The cities of Belarus are like the soloists of the BTS group – each of them is beautiful in its own way. Therefore, in this article I wanted not only to make a TOP of interesting destinations, but also to tell you WHY they were included in this list. In addition, there will also be many tips on how to organize a trip to each of the cities presented. Anyway… let’s get started, and we’ll figure it out as we go along.
Grodno
A city of churches, tiled roofs and pointed spires. It is worth coming here for the sake of castles near the Neman, walks through the old quarters and a special cocktail from the past and present, which can only be found here.
The road to Grodno from Minsk will take 4 hours. Look for minibuses on the website minsk-grodno.by , and the train schedule on the website of the Belarusian Railway (RW.BY ). As a place to stay for the night, you can choose this apartment with a stunning view of the Orthodox Church. Or stay at the art hotel “At the Pear”To walk barefoot on wooden floors and see from the inside what a real 19th century mansion looks like.
As a place for breakfast, I recommend choosing one of three establishments:
- Esperanto
- Sprava
- Or “Boboli”.
And for coffee and desserts, go to the coffee shop “Strong White” to drink lattes on the roof and look at the panoramas of the old city.
If this is not your first time in Grodno, be sure to go on this tour to take a look at the city in a new way. It starts at nightfall – and then the real performance begins on the old streets. There will be knightly duels, and a lamplighter in a black cloak, and quests outside the walls of the brigitok monastery, and the atmosphere of secrets that any ancient city holds.
I have not seen anything like this in other parts of Belarus. It seems to me that you can come to Grodno only for this.
Pinsk
The most beautiful city in Belarus that you have not been to yet.
To be honest, it is not so easy to get here, but if you still get to Pinsk, the “capital of Polesie” will be a real discovery for you. There is a beautiful old town with the “little basilica” of the Virgin Mary, and boat trips for 5 BYN, and “horror performances” at the local theater. And next to the city there is the village of Pare – with thatched roofs and legends of vampires. Mix it all together and get a great cocktail for a weekend trip.
How to get to Pinsk? The best option for a trip is minibuses. Flights depart every hour. The ticket price is 27 BYN. Travel time is 4 hours or a little more.
A detailed schedule can be found on the websitesmtaxi.by and 7588.by . On Friday and Sunday, you can also get to Polesie by train (rw.by ). But the trains arrive late in the evening, so, in my opinion, a minibus is still a more reasonable option.
As for hotels, there are not so many of them in Pinsk. For 90-130 BYN, you can rent a hotel room “Pinsky Courtyard“, located in a historic building by the river. And for half the amount to choose a cozy apartment for a day. A lot of good options can be found here.
Gomel
A city of colorful museums, original beer and informal concerts. If you are a fan of antiquity, go to the Gomel Palace Park to walk by the river, admiring the local cathedral and the Rumyantsev-Paskevich Palace. And if you prefer informal entertainment, be sure to take a look at the fashionable space “Sozhski HUB” at the brewery of the same name. Here you can try about 10 varieties of craft beer, play basketball, listen to musicians or watch an open-air movie.
Many unusual places can also be found in the vicinity of Gomel. The most famous of them is the manor “Krasny Bereg“, the Vetkovsky Museum of Old Believers and the Polessky Ecological Reserve, which Belarus inherited from the Chernobyl accident. Abandoned houses and schools, rusting ships and old palaces of culture with posters of former Soviet leaders still stand here.
Photo from the website zapovednik.by .
And the Polessky Ecological Reserve is also a habitat for a large population of bison and other rare animals (which, due to the lack of people, walk here absolutely freely). You can read more about these places in the article at the link below. There I talked about Gomel in great detail.
Baranovichi
Another interesting city is primarily due to its surroundings. If you have a car, you can create a very rich and diverse travel program here.
Near the city there is:
- One of the most colorful “abandoned buildings” in Belarus is the Kotlubaev estate in the town of Yastrembel;
- The oldest wooden temple in our country is in the village of Polonechka;
- And the “mystical” estate of the Reitans in Grushevka – with a noble mansion and a Gothic tomb.
