Belarus – amazing country if only because locals begin to recognize it only when they get bored of traveling to Europe. We know for sure that we have something to see even 50 kilometers from the capital. If you don’t have a car, the issue of getting around is solved very simply - open the car sharing service any-time.by, rent a car in the mobile application and rush off to explore your homeland. The cost can be more profitably divided among the group of travelers.

Gervyaty. A church that is no worse than Salisbury Cathedral

Distance from Minsk: 167.8 km. Travel time (round trip): four hours. Car rental for the road: 78 rubles (per minute for 2 hours of parking).

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The church in Gervyaty is one of the most beautiful and Instagrammable in Belarus, and it’s worth seeing for yourself. Arriving here, you will walk with your head held high, looking at the spire and other attributes of the neo-Gothic style, and periodically recheck the location: “Is this really in Belarus?” Trinity Church impresses with its style, color and, most importantly, its green park with figurines of the apostles - neat flower beds, paths, trimmed trees, which are looked after by only two people. No golden domes or scary spiritual decorations. The church can be compared to Notre Dame in Paris - it’s really worth going to this place for it. Lithuanians, Eastern Belarusians, and Poles come here for services and weddings. In addition, behind the church building on the banks of the Losha River you will find another interesting object– a 19th century water mill, which was restored only in the 1980s. And we highly recommend having a snack in the budget and quite cozy cafe “Melnitsa”, where you will be greeted by friendly staff and their photo on the wall with Georgy Koldun.

Anyone over 19 years old and with at least one year of driving experience can use the any-time.by car sharing service. There are enough cars for everyone - there are already 105 new cars in the fleet, and before the start of 2019 there will be 200! You just download free mobile app on IOS or Android and register in the system. Renting a car for a weekend trip will cost less than a taxi and certainly cheaper than buying your own car.

Turov. Unique crosses and no less unique birds

Distance from Minsk: 254 km. Travel time (round trip): minimum 6 hours.

Firstly, the drive there is long and quite picturesque: you will have time to admire the fields, and forests, and roadside sellers of berries and mushrooms, and village children, and an abandoned gas station along the road, similar to the scenery for the game Fallout. Turov himself is one of ancient cities, if you remember history well, then its mention in “The Tale of Bygone Years” will not be surprising. On the territory there was a castle, a sarcophagus, and a fortification, which were later discovered as ruins during excavations. Through the full-length glass (in good weather you don’t even have to go inside the building, everything is visible) you can look at the foundation ancient temple– 2-3 minutes will be enough for you, because it is just a large rectangle with the remains of a once functioning building.

Turov’s main feature is crosses growing “out of the ground.” For their sake, or rather, to worship them, pilgrims come to Turov every year not only from Belarus, but also from Russia, and the city itself is called the second Jerusalem. If you wish, you can stay here overnight (there is a hotel and a restaurant), but a couple of hours is enough for the promenade. You can also admire the romantic views of Pripyat, and you will also have time to take a boat ride to Mozyr and back. Bird defenders will be especially happy about Turov - the Turov meadow is one of the largest nesting sites for waterbirds in Europe, and also the first territory in Belarus leased to the organization “Akhova Birds Fatherland”. So if you want to take photographs of rare birds, this is the place for you. And here they finally reconstructed the bridge, where you know who cut the ribbon. In short, there is plenty to do in Turov.

Red. Church, Catholic cemetery and Maxim Bogdanovich

Distance from Minsk: 57.8 km. Travel time (round trip): two hours.
Car rental for the road: 43.2 rubles (per minute for 2 hours of parking).

Krasnoe is a typical compact Belarusian village with the Church of the Ascension, which is atypical for its scale. Holy Virgin Maria. Once upon a time, there were as many as 22 taverns on the territory of the village, but now they can no longer be found, and it is better to refuel with high-calorie fuel at gas stations along the way.

But here you can find the Church of the Intercession of 1889, and if you go from Krasnoye along the road towards the village of Ivki, you will soon notice the atmospheric Catholic cemetery at high hill. Here is the crypt-tomb of the Tyszynski family. Krasnoe was the property of the Lithuanian princes for a long time; after the Treaty of Riga in 1921, the territory belonged to Poland, and in 1939 it passed to the BSSR. In general, a tumbleweed that was still left to us. And if you drive a little further, to Rakutevshchina, you will come to the place where 19-year-old Maxim Bogdanovich wrote 17 poems and two poems over the two summer months of 1911.

Molodechno. Belarusian-Latin American burgers

Distance from Minsk: 54.1 km. Travel time (round trip): two hours 30 minutes.
Car rental for the road: 51.9 rubles (per minute for 2 hours of parking).

They say that in order to feel the real spirit of Molodechno, you need to get here by train. But let’s leave it to the times of daring youth and get there comfortably along the highway. On the way, you can stop in Ratomka and ride horses, in Vyazynka - to see the Kupala Museum, or in Radoshkovichi - to the Trinity Church.

