Belarus is not the easiest country to visit right now — travel advisories from most Western governments recommend against non-essential travel, the political situation is oppressive, and getting there from the West takes a connection through Istanbul or Dubai. But for travellers who go regardless, the rewards are genuine.
Minsk
Minsk is the strangest capital in Europe. Almost entirely destroyed in World War II, it was rebuilt in the 1940s and 50s as a showpiece of Stalinist urban planning — wide boulevards, heroic civic architecture, a Metro with chandeliers. The city is clean, safe, and oddly calm. Walk Independence Avenue from the railway station to the river and you'll understand what Stalin had in mind.
Mir Castle and Nesvizh Palace
Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, usually visited on the same day trip from Minsk. Mir is a red-brick Gothic fortress reflected in a lake; Nesvizh is a baroque palace surrounded by formal gardens. Both are well-restored and genuinely beautiful. The 100km drive south of Minsk takes you through the Belarusian countryside — flat, birch-forested, and quietly atmospheric.
Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park
One of Europe's last primeval forests, straddling the border with Poland. The bison are the main draw — around 500 live in the park, the world's largest wild population. Guided jeep tours give the best chance of spotting them. The park is also a UNESCO site and an extraordinary landscape to walk through even if the bison stay hidden. Near Brest.
Khatyn and the WWII memorials
Belarus lost a third of its population in World War II — a proportional loss greater than almost any other country. The Khatyn memorial, 54km north of Minsk, is one of the most moving war monuments in Europe. Kuropaty, just outside Minsk, marks where the NKVD executed tens of thousands of Belarusians in the late 1930s. Neither site is cheerful, but both are important.
Marc Chagall was born here. The town has a small Chagall museum and a handful of old buildings that survived the war. In July, it hosts the Slavianski Bazaar — a vast international music and arts festival that transforms the city for a week.
The city on the Polish border is home to the Brest Fortress — a World War II site where Soviet soldiers held out for over a month against the German invasion. The complex is dramatic and exhaustive. Brest is also the most convenient base for visiting Belovezhskaya Pushcha.