Photo from the travel project page “Voldemort” (@volan_de_myyr).
If you are traveling with a child, you should also add Deepriz Park to the trip program, where you can feed roe deer and deer directly from your hands. In my opinion, this is the coolest zoolandscape complex in our country. At least, I have never seen animals so contact anywhere else and climb into camera lenses themselves.
Photo from the social networks of the park “Deepriz”; the author of the picture is @mariya_delikatnaya.
Well, at the end of the day you can go on vacation to park hotel “Bright”. There are cozy rooms, coniferous silence and an excellent SPA complex (with a swimming pool, salt caves, phyto barrels and other joys of life). You can book a room and see the current prices here. Well, I’ll go on for now.
Brest
Usually this city is remembered for two places – Brest Fortress and Belovezhskaya Pushcha. But even apart from them, there is something to see and be surprised at. Near Brest there is a beautiful Nemtsevich manor (which can be reached in 30 minutes). And about 2 hours away from the city there are two castles at once – Ruzhansky and Kossovsky. (I wrote how to get to them in this article).
Nemtsevich Palace in Skoki. The author of the photo is Sergey Bond (sergeybond.livejournal.com )
Well, if you absolutely do not want to leave Brest, then be sure to go on a tour of the local mansions, see the archaeological museum “Berestye” (where you can see how the East Slavic cities looked in the Middle Ages) and go explore the most popular places in the city.
Personally, my TOP 3 looks like this:
- Union 8
- Alchemy
- and “Bresto/Testo”.
This is where I always come first.
As a place to stay for the night, I recommend the cool hotel “Status”. It is quite far from the center, but I still really like it there.
You can read more about him and other hidden treasures of Brest in this article. There I talked about the Brest lamplighter and the most beautiful streets of the city, about the secrets of the Belarus cinema and how to see the demolished churches and monasteries of Brest today.
Polotsk
Polotsk is a city that has become a very pleasant discovery for me. There is an interesting catering (with Polotsk crumpets and “dranik burgers”); medieval museums (where you can feel like the first printer and make parchment with your own hands)… And there is also the oldest university in Belarus, where scientists from all over the old world once worked. There is a clock with moving figures in its courtyard, and in one of the classrooms there is a mechanical head of an elder capable of answering any questions.
All this together creates a great cocktail for a short trip. And that’s not to mention St. Sophia Cathedral and the cross of Euphrosyne of Polotsk, which we once listened to in history lessons. I wrote in great detail about the city of P. in the article at the link below. Read it – this is the material marked “Editorial recommends”.
How to get there? There are 3 trains running from Minsk to Polotsk every day. Travel time is from 3.5 to 6.5 hours. Tickets cost from 15 to 22 rubles. For about the same amount, you can get to Polotsk by minibus (tickets here cost 17-18 BYN). See all the details on the websitesmarshrutka-polotsk-minsk.by and polotsk-minsk.by .
How to find a place to live in Polotsk? There are only two full-fledged hotels in the city (one is called Dvina, the other is Parus). But they are both very sad. Therefore, a more reasonable option is to rent an apartment for the duration of the trip. Here, for example, is a beautiful apartment with a view of the river. But an inexpensive hotel near the center. The room looks simple, but it costs only 45 BYN.
Braslav
Another cool city in the north of Belarus. A place that captivates not so much by its architecture as by its natural beauty. Braslav is a city of lakes, silence and coniferous air; the capital of Belarusian sunsets, ancient legends and friendly gatherings by the water.
Of the historical places, it is worth highlighting The Church of the Nativity of Mary of God. And several temples in neighboring towns – Miory, Slobodka and Ikazni. Interestingly enough, there is an unusual connection between the four churches. From the tower of each of them, you can see the tops of the three remaining ones. Thanks to this, in ancient times, local residents exchanged messages. As soon as the enemy appeared somewhere, a conditional signal immediately lit up on the church, and help immediately rushed there from neighboring places.
Slobodka. Photos from the website braslaw.by .