In 2011, Molodechno had an emergency affair with Dozhinki, the fruit of love was a lake with a fountain and an amphitheater. The classic place for local hangouts is the central square, where the main permanent raver is the monument to Lenin (here it is the work of Azgur himself). The must-visit of the city that overnight made it a mecca for food bloggers is juicy Latin American burgers. Look for an ordinary-looking cafe with the Sabroso sign, where the guys working are surprising for this context (local girl Dasha and her husband, Jean Franco from Venezuela). Well, for the cultural program there are two theaters, and you can take a walk in Victory Park - you need to burn calories from burgers (because you will probably order more than one).

Soligorsk Dumps where McConaughey could cry

Distance from Minsk: 135.9 km. Travel time (round trip): three and a half, four hours.
Car rental for the road: 69.3 rubles (per minute for 2 hours of parking).

Soligorsk is the Belarusian Dubai, only instead of oil there is potassium salt. The city lives and prospers at the expense of Belaruskali and miners - you are convinced of this with your own eyes when you see the brands of local cars. The main reason why you need to go to Soligorsk is, of course, the local waste heaps. It will not be so easy to get directly to them: some get to the place through paths, bushes and at random, running through warning signs “Passing and passage for unauthorized persons is prohibited.” But the view from here is worth these Tom Sawyer adventures - hold your breath, as if Elon Musk has already taken you to another Planet and admire the crystal blue lakes near the salt mountains (they are also slurry storage facilities or simply water that turned out to be salty in the process of dissolving ore and remains to “evaporate”). The landscape is breathtaking - you find yourself in the blue period of Picasso or the characters from the movie Interstellar. It seems that this is where Nolan's creations were filmed, and salty water– just rivers of tears from Matthew McConaughey’s character. On a more “down-to-earth” note, in the city itself there is a park and a beach where locals like to spend time and photograph weddings.

Miory. There are also waterfalls in Belarus

Distance from Minsk: 232 km. Travel time (round trip): minimum six hours.
Car rental for the road: 112.8 rubles (per minute for 2 hours of parking).

Miory is not only a waterfall in Belarusian style, but also the surrounding picturesque rural surroundings. If you don’t find the location right away, the locals will no problem tell you where to go for photos with falling water in the background. The Vyata River flows here, on which water mills stood in the 19th century (ruins can still be found on the other side of the riverbed), and in the 20th Algerd Askerko created an artificial waterfall that provided electricity to all Miory. In the 60s, all this was destroyed, and we were left with gazebos and barbecues on the territory. Here you can stand under human-sized streams of water – the sensation is extremely invigorating. Since 2011 local authorities They are looking for an investor to improve the site, but apparently no investor has been found yet. With food outlets and a well-equipped beach, you could stay here longer. In Miory itself, we recommend stopping at the hundred-year-old temple and strolling along the city embankment.

Deep. Lakes, condensed milk and street food

Distance from Minsk: 162.9 km. Travel time (round trip): minimum four hours.
Car rental for the road: 78 rubles (per minute for 2 hours of parking).

Of course, Glubokoe is a city of condensed milk and the eternal confrontation which is tastier: “Glubokoe or Rogachevskaya?” Few people know, but Glubokoe is also the birthplace of sugared cranberries, which will be an excellent gift if you are going to visit friends abroad. In the city, do not be surprised by the large number of sculptures and drawings of cherries - every year an agro-cherry festival takes place here - almost a Spanish “Tomatina”! Deep - very cozy city with an abundance of greenery and lakes, they deserve special attention. It is ideal, of course, to come here in the summer to have time to swim, but in winter the water surface will capture your heart with tranquility. On the way out you can look into the arboretum; it is the second largest after Minsk. There will be no problems with food here - you can pop into a cafe and even try the local strip food. Must-see – Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary with an ancient cemetery and a memorial column in honor of the Constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of 1791. And on main square In the city you can admire the mini-Ferris Wheel flower garden - but there’s no need for a big one here.

Logoisk. Belarusian Switzerland

Distance from Minsk: 42.3 km. Travel time (round trip): one hour and forty minutes.
Car rental for the road: 37.4 rubles (per minute for 2 hours of parking).

Logoisk is the closest, but no less interesting point on our one-day stand route. We drive only 30 km from Minsk, and we already get hilly terrain and bends of the Gaina River. Here you can wander around the old Logoisk park, and go to the Belarusian Kutok for lunch. Here you can also find the ruins of the Tyszkiewicz Palace, under which, digging in the ground, local children found ancient coins or fragments of dishes. Be sure to look for the Church of St. Casimir and the Church of St. Nicholas, from which the bells periodically ring back very peacefully.

By the way, there is a font inside - keep that in mind. In winter, Logoisk is, of course, useful for sports fans ski resort. Snow usually lies here from December to early April. To take a beautiful panoramic shot, go up Panenskaya Mountain - this is the very center of Victory Street. It is this point that the classic of Belarusian literature Dunin-Martsinkevich mentions in the poem “Vecharnitsy and Zavarozhany” (here’s the caption for the photo on Instagram).

