10 Things To Do In Brest, Belarus Visa Free Region.

Wondering about visiting Belarus and the Visa Free Region of Brest – Grodno? We recently crossed the border from Terespol, Poland and found plenty of interesting – albeit unique – things to do in Brest, Belarus. 

• Travel to Belarus
• Visa Free Region
• About Brest
• Best time to visit? 
• How long do you need? 
• Getting there
• Getting around
• Things to do in Brest
  Brest Fortress 
  Railway Museum 
  Millenium Monument
  Central Market
  Sovatskaya Street
  St Simeon Cathedral 
  Lenin Monument
  Park Maja
• Where to eat
• Where to stay 
• More about travel in Eastern Europe

Travel to Belarus

Belarus is one of the least visited countries in Europe.  

It is a country full of surprises, bizarre places – and it is the country with the largest and most amazing Soviet Heritage.

Do you need a Visa for travel to Belarus? 

Citizens of 76 countries can take advantage of 30-Day visa-free travel to Belarus and foreign nationals may visit any place in Belarus within the 30 days of their visa-free stay. 

However, in this way foreigners must arrive and leave the country only by air to Minsk National Airport.

A tourist visa is required to stay more than 30 days, or if you enter or exit at a border crossing other than Minsk Airport. 

The other option to visit Belarus is to travel in the Brest-Grodno Visa-Free region where it is possible to enter and exit overland and travel is permitted only within the specific region.  

About the Visa-Free Region of Brest-Grodno in Belarus

The Brest-Grodno region is a visa-free territory in Belarus that allows foreign citizens to stay for up to 15 days.  

The region includes the cities of Brest, Grodno and Lida, as well as the surrounding districts. 

About Brest, Belarus 

Brest is one of the oldest cities in Belarus.   It is located in southwest of Belarus on the Polish border.  Quite literally – just across the border crossing point from Terespol in Poland.

After Minsk, it is the most cosmopolitan city in Belarus.  

Its location in a very strategic position, traditionally, in the middle of a trading route from Moscow to Berlin means that Brest has always been an important economical city in Belarus.  

However, the geographical location near Poland has influenced a city culture that is in some ways closer (slightly) to the EU than Russia. 

Nevertheless, location-aside, there are lots of things to do in Brest that do represent the history and culture of Belarus. 

What is the best time of year to visit Belarus? 

Like much of Northern Europe and Russia, Belarus gets very cold in the winter.  

The best time to visit Brest, Belarus is during the spring and summer months (May to September), when the weather is warm and pleasant.  

We visited Brest from Terespol, Poland in June.  

How long do you need? 

As fascinating as travel to Belarus is, the visa situation even for the Visa Free Region is quite complex.  You need to state the exact number of days you will be in Belarus on your arrival card.  

Visitors using the Visa Free Region VOA can stay up to 10 days. 

However, Brest is not a huge city.  With 1 – 2 days you can see all the things to do in Brest listed below. 

Getting there

Brest is one of the two Belarusian border cities with Poland that has the peculiarity they can be visited without a visa.  

So, the best way to visit from Poland – and the only way to visit on the Visa Free Region VOA – is to cross overland from Terespol, Poland to Brest, Belarus. 

• Read how to cross the border from Terespol to Brest, Belarus.

Getting around 

Once we had arrived in Belarus most of the key things to do in Brest are located within walking distance.  

However, you will need to drive to the fortress.  This is located right near to the Poland – Belarus border crossing so this was the first stop we made when we arrived. 

Things to do in Brest, Belarus 

In no particular order (more so in the order we visited them in) here are 10 things to do in Brest, Belarus. 

1. Brest Fortress 

This is the most famous of things to do in Brest.  The Brest Fiortress was built in the 18^th century though is renowned for being the defensive line during WWII.

During the war the Germans managed to break through, hence beginning the invasion of Belarus.

The defence of the fortress from the Nazi attacks is seen, by people from all over the USSR, as one of the most heroic events in the history of the nation.

Today the fortress is celebrated as a huge memorial.  As soon as you walk in the entrance to the fort you can hear the sound of wartime celebrations playing on repeat from speakers inside. 

2. Statue Of Unknown Soldier – Brest, Belarus

Dominating the middle of Brest Fortress is the iconic, monolithic stone statue of a soldier’s head projecting from a massive rock.  

The monument is more than a hundred feet high!

3. Brest Railway Museum 

Between the Brest Fortress and the centre of town is the Brest Railway Museum.  

It is an outdoor museum with an array of various locomotives from cargo to passenger cars dating back to the 1900s. 

4. Minskiy Komarovskiy Market – Brest Central Market 

The Central Market in the city is a large indoor market with a variety of goods, including meat, fruits, vegetables, and other items.  

We always love the markets in Eastern Europe and the Central Market in Brest was no exception. 

But what made it more of a standout feature was the incredible ceiling inside.  It looks as if it is made of sculpted wood framing! 

• Tip: We hoped to exchange some money in the market, but the queues were backed up and out the door. We exchanged cash in town instead. 

