Quoted By:
Although this thread has kind of gone into another world I'll stick to the original question.
I visited Ukraine with my friends back in April this year. We stayed in Kiev for about 5 days and we did go to the Zone for 1 day.
Kiev itself is not too bad as cities go. A lot of very beautiful traditional buildings mixed with a lot of shitty commie blocks that are under constant repair. The Metro is absolutely amazing and is one of the easiest and most efficient transport services I have ever been on.
The Zone itself has been worked up a lot in the media and through films, games and books. I found the place amazing and it's definitely an out-of-this-world experience. However, it will not be STALKER at all. You will be on a tour bus (or mini tour van) and will be driven to a few chosen locations, such as some villages, Chernobyl, the power station itself and of course Pripyat. Once dropped off at these locations you will be able to walk around pretty freely and be able to take pictures and go inside many buildings (you can no longer go inside the buildings in Pripyat anymore unfortunately)
One of the best parts of the trip was the stop at the military radar base DUGA-1. It is a massive collection of huge metal pylons that stretch on for about a kilometre long! It's rarely talked about when mentioning the Zone, but it's definitely one of the best parts!
If you're looking to do anything else in Kiev while you're there then you should definitely go to the war museum, the maiden square and the citadel of the churches. There are plenty of other lovely sites around the city that there are plenty of signs to guide you and you'll find all sorts of stuff by looking online or at the leaflets in hotels and hostels.
I've got a few pictures that I will post when I get home later, if you are interested?
