When to go to the zone

Hello again!

After reading that very usefull FAQ, I have been seriously considering going. I have one other person who wants to go with me so far, going to ask one other person as well, havent deicded on whom yet.

SO, my question is: We are thinking of going during either this autumn (a bit short notice for me) or next spring. (mostly for photogrpahy reasons, I find they are the more interesting seasons to capture things I feel). I also am going to treat myself to a new DSLR camera soon, one good for low light conditions. I love low light photography, but my current camera is rubbish at it.

Is there a "best" time to go? How could we know about when these slightly random windows of oppertunity arise when areas become open? (which I assume means that the organisation in charge of an area is feeling in a receptive mood).

Personally I would go in Autumn, for several reasons:
Spring is great, but April/May is the busiest season in the zone, tourism-wise. So it's also the most strictly guarded. I went in March, which was great, because I was lucky with the weather, but if you aren't, you might end up in knee deep snow....
Summer is nice if you want to see Pripyat with the roses in bloom, but you won't see much of the buildings, because the leaves on all the trees will block your sight.
Winters are rough in northern Ukraine, and there is a possibility the heavy snow will make moving around impossible.
That's why I prefer Autumn: the zone is not THAT strictly guarded around that time, the leaves are gone, and it's not 20°below zero

Just my five cents....

[som3e]

Is there a "best" time to go? How could we know about when these slightly random windows of oppertunity arise when areas become open? (which I assume means that the organisation in charge of an area is feeling in a receptive mood).

I think autumn is the best time for your needs. You can catch the best feeling on your pictures and there is enough day time to do other things like digging in dirt..

There is no chance to know something about openning or closing any areas. It´s just a random luck or not. And that´s the reason to go to the zone for one more time .

Thanks for the advice,

Yeah, autumn does sound good... unfortunatly I dont think I could do it for this autumn. Hmm.. how much notice is required to go do you think? I guess saying YAH next week! GOGOGO might not pan out too well. From brief looking around on 'tinternet, would I be right in thinking that October is basically the cutoff for reasonable weather vs. OH GOD THE SNOW weather?

Yeah, autumn does sound good... unfortunatly I dont think I could do it for this autumn. Hmm.. how much notice is required to go do you think? I guess saying YAH next week! GOGOGO might not pan out too well.

Well, if you are booking a tour through one of the many travel agents that offer those, at least two weeks in advance are usually required in order to get all the permits done. But since you will need to book flights/hotels and everything else, you might want to apply earlier. You don't want to fly over there for nothing, just because your application got misplaced or something else did not work out within two weeks time.

From brief looking around on 'tinternet, would I be right in thinking that October is basically the cutoff for reasonable weather vs. OH GOD THE SNOW weather?

Indeed...