It's an amazing park built by a Polish nobleman Pototsky for his wife Sophia. Beautiful. Just don't be fooled and don't take a guided tour, they will tell you stories but no facts. Anyway, completely worth seeing.
If you travel from Odessa to Kiev please stop by and appreciate beauty of the park and wonderful romantic story behind it. I enjoyed my trip to Sofievka many times and I wish now I would have my perfect camera to capture gorgeous views.....
The park is a relaxing place to spend a day. The tour guides (should you opt for the guided tour) are helpful and will keep you moving. My preference is to walk around and enjoy the escape without the help of a tour guide, but either way, it's an enjoyable experience. One thing to note...like many other Ukrainian attractions, they tend to charge you for every extra little detail, like permission to take photos, etc. The fee for entrance into the park is included with some of the hotels, but may not include a tour guide. Also, the separate price scheme for Westerners is no outdated. And, the tour guide price is not worth the extra money.
Went there on cloudy October day in hope that tourist season is over and there are no crowds. Wrong! The place is indeed very beautiful (read other reviews) but quite small and there are so many Ukrainians who want to enjoy it you just would not believe! Hard to take a photo without other people spoiling it. Some tips for visitors: toilets are terrible (pee-pee boxes for construction workers type) and the lines are huge; restaurants not available (locals bringing their owns snacks and booze); you can also enter the park from the north (through university campus) and park your car there. Plan to spend 1.5-2 hours there if you don't mind Jul 4th dencity crowd :)
Great place to spend the day. Apart from the cultural/horticultural setting, there's loads to do. My mates hired some electric scooter "thingies" and went racing each other through the park. We went on a trip on the "lurve boat", a 15 min trip on a punt through a long, dark and very low tunnel. Great fun! Also got to dress-up in a trad 18th C "Boyar" costume. You can also take a trip on one of the many lakes on a "paddle-steamer" or even a pedalo. All in all, a great day out, and highly recommended.
unbelievable 17th century garden in a hidden valley right in the middle of town . less than 2 euros entry , easy to spend 4 hours enjoying lakes and forests and formal gardens .gets busy at weekends ...
an historic beautiful park worth to go see spend an afternoonperfect for a picnic but I would advise you if you are an orthodox Jew to go with a friend or 2. rumors are that there are a couple of anti-Semites that roam there
it was a realyl a fantastic experience to go there , and spend a nice day there it is full of trees and flowers , ponds and water fall , i had a nice time there ,touching natural water , and drinking there , nice statue there , need more care .
After spending a week in Ukraine I was rather impressed with this location. My gf and I took a 4 hour bus ride from Odessa and spent only about 4-5 hours there but had an excellent time. There were almost no people there and it wasn't too cold. If you have an extra day in Odessa or Kiev then this is a fantastic way to spend it way from those cities.
It is the major attraction for this town and this part of the country as far as I am concerned.But is it worth a special trip to come down here for it. May be or may be not. If you wan to see one of Ukraine's major attractions, then yes. If you don't care about another botanical garden, then may be not. But it is nice to see such a mix of plant species in an outdoor setting and no in a manicured glass box.