Bulgaria have no common border with Ukraine :)

Trains to Kiev before Covid

once per week Bucharest - Kiev (doesn´t know if back in service)
daily Vienna - Budapest - Lviv - Kiev (is back in service and have a special Interrail offer)
daily Kosice - Lviv - Kiev (not sure if back in service/ pretty cheap)
daily Wroclaw - Krakow - Przemyśl - Lviv - Kiev (not sure if back in service
daily Warsaw - Kiev (not sure if back in service)

another Route suggestion that would only take one travelday of your Railpass would be by IC to Berlin and catch then at 6pm the Nighttrain from Berlin to Przemyśl  would just take one travelday. From Przemyśl  you have “domestic” Ukrainian trains to Lviv,Kiev and Odessa note that Interrail is not valid in Ukraine :)
The Berlin Prezmysl option would just use one travelday of your pass :)

another cheap options is to catch from Kosice or Budapest trains to Chop / Zahony
from there then with domestic Ukrainian trains as trains within Ukraine are quite cheap. and many can be booked online at the page of Ukrainian Rail :) 

Hi Maria,

adding to seewulf’s suggestions - keep in mind that at the moment the trains from Przemysl to Ukraine are NOT running because of COVID stuff… and no date yet announced when they will restart.
So if you decide to use the crossing via Poland, then you have to catch a minibus from Przemysl to Ukrainian border (they leave from the backside of Przemysl station, price maybe around 10PLN, don’t remember for sure). At the border you cross by foot to Ukrainian side. On the Ukrainian side you change a small amount of money, so that you have local currency to take a marshrutka (minibus) to Lviv. The marshrutka is leaving a short walk from the border on the left side from a parking lot. Overall it should take maybe around 2,5 hours this way to get to Lviv from Przemysl (+1 hour time difference!).

Definitely not recommended: taking a direct bus from e.g. Krakow to Lviv. Waiting times at borders can be frustrating long - once my bus was spending 9 (!) hours at the border, while by foot you just walk through or maybe spend 30 mins there…

Regarding scenery the most interesting route to Lviv will be for sure via Slovakia and then from Cierna nad Tisou to Chop by local train as you will pass through High Tatra.. most quick way will be more likely via Poland (see above).

And yeah, you should definitely visit Ukraine, nowadays many young people speak decent English, so no problem to get around and Lviv and Kiev are really touristy places (especially Lviv). Not like 10 years ago :D

Enjoy your trip

Folks, 

Any update on the above situation?   Covid's done, more or less.  

I ran a search on PKP and saw that there's a train from Warszawa; but with my fledgeling Polish I also note:

Z: PRZEMYŚL GŁÓWNY - ODJAZD: 13:45 

DO: LVIV - PRZYJAZD: 18:25

That's nearly 5 hours; I appreciate the sizes of the two countries, and know current events; however the bus trip between those two points is a tad over 3 hours, which leads me to suspect that there's a shuttle or walk-across the border, not a direct train connection.   

Anyone with recent experience able to share?  

Thank you most kindly

Karla in Haarlem

@nellieb1y If you plan to travel to Ukraine you should check if your insurance allows that. Many countries advise against travelling to the Ukraine due to the ongoing war and if your home country does that, normally your travel insurance will not be valid in that country.

I have never used travel insurance.  However, previous visits to Ukraine (please say Ukraine, as there is no "the Ukraine”) have involved me purchasing health insurance for the duration of my stay.  That was long ago, so I shall check with my Dutch insurer with regard to my policy.  Thanks, Anna, for that tip !