Most typical travel route in Ukraine covers the capital Kyiv (of course!), the well-known Odessa and perhaps bits of Crimea. Recently Lviv in Western Ukraine has also been making headlines in the travel news, and with EURO 2012 hosting cities Donetsk and Kharkiv will also jump up the list. However, few visitors think of veering away from the traditional routes and going to Ukraine Carpathians.

The area is off the list for the mainstream tourists and is still not known for adventure travelers. This patch of tiny rural villages, unique authentic highlanders' culture and pristine nature of Carpathian Mountains is Europe's true last frontier and continent's most exciting off-the-beaten track place! Want to know why? Check out our top reasons for visiting Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains and .. pack your bags now!

Reason 1:  Untouched nature of Carpathian Biosphere Reserve

Ukrainian Carpathians do not have the altitudes of its Romanian or Slovakian counterpart: our highest peak Mt. Goverla is 2061 m. But they steel the front seat when the 'competition' becomes all about the wilderness. Forget the market trails and managed campsites. While there has been recent attempts at organizing major hiking routes, you will still be left largely on your own.

The more visited areas of Chornogory Mountain Range are more accessible, and you are more likely to meet Ukrainian hikers along your route. However, if you go off to the hide-away corners of Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, your chances of meeting up with a wild animal dramatically increase, while a chance for human encounter falls through the floor.

The true secluded getaway - Carpathian Biosphere Reserve - has been recently included in UNESCO World Heritage List and its primeval beech forests remain lush, pristine and simply gorgeous!

Reason 2: Hutsul lifestyle in Ukrainian Carpathians

If you ever decide to leave the whirlwind of the modern life and escape into the seclude of the past, you won't need to fetch your fancy time machine or travel to the far away lands of Asia. The lost world lies right at your feet - in the hidden corners of Ukrainian Carpathians.

Remember the smell of fresh home-made bread, baked in the wooden oven? Forgot how the real food tastes? Visit the rural villages in Carpathian Mountains, where people still live they way your ancestors used to.  These are the places, where your dinner comes from the field outside of your house, horse carriage is at times more convenient transport than the fanciest car, and festive clothes are most definitely hand made by your relative or a neighbor in the village down the road.

But it's a visit to local shepherds that will really make you believe in time travel. Every summer a selected group of Hutsul men (and rarely women) collects herds of sheep from all the neighboring villages and head up to the mountains, for three months of feeding, grazing, milking and cheese making. Their simple shabby huts are scattered all over the mountain highlands, under the blissful accompaniment of tinkering bells and barking dogs.

Reason 3: Cultural heritage of Hutsuls

Hutsuls' distinctive cultural heritage has not managed to disappear into the exhibitions and museums. If you come by a local village during any religious holiday, you'll get carried away with all the colors, textures and sounds!

Delicate wooden churches with stunning naive-style paintings, eye catching traditional clothes, intricate embroidered towels and impressive hand-painted eggs will take you to a world so different from the plain manufactured T-shirts and flashy gadgets.

Hutsuls are deeply proud of their cultural heritage and - to our luck and delight - are making sure to preserve it and pass it along to their children, and grandchildren.

Reason 4: Delicious food

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Food is always a good reason to visit. And Hutsul cuisine will definitely give you some convincing arguments. Beside the fact that all the ingredients are grown locally and without manufactured preservatives - just like the Mother Nature intended, local kitchen combines the best from all the countries, surrounding Ukrainian Carpathians - Hungarian spices, Romanian drinks, and Ukrainian dough.

Banosh is the local staple food and tastes the best when cooked up in the highlands, by Hutsul shepherds and over the camp fire. Not convinced yet? Then try the traditional mushroom soup. And no - those won't be your regular tiny mushrooms from the hospital-like supermarkets. The soup will have only the largest, most appealing, hand picked wild mushrooms from the local forest. You'll be lucky to fit one in your hand!

Reason 5: Exciting traditions and celebrations

This is not some crazy carnival in Brazil or Argentina. This wild masquerade is regularly put together by Hutsuls for traditional winter holiday Malanka. Falling on the Old New Years Day (don't ask us why Ukrainians manage to have two New Years celebrations :)),this pagan holiday gets men dressed up in bizarre festive costumes, storming around the village, putting up crazy Malanka plays, and singing age-old songs, which meaning has already been lost, but which tradition still lives on.

Local Hutsul Christmas and Easter are also as far from the common Western-European style as one can imagine. No Santa Clause or Easter bunnies. Oh no! Instead, you get beautifully hand-crafted stars and vertep plays for Christmas, and rows of incredible wax-painted eggs for Easter. Who can refuse to that?

Reason 6: Good for your budget

And best of all - a trip to Ukrainian Carpathians won't make a dent in your budget! While it's definitely adventurous for foreign tourists (don't expect any English language around), your stay there will be a steal. Overnight accommodations in comfortable rural guesthouses start from 5-7 euros, including delicious home-made lunch. Food prices can't be beaten and public transportation will cost you few dollar cents at the most. Check out our Hiking Ukraine - Adventures in Carpathian Mountains or email us for an alternative tour.

Photos are courtesy of  Igor Melika. Have you been to Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine before? What were your tops reasons for visiting them? Share in the comments :)