Olmansky swamps. Wild cranberries and risky excursions

Distance from Minsk: 280 km. Travel time (round trip):
minimum 8 hours.
Car rental for the road: 147.6 rubles (per minute for 2 hours of parking).

For lovers of all things extreme, we recommend going to Polesie – to the Olmansky swamps. They are called the “Lungs of Europe”, this is the largest complex of highland, lowland and transitional bogs that have survived to this day in an untouched state. There are two lakes in the reserve - Bolshoye Zasominoye and Maloye Zasominoye - and there is simply a paradise of wild cranberries - several million dollars worth of cranberries are collected every year! If the novel “People in the Swamp” gave you a languid romantic feeling during your school curriculum, be sure to take a walk around the Olmansky Nature Reserve and its surroundings. You can also go here with tents, but only if you know how to get along with mosquitoes and love total unity with Mother Nature. There was once a training ground on the territory, so wandering through the swamps on your own is not very safe, but you can contact the Stolin forestry enterprise for a guide. We think the metropolitan hipster has never had such an experience.

Stomach. The estate where you need to film a movie

Distance from Minsk: 210 km. Travel time (round trip): four and a half, five hours.
Car rental for the road: 95.4 rubles (per minute for 2 hours of parking).

If you like abandoned buildings, welcome to Zheludok. This is a village in the Grodno region, which became famous thanks to its authentic manor complex, which has not yet been equipped with double-glazed windows. The Belarusian short film “Home”, made almost in the style of magical realism, was filmed here. And film studios come here regularly. But this does not prevent you from wandering freely in these abandoned halls - this can be done with the prior permission of the watchman and payment of approximately two rubles for an entrance ticket. Pay special attention to the ceilings – here and there interesting Soviet symbols have been preserved. And take photos on the old spiral staircase, which has not been touched by restoration, and the terrible attic. The surrounding area offers some very tranquil scenery and the local garden is perfect for escaping. big city for a picnic with wine, cheese and good conversationalists.

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It is better to start getting acquainted with the country that gave the world the game World of Tanks, the Viber messenger, the MSQRD (“Masquerade”) application and the rap artist Max Korzh from the capital of Belarus - Minsk with its wide avenues and sun-drenched squares. And to plunge into history, go to Brest. The city is located almost on the border of Belarus with Poland.

Walk around Minsk

Today, the capital of Belarus is not only a city with a rich Soviet heritage, but also a modern metropolis with new places that attract tourists from different cities and countries. Kazan is no exception. You can get to Minsk from the Tatarstan capital by direct flight in just over two hours, and an internal Russian passport is enough to visit Belarus.

Minsk was completely destroyed during the Great Patriotic War. Later, the hero city was revived in a new guise. You can see its main attractions by walking along Independence Avenue - this is the main artery of the city, stretching for 15 kilometers.

Start the tour from Independence Square, where the monument to the leader of the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin, is adjacent to the Red Catholic Church, the Government House and the City Executive Committee. Then go to the eternal flame on Pobeda Avenue and take the famous photograph from Minsk postcards with the words on the roofs of nearby houses - “The feat of the people is immortal.”

Very close by will be the house where Lee Harvey Oswald, the main suspect in the assassination of American President John F. Kennedy, lived for two years.

And a little aside will remain the painted and most “Instagrammable” Oktyabrskaya Street - a real gallery of graffiti under open air. The former industrial street has become the creative center of Minsk. Walking along it, you will certainly come across a bust of Lenin, who turned away from all this colorful diversity. Today, Oktyabrskaya houses offices of advertising companies, fitness centers and local media editorial offices, and Max Korzh films his videos here.


Take a look at the new one national library in the shape of a giant diamond (or a death star?). Better yet, go upstairs - to observation deck, where you can look at Minsk from a bird's eye view.


Tired of the noise of roads, head to city parks. For example, to Chelyuskintsev Park. Here you can not only wander along the alleys in the shade of tall pine trees, but also go on rides, and, if you’re lucky, feed the squirrels.

Visit the Brest Fortress

The most convenient way to get to Brest from Minsk is by train. Travel time will be approximately four hours. Trains run almost every hour, but it is still better to play it safe and buy a ticket in advance, especially if you are planning a trip on the weekend.

The key point to visit in Brest is, of course, the Brest Fortress. It is located at the confluence of the Western Bug and Mukhavets rivers, surrounded by ditches and consists of three fortifications (Kobrinsky, Terespolsky, Volynsky) and a citadel.


IN memorial Complex leads to several gates. The most impressive - main entrance, which represents a reinforced concrete block with a carved five-pointed star. After stopping at these gates, you will hear the voice of Yuri Levitan, who announces the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR. The song "Holy War" is also played here, and the sounds of bombing and gunfire can be heard.

