Safety
Ukraine is a country at war. We plan like it.
You will not find reassurance on this page. You will find the actual protocol — where we go, where we never go, and what happens when a siren sounds. We publish it because you should be able to check our judgement before you trust it.
Where we operate — and where we never go
All journeys take place in western Ukraine: the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Zakarpattia, Chernivtsi, Volyn, Rivne and Khmelnytskyi regions. These areas are hundreds of kilometres from the front line; daily life there carries on — schools, cafés, weddings, markets.
We do not take clients east or south of that perimeter, under any circumstances, at any price. If your family village lies in an unsafe region, we say so plainly — and offer research and a filmed visit by our own team instead, at our risk, not yours.
During an air alert
- Every day's route is planned with known shelters along the way — before we set out
- Your phone carries the official alert app, installed and explained on day one
- Your driver is briefed, and the decision to pause a day is ours, made early and without drama
- Most alerts in the west pass without incident; we treat every one by the book anyway
Insurance
Ordinary travel insurance excludes war risks — quietly, in the fine print. Every journey we run includes a specialist policy with war-risk and medical-evacuation cover, arranged before you land. You receive the policy documents before you pay your second instalment, so you can read exactly what is covered.
What your family at home sees
Every evening, your designated contact at home receives a short message: where you were today, where you sleep tonight, what happens tomorrow. They also hold a direct phone line to us, answered around the clock for the whole journey.
Health, age and honesty before booking
Village roads are rough, cemeteries are uneven ground, and some days are long. Before any booking we talk frankly about mobility and health, and shape the itinerary to the slowest member of the party — or advise a filmed visit instead. Nobody is sold a journey they should not make.
If you hold a Ukrainian passport
Under martial law, male Ukrainian citizens aged 18–60 are generally not permitted to leave Ukraine — and this applies even to citizens who have lived abroad their whole lives, if they ever held Ukrainian citizenship. Before anything is booked, we check this with you in writing. If there is any doubt about your citizenship status, we resolve it before you travel, not after.
If the situation changes
If the security picture worsens before your journey, we move your dates or return your money — your choice, stated in the contract. If it changes during a journey, the itinerary shortens westward or ends early, and unspent days are refunded. The contract says this in plain language, because “force majeure” should not be a surprise hiding in clause 14.
Ask us the uncomfortable questions.
Write them down and send them — every worry your family has raised around the kitchen table. We have heard them all, and we answer them straight, in writing, within two business days.