Do you know that Ukraine is a place where you can find not only fertile lands, beautiful forests, the Black sea and the Sea of Azov, ancient parks and high mountains but also the beautiful lakes where the nature is so pure and untouched that every person can find harmony, bliss and inner peace?Shatsky Lakes are one of the main tourist pearls not only in the Volyn region, but also in Ukraine. Shatsky Lakes are the group of many fresh water lakes located in the north western part of Ukraine . The territory around Shatsky Lakes are very beautiful and wild, that’s way in 1983 was created The Shatsky natural national park with an area of 32 500 hectares. The Shatsky Lake District include more than 20 lakes with different flora and fauna. The biggest lakes and the most famous are Svitiaz (27.5 km), the second largest natural pond in Ukraine after the Lake Ialpug, Pulemetske Lake (16.3 km), Luke (6.8 km), Lyutsimir (4.3 km), Ostrovyanskoe Lake (2.5 miles), Krymnoe Lake (1.44 km), and Pishane Lake (1.86 km). Every lake has its own unique history.

Svitiaz Lake is called “the Ukrainian Baikal” because it’s very deep and clean. The maximum depth of the lake is 58.4 meters, with the warm and pure water and gently sloping sandy bottom it’s a very popular place for holidaymakers. It’s well-known that in the Second World War the waters of Svitiaz Lake was used to cure Army officers and soldiers, later it was a popular resort among the Soviet astronauts. The secret of the lake’s treatment effect is that the water contains iodine, silver and glycerin so has the unique spa effect on a human body. There is a legend that Ukrainian ladies are so beautiful because their ancestress bathed in Shatsky Lakes. The water in Svitiaz is so “crystal” because there is no river which falls into the lake, and it is fueled entirely by the groundwater sources.

Shatsky Lakes often called “The blue eyes of Volun”. These lakes are the great place for those who like fishing or dishes with fresh fish because only here a traveler can find at about 31 species of fish, including perch, pike, bream, roach, carp, catfish, pike-perch and eel, one of the local “landmarks”. Some lakes also have crayfish. Around Shatsky Lakes there are forests with organic blueberries, blackberries, cranberries and mushrooms.
Every visit to Shatsky Lakes brings new and existing experiments, because there are a lot of interesting sightseeing tours, such as boat ride in the shallows of Pishane Lake, horse ride to the wild places in the Lake District, bike tours, interesting journey to the old castle in Lutsk or a trip to Brest, one of the oldest city in Belorussia.
In Shatsky natural national park there are some cozy restaurants where Ukrainian women cook a lot of dishes with fresh fish, including the famous Ukrainian fish soup – uha. There are a lot of big and small hotels for every taste with the extremely fresh air as a bonus. The shortest way to Shatsky Lakes is from Kovel, but you can also take a bus or a taxi from Lutsk, Lvov and Rovno.

Shatsky Lakes are one of the wonders of Ukraine, where every traveler will find not only the positive emotions but also harmony and inner peace and maybe even his forest fairy –a beautiful Ukrainian woman.