Once on the territory of the fortress, you will pass by the sculpture “Thirst” in the form of an exhausted warrior with a helmet in his hand, who reaches for water. The composition is dedicated to the first dramatic days of the war, when the inhabitants of the fortress were cut off from water sources, and the approaches to the river were constantly shelled. Nowadays there are always fresh flowers in a soldier’s helmet.


On the central square of the fortress the Eternal Flame burns and an obelisk in the shape of a Russian rifle bayonet rises. The main monument here is a huge sculpture of a warrior. Near it, high school students from local schools are keeping a “Memory Watch”. Last year this tradition turned 45 years old - every day children stand in military uniform at the Eternal Flame and honor the memory of famous and nameless heroes.


Near the central square there is a museum of defense of the Brest Fortress. Personal belongings of the defenders found during excavations, documents and awards are presented here. However, the museum is dedicated not only to the Great Patriotic War. In the first halls you can get acquainted with the pre-war history of the fortress.

You can buy souvenirs on the territory of the complex in a small bus, which during the war was used by medical units to transport the wounded. Today here you will find magnets with the image of Brest and a portrait of the head of the USSR Joseph Stalin, as well as Soviet posters such as “The Motherland is Calling” or “Chatterbox - a godsend for a spy.”


Take a walk around Brest

Brest is still closely associated with the Great Patriotic War - with its beginning, with the defense of the fortress, with piercing inscriptions on the walls and a huge monument. But the city is not limited to this. So, after visiting the fortress, do not rush to leave.

Not far from the memorial there is an open-air museum of railway equipment. Head here to see retro trains.

Arriving in Brest by train, one of the first attractions you will come across is St. Nicholas Brotherhood Church. It was installed in memory of the sailors who took part in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904 - 1905 and even itself somewhat resembles a five-masted ship with blue sails.


Directly opposite the church is the Winter Garden at the Pedagogical University, where you can admire plants from the tropics, subtropics and deserts.

One of the main monuments of the city is dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of Brest. Brest residents will celebrate the anniversary only next year, but the monument has been standing here since 2009. Under the cover of a guardian angel are figures of princes, a chronicler, images of a mother and a soldier. In a circle there is a high relief with historical subjects: the legend of the founding of the city, its construction, the participation of townspeople in the Battle of Grunwald, the publication of the Berestey Bible, the defense of the Brest Fortress in 1941 and space exploration.

Near the monument there is Gogol Street and the Alley of Lanterns, walking along which you can meet sculptural compositions based on the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich. Here is the devil who stole the month from the story “The Night Before Christmas”, and the Nose that ran away from its owner, and even a creepy scene from “Viy”.


Get acquainted with national cuisine

Of course, potatoes can easily be considered one of the brands of Belarus. This means that this is where you should start getting acquainted with the national cuisine.

IN local cafes Be sure to try draniki - potato pancakes served with sour cream. Similar to them, but thicker due to the filling - sorcerers. They can be with meat, mushrooms, fish, cottage cheese or even fruit.


Another national dish is potato babka - grated potatoes baked in the oven with meat and onions. For a delicate taste, the dish is generously seasoned with sour cream.

For starters, try kholodnik - a soup for the hot season, like our usual okroshka. Cold national soup is made from beets, fresh cucumbers, boiled eggs and herbs. Beetroot broth, kefir, kvass or even mineral water- as you like. Kholodnik differs from okroshka primarily in that it does not contain meat products, which means that vegetarians can safely eat it.

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    Departure from Minsk approximately at 17.30. Night transfer to Lviv.

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    Arrival in Lviv. Free time for breakfast (additional charge).

    Bus sightseeing tour: Castle Hill- the symbolic place of the founding of Lviv, covered in legends, from which a panorama of the city opens up, St. George's Cathedral - a masterpiece of Baroque architecture, the center of the Greek Catholic Metropolis of Ukraine, Lychakiv Cemetery. Check in hotel. End of bus service.

    Walking sightseeing tour of the city (the historical part of Lviv is included in the UNESCO list of world monuments cultural heritage). Inspection Market Square with its ancient fountains, the Town Hall, the Dominican Cathedral, the Boim Chapel, the Church of the Transfiguration, the Cathedral and Bernardine Cathedrals, Armenian Church, Latin Cathedral, etc.

    Gastronomic excursion “Stack and Pidzharka”. During this excursion-tasting we will visit several themed restaurants, which are famous for their own dishes and liqueurs, which were made back in the Middle Ages. The excursion will be accompanied by fascinating stories that are associated with the love of Lviv residents and city guests for a delicious lunch and dinner (the excursion will take place for an additional fee for a group of 20 people or more).

    Free time. Overnight at the hotel.

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    Breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Eviction.

    Walking tour “The World of Lviv Dungeons” The longest and oldest coffee and wine dungeons of Lviv, the dungeons in which monks prayed and those in which alchemical potions were created, as well as the dungeons of Lviv underground river. An excursion to the dungeons of the “Under the Black Eagle” pharmacy, which in the Middle Ages served as a cellar, where today there are large barrels and ancient bottles for liqueurs and tinctures. On the river bank back in the middle of the 17th century. A monastery of Jesuit monks was built. Today, the dungeons of the Jesuit monastery are called the most mysterious dungeons of Lviv, where there is a marble sarcophagus and the walls still hide many secrets.

