I've been thinking about going to Chernobyl. Previously I've never looked around online for information about places, so I'm struggling a bit to find useful information about going to Chernobyl on my own.
Does anyone have any tips on how to make my way there. I was thinking of getting a ride from Kiev to get as close as possible and then walk the rest of the way through the forrest on foot. I realise this is a long hike, but I like hiking so. Is this feasible to do on your own? Should I try to get in touch with some of these infamous stalkers? Is there a lot of security?

Is this even the right place to be asking? like I said, I'm new to using the internet to find information about this sort of stuff

This website --> https://chernobyl-tour.com/english/ is your best bet for getting a tour. Breaking in is not advisable

Do not try and do it without permission. Especially by walking through the forest, which still contains pockets of high radiation. You do realise the entire exclusion zone is bigger than the UK right?

The military will pick you up in no time and you'll be in a whole lot of trouble.

Yup hotspots are a serious risk if you don't have the proper training and equipment,Not to mention the accumulated dose from traveling in the area. The tours are pretty affordable and you get a guide who knows the area well. The big danger is really just inherent ones with old soviet buildings.

don't forget your S.T.A.L.K.E.R. gear.

Yup. The tours are really the only way to safely do it. There are spots of high radiation that near/surpass lethal limits, other spots that you absolutely need a respirator and clean suit to safely enter, etc.

The tours stay to the safe areas only.

Let's not even go into the irradiated wildlife, including boars that are hostile to people.

Still on my list of things to do in the future though.

I've been thinking about going.

But I only want to do it if I know I am getting the absolute royal treatment as a foreigner. I don't want to accidentally get thrown into a foreign jail.

I found tips on FB, for who is supposed to be the very best guide, but I would rather do more research on 'stalkers' and their reputable guides, before dishing out any advice.

The company that i linked seems to do a great job of all that. You get fed in the canteen with the plant workers and sleep in a purpose built hotel. The hard part about getting in is the permission from the Ukrainian government but the company handles that for you. With them you also get to meet some of the few permanent residents of the area in a few of the villages.

Posted by OH_ZOG_NO The company that i linked seems to do a great job of all that. You get fed in the canteen with the plant workers and sleep in a purpose built hotel. The hard part about getting in is the permission from the Ukrainian government but the company handles that for you. With them you also get to meet some of the few permanent residents of the area in a few of the villages.

Yeah, but in your initial post, you didn't mention if it was stalker tours or legal tours. For now, I'll just assume you are referring people to illegal tours. Honestly, the only info that matters is if you've gone on the tour yourself.

If you want to study the effects of radiation on animals, insects etc I can see going there.
Otherwise it's just not worth the trouble even doing it legally.
The effects of exposure to multiple isotopes can be a DNA altering experience.
One screw up is all it takes.
If something happens there's no going back.
There are countless places that are cheaper, cooler, easier, and less of a hassle to do.

Of coarse I do look forward to the epic "I got busted at Chernobyl" thread
Carry on...

Posted by blackhawk Otherwise it's just not worth the trouble even doing it legally. The effects of exposure to multiple isotopes can be a DNA altering experience. One screw up is all it takes. If something happens there's no going back. There are countless places that are cheaper, cooler, easier, and less of a hassle to do.

It's really not much of a hassle to do Chernobyl the legal tour route. Dozens of my exploring friends from the UK and Europe have done them sometimes more than once.

Spending a day inside Pripyat, you are exposed to less radiation than on a trans-Atlantic flight.

Posted by mookster It's really not much of a hassle to do Chernobyl the legal tour route. Dozens of my exploring friends from the UK and Europe have done them sometimes more than once. Spending a day inside Pripyat, you are exposed to less radiation than on a trans-Atlantic flight.

exactly. the problem with going to pripyat is that its been done before... it's not pristine creepiness anymore. People have moved shit around for photos. I mean, it's worth the trip just to say you've been there, but most people won't have any idea what you're talking about as the event is ancient history... 1986 was a long time ago. I would guarantee a fair amount of people on this forum weren't even alive when Chernobyl happened.

Posted by Samurai exactly. the problem with going to pripyat is that its been done before... it's not pristine creepiness anymore. People have moved shit around for photos. I mean, it's worth the trip just to say you've been there, but most people won't have any idea what you're talking about as the event is ancient history... 1986 was a long time ago. I would guarantee a fair amount of people on this forum weren't even alive when Chernobyl happened.

Exactly that. That's kind of why I haven't gone, because the place is such a ruin now (and not just a ruin, a staged ruin) that there isn't anything in Pripyat I haven't seen a thousand times in photos. However I would go for the lesser known abandoned villages which dot the exclusion zone as well.

There's also the technicality where it isn't an actual explore, it's a paid for with permission and accompanied trip driving around the city being dropped off outside specific places or if you're lucky being allowed to free roam. Everyone who goes on a legit tour gets given a walkie talkie to contact their guide with if they have a run in with the police and military who still do patrol the city on occasion.

Samurai, mookster I couldn't agree more.
Incredibly there's even been wholesale looting of heavily irradiate truck parts closer in and that was well over 10 years ago.
A Russian radioactive Byberry

The looters are idiots. It reminds me of the story from Brazil of the looters who stole an extremely radioactive source from an abandoned hospital thinking they could make money off it as they didn't know what it was, they died along with various relatives of acute radiation poisoning.

On legitimate tours you have to walk through one of those radiation detection booths when leaving the exclusion zone, to make sure you're not carrying anything and to make sure you're healthy. It's all approached with the utmost caution.

Posted by mookster The looters are idiots. It reminds me of the story from Brazil of the looters who stole an extremely radioactive source from an abandoned hospital thinking they could make money off it as they didn't know what it was, they died along with various relatives of acute radiation poisoning. On legitimate tours you have to walk through one of those radiation detection booths when leaving the exclusion zone, to make sure you're not carrying anything and to make sure you're healthy. It's all approached with the utmost caution.

Russian scrapers raided a remote lighthouse that was powered by a thermovoltic pile heated with a lot of a radioactive isotope about 10 years ago.
Tore the whole thing apart to spite it being covered in warnings. Killed one or two scrappers.

Yep orphaned sources are a major concern for public safety as well as for counter terror efforts. That reminds me of the bunkers painted with radium paint in Russia in think. Locals were going into them and dangerous doses from particulate matter coming off the walls.

Posted by OH_ZOG_NO Yep orphaned sources are a major concern for public safety as well as for counter terror efforts. That reminds me of the bunkers painted with radium paint in Russia in think. Locals were going into them and dangerous doses from particulate matter coming off the walls.

I wuv radium glowing paint.
Where can I get some of this wonderful stuff?

I have the sneaking suspicion that giving you nuclear material would be a bad idea