The Dnipro river and Ukraine as a state are regarded as the Father and the Mother of the Ukrainian nation. It seems these two notions are inseparable and can not live without each other. The Dnipro River crosses the territory of Ukraine from North to South right in the middle and divides it into two large and approximately equal parts.

Since ancient times, Ukrainian civilization developed and along the banks of the Dnipro river, which never failed to give them necessary food, transportation means, business and communication. The most ancient settlements ever found by archaeologists on the territory of Ukraine were all excavated along the banks of the Dnipro River.

Today, a number of industrially important Ukrainian cities are located on the Dnipro river's basin: Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kremenchuk, Dniprodzerzhynsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Nikopol, Energodar, Kakhovka, and Kherson.

The water from the Dnipro is used for industrial and agricultural needs, in the municipal sectors it is used for transportation purposes, and - directly or indirectly, for trade, hunting and fishing. The waters of the Dnipro account for almost 80% of Ukraine's total water resources. The annual average drainage at the mouth is 53 cubic km.

Besides having a special ecological, economic, and social significance for Ukraine, the Dnipro basin also has a special spirituality, a special national value, whose roots reach back thousands of years. The river unites Slavic ancestors of the Ukrainian, the Byelarussian, and the Russian nations.

The Dnipro is the third longest river in Europe. It goes from the North to the South and then carries its waters into the Black Sea. Together with glorious Ukrainian nature the Dnipro looks gorgeous everywhere. 

In Cherkassy you can’t always see the river’s other side, and the Dnipro is so wide there that it looks like a sea. From the ancient chronicles Tales of the Bygone Years, the analysis of the river was produced by researchers. They found that already in those times the river was broad, deep, and convenient for navigation.

There are 256 islands scattered all along the stream of the Dnipro.  Khortytsya Island in Zaporizhzhya is the largest one among them with 12 km long and 2,5 km wide. The Cossacks came to the island in the 16th century and founded the fortress town here. This place contain about 100 archeological sites dating from the Stone Age up to the Cossacks time.

One of the Dnipro’s hills bears the name of the national poet and painter Taras Shevchenko. According to his will, he was buried in Kaniv, where his grave is located now. A monument was erected on the grave of the Great Kobzar to commemorate the memory of the poet. This place has become the popular sight for Ukrainian nationalists and tourists.

Also another interesting sight in Cherkassy is Korsun Hill of Eternal Glory, where a giant iron woman holds a flaming torch in honour of the war dead.

One of the most impressive evidence is the archaeological findings in the Kamiana Mohyla (Stone Barrow) on the Molochna river (left-bank, the Dnipro lowlands) dated by the 7th century B.C. The clay tablets with pre-Sumerian characters that were discovered there point to a historical connection between epochs and peoples. They also provide evidence of the great ancient civilisations in what is today Ukraine. They convincingly confirm  that the Dnipro basin is a cradle of three Slavonic nations whose roots extend ten to twelve thousand years into the past.

The river cruise along the Dnipro is one of the most exiting and luxurious tours in Ukraine. The river passes lots of interesting places, and fascinating landscapes. The typical journey begins in Kiev, make a stop in Odessa or Sevastopol, passing the ports in Kaniv, Kremenchuk, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson and Yalta. The cruise gives a good understanding of how the country looks like through from the North to the South.

The program of the cruise usually includes visiting of 1-2 local sightseeing in each port-city. An all-inclusive two weeks cruise with a boat deck cabin costs around $2000 per person. The cruise of 10-12 days on the main or lower decks costs around $1000 per person.