Lviv's old centre is a tight puzzle of cobbled lanes, courtyards, domes and spires, laid out around a market square where the town hall tower looks over rows of tall townhouses in pastel colours. It was founded in the thirteenth century by Prince Danylo of Galicia, who named it after his son Lev, and it has been ruled over the centuries by Poles, Austrians, Soviets and now Ukrainians, which explains why the city has been known as Lwów, Lemberg and Lviv. UNESCO listed the historic centre in 1998, and the mix of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Habsburg architecture is one of the best preserved in central Europe.
Lviv is also a city of coffee. The Habsburg tradition of cafes survived everything, and small places tucked into cellars serve strong espresso, hot chocolate and cheesecake, sometimes with a theme, from chocolate shops to cafes decorated like mines. The Armenian Cathedral, the opera house, the Lychakiv Cemetery with its sculpted tombs and the bell towers of the Dominican church all lie within a short walk of each other. In the evening the streets fill with students and musicians, and trams rattle along the cobbles.
Ride out in the afternoon and you cross green farmland toward the Polish border. Roads are in mixed condition, with patches of broken asphalt, potholes and cobbles in older streets, and trams can be hazardous when the rails are wet. The wooden church of Saint Paraskeva at Radruż, on the other side of the border in Poland, is one of the surviving wooden churches of the Carpathian region, inscribed by UNESCO, with a steep shingled roof and painted interior. Border waits can be long, and anyone planning to cross should check current rules.
It is essential to say that Ukraine has been at war since 2022, and Lviv, although far from the front, has suffered missile and drone attacks. Air raid alerts happen, and travel advice from most governments cautions against non-essential travel. Anyone thinking about visiting should follow official guidance. For people living here, the city carries on with remarkable resilience, and the same cafes stay open.