zascha, thanks for the comment. Parts 2 and 3 are both live now too: and . There will be a few more parts to come. Safe travels. Jonny
great to read about your experience in Chernobyl. I also enjoyed my tour there back a few years ago. Happy new year and I wish you a 2016 full of travels.
João Leitão recently posted…Visited Countries Map Maker – Create your Travel Map
Hi Joao Leitao thanks for the comment. All the best for the new year too and maybe our paths will finally cross this year? I have contact details of a guided tour from the Belarus side if you are interested in it. Safe travels. Jonny
[…] know. There was no reason or method behind it. It just happened. I had travelled through Poland and Ukraine in December 2015 and for a $100 US flight from Kiev to Almaty in Kazakhstan it left me so close to the […]
[…] after leaving Kiev, entering the CEZ at Dityatki Checkpoint and getting a tour of Chernobyl Town itself, we veered off […]
[…] Iraq. Here there are 13,000 tourists per year. That’s only 35 people per day on average! And I mentioned in parts 1 and 2 of this report that there is much more exposure to radiation and risk from getting a dental […]
[…] I’m just not “featuring it.” You may not have built up an appetite reading my previous Chernobyl Exclusion Zone posts. So after visiting Reactor Number 4 (ouch) and touring the ruined and abandoned city of Pripyat, we […]
I’ve watched travel documentaries and have read other blog posts about Chernobyl, but didn’t realize so few people visit this place. It’s not like Ukraine isn’t a “secret country” given it co-hosted Euro 2012 with Poland, but I digress. I also didn’t know you could spend the night here. That’s pretty cool, but spooky!
Hi Ray – yes it’s a sensitive zone, 35 tourists a day max. One of the least touristic places I’ve been and a tad spooky and scary. I won’t be back unless it’s from the Belarus side. Safe travels. Jonny
[…] Buildings of bombings in Northern Ireland – The ruins of Agdam in Nagorno Karabakh – Chernobyl and the towns of Pripyat and Kopachi – Port Arthur, Tasmania (location of the Isle of the Dead and the Mass Murder of […]