Pivdenný Buh

A full-week trip, covering over 500 km out of 800 km of the stream of this largest river, flowing entirely through the territory of Ukraine. All variety of landscapes along the route: from marshy woodlands and meliorated meadows in the West to hilly and rocky grasslands in the South. A lot of rapids and watermills along the way, picturesque places and natural reserves.

DAY 1 (105 km). Start in Khmelnytskyi and the first stop in Medžybiž castle (Меджибіж). It is preferable to take the main road M-30, because the alternative one on the right bank is broken or covered with pebble-stones. The terrain is flat here, and all (dirt-)roads are well passable. Overnight in Xmiľnyk (Хмільник).

DAY 2 (30 km). Here I diverged from the river and made short 'acclimatization' day to Lityn.

DAY 3 (100 km). Starting the day with a 30-km ride down to Iľkivka (Ільківка) along a relatively good road. In this village, there some nice ponds on the Roveć river, which soon flows into the Buh. Yet instead of taking the shortest route to Hnivań (Гнівань), it is worth visiting a nice spring in the wood to the north of Selyšče (Селище) and the remains of Čerlenkivśký castle. The next part of the route is a inelaborate 15-km ride to the village Sutysky - here the Buh starts to flow in the hilly and rocky landscapes with numerous rapids within the Seredńe Pobužža Regional Landscape Park. The most prominent place here is the village Dovhopolivka, situated on high hills with a perfect panoramic view on the Buh. From here, the nearest hotel is in Voronovyća (Вороновиця).

DAY 4 (70 km). From Voronovyća, the shortest way to the river lies through the wood, which is a well-beaten road. In Potuš (Потуш), the landscapes resemble those in Dovhopolivka - there is another good viewpoint on the river meander. Here we are entering the realm of Nemyrivśke Pobužža Regional Landscape Park. Most part of way ahead, it is possible to go along a comfortable dirt-road through the meadows along the river, which becomes frequently crossed by rapids. In 30 km, we enter Sokileć (Сокілець) - a very beautiful village with an old watermill, waterfalls and remnants of an old park on the other bank of the Buh (village Pečera). The best view on the river opens from the church hill. The next and final stop of the day is the historic town of Braclav (Брацлав) with a jewish heritage (cemetery, watermills, ruins of a brewery) and a Castle hill. However, the hotel here is, unfortunately, not the best.

DAY 5 (80 km). Before Ladyžyn, this part of the route is relatively boring, but on the outskirts of this city there are some good views on the reservoir, the power plant. Further downstream to Hubnyk there is a beautiful passage through the forest and large rocks, where the river flows in numerous streams through loud rapids and islands. Hubnyk is also a good place to have a rest, there is a beach here and numerous places for a picnic. When planning the route, I didn''t find many interesting places farther to the south, so instead it is possible to get on a suburb train from a nearby village Dukľa (Дукля) all the way to Hajvoron (Гайворон).

DAY 6 (120 km). The longest day of all, and the reason is that I didn't find a hotel before Pervomajśk (Первомайськ). To the south of Hajvoron, the Buh flows in high grass-covered hills, offering some good views over the stream. In the neighbouring village Solomija (Соломія), it is worth visiting an old watermill, but it is important to take the correct route below the hill (not the one on this map, which goes to a dead end). After Kazavčyn (Казавчин) - which also has good viewpoints - it is possible to find a beautiful route just next to the river, although in several places it crosses the streams and gets overgrown. Probably, it is possible to continue like that all the way to Savrań (Саврань), but to save time I took a regular road after Zavaľľa. After Savrań, the road enters the last forest on the way, in which there is a good spring just next to the highway. In the neighbouring village of Lupolove there is a large watermill worth visiting. Again, for the sake of time, the rest of the route goes just through the fields - the quickest way to Pervomajśk.
However, if it were possible to split this day in two - there are some more interesting places on the river (watermills and hills in Čausove and Kinećpiľ).

DAY 7 (60 km). The last half-day of the route is devoted to the northern part of Buźký Gard National Park - a wonderful place with canyons of the Buh and its tributaries, high cliffs and roaring rapids. This is all surrounded by dry steppes and small groves. My route finishes in Semenivka, targeting to get on a suburb train in Kavuny.