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© SAIGA Tours
Start
May 7, 2027
Minsk
Minsk
2027-05-07
End
May 15, 2027
Minsk
Minsk
2027-05-15
Duration
9 days
Price
US$1795.00
TOUR OVERVIEW
For travelers who crave the unconventional, Belarus is the ultimate frontier. Locked in a fascinating architectural and cultural time warp, it offers a window into the USSR that you simply cannot find anywhere else on earth. Saiga Tours is heading back for an exclusive group expedition, timed perfectly around one of the most intense, visually spectacular, and surprisingly festive celebrations on the post-Soviet calendar: Victory Day in Minsk.
The highlight of our trip will be attending the May 9th, or Victory Day celebration - the biggest holiday in the country. On this day, the monumental, brutalist streets of Minsk completely transform. We will have front-row access to the sprawling military celebrations. You’ll witness endless rows of pristine Soviet-era hardware, marching bands, and meticulously uniformed troops moving past imposing Stalinist facades.
The solemnity of the morning quickly gives way to a massive, city-wide street party. The parks fill up with pop-up food stalls grilling shashlik (meat skewers), music blasts from every corner, and locals of all generations come out to dance, toast, and share stories.
Just outside the capital lies a playground for military history enthusiasts: The Stalin Line. Built in the 1930s as a massive line of fortifications to protect the USSR’s western border, this sprawling open-air museum is a masterpiece of Soviet preservation.
We won't just be walking past boring information boards. You will explore concrete bunkers, navigate trenches, and get up close and personal with an unbelievable array of tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and radar systems. .
While many have heard of Chernobyl from the Ukrainian side, few realize that a massive portion of the radiation fallout landed in Belarus. The Polesie State Radioecological Reserve is the Belarusian counterpart to the famous Ukrainian Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and it is arguably even more fascinating because it remains so untouched by mass tourism. We will cross checkpoints into this restricted area to explore completely abandoned, frozen-in-time villages. Nature has violently reclaimed the Soviet schools, cultural centers, and collective farms left behind in 1986.
We'll visit an amazing aray of other fascinating sights around this incredible country, witnessing a people torn between east and west, the past and the future and an identity they aren't quite sure of. The Hero Fortress in Brest, the village of Alexandria or the Russian strong hold of Mogilev will answer many of your questions, but will leave you wanting to learn more.
Between the massive parades, tank fields, abandoned zones, and late-night toasts in Minsk’s hidden bars, this itinerary is packed with moments you’ll be talking about for years.
Victory is calling out to you to join!
If you like the look of this tour but the dates don't work for you, or you'd like to do part of the tour, please get in touch and let us know. All our tours are able to be split into smaller sections, we're always scheduling new tours and your dates might work for one of them, or we can always organise an independent tour.
INCLUSIONS:
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Accommodation in twin share rooms as per itinerary |
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Where itinerary mentions yurt or homestay accomodation, single supplement and twin share may be affected |
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Transport as per itinerary |
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Entrance fees to most sites (as per itinerary) |
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Guiding throughout the tour |
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: $350
What is the single supplement? This is paid to guarantee a single room. If you are travelling alone and would like to be roomed with another single traveller, you do not need to pay this.
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Visa and visa support if necessary |
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Some activities, eg. treatments at sanatorium (as per itinerary) |
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TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
Take part in the Victory Day festivities in Minsk, one of the few places left where this Soviet holiday is still celebrated
Explore Brest Hero Fortress and Stalin Line - two of the best remaining Soviet sites
Visit the Chernobly Exclusion Zone , even more elusive than the part on the Ukrainian side of the border
Nesvizh Castle and the cute, Europeanesque streets of Brest and Gomel
Itinerary
Day 1Fri May 7
Minsk
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You'll start your journey in Minsk, a city that was 80% destroyed during WWII and rebuilt as a "Utopian Socialist City". The scale of the streets and the uniformity of the buildings are designed to make the individual feel small and the state feel eternal.
- Spend the morning on Independence Avenue (Nezavisimosti Prospekt), a 15 km-long Stalinist arterial road and one of the best surviving examples of this style in the former USSR. It is a world-class example of Stalinist Empire architecture. You will see the KGB Headquarters (the only one in the former USSR still officially using that name) and the Government House, guarded by a massive statue of Lenin that famously survived the Nazi occupation.
- Then visit the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, one of the largest and most detailed WWII museums in the former Soviet Union. This is a mandatory first stop. The museum is a masterpiece of modern Belarusian memorial architecture. The "Hall of Victory", a glass-domed room engraved with the names of every unit that liberated the country, provides the essential historical foundation for the rest of your trip.
- Overnight at the iconic Hotel Belarus in Minsk.
Day 2Sat May 8
Nesvizh Castle, Stalin Line, Minsk
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You'll start today by heading 120km southwest to Nesvizh Castle. Once the seat of the powerful Radziwiłł family, this 16th-century Renaissance-Baroque palace represents the "European" side of Belarusian history. The castle’s golden interiors and vast English gardens offer a sharp contrast to the Soviet focus of the following days.
