Vinnytsia

Vinnytsia sits on the Southern Buh in the middle of Podillia, a city of a few hundred thousand with a long riverfront that it has made the centre of its public life. A floating fountain on the river plays to music and projected light on summer evenings and is the thing the city is known for across Ukraine. The old centre keeps churches of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a Jesuit and a Dominican complex among them, and a water tower turned into a landmark.

What you actually see

• The Roshen fountain - a floating river fountain playing to music and light in summer.
• The riverfront - a long embankment promenade along the Southern Buh.
• The monastery complexes - Jesuit and Dominican buildings in the old centre.
• The water tower - the 1912 tower on Europeiska Square, a city landmark.

When to go

May to September is the fountain season and the evenings are when the city fills. The old centre works year round. Winter is grey and quiet.

Honest expectations

The fountain runs only in the warm months and on a schedule that changes; checking before making an evening of it matters. The historic centre is small. The city is otherwise workaday.

Nearby

Tulchyn is south, and Berdychiv is northeast.