I wouldn't call it beautiful - but the city (and the country as a whole) is an interesting destination for sure.

A normal tourist visa can be a minor bureaucratic headache indeed. For EU citizens, a 48-hour transit visa is much easier, as it doesn't require an invitation. For one of my last visits not even in/outbound tickets were required, just a written itinerary did suffice (The Hague embassy). At the Kyiv embassy, they didn't even care about that.

All very easy, process in the morning, pick up in the afternoon, visa runs.