Minsk
Stalinist boulevards, Upper Town courtyards, and the best restaurant scene between Warsaw and Moscow.
Eastern Europe
Belarus
The country we started with
From Delhi
≈8–10 h from Delhi, one stop
Visa
Entry rules change often — we confirm current requirements in writing before you book
Currency
Belarusian rouble (BYN)
Language
Belarusian and Russian; English in Minsk hotels
Belarus is the reason this company exists. It is also the country most travellers get wrong: they land expecting grey and find a capital of wide stone boulevards, a coffee culture that starts late, and forest that goes on for a hundred kilometres without a fence.
The interesting version of Belarus is outside Minsk. Mir and Nesvizh in one long day, the Kholm Gate at Brest where the brickwork is still shell-scarred, Braslav in July when the lakes are warm enough to swim. We built the first version of this route in 2016 and have been shortening the transfers ever since.
Where you will go
Where you will go
The places this country is actually about, and what each one is for.
Mir & Nesvizh
Two UNESCO castles forty minutes apart. Go on a weekday morning and you will have the Radziwiłł courtyard to yourself.
Brest
The fortress, and a old town of gas lamps that a lamplighter still lights by hand every evening.
Braslav Lakes
Three hundred lakes in the far north. July water, September light, no crowds in either month.
Belavezhskaya Pushcha
The last primeval lowland forest in Europe, and the bison that live in it.
Grodno
The prettiest old town in the country and the one Minsk locals go to for a weekend.
Know before you go
- Sunday is quiet — museums outside Minsk often close, so we build Sundays around the countryside.
- Cash is still useful outside the capital; we brief you on where cards stop working.
- Distances look small on the map and are: nothing in this itinerary is more than a three-hour drive.
Gallery — Belarus
Journeys
Journeys in Belarus
The route this company was built on, refined across nine years of running it. Two UNESCO castles, the last primeval forest in Europe, and a capital that surprises everyone.
Three capitals in one line, joined by trains rather than airports. The classic first crossing of the region, with enough days in each city to actually see it.
Not an itinerary — a service. Meeting rooms, interpreters, visa-support letters, airport protocol, and a single coordinator who holds the agenda while your team works.