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!

View the full itinerary

INCLUSIONS:

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.