Small town Vylkove is one of the most picturesque places, located in the delta of Danube, with the streets indented by thin channels trough which are thrown small wooden bridges house.
This unique town - the gem of the lower Danube River - is located on the border of Ukraine and Romania at the picturesque confluence of the Danube and the Black Sea. At this place, one of the most beautiful rivers in Europe breaks into several branches that form a sort of fork. It is from here that the village gets its name (‘vylka’ means ‘fork’ in Russian language) given to the city by Russians and runaway Cossacks, who were the first to settle in these lands.
Due to the many waterways that take up almost half of the town, Vylkove was nicknamed the ‘Ukrainian Venice.’ Unique boats, Ukrainian versions of gondolas, can be seen here much more often than cars. Vylkove is a quiet, cozy town, hiding on the banks of the Danube. It is made up of dozens of picturesque man-made islands, formed out of silt and clay, that are surrounded by fabulously beautiful gulfs and backwaters.
Vylkove is called the town of fishermen and winemakers. The latter grow here a unique grade of grapes – the ‘novak' – from which the delicious eponymous wine is made. The wine makes for a fantastic souvenir to bring home to friends and relatives! The locals also like to treat the town’s guests with amazing herbal tea from wooden samovars.
But Vylkove’s main attraction is the Danube bioreserve, which takes up almost 50 thousand hectares and is considered to be the biggest swampland reserve in Europe! The Romanian part of the reserve is included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Protected here are hundreds of species of rare plants, exotic animals, and fish, many of which are on Ukraine’s endangered species list. However, birds are as the reserve's main inhabitants, as the primeval nature of the preserve creates a real paradise for them. You may see here fantastically beautiful European white pelicans, geese, and white-tailed sea eagles. The so called ‘zero kilometer,’ where the Danube flows into the Black Sea, is also on the territory of the reserve.
Friendly people, unspoiled sceneries, delicious wine – all this unsurpassed fusion of the photogenic antiquity and originality!