Park
Kozhedub Park
The city's largest park, on former Leshchynskyi land along the Psel, with a colonnade entrance, a bronze Chekhov on a bench and the "Bather" sculpture.
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Nature & trips
The Psel, lakes and roads of Sumy Oblast
The city stands on three rivers and has more than fifty hectares of park right in town, while an hour or two away lie the Round Courtyard of Trostianets, the hetman capital of Hlukhiv and the fortress monastery of Putyvl.
Sumy is a frontline city about 30 km from the Russian border. Many landmarks are damaged, some museums are closed and their collections evacuated. Before any trip, check official updates from the Sumy regional military administration and city council.
Water
Three rivers and the lakes
The main river of Sumy is the Psel, a tributary of the Dnieper. It curves around the west of the city, and its high bank was chosen for the fortress. The Sumka, which most likely gave the city its name, flows into it, and the Strilka, an old bed of the Sumka, became part of the defensive ditch back in 1658.
The Blue Lakes on the right bank of the Psel are man-made, left behind by sand dredging in the 1960s–80s. The small lake covers 26 ha and the large one about 150 ha; they are fed by springs and the Psel itself. The recreation area was upgraded in 2023.
Lake Chekha is an old bed of the Psel, 32 ha in area and up to 14 m deep. In summer locals head to Student Beach and kayak down the Psel, though for now drones over the water make the river risky.
Green Sumy
Parks and natural places
Park
Kazka Children's Park
Fairy-tale figures and a 10 m fountain, a favourite for family walks.
Garden
Pedagogical University Botanical Garden
More than 1,100 plant species and a greenhouse with lemons, bananas and figs. The 36-hectare agrarian university campus is nearby.
One of the large lakes in Sumy's Kovpakivskyi district.
Lake
Blue Lakes
Man-made lakes in old sand pits, linked to the Psel.
Centuries-old oaks on the shore of Lake Chekha.
Lake
Lake Chekha
An old bed of the Psel and one of the deepest lakes in town.
River
The Psel and Student Beach
The city's main river, loved for its beaches and kayak trips from Myropillia.
Drones make the river unsafe for now.
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy archaeologists excavating at Mohrytsia, 2021.
Nature
Mohrytsia chalk hills
White slopes above the Psel, the floor of an ancient sea, and the site of the "Borderland Space" land-art festival; Kyiv-Mohyla Academy archaeologists study a Scythian-era settlement here.
Currently a dangerous border zone.
After the war
Day trips around Sumy Oblast
Distances are as the crow flies; by road add 15–30%. Most of the northern and eastern oblast is currently a dangerous border zone.
≈ 49 km
Trostianets
The Neo-Gothic Round Courtyard with four towers, a former horse yard where Prince Golitsyn staged circus and theatre, plus the 256-hectare Nesuchne park and an Annunciation church with Croisy sculptures.
The town was occupied from 1 to 26 March 2022 and the Round Courtyard was damaged. Since 2025 Trostianets has been a Hero City of Ukraine.
≈ 42 km
Lebedyn
A fortress town the same age as Sumy. In 1708 Mazepa's supporters were executed here. St Nicholas Church keeps a bell dated 1660.
≈ 67 km
Okhtyrka
The lavish Baroque Intercession Cathedral, now attributed to Ukhtomsky rather than Rastrelli. The town was another centre of Sloboda Cossacks and hussars.
The city hall and House of Culture were destroyed in 2022.
≈ 80 km
Putyvl
A fortress monastery with stone walls from 1602–1604, remains of 17th-century fortifications and a monument to Yaroslavna from the Tale of Igor's Campaign.
≈ 95 km
Romny
One of the oldest towns in the oblast, with the Ukrainian Baroque Holy Spirit Cathedral and one of the first Shevchenko monuments (1918).
≈ 105 km
Hlukhiv
Hetmans Skoropadsky, Apostol and Razumovsky were elected here. The Hlukhiv reserve includes the Kyiv Gate, the 1693 St Nicholas Church and the Tereshchenko family's Three Anastasias Church.
Under compulsory evacuation.
≈ 20 km
Nyzy
The estate where Tchaikovsky stayed, now a branch of the regional museum.
≈ 23 km
Kyianytsia
The former palace of the sugar dynasty, reduced to ruins by a Russian strike in April 2026. It is now a place of memory rather than a tourist route.