I had almost forgotten about the days when you could just take a plane ticket and fly to Bologna for a weekend for 10 euros. When a trip to Bialystok was perceived as something ordinary. And when I saw cheap flights from Vilnius to Gothenburg, I thought: “Oh, I won’t go – it’s cold and gray there.”
Cappadocia. Spring 2019.
It’s different now. Therefore, I can only wipe the tears from my eyes and tell you about the interesting directions inside Belarus. And here, of course, the number 1 is Grodno. A city of churches, castles and cozy cafes. If you miss Europe, then come here. Take a walk around the old town, see how the Old Castle looks after the restoration, and drink coffee, which my wife Tanya considers the best in Belarus.
Well, did my preview make you think about the trip? Well, then let’s get down to business.
How to get there?
You can get to Grodno from Minsk by trains and minibuses. See the train schedule on the website of the Belarusian Railway (RW.BY ), and minibus flights can be found at these sites:
- atlasbus.by
- minsk-grodno.by
- marshrutka-grodno.by.
Both of these options can be considered for the trip. Trains are more comfortable and cheaper. But there are more minibuses (and they go a little faster). Therefore, you can leave for Grodno almost at any time.
The current situation is as follows:
- The train. The cost is 11-25 BYN, the travel time is from 4 to 5.5 hours.
- Minibus. The cost is 27-30 BYN, the travel time is 3 hours and 45 minutes.
You can read more about transport in the article at the link below.
How to find a place to live in Grodno?
There are a lot of good housing options in Grodno. Therefore, in order not to waste time in vain, here I will give only three of my favorites. Here they are…
- One is a very beautiful studio with a view of the Orthodox Church.
- Two is a cozy hotel in a 19th century building.
- Three is a hotel for those who appreciate modern design more.
All of them are located in the historical center and are definitely worth the money. Therefore, choose any one.
In a separate line, I will also mark “Kronon Park Hotel“. This is a hotel in the forest – with a swimming pool, a fireplace and a restaurant where real birds sing in cages. This place is very cool. But prices there, like Yuri Gagarin, fly straight into space.
What to see in Grodno?
Grodno is the first city in Belarus in terms of the number of preserved ancient monuments. And one small paragraph is too little to tell you about all the interesting places in this city.
So let’s do it this way… Read the article that I will give below. There will be a route through Grodno, and stories about the most iconic buildings of the city, and just a lot of cool photos.
In addition to it, I want to give you just a few tips. Let there be a sort of checklist of how interesting it is to spend a weekend in Grodno.
- Look at the city from the observation deck “Roof of the World”, located near the trading house “Neman”;
- Take a look at the museum “Grodno mini”, where you can see how the city looked like in the past using the example of miniatures;
- And be sure to look at the old castle from the high hills near the shore of the Neman. It’s very cool there in warm weather.
Excursions to Grodno
If you like to walk around the city with a guide, then sign up for an excursion to my good friend Svetlana Ekimova.
I think I won’t be much mistaken if I call her the best and most famous guide of the city of Grodno. She knows the history perfectly well. She’s also just sweet. Therefore, I am sure you will not make a mistake if you choose her as your guide.
You can sign up for a tour with her on this page.
Well, if you want something unusual, then pay attention to the immersive project “Secrets of the city”.
It’s a cross between a guided tour and a theatrical production. You will walk around the old monastery and watch a fire show at the castle walls; listen to the legends about the Belarusian knights and immerse yourself in the world of urban legends and mystical mysteries.
You can read all the details here. The project is really very cool. I have never seen anything like this in other cities of Belarus.
Where to have lunch in Grodno and where to drink coffee?
I would not call Grodno the restaurant capital of Belarus, but it is moving smoothly towards this title. Every year some new establishments open in the city. And I can sincerely recommend many of them.
I like breakfast at cafe “Sprava” (at 31 Mostovaya Street). And a great latte in a coffee shop called “Dzhezva” (Sovetskaya, 5). Delicious pizza in the pizzeria “Tratoria Napoli” (Bolshaya Troitskaya, 9). And various Asian things in the restaurant “Punk Roll”.
Quite recently, I have a big article about the best Grodno restaurants. I’ll leave a link to it at the bottom. Be sure to read it. This way you will learn how to have dinner in an igloo in Grodno, where to drink coffee with moonshine, and what other secrets the Grodno catering conceals.
Shopping in Grodno
It is definitely not worth going to Grodno for the sake of interesting shopping. This is not Bialystok, which I sighed about at the beginning of the article. The assortment and prices here are plus or minus the same as in Minsk. But to complete the picture, I will say a few words about Grodno shopping centers. There are only two of them in the city – “Old City” and “Trinity“.
The first one is slightly smaller, but it has a rather unusual interior, the center of which is one of the recreated buildings of old Grodno. Well, the second one is the largest shopping center in Belarus, located outside Minsk. Therefore, if you are directly interested in shopping, I would go there.
You can find these shopping centers at the following addresses:
- Old City Dubko 17. From the center you can get here by trolleybuses 6, 14 and 23. And also by buses 6,8, 20, 34, 49 and 60.
- Trinity – 87 Yanka Kupala Avenue. You can get to it by buses 26, 37 and 41.
Find the detailed schedule and routes of Grodno transport on the website grodno.btrans.by . And you can read about the shopping centers themselves on their websites. triniti-grodno.by and oldcity.by .
Where to go from Grodno for 1 day?
Me and the castle in Lida
I think Grodno is a good weekend destination. Two or three days will be enough for you to see all the most interesting things here. Well, if you decide to stay longer, then here are some more ideas for you on how to diversify your vacation.
Not far from Grodno are:
- Lida Castle and the famous Lida brewery;
- A mystical manor in the Stomach;
- and a Gothic church in Synkovichi, similar to a small fortress.
If you are traveling with children, then be sure to take a look at the turistic complex “Korobchitsy” with an equestrian club, an arboretum, a blacksmith shop, Baba Yaga’s hut and even its own castle.
It is easy to get there even without a car. The commuter bus schedule can be viewed on the websiteticketbus.by . Tickets cost about 1.5 BYN.
I also want to say a few words about The Augustovsky Canal with pleasure ships and a special lock system. I won’t say that he stole my heart. But on the way to it there are a lot of interesting places that logically line up in a single chain.
Svyatsk. Photo by Lizaveta Varano, @lizztoday
These are the palace in Svyatsk, a system of military pillboxes “scattered” across the fields, during the Second World War, and a small town Sapotskin with the Church of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary (1789) and the oldest Jewish cemetery in the country. If you have a car, you can drive there yourself. If not, then pay attention to the private tour below.
A little later I will have a big story about the sights of the Grodno region. So bookmark the site and let’s stay in touch. If you liked this article, share it on your social networks. Maybe some of your friends will also want to spend the weekend in Grodno. Well, now I just have to say goodbye. Applause, bow, curtain.
