So, you have chosen a software outsourcing partner from Lviv (yay!) and are ready to visit our city (double yay!) to know your new team better and do some business?
We are glad to inform you that Lviv is a real Gem, which offers you a lot of interesting activities to do besides business and software development.
Lviv is hundreds of restaurants, dozens of museums, arrays of gorgeous architecture, a variety of interesting festivals, plenty of beautiful theatres, and landscapes of breathtaking scenery. Being a part of the UNESCO World Heritage List, a soul of Ukraine, and also a modern lively city, Lviv is a lifetime of impressions.
However, your time in Lviv is limited, and you have to choose what to do, and it’s certainly a difficult task. Don’t worry, we’re locals, and we’ve got you covered!
In this article, we’ve gathered top things that are worth doing in Lviv while visiting your software development dream team.
Conquer the High Castle
Location: High Castle Mountain.
Disclaimer: there is no more castle on the “High Castle” mountain, only undistinguished ruins. But that location isn’t about the castle, it’s about mesmerizing beauty.
Lviv is located in a relatively flat area. However, its highest point, the Lviv High Castle, is towering 400 meters above the city’s center. With old, tall trees, which saw some history, covered by green coats during summer and lit by orange lights during nights, Lviv Castle Hill provides an unprecedented view of the city and a great place for meditative walks.
If you enjoy epic city landscapes and are ready for some minor cardio workout, visit the High Castle.
Eat Delicious Food
Location: a lot of them, look down below.
So you conquered the highest hill in Lviv and now wouldn’t mind having some food?
Oh boy, where do we even start?
It would be an understatement to say that Lviv is a gastronomically diverse city: we have 1500 restaurants and cafes here, which is the biggest restaurant to population ratio in Ukraine. It is impossible to get them all covered, so we provide some of our favourites
Want to try some traditional Ukrainian food?
–Holodnyi Mykola (Hungry Mykola), Stryiska St, 352
Or maybe some Pan-Asian Cuisine?
–Noa, Staroievreiska Street, 4
Or maybe you prefer Vegetarian/Vegan options?
-Green Cafe, Brativ Rohatyntsiv St, 5,
-Om Nom Nom, Rymlyanyna St, 10
Or do you like meat? Like, a lot of meat?
–Churrasco, Halytska St, 13
Some Italian food maybe?
-Trattoria da Domenico, Rynok Square, Andreolli Passage, 29
How about big tasty burgers?
-Epic Cheeseburgers, Halytska St, 15
Or maybe French cuisine?
-Tante Sophia, Drukarska Street, 6А
Georgian food?
-Akhali, Dzhokhar Dudaev St, 7
This list is not even a tip of the iceberg called “great restaurants of Lviv;” just some establishments that came to mind first.
A lot of Lviv restaurants tell a story, meaning that they have unique designs built around a central idea, and everything inside, from tableware to employees’ clothes, tries to adhere to that idea. This creates the feeling that you get into another timeline or parallel universe when entering those establishments.
Therefore, in Lviv’s restaurants, people enjoy the atmosphere to the same extent they enjoy food.
Pamper Yourself with Unique Chocolate
Location: Chocolate Factory; Serbska St, 3 or Sichovykh Striltsiv St 5
Do you have a sweet tooth? The author of this article absolutely does, and he tries to avoid the Chocolate Factory at all costs because the desserts there are absolutely irresistible. For instance, one of my personal favourites goes by the casual name of “Chocolate Dessert.” Just imagine it: molten chocolate of your choice, cream, almond flakes, and some ice cream combined into one sweet gloriousness. It tastes as good as it sounds.
Chocolate Factory prides itself on its handmade chocolate. As the dedicated sweet tooth that I am, I have tried dozens of different chocolates from different parts of the world, and let me tell you, the chocolate from the Factory is one of a kind. Black, white, or milk; plain or with various fillings, this chocolate always leaves you wanting more even if you understand that there is no more room.
You can visit the Factory’s Cafe to enjoy their desserts as well as their shop to buy unique candies and chocolate creations that come in various shapes and flavours.
Enjoy Coffee
Location: any coffee shop, really; and Kopalnya Kavy, Rynok Square, 9
Are you into coffee? Even if not, we still advise you to try out Lviv coffee for the Lviv is Coffee Mecca of Ukraine.
Walking the narrow and cozy ancient streets of the city’s center, you will often find yourself feeling that distinct and pleasant smell of freshly brewed coffee, which will lure you towards its source. Don’t resist it; follow your heart and nose if you feel like it. And if you do, just behind the twisty turn of the pavement-covered street, you most likely will stumble upon one of the numerous Lviv coffee houses with carefree people enjoying their coffee and sweets as if the world around them stood still.
Lviv is simply riddled with coffee shops, and the beverages they serve are diverse enough to please even the pickiest coffee-lovers.
