There are a few private tourist agencies in Kyiv, like New Logic and Sam Travel, that provide tours of the plant. One of the advantages of using private companies is that they will handle all the paperwork that is required in order to obtain permission to visit the site, as well as arrange transportation. The routes of each tour cover basically the same areas. The focal point of the tour is the sarcophagus, a concrete and lead encasing that covers the damaged nuclear reactor. Tours will also take visitors to the deserted town of Prypyat, where power plant workers used to live.
The prices of the ecological tours vary depending on the duration of the tour (which usually lasts for one day) and the type of transportation (car, minibus, or bus). Once at the Chernobyl checkpoint, which is about 17 km from the power plant, visitors change to another vehicle, which never leaves the contaminated zone.
If you and your companions are of the adventurous type and would like to head up to the site on your own, you may use a private car, that is until the checkpoint. You must handle all the required documentation directly with the Chernobyl InterInform Agency, sending everything via mail or fax. Obtaining permission from the Chernobyl InterInform takes a minimum of two weeks, so it is best to plan at least one month in advance.
The letter must contain the following information: 1) your name (including the names of those in your party; 2) passport number(s); 3) date of passport; 4) citizenship; 5) contact numbers; 6) description of photos you plan to take; 7) statement guaranteeing that you will pay for the services in full.
The letter can be written in English, Ukrainian or Russian.
Send the letter to Volodymyr Holosha, director of the State Department and Administration of the Exclusion Zone at 1A Bohdana Khmelnytskoho, Chernobyl, Ukraine 07270. Tel: (293) 5-25-53; fax: (293) 5-22-05. The office is open Mondays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Tuesdays 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Thursdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
While your permission notice is being processed, you should contact Marina Polyakova of the InterInform Agency in the Kyiv office at 235-5014. The agency will design a tour according to your specifications - within government guidelines, of course. Like private tours, the agency will arrange for transportation to and from Kyiv, hotel accommodations and an English translator. You can spend as many days as you wish in Chernobyl.
For those who don't insist on seeing the real thing, you can always visit the National Chernobyl Museum in Kyiv. The museum has an extensive exhibit of many artifacts from the site, such as biohazard uniforms of the former plant workers. The museum offers tours in English. For more information about the National Chernobyl Museum, call 417-5422.
For more information about private tours, contact New Logic at 462-0462 or Sam Travel at 264-1184.
