Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland, sitting close to the Belarusian border in a region of forests, rivers, and rolling farmland. It's not on the standard tourist circuit, which gives it an unhurried, lived-in quality that's increasingly rare in Polish cities. The old town was largely destroyed in World War II and rebuilt, but a few historic buildings survived — most importantly the Branicki Palace, a striking baroque complex known as the "Versailles of Podlachia," whose formal gardens make it one of the most pleasant spots in the city.
The city has a genuinely multicultural history: Poles, Jews, Belarusians, Germans, and Tatars all lived here, and traces of that past appear in the synagogue ruins, the Orthodox cathedral, and the mosques of nearby villages. The Podlaski Opera and Philharmonic is also here, housed in a striking modern building — an unexpectedly strong cultural asset for a city this size.