Highlights of Belarus

Highlights of Belarus

Minsk in Belarus

Highlights of Belarus during this eight-day individual tour:
– excursions in the cultural cities of Vitebsk, Polotsk and Grodno
– Fortress of Brest
– castles of Nesvizh and Mir
– the many sides and variety of Minsk

In eight days you will visit the most important towns, museums, national park  and monuments of Belarus. The tour starts and finishes in the capital Minsk.
The emphasis of the program in on the culture and history of yje country, plus a visit to a 600 year old national park and a farmstead to experience life in the Belarus countryside.
In this offer we have included 3* hotel accommodations, an upgrade is possible of course.

It is also possible to make this tour as a self-drive in a rental car. Or even by using public transport, when we will provide for the necessary tickets. In that case however you would need more time to follow the complete program.
Prices for both these two options are considerably lower than with the full-service program.

A visa is no longer required for stays up to 30 days with arrival and departure at Minsk Airport since July 2018, for most countries.

Read more about the highlights of travelling in Belarus, plus practical advise, here.

Day 1

Arrival in Minsk and a city tour. Start of your tour to witness the highlights of Belarus!
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Sightseeing tour of Minsk includes the main attractions of the city. These include main avenues and architectural monuments of the XVIIth – XXth centuries. Like the Upper Town with the City Hall, the St. Spirit Cathedral, ancient churches and monasteries, and the small streets of the Trinity Suburb.

Onwards to “The Isle of Tears”, the Victory Monument and the National Library of Belarus (included into the list of the most outstanding buildings of the world).

Transfer to hotel and check-in.
National Library in Minsk, Belarus

Day 2

Departure for Vitebsk and Polotsk, and arrival first in Vitebsk after about four hours.

Vitebsk (280 km North-East of Minsk) is known today as the cultural capital of Belarus. Founded in 974 on the high banks of the Western Dvina, the city was badly damaged during the World War II. Nevertheless, the city has a number of historic places of interest such as The Palace Of The Governor (the XVIIIth cent), the Old City Hall (the XVIIIth cent), the Monument To 1812 War Participants.

The city is also known as the birthplace of Marc Chagall, an outstanding artist of the early 20th century. Today Vitebsk is the site of Chagall Festival of Arts. Visit to the Home–Museum and the Art-centre of Marc Chagall.

Departure for Polotsk, arrival about one and a half hour later and and check-in at hotel.
Cathedrale in Polotsk, Belarus

Day 3

The cathedrals, churches, museums, houses and streets of the old-time Polosk have preserved the country’s thousand-year-old culture. Polotsk is the oldest town in Belarus, former center of Polosk Principality (first mentioned in 862), and one of the most ancient centers of The Old Rus. During the sightseeing tour you will visit the St. Sofia Cathedral, Spaso-Euphrasinia nunnery (laid down in 1120), and the museum of Belarusian book-printing.

Departure for Grodno. On the way you will visit a typical Belarusian village. And enjoy a traditional Belarusian dinner with national cuisine and samogon (home made vodka).

Arrival in Grodno. Check-in at hotel.
Farmstead in Belarus

Day 4

Grodno is tightly connected with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The Grodno City Tour includes visits to the Roman-Catholic Farny St. Francis Ksavery Church, the Old and New Castles, Castle street, Kolozhskaya (XII cent) church and other sites.

Brest Fortress, Belarus

Departure for Brest. On the way visits to Kossovo (the site of the Kossovo Palace, built in 1830 in romanticism style) and Ruzhany (tightly connected with the history of Sapiega aristocratic family).
Arrival in Brest and check-in at hotel.

Day 5

Visit to the Belovezhskaya Pushcha (60 km from Brest), which is included into the UNESCO World Heritage List. The national park “Belovezhskaya Pushcha” is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest which once spread across the European Plain. Its present flora and fauna is very rich and diverse. The bison population of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha is the largest in the world.

Many of the species inhabiting the Belovezhskaya Pushcha are exposed at the Museum of Nature which is located in the center of the national park. The excursion will also include a tour about Pushcha: experienced guides will conduct a trip to the most picturesque places of the national park, show the Tsar-oak and will let tourists enjoy the beauty of nature.

Departure to Brest, arrival and sightseeing tour.
The city of Brest is located on the right bank of the Western Boog River. Brest is the traditional “western gate” of the country. The first mentioning dates back to 1019.

Brest Fortress

Bisons in Belovezhskaya Puscha, Belarus

Visit to the Brest Fortress, which is the fortress is the main attraction of the city. The history of this defensive construction started in 1842 when the entire city of Brest was moved 3 kilometres east, and on its place a massive fortress was set up. The fortress made a prolonged defense against the Nazis in 1941 and was ruined in the result of severe battles. After the war the ruins of the fortress were turned into the grandiose memorial to its defenders.

Day 6

Departure to Minsk. On the way to Minsk, a visit to Nesvizh and Mir.
The sightseeing tour of Nesvizh includes visits to the Corpus Christi Church (one of the earliest Jesuit churches in the world) and Nesvizh Castle, the family complex of the Radziwill noble family, included into the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Onwards to Mir. The magnificent Mir Castle is a unique architectural monument, included into the UNESCO World Heritage List. It was erected at the end of the XVth century and today combines the features of several architectural styles. Mir castle is also a historical monument, true legend, which used to belong to several aristocratic families.
Arrival in Minsk and check-in at hotel.
Mir Castle, Belarus

Day 7

You start with a visit to the open-air Museum of Rural Architecture and Life in Dudutki (50 km from Minsk). Dudutki is a unique museum of material culture in Belarus with living national trades, a magnificent reconstruction of the traditional way of living in the Belarusian village that can be not only seen but even touched. Because in the ceramic workshop you could become a potter or have some training as a blacksmith. And certainly the guests will never forget the amazing taste of delicious homemade food with real traditional samogon (home made vodka).

Arrival in Minsk and leisure time.
Farewell dinner (at local restaurant).
Transfer to hotel.
Belarus open air museum

Day 8

Check-out.
Transfer to the airport. We hope you have enjoyed the highlights of Belarus!

At two people the price of this tour to the highlights of Belarus €1.850 per person, at four people it is €1.225 per person. For other group sizes please send us a mail for an offer.
Included in the offer are:
– Letter of Invitation (LOI) for the visa
– a total of seven nights of accommodations in 3* hotels in Minsk (3x), Brest (2x), Grodno (1x) and Polosk (1x). Breakfast included, stay in TWIN rooms
– transfers during the whole tour in a car with driver & guide-interpreter (resp. a minivan when 3-6 people)
– services of an English speaking guide during the whole program
– entry tickets for all museums and sites as mentioned in the program
– one dinner
– folkore show in the farm stead

Not included in the offer are the international flight tickets, the visa, remaining lunches & dinners and services not mentioned. Finally we charge €15 per booking as a contribution to the GGTO Guarantee Fund.

Self-drive

We can offer you this program also on the basis of accommodations & self-drive, including a rental car. An indication of the cost of this budget-tour is €575 per person at two persons. Included are seven nights of accommodation including breakfast, your invitation letter and the rent of a car for eight days. The exact cost will depend on the exact period for renting the car, and the type of car.
Excursions are not included in this offer but can be booked with us. Please write to us of an offer.

Finally we can offer this program with the option of travelling by public transport in Belarus. In this case however you would require somewhat more time for this program. The cost will be comparable with the self-ride option.

    Information

    PLACE

    Belarus

    DATES

    you determine

    PRICE

    At 2 pers. €1,850 p.p. serviced; self-drive €575 p.p. indication

    LENGTH

    8 days

    Route map of tour in Belarus

    Contact