    Excursion “Coffee History” Bitter, chocolate, with and without sourness... kava, coffe, coffee, kavusya... In Lviv, in order to have a heart-to-heart talk or discuss business issues, they say: “LET’S GO TO KAVA!” Why is this so? Where does this tradition come from? Why here? You will receive an answer not only to these questions, but also learn a lot of interesting things about coffee, how to prepare it, the traditions of coffee drinking, and visit the most characteristic coffee shops of the city (the excursion for an additional fee will take place for a group of 15 people or more)

    Visit shopping and entertainment complex "KINGKROSSLEOPOLIS"

    Departure to Minsk. Passing the border. Night transfer.

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    Arrival in Minsk in the morning.

Included in the tour price

Travel by tourist class bus;
- excursion services with a Ukrainian guide;
- 1 breakfast after overnight stay at the hotel;
- 1 night in a hotel ( double rooms with amenities);

Paid additionally

50 bel. rub. travel service
- medical insurance;
- entrance tickets according to the program:
+ entrance tickets to the dungeons 60 UAH,
+ excursion “Stack and jacket” 350 UAH,
+ “Coffee story” with tasting 200 UAH

Istanbul

A great metropolis on the banks of the Bosphorus: cats, seagulls, ferries, mosques and street food.

how to get there?

Belavia (€ 270) and Turkish Airlines (€ 290) fly from Minsk to Istanbul 5 times a week. Pay attention to flights with transfers on UIA or Aeroflot (€ 200-220).

What can you accomplish in a weekend?

If this is your first time in Istanbul, there is just enough time to honestly work through the main program: see the miracle of Hagia Sophia with your own eyes, look into Blue Mosque(if you ask politely, you can stay and sit quietly in the corner during prayer) and go down to Basilica Cistern. The rest of your time should be devoted to a free program - take a ferry to the Asian part of the city, and by chance (or with our help) find a popular and very authentic hookah bar Corlulu Ali Pasa Medresesi, located right on the site of an ancient cemetery, try street food everywhere - fried chestnuts, mussels with rice and, of course, “balik ekmek” (a sandwich with freshly fried mackerel) or “kokorec” (a signature Istanbul sandwich stuffed with lamb giblets).

Explore the Istanbul Museum of Contemporary Art Istanbul Modern, and after visiting it, go up from the sea to the bohemian quarter Cihangir, located in the Beyoğlu region. Here you will find old bookstores and many antique shops, as well as cozy cafes and third-wave coffee shops.

How to prepare for the trip?

Watch the documentary “City of Cats” (“Kedi”) – about the most important inhabitants of Istanbul’s streets and alleys.

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How to get there?

Belavia flies from Minsk to Brussels (Charleroi airport) three times a week (on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays). The asking price is € 190 in both directions. Ryanair flies from Vilnius to Charleroi, and Brussels Airlines flies to main airport Belgian capital.

What can you accomplish in a weekend?

Transformation into the political capital of the EU was not easy for the city - the term “Brussellization” even appeared in urban studies, which began to be used to describe the thoughtless and chaotic demolition of historical quarters with the subsequent construction in their place modern buildings. Brussels is still experiencing and comprehending the echoes of the great perestroika of the 1950s-1970s.

However, when you first get acquainted with the city, you are unlikely to pay attention to this. Because something else will catch your eye - diversity and scale Grand-Place, which will not fit into any selfie, countless designer, antique and china shops, the smell of chocolate and coffee and even neat tramps with their mattresses. The main thing to understand about Brussels is that everything here has a rhyme, and everything has an antipode. And even Manneken Pis has a half-sister - Manneken Pis.

Spend one day walking around the old town to your heart's content (luckily, it is quite compact) - not forgetting, of course, to take breaks for waffles, French fries or a glass or two of Trappist beer.

Dedicate the rest of the trip to shopping for His Majesty. The largest flea market in the city, and one that is open every day, can be found at Place du Jeu de Balle (Marolles quarter). Closes immediately after lunch. Almost all fashion brands have representative offices in Brussels. If you want COS, if you want Uniqlo, just keep in mind that the stores here close at 19.00. Don't miss the opportunity to visit the publisher's company store Taschen(they are only available at 8 European cities). A book is the best gift, especially if you give it to yourself.

Please note that you can eat cheaper and tastier than in “decent establishments” at open food markets - look for them on Place Luxembourg on Tuesdays, Place Chatelain on Wednesdays, Place Flagey on Sundays and at the market Abattoir on Saturdays and Sundays.

How to prepare for the trip?

Fashion capital of Europe: fashion scene, luxury shopping and strong cultural heritage.

How to get there?