The local lakes also have their own secrets. Some are associated with ancient deities and are dotted with the remains of pagan temples. Others are covered with beautiful legends about love and separation.
There is only one disadvantage in all this: everything is very modest with the choice of hotels in Braslav. There is a hotel Braslav Lakes near Lake Novyaty. It’s nice, but expensive. There is also a cool glamping Nomad Houses near the city with Scandinavian-style houses. But from the center of Braslav it is already 3 kilometers away.
Private houses and farmsteads remain (a selection of which can be viewed on the websitebelkraj.by ). But personally, I’mI am skeptical about such housing options.
Nesvizh
A city of castles, parks and ghost stories. The main attraction here is the huge Radziwill Palace, which has long been a hallmark of Belarus.
As a rule, tourists come to Nesvizh for him. But even apart from the castle, there is something to see here. These are the old town hall, and the Orthodox Church (which is the first Baroque church outside Rome), and the former Benedictine monastery (now converted into a pedagogical college).
I have a great article on how to get to Nesvizh from Minsk. Read it if you are thinking about such a trip.
As for accommodation, here I can recommend the hotel “Bialystok”. It is inexpensive, but cozy.
World
This is not really a city, so consider that the village of Mir will be here as a bonus. It’s worth coming here for the famous castle, mystical legends about the local lake and the old church standing right on the central square.
Another plus is that Mir Castle is located very close to Nesvizh. Therefore, if you have a car, the two ancient bastions can be easily combined into a single route.
Well, if you don’t have a car, then pay attention to this tour. It is inexpensive, but very intense. They will show you Nesvizh and the World, arrange a free tasting of traditional Belarusian dishes and tell you many interesting stories about the fate of both castles.
Mogilev
The city where my wife and I constantly come for SPA weekends. The plan for the weekend is usually like this. First, we have breakfast at the pretty coffee shop “Bake House”, munch on desserts, and then go for a walk around the city. We look at the town hall near the Dnieper, take pictures of the brutal Drama theater and we go to look at the frescoes in the local Church of St. Svyatoslav.
And at 2 p.m. we go to the hotel “Atrium” to soak up the rest of the day in saunas, swim in the pool and breathe aroma oils at the local SPA “Nebo Lounge“. Unlimited access here is already included in the room rate (including the cheapest ones).
In the evening, you can have dinner at the cute gastrobar “White Fox” or drink a latte at the inexpensive coffee shop “Merci” on the pedestrian street. Or you can just stay in the room to clink glasses of wine, looking out of the 7th floor window at the streets of the night city.
If that’s not enough, go explore the nearest suburbs Mogilev. See the Shklov Town Hall, the Potemkin Palace in Krichev and the Bulgakov estate in the agricultural town of Zhilichi. All lovers of outdoor recreation can also be advised here is this country hotel. A night here costs twice as much as in similar hotels near Minsk.
You can read more about Mogilev in the article at the link below. Be sure to look through it if you think that there is absolutely nothing to do in the east of Belarus.
Vitebsk
The city of musicians, artists and the Vilna Baroque. In my memory, it will always remain some kind of amazingly photogenic place. I remember photographing him greedily. And literally every click of the camera left behind absolutely postcard shots.
If you find yourself here, be sure to climb onto the roof of the local town hall (6 BYN), find the oldest cinema in Belarus and the haunted house at Dovator-20. Take a walk along the banks of the Dvina River and through the former Jewish quarters of Zadvinya, find the little-known St. Barbara’s Church and the interactive VNKHU Museum, where you can still talk with Malevich.
Photo from the website vitebskavangard.by .
If you get hungry, go to the Asian Manao restaurant or the Mediterranean gastrobar La Cultura. I liked these two places in the city the most. And as a place to stay for the night, you can choose this simple one–room apartment on Ilyinsky Street, so that waking up in the morning every day you can see the Assumption Cathedral outside the window – one of the main attractions of the city.
You can read more about Vitebsk in this article. And it’s time for me to wrap up a little bit. Goodbye, friends. And which cities in Belarus can you recommend?
