Minsk
This large, upscale stolovaya (cafeteria) with Latvian roots has a huge array of food on display, so it's easy for non-Russian speakers: just point at what you want. Classic Russian soups and salads, grilled trout and cheesy meat dishes are highlights.
Lunchtime is always packed, but it's usually easy to find a seat among the curious faux-medieval village decor. Another branch is on vul Nyamiha.
Museum of the Great Patriotic War
1.9 MILES
Housed in a garish new building, Minsk's best museum houses an excellent display detailing Belarus' suffering and heroism during the Nazi occupation. With…
1.9 MILES
Vul Kastrychnitskaya – still known by its Soviet name, ulitsa Oktyabrskaya – has blossomed into Minsk's unofficial arts district. Brazilian street artists…
2.04 MILES
The capital's main thoroughfare impresses with its sheer size. Formerly pr Francyska Skaryny, it runs from what travel writer Colin Thubron dubbed the …
15.26 MILES
A must for military buffs is this impressive collection of tanks, missiles, helicopters and all other manner of Soviet war paraphernalia in an open field…
Museum of Folk Architecture & Rural Lifestyle
10.49 MILES
Several dozen traditional wood houses, a school, a church and an old windmill have been transplanted to this open-air folk museum in Azyartso, 15km…
1.61 MILES
This excellent museum in one of Minsk's iconic buildings (built in 1939) includes definitive works by Soviet social realists and Russian masters,…
22.54 MILES
Tasting delicious farm-made sausages, cheese and bread is only a small part of a visit to the open-air interactive museum of Dudutki, 40km south of Minsk…
1.83 MILES
This well-established gallery and cultural centre heralded a shift in the artistic landscape when it relocated to vul Kastrychnitskaya in 2018. It is…
0.38 MILES
Market buffs should not miss Minsk's air-hangar-like main market, one of Minsk's collectivist masterpieces. It's a colourful smorgasbord of seasonal (and…
2. Palats Mastatsva (Art Palace)
0.52 MILES
Palats Mastatsva is a good place to see what's happening in Minsk contemporary-art circles, with several halls of rotating exhibitions, plus performance…
3. Church of St Aleksandr Nevsky
0.58 MILES
This red-brick church was built in 1898, closed by the Bolsheviks, reopened by the Nazis, closed again by the Soviets and now it's open once more. It's…
0.72 MILES
Striking pl Peremohi is marked by an obelisk and an eternal flame (accessible from the underground passageway). Cyclists use this oval as a makeshift…
5. Former Residence of Lee Harvey Oswald
0.81 MILES
Just across the bridge over the Svislach River, on the west bank, is the former residence of Lee Harvey Oswald. The assassin of former US president John F…
1.34 MILES
Standing on a small island connected to the Old Town by a walking bridge, this evocative Afghan war memorial is known colloquially as the Island of Tears…
1.34 MILES
Trinity Hill is a pleasant – if tiny – recreation of Minsk's pre-war buildings on a pretty bend of the river just a little north of the centre. It has a…
1.38 MILES
The city's main square is referred to universally by its Russian name, Oktyabrskaya Ploshchad (October Sq). Here you'll find the impressive, severe Palats…