Chernobyl Tour | Ukraine and Belarus side of exclusion zone | Pyala Travel - Introduction

This unique journey will take you to two sides of the impressive exclusion zone, around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor.

On 26 April 1986, the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine) took place. One of the greatest nuclear disasters in the world, the consequences of which are still not entirely foreseeable. Not at all at that time. Initially, the reaction of the administrators was mainly negative, but the seriousness of the disaster was soon recognised. A few days later, the city of Pripyat and its surroundings were evacuated.

Now, more than 30 years later, Pripyat is becoming a tourist attraction (partly due to the HBO film about Chernobyl). It is terrifying and fascinating to see, a step back in time. Abandoned cities from the Soviet era in desolate surroundings.

This trip takes you to the area around the reactor and the ghost town of Pripyat. But you will also visit the PSRER... Much less known and hardly visited is the Belarusian side of Chernobyl (which is only 5 kilometers from the border). More than 30 villages were evacuated here in May 1986 and since then there have been no more people. The area is left to nature. Villages, kolkhoz, factories are overgrown. A visit to a house is a step back in time, to the Soviet Union of 1986.  It has also become one of the largest nature reserves in Europe. For more than 30 years no people, means that the area has become a refuge for bisons, bears, wolves, lynxes, deer, moose. The area has only been accessible since the beginning of 2019. Still only with permits and under supervision.

The radiation is less threatening than an intercontinental flight. Visit this area now, before it becomes as much of an attraction as in the Ukraine.

We do ask all visitors to enter the Chernobyl Zone with the necessary respect.