There are hardly any castles in the world that went through such roller coaster transformations – from royal residence to a hospital, vocational school for farming machinery mechanics, ghost-haunted ruins, museums, crumbling structures in perpetual state of restoration where cows and goats graze on once well-kept lawns. If you expect to see well maintained castles similar to those scattered around Western Europe, then this tour is not for you. Instead, these scarred castles reflect complex and tragic history of Western Ukraine and, in combination with other sites and villages along the way, make for a nice day trip outside of Lviv.

Castles (fortresses) around Lviv are sometimes called "Golden Horseshoe Castles" as they are located in a sort of an arc stretching east and southeast of Lviv. They include castles in Olesko, Pidhirtsi, Zolochiv, Pomoriany, Svyrzh and Stare Selo. The castles in Olesko, Svyrzh and Zolochiv are the best preserved ones, others lie in different stages of ruination. Olesko Castle dates back to the 13th century being the oldest. It is known as a birth place of the famous Polish king Jan III Sobieski. Now the castle is open as a museum featuring 16th and 17th century art. Some of these castles were built at the time when there was no longer any real need to defend the land from invasions of nomads from the East, so they were built as palaces for the Polish aristocracy who owned vast areas of land in Western Ukraine.

We recommend visiting Olesko, Pidhirtsi and Zolochiv castles offering day castle tours where transportation and the tour-guide/interpreter/driver will be provided and included in the price. Other castles can be visited at tourists' request. The total distance to cover these three castles is about 180 km. Please note that Olesky castle is closed for visitors on Mon.

Our standard Castle Tour includes:
09:30 - departure from Lviv
11:15 - Olesko Castle
12:30 - Pidhirtsi Castle
13:30 - Zolochiv Castle
16:00 - return to Lviv