5. Brest Millenium Monument

This is a somewhat unmissable huge monument at the intersection of Sovetskaya Street and Gogol Street in Brest.   Though apparently, it was erected ten years prior to the city’s actual millennium – in 2009. 

The street surrounding the Millenium Monument is lined with a narrow park.  Which in typical Soviet style is of course is also filled with an impressive number of sculptures.

6. Sovetskaya Pedestrian Street – Brest, Belarus

Sovetskaya is the main pedestrian street in the heart of the city.  We found a nearby place to park and went for a wander. 

It is a popular and bustling street lined with cafés and restuarants.  The middle of the street is planted with trees and flowers and it’s a nice place for a walk. 

We spotted the large Brest Cinema and chose an exchange booth to get some local currency. 

7. River Mukhavets Park 

At the end of Sovetskaya Street there is a large green space and park on the edge of the River Mukhavets. 

For us, after visiting the fortress the pedestrian street was one of the first things to do in Brest.  We walked the entire length of the street, so it made sense we ended up right at the end near the river. 

There is a small playground for kids and while we were there (in June) there was a market set up in the park.  

8. St Simeon Cathedral

The iconic light lime green Cathedral of Saint Simeon is just up the road from where we stayed.  

The cathedral was consecrated in 1865 and is beautifully decorated inside. 

9. Lenin Monument – Things to do in Brest 

One of the very Soviet things to do in Brest is to check out the Statue of Vladimir Lenin.  Albeit it has been more than three decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, but the hero of the USSR still stands over this Belarus city. 

The impressive statue with Lenon looking powerfully into the distance is above a central square on Puškіnskaja Street. 

We walked from Sovetskaya Street and entered the park from behind the statue. 

10. Park Maja

The Park Maja is a popular park located in the city centre.  It is very close to the Lenin Monument, so we entered the park from behind. 

It (again) felt very much like the iconic post-Soviet green spaces of other Eastern European cities.  There are walking paths and huge boulevards lined with trees.  

We walked right through the park to the other side and walked past what looked to be an amusement park albeit rather abandoned when we visited. 

Other things to do in Brest, Belarus 

If you have more time, there are other things to do in Brest. 

• Dom Ishadem 
• Naberezhnaya Frantsiska Skoriny Park 
• Cinema Belarus 
• I love Brest Sign
• Chasy Na Sovetskoy Clock
• Orthodox Church
• Happy Boot Statue 
• Winter Garden
• Museum of Confiscated Art

The Happy Boot Statue was a bit of a novelty on Sovetskaya.  

You can actually put your leg into the boot and take a photo!  Random much?  But apparently – according to the young teens who showed us around – this is indeed one of the things to do in Brest! 

Restaurants, cafes and where to eat in Brest, Belarus

The main pedestrian street – Soveitskaya – is lined with cafes, kiosks and small boutique restaurants.  

We popped in for coffee at one of the coffee shops and in the evening, we really enjoyed takeaway kebabs from Pita Bar. 

• Paragraph Coffee: Great coffee and very friendly service located on Sovietskaya, the main pedestrian street in Brest. 

• Pita Bar: We got delicious pita kebab for dinner from this trendy small takeaway restaurant on the main strip. 

• Gran Caffe: This was a great choice for a hearty breakfast with a separate page of kid’s menu and good coffee to boot. 

Where we stayed in Brest, Belarus

We parked for the night at the InTourist Hotel in Brest.  

The hotel is easy to find and has a large, guarded carpark out the back and toilets that are available to use inside the hotel.

Other recommended places to stay in Brest, Belarus

We stayed in our van while we were visiting the Visa Free Region of Belarus.  

Though there are several other hotels that are recommend.

• InTourist Hotel 
• Molodezhnaya Hotel 
• Privokzalnyi Hostel  
• Hermitage Hotel 

However recently there are sanctions prohibiting booking the hotels in Belarus through Booking.com! 

Read more about travel in Eastern Europe 

• Things To Do In Bucharest, Romania. 
• Border Crossing: Romania to Moldova. 
• Border Crossing: Kosovo to North Macedonia. 
• Things To Do In Podgorica, Montenegro. 
• Things To Do In Belgrade, Serbia.
• Border Crossing: Serbia to Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
• Border Crossing: Bosnia to Montenegro. 
• Things To Do In Chisinau, Moldova. 

More useful links for your travels in Europe and beyond

These are the companies we use and can recommend for planning and booking travel. 

• Booking.com – The best all-around accommodation booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation. It is easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally. 
• 12GoAsia – Book trains anywhere online. 
• Skyscanner– This is by far our favourite flight search engine. They are able to search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites often miss. We book all our flights through Skyscanner.  
• GetYourGuide– Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions offered all around the world. Everything from walking tours, to street-food tours, cooking classes, desert safari’s and more!
• SafetyWing – A global travel insurance that covers people from all over the world while outside their home country. You can buy it short or longterm; and even if you are out of the country. 
• World Nomads – Make sure you have insurance before embarking on travel to Belarus!