It couldn’t be simpler: you can fly straight from Minsk to Milan on Belavia. Return tickets cost around €220. If you want to save a little money on travel, fly from Vilnius or Warsaw - Ryanair and Wizz Air are at your disposal. In this case, a one-way ticket will cost an average of €50.

What can you accomplish in a weekend?

No matter how much you resist the tourist classics, your feet will lead you to Piazza Duomo– the main square of the city, where the cathedral of the same name is located. Duomo is, without exaggeration, very impressive: a huge building with 3,400 statues on the facade looks completely weightless, as if it is about to fly into the sky. Here, on the same square with the grandiose cathedral, there is Cultural Center Palazzo Reale and museum Novecento Museo. If one of the goals of your trip is luxury shopping, everything is there, in the center, in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II(which is considered the oldest in Europe shopping center), you will find all the boutiques of Prada, Gucci, Valentino and other Italian (and not only) brands. Track discounts in the Visa Explore app.

After such a program, the minimum we suggest is just to wander around the central streets a little in the evening: Milan is a very energetic city, and it is all the more pleasant to watch businessmen in expensive suits flying on scooters and relaxed citizens in numerous street cafes. Don’t pass by the gelateria (it’s practically a sin to be in Italy and not eat gelato), and in the evening have a glass of prosecco in one of the local bars, for example, in Il malto e l'uva.

If you want to fit the maximum into your weekend program and at least briefly touch the Italian nature, we advise you to rush to Como - a picturesque town in the foothills of the Alps near the lake of the same name. The distance from Milan is about 50 km, you can get there by train in less than an hour. Tickets cost € 5-10, you can buy them.

How to prepare for the trip?

Watch the great drama “I Am Love” starring Tilda Swinton. Everything here is very Italian: money, love and beautiful Milan in the background.

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How to get there?

Since the end of April 2018, you can get to Kazan from Minsk without transfers with Belavia. From € 190 for round trip tickets, 2 hours 20 minutes on the road - and you are in the charming capital of Tatarstan. Pay attention to tickets with a transfer through Moscow on Utair or S7 - it may turn out even cheaper.

What can you accomplish in a weekend?

On the first day, thoroughly explore the city center (it is located on the right side of the Kazanka River, you won’t get lost). Here is the city center with the famous Kazan Kremlin, Peter and Paul Cathedral, the oldest university of Kazan and others iconic places. Be sure to check out Kul Sharif mosque– one of the most impressive buildings in Kazan. In general, the city has a lot of beautiful ancient mosques– there is something to admire. After a long walk, you can relax in one of the city’s parks (of which there are quite a few) or sit on the Kazanka embankment. And in the evening go hang out at Trade union– the main bar street of the city.

On the second day of the trip, we recommend taking a ride to a neighboring Sviyazhsk– an island with a complex of cathedrals and monasteries, which is the object World Heritage UNESCO. The island looks like a toy, completely built up with architectural monuments: museums, temples, monasteries, merchant houses and even a prison building here are of cultural value. It only takes an hour to travel from Kazan to Sviyazhsk by bus, but you can choose a more romantic option – a motor ship. The one-way journey will take about 2 hours, but you will admire the scenery along the banks of the Volga.

If you follow sports news even out of the corner of your eye, then, of course, you know that Kazan is hosting matches of the FIFA World Cup. And your Visa card gives you a non-illusory opportunity to win tickets for it. Take part in the game and combine a trip to Kazan with FIFA.

How to prepare for the trip?

Read the city magazine of Kazan “Inde”. Here is everything you need, and according to the classics of the genre: reviews of local establishments, guides, current events and other useful information.

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The Basque Country in all its splendor: pintxos eateries and Michelin-starred restaurants, the beaches of La Concha and La Zuriolla, the ocean and the aquarium.

How to get there?

From Minsk - fly Lufthansa to Bilbao with a transfer in Frankfurt (from € 220). Directly from Bilbao airport, buses leave every hour to San Sebastian (in Basque the city is called Donostia, don’t get confused).

What can you accomplish in a weekend?

San Sebastian is a “little Paris” and a gastronomic paradise with establishments for every pocket: from inexpensive, but no less wonderful bistros with pintxos to 2- and 3-star restaurants from the Michelin guide.

Grab a bottle of local cider and stroll along the beaches overlooking La Concha Bay. Get a feel for how the locals live: they drink and eat a lot, sit on benches with books and newspapers, go jogging, almost every second (or second) has a faithful dog on a leash.

Minimum cultural program – visit to the Kursaal Auditorium to a concert or performance, a visit to the main city museum San Telmo and the local aquarium (a must if you are traveling with children). Watching a 2-meter shark swim above your head is priceless.

On your way back, stay in Bilbao for at least half a day: this will be enough to take a peaceful walk along the Nervión River embankment and stop by the Guggenheim Museum - the symbol of the city and the reason for the coining of the term “Bilbao effect”.

How to prepare for the trip?