- And leaning into this contrast, in the afternoon you'll continue to the Stalin Line, an open-air museum located on the actual 1930s defensive fortifications. It sits on the original concrete fortifications of the 1930s. In 2027, the day before the holiday is usually a hive of activity as tanks and infantry units rehearse for the main battle reenactments. You can explore pillboxes, climb over T-34 tanks, and even fire a vintage Mosin-Nagant rifle.
- Overnight at the iconic Hotel Belarus in Minsk.
Day 3Sun May 9
Victory Day, Minsk
- Happy Victory Day!
- You'll start the day early to experience Victory Day in Minsk. In 2027, Victory Day falls on a Sunday. We will make sure to secure a spot on Victors Avenue or near Victory Square early. Expect a massive display of military hardware, precision marching, and the "Immortal Regiment" march, where locals carry photos of their ancestors who fought — one of the largest public commemorations in Belarus.
- Following the formal parade, head to Victory Park where the area surrounding the war museum turns into a giant folk festival. You’ll find "field kitchens" serving Soldier's Kasha (buckwheat and beef), brass bands playing 1940s hits, and thousands of people wearing the green and red ribbons of the Republic. It’s an intoxicating mix of somber remembrance and high-energy national celebration.
- The day concludes with a grand synchronized firework display launched from multiple points across the city, reflected beautifully in the Svislach River.
- Overnight at the iconic Hotel Belarus in Minsk.
Day 4Mon May 10
Minsk, Brest
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You'll start the day with the morning train to the border city of Brest. The journey takes roughly four hours and cuts through the heart of the Belarusian plains, showing you the endless birch forests and marshlands that provided cover for the partisans.
- After checking into your hotel, walk down Sovetskaya Street. This pedestrian hub has a distinct "Central European" feel, with quirky sculptures and artwork dotted around
- At dusk, witness the Brest Lamplighter, a local celebrity in a 19th-century uniform who manually lights the kerosene street lamps — a quiet tradition that serves as a breather before the intensity of the Fortress.
- Overnight in Brest.
Day 5Tue May 11
Brest Hero Fortress, Pinsk
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You'll start the morning at the famous Brest Hero Fortress. You enter through a massive star-shaped cutout in a concrete block, greeted by the low-frequency rumble of the "Sacred War" anthem.
- Stand beneath the "Courage" monument, a 30-meter-high stone head that is a masterpiece of Soviet Brutalism. Explore the "Thirst" monument, which depicts a soldier crawling for water under fire.
- In the afternoon you'll drive to the regional centre of Pinsk. Pinsk is known for its Jewish History, strong accent and the fact it was the only city in Belarus during World War 2 liberated by the Navy!
- Overnight in Pinsk.
Day 6Wed May 12
Pinsk, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
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You'll head southeast toward the gateway of the radiation reserve. This drive takes you through "Deep Belarus", which is miles of traditional villages where storks nest on rooftops and life moves at a pre-war pace.
- You are heading toward the most affected region of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The atmosphere becomes noticeably quieter and the forests thicker as you approach the Exclusion Zone perimeter.
Day 7Thu May 13
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Gomel
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You'll spend the day on a private expedition in the Polesie Radioecological Reserve. This is a private expedition into the Belarusian side of the Chernobyl zone. Unlike the Ukrainian side, this is a scientific sanctuary with no commercial kiosks. You’ll visit "Dead Villages" like Dronki, abandoned collective farms, and schools where Soviet textbooks still sit on desks.
- Nature has entirely reclaimed this area; it is now home to bison, wolves, and horses. You can climb a fire tower to see the silhouette of the Chernobyl Power Plant on the horizon across the border.
- Leaving the Exclusion Zone, you'll arrive in the city of Gomel in the early evening.
- Overnight in Gomel.
Day 8Fri May 14
Gomel, Alexandria, Mogilev
- You'll continue driving in the morning towards Mogilev, commonly nicknamed by Belarusians "the Father of Stalingrad".
- Visit Buinichi Field near Mogilev, the site where Soviet defenders held out for 23 days against a Panzer offensive in 1941. The memorial chapel and the "Lake of Tears" are dedicated to the mothers of the fallen.
- A short drive north brings you to Alexandria, the birthplace of President Lukashenko. This "Agro-town" is a pristine model of rural Belarusian life. You can visit the president's childhood school (now a museum) and drink from the "Presidential Spring", famous for its pure water.
- Overnight in Mogilev.
Day 9Sat May 15
Mogilev, Minsk, End of Tour
- You'll start the morning with the drive back from Mogilev to Minsk, which takes approximately 2.5 hours.
- And this, sadly, brings us to the end of our Belarusian adventure. You can head to the airport for your departure flight any time from this afternoon onwards, or if you'd like to spend longer in Belarus let us know and we can either help you with an extra night or two of accommodation, or give you other suggestions.
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