reactor no 4

We visited Chernobyl. Absolutely makes you think... Great experience, but the trip was too long. 13 hours, could have done in 8.

What can I say except absolutely amazing place. The feel of danger mixed with the anticipation of what you may see next in and around Pripyat was unreal. Even when a wild boar turned up. A must do experience

Visited the reactor as part of a day-trip to Chernobyl. During the tour we learned of the selfless sacrifice by many servicemen and miners who worked in extreme levels of radiation in an attempt to cap the reactor and prevent a second explosion that would have had a huge impact on the world.A very sobering and educational visit.

Unforgetable trip of a lifetime. I went here on a planned trip with a group of strangers that im glad to say became friends. This was honestly the trip of a lifetime and i never wanted to leave. Pripyat and the sarcophagus is are the most humbing places on the planet, standing in the middle of desolation i found a part of myself i never knew existed. I stood in tears as i thought about the lives of the people that once called pripyat home. Trying to fight back the tears as stood behind me were a group of people i had only just met. I found myself surrounded by catastrophe by which all nuclear accodents are measured but somehow on that place with those people i felt like i belonged. This place although tragic helps a lost soul towards his destiny. Chernoby, pripyat and ukraine will be forever part of me. You will find that all you can do upon your return is tell the people around you about your experience until they cant stand to bebaround you but you cant help it. Heres to october 2012, the best week of my life. I shall return......... One day. чтобы не забыть тех, кто погиб в тот день

Ive been on this tour several times...I lived in Ukraine in 2005 and got to on my first non- public tours and it really was amazing. I think the Ukrainians were using us as sort of "test" subjects to fine tune the tourism aspect of this site. The first time I went the entire tour was in Ukrainian ( I speak it) and it was done in much more detail than the current English language tour. I don't know why they dropped the meet and greet with some of the folks that experienced the event...that for me was the best part! Of course talking to some of the locals in the neighboring towns was a treat too....I got the hear all of the stories about larger than normal animals coming from the Chernobyl Zone! I second a lot of Peter H's comments...it really is a once in a lifetime experience.There are tours in many languages but try to learn some Ukrainian for a much better experience. The guides tend to rush the foreigners a bit more than locals or even the Russians. Snapish responses in Russian/Ukrainian to "Hurry up" requests seem to get you a bit more time. You'll only get 1 chance to use a bathroom at the beginning. Eat a good meal before you scheduled tour...you will not be allowed to bring food.

Being able to visit this ghost town and extinct nuclear plant was one of the most memorable moments of my life. I was able to visit while they are constructing a new sarcophagus to put over the current one. To see the old blending with the new was beautiful. I highly recommend visiting this historic site upon your visit to Ukraine. Worth the day trip!

I was 24 years old when the Chernobyl nuclear accident happened and can still remember a lot of things from that time. After having seen BBC's Top Gear episode visiting Chernobyl and Pripyat and a Dutch travel program, I decided that it was time for me to see these places and book a tour. Of course I checked the internet before that in order to get to know everything about the risks regarding the radioactivity still there. At the end of my two-day-tour of the Exclusion Zone (the area that is closed to the public and was evacuated 28 years ago), we visited the reactor 4 site. About 100 meters is as close as you can get. It was a very strange experience to stand in front of something that caused to much trouble, fear, death and human misery 28 years ago (and, due to the effects of radioactivity, still does). In some way it was scary too to stand there: to know what could've happened if not more than 500,000 people from the former Soviet Union had willingly (or not willingly) helped to limit the consequences of this nuclear disaster. Many of them are now dead. Half of Europe could've been radioactively contaminated if not for their help (due to the fact that there could've been a second - worse - explosion of the reactor). While standing there I saw some images from a documentary about Chernobyl in my mind: thousands of workers only allowed to work on the roof of the reactor for 30 seconds because of the intense radiation (many of those are now dead). The monument in front of reactor 4 keeps the memory of those who sacrificed their lives alive. An exceptionally impressive experience!The fact that I've given 5 stars is an emotional thing: it was SO amazingly impressive to be there!

There is planned for 2015 to cover reactor no 4 with huge dome, that you never see it again. Anyway amazing impressions, mystic place.

After a long ride from Kiev you travel through forests with deserted houses and town and then you look across plains to see this huge abandoned reactor - grey and dead. As you ponder the implications you leave and get tested with meter to remind you it is still dangerous.

• I was there end of September 2013 and it was one of my best experiences. Before I go there, I was told to bring my passport and wear a long pants, enclosed shoes and I paid 155$ including the Insurance. At 9:00 we left the city of Kiev to Chernobyl town and in a trip that took us two hours. We arrived there at 11 am. The area is divided into four zones, one is 30,00 Kilometers from the reactors. Two is the 10 kilometers from the reactors and third one in the area of the reactors. First, we visited a kindergarten then the nuclear power reactors. After that we went to the nearest town to the 4th reactor which is Pripyat. 50,000 people were living in this town most of them were employees at the nuclear power reactors. This town was “ The dream town” before the disaster occurred May 1986. People wanted to go there because it was modern and there was no shortage of supply as other soviet cities at that time 1986.• On our way out of the area we went throw 2 radiation check points to check of the radiation we are carrying in our cloths if it’s normal or not. If it’s high, you need to throw your cloths away which had happened to our tour guide twice before (As he said).• 36 hours after the accident, 1,200 busses came to take 50,000 people away from the city of Pripyat “temporarily” until the problem is solved and they asked them to take only their necessary stuff for a few days. Unfortunately, they never came back and the dream city has become the Ghost city!!!

This place is bustling with life actually. With the new sarcophagus being built (expected to be finished by 2015) there are a lot of workers on the site. Talking to them or taking photos of them was prohibited but taking photos of the cute dogs nearby was OK. :) If you get there, cheer them up with some pet food! :)

I travelled to Ukraine to visit Pripyat and Chenobyl Reactor No.4. As a photographer and a lover of all things derelict this was simply the BEST!To stand outside the reactor that blew up nearly 30 years ago was mind blowing and Pripyat city is amazing. To walk around a complete city where no one lives any more was just amazing. I carried a dosimeter all the time to measure radiation and at times it was very,very high indeed.But, if you want an alternative and exciting trip.............. GO!Note: You can't just turn up at the exclusion zone and go for a wander around... YOU must get permission first, most people book a trip.

I viewed this with the company chernobylwel.com and got some excellent photographs .Highly recommend this to all

It was my dream an it came true. Interesting tour, especialy for Stakler fans. Get to seee the history of the disaster. The Esqure journal rated it #1 place to visit. And don't be frightend of a radiation nothing will happen to you for the one day

We organised our tour to the cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat through a UK based company called Lupine Tours, they got everything sorted for us and we had no problems meeting our contact and guide, a lovely girl called Anastasia. From the minute we got into the van we were treated to all the history bits that we were hoping for and more. One thing we didn't realise is that you don't get checked at passport controll etc, just your ID and that you're on the list of people with clearance. We mistakenly thought we couldn't bring anything in to the exclusion zone so we didn't bring a drink with us and the shop in Chernobyl is not open on Mondays. Luckily we were saved by a kind co-tourist and had enough water. Make sure you take lots if you go in the summer, it was over 30oC the whole time.Be prepared for walking but it was one of the most amazing places to visit, you learn so much and see so much more than you would ever think about it. We also spent another couple of nights in Kiev and it's well worth the time out in the rest of the city.