Scandinavian capital on 14 islands: the tourist chic of Gamla Stan and the quiet charm of Sodermalm, as well as design and contemporary art.

How to get there?

Belavia flies from Minsk to Stockholm 4 times a week (about € 200). Three airlines fly from Vilnius to Stockholm – SAS, Norwegian and Wizz Air. Tickets for €20 per flight one way are a reality.

What can you accomplish in a weekend?

The city is located on 14 islands and this immediately puts you in a special atmosphere. For complete unity with the local landscape, book yourself an overnight stay in a hotel on a ship moored to the shore - firstly, it will be cheaper, and secondly, it will be more romantic.

After the obligatory walk around Gamla Stanu(that’s how it’s translated – Old Town), historical center Stockholm, go aside Sodermalm, the most lively and charming district of the Swedish capital.

Stockholm has amazing museums, we heartily recommend visiting at least two of them - Moderna Museum, dedicated to contemporary art, and a photography museum Fotografiska.

Recently, the city simplified the laws related to the opening of street food outlets - and street food has blossomed with new colors. Kebabs, sandwiches, woks - you won't go hungry. For a taste of local specialities, head to the historic indoor market Оstermalmshallen.

How to prepare for the trip?

Reread (or finally read) Stieg Larsson's trilogy about journalist Mikael Blomkvist and hacker girl Lisbeth Salander - the city can only envy such advertising. And top up the balance of your Visa card. Stockholm has long professed the principles of a cashless city, so even in the smallest street shop you can easily pay cashless.

How to get there?

Belavia flies from Minsk to Yerevan twice a week (€ 250). Every day you can fly via Kyiv with UIA or via Moscow with Aeroflot (around € 200).

What can you accomplish in a weekend?

Start exploring Yerevan with a visit to the art center Cafesijian with an unexpectedly luxurious collection of contemporary art and design. Admission to the art center is free, and the main masterpieces of the collection - including Fernando Botera's magnificent Lady Smoking - are located on the alley in front of the entrance to the exhibition space. The art center itself is located in the local architectural masterpiece, the long-term construction “Cascade” - in clear weather, from its top there is an amazing view of Yerevan and Mount Ararat.

Another truly unique collection is contained in Matenadaran– Museum of Ancient Manuscripts and Manuscripts. In total, the collection contains 17 thousand unique manuscripts and more than 100 thousand ancient documents in Armenian, Russian, Hebrew, Latin, Arabic, Syriac and a dozen other languages. Don't spare money on a guide so that you don't accidentally pass by real rarities.

For complete enjoyment, finish cultural program visit to museum of the great Parajanov. It is located in the house where the director and artist spent last years life. Even if you were not closely familiar with the master’s work before, the special atmosphere of the museum will make you find and watch “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” upon arrival home.

Of course, the visit program will be incomplete without a rich gastronomic program, which includes the obligatory tasting of local wines and cognacs. Our choice: In Vino And Tapastan for a couple of glasses of wine with light snacks, Wine Republic or The Club– for a more substantial dinner, as well as Salon or "Tavern Yerevan" for a serious acquaintance with Armenian cuisine. We recommend finishing your walk in Malkhas Jazz Club– here you will see that Armenia and jazz are practically synonymous.

One day of your weekend trip should be devoted to a foray into the monastery complexes Khor Virap or Geghard, Sanahin and Haghpat monasteries or Sevanavank with a gorgeous view of the main lake of Armenia. Local taxi drivers will take you to postcard landscapes, give you a tour if necessary, wait for you to buy souvenirs and take all the necessary photos, and then bring you back to Yerevan in a breeze - and all this for very little money.

How to prepare for the trip?

Read books by Narine Abgaryan. Start, for example, with the novel “Three Apples Fell from the Sky.”

Center cultural life - Anticafe "1387" (Sovetskaya st., 97/2). Here you can not only relax with a cup of tea, with books and boards, but also get to the “Brain Slaughterhouse”, “Mova Nanova”, a poetry slam or a chamber concert. The guys even have a city quest - if you have a lot of time, you can take part, they promise a complete immersion in the city.

Where to eat? You can drink a latte or raf in the restaurant that opened in summer Smile Coffee (Komsomolskaya st., 39). If you are completely frozen after a promenade through winter Bobruisk, there are stronger drinks.

The main hotspot in the city is, of course, the restaurant "Chyrvonaya Vezha" (Pushkin St., 194/19) Bobruisk "Vodokanal" (!). The establishment itself is located in a restored water tower; the menu includes almost 400 dishes, such as pork leg in beer marinade or schnelllops. Visitors are pampered in every possible way: billiards, hookah, a hall with a transparent ceiling.

If you want more beautiful interiors and less variety on the menu, so as not to hang around for a long time, head to a charming cafe l"histoire (Moskovskaya st., 42).

Where to stay? Hotel "Rainbow" (Shevchenko, 14) is essentially a guest house with 10 rooms. It is not located in the very center, but the price tag is excellent (single room € 13), and a hearty breakfast is included in the price.