To fully immerse yourself into the coffee-paradise atmosphere, visit Lviv Coffee Manufacture (Kopalnya Kavy, Rynok Square, 9). This establishment is stylized to resemble a “coffee mine” where coffee beans are being extracted from the earth’s deep embrace and delivered to you by hard-working miners.
Kopalnya Kavy is a combination of a shop, cafe, and museum, where you can enjoy yourself, drinking amazing coffee, as well as buy grounded or whole-beans coffee for any taste.
Lviv’s coffee tradition is old, and during the last 100 years, it has grown and developed rapidly, evolving into a unique and multifaceted community. Despite the diversity of our coffee shops, they have one thing in common – they make the time stop and all your worries drift away while you are there.
Feel it for yourself.
Savour Some Beer
Location: Hundreds of pubs, also look down below
Good news for people who appreciate having a glass or two of nice beer, Lviv is Big on beer as well. It is possible that the community around Lviv’s beer is as big as the one around coffee. It seems that Lviv has a thing for somewhat bitter beverages, but we have plenty of chocolate to compensate.
Our city is home to Ukraine’s oldest and one of the biggest beer brewers as well as private and small brewers that create a huge specter of unique beer in an attempt to win loyal clients. And hundreds of different establishments that also serve beer do their best to live up to the beer status of their city, providing a lot of different beverages.
If you want to try what beer Lviv has to offer, we suggest you visit
-Pravda Beer Theater, Torhovyy Dim Tsipperiv, Rynok Square
-Dublin, Virmens’ka St, 1A,
-Bilyi Lev (White Lion), Lesi Ukrainky St, 15
-Choven, Virmens’ka St, 33
Lviv also has the one and only in Ukraine, Beer Museum (Kleparivska St, 18). In the museum, you can learn about the history and culture of beer in Lviv and also taste the production of Lviv Brewery.
Visit Lviv Opera Theater
Location: Lviv Theater of Opera and Ballet, Svobody Ave, 28
Besides the fact that Lviv Opera Theater’s building is gorgeous and breathtaking in and of itself, it is also a place where some of the best musical and theatrical performances take place.
Lviv Opera hosts ballets, operas, concerts of the world’s musicians, and plays.
If you want to feel like an 18th-century aristocrat who visits a concert of an accomplished composer, then going to a concert in the Opera Theater is just the right thing to do. Just check the theater’s schedule, choose what you like the most, buy a ticket, get ready to dive into that special atmosphere, and don’t forget a peruke.
Feel Ukraine
Location: Shevchenkivskiy Hai, Chernecha Hora Street, 1
Lviv is a fairly European city, but it still can tell you a lot about traditional Ukraine and its history. Among dozens of museums on different subjects, there is a special one – Shevchenkivskiy Hai, a Ukrainian architecture and culture museum under the open sky.
Surrounded by pristine Ukrainian nature on the hills of Lviv, Shevchenkivskiy Hai looks like an episode taken away from the strong grip of the past and preserved in time for people to enjoy.
Named after accomplished Ukrainian poet and writer – Taras Shevchenko – Shevchenkivskiy Hai is a physical manifestation of one of the main sources of the poet’s inspiration – the beauty of traditional Ukrainian countryside. Give this beauty a chance, and perhaps, it will inspire you as well.
Go to a Festival
If you are lucky enough to arrive at Lviv when one of the various local festivals takes place then do yourself a favor and visit it. But let us be honest here, you don’t have to be outrageously lucky in this regard because Lviv hosts dozens of festivals annually.
To name just a few bigger ones:
–Leopolis Jazz Fest. Several days-long Jazz festival with concerts of the world-famous jazz musicians as well as talented local bands.
–Futureland Festival. Tech and electronic music festival.
–Lviv Mozart. International festival of classical music.
-Craft Beer and Vinyl Festival. The name speaks for itself.
-Acoustic Festival. Fest of new Ukrainian Music.
–IT Arena. East Europe’s biggest tech event.
To keep yourself updated on the Lviv festivals and other events check here.
Wander, Enjoy Yourself, and Lviv
Finally, one of my personal favorite things to do in Lviv is to choose a random twisty street of our city and aimlessly wander through it, being mindful about every moment and step you take. And just maybe you will find something interesting to you. And even if not, such walks create that special intimate connection between you and the city. They help to appreciate Lviv’s hidden beauties, unique charm, and distinct vibe, which often get lost behind the loudness and fuss of everyday life.
Take your time and enjoy Lviv.
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This shortlist does not do Lviv justice in any way; we just wanted to provide a starting point from which you can start discovering our city for yourself. Lviv simply radiates with opportunities to spend your time enjoyably as well as do business. We just hope that it will help you to get the maximum out of your trip to Lviv.