Those who travel to Bobruisk by car may like "The Cherry Orchard" (village Shchatkova)- a cool, truly European level hotel on the site where the estate was located Dunin-Martsinkevich. Sauna, swimming pool, beautiful views on the bend of the river - it costs € 25 for a double room.

How to get there? Getting to Bobruisk is as easy as shelling pears: jump on the train that comes from Minsk (there are a dozen of them every day) - on the Stadler train you will get there in an hour and a half, on the rest the journey will take up to two. Ticket costs €2.

If you like buses, then there are also a dozen options for getting from Minsk. Allow 2-2.5 hours for the journey and from € 3. Do you want it faster? Book a seat on a minibus - for example, with these guys (€ 3 and 2 hours).

Glubokoe

Most small town in our selection and perhaps the most comfortable. Glubokoe produces at least two gastronomic endemics known throughout the country - sugared cranberries (which we strongly advise friends to buy as a souvenir from Belarus) and the legendary condensed milk. In addition, this is where the annual Cherry Festival takes place - one of the cutest regional celebrations in Belarus.

Fortunately for those fighting diabetes, this is not all that the city is famous for. Trinity Church 18th century, unique Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, surviving remains of a Carmelite monastery, old cemetery with a memorial column in honor of the Constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of 1791 - feel free to allow 2-3 hours to see only the main attractions.

There are dozens of monuments and sculptures in Glubokoye that continue to be actively erected to this day. The local community deserves special respect for the decisive reconstruction of the central square, where in 2012, instead of the traditional Lenin, the Alley of Famous Compatriots was laid, installing 8 busts of the legendary natives of these places. Among them are the founder of the Belarusian theater Ignat Buinitsky, writer, scientist and politician Vaclav Lastovsky, artist Yazep Drozdovich (oh, quickly google his work!) and other nice guys. There is also a monument to Baron Munchausen nearby - local residents They claim that he is also from Glubokoye. At least there is a grave of a person with that last name in the cemetery (find it, even though this is a whole quest).

Let's not forget to mention that there are five rivers and two lakes in the city and its surroundings. We recommend chilling a little right in the center, near Lake Kagalnoe, where swans and ducks swim idyllically.

At the end of your walk, you should definitely stop by and take a walk at the local arboretum, located at the exit from the city towards Polotsk. The place is very cool, if only because it is the second largest arboretum in Belarus (after the Minsk botanical garden). The arboretum was created in the 1960s for scientific purposes - now there are about 500 species of trees and shrubs from five different continents.

Where to eat? The choice is small. We recommend the cafe "Neon"(September 17 Square, 12)- the main and, let's be honest, the only party place in the city, combining the functions of a restaurant, a disc club and even a little nightclub. But they will feed a tired traveler here with pleasure and not very expensive. As an alternative, there is the pizzeria “Pizzeria” (Lenina St., 9), where, as the locals assure, they make quite good pizza (what else?) on thin dough.

Where to stay? Hotel at your service "Deep"(Moskovskaya st., 7) with her seasoned service for € 22 for two or a mini-hotel "North"(Skaryny St., 60), where prices will be slightly higher, but they promise a “common kitchen” and almost home comfort. There are several more options at Booking.com.

How to get there? It's best in your own car, of course. If you don’t have your own, rent a car. If this option doesn’t suit you, there are 6 buses a day from Minsk to Glubokoe (three of them rush through Glubokoe to Braslav). See the schedule at ticketbus.by. A ticket will cost about €4.

Polotsk and Novopolotsk

Cool combo for time management lovers: the most Old city Belarus and one of the newest - in one fell swoop. Well, as one - there are 20 km between them. But city transport works!

Polotsk was founded in 862, and therefore the energy here is completely special. You will feel it immediately as soon as you approach the famous St. Sophia Cathedral (Zamkovaya st., 1)(one of three among the Eastern Slavs - along with Kiev and Novgorod, built in the 11th century by Vseslav the Magician). Stand on the cliff, thinking about something important (otherwise, for some reason it never works out here), make a wish by touching Borisov's stone, which lies right next to Sofia.

Be sure to go to Spaso-Euphrosinievsky Monastery(Efrosyne Polotskaya St., 89)- one of the oldest in Belarus. If you don’t care much about religion, look at more mundane and even scientific things - a monument to the letter “Ў”, which, as you probably know, is found only in the Belarusian alphabet, as well as the geographical center of Europe. You don't need to walk far - everything is along Skaryna Avenue.

We recommend checking out your local Art gallery (Streletskaya st., 4a/4). Modern avant-garde artists, original works by Yazep Drozdovich (you already know something about him if you read the article carefully), ancient Polotsk frescoes.

You can take a bomb selfie next to the cinema bas-relief "Space" (Molodezhnaya st., 25), dedicated to the first manned flight into space, until all the beauty has completely fallen apart - the cinema is not working, and no one is especially watching it.

If you decide to stay longer in Polotsk, we recommend going to