We spent 24 hours in Brest during our Belarusian Road Trip. Located in the south western corner of Belarus, close to the Polish border, Brest is home to one of the county’s most visited tourist destinations; Brest Fortress.
How to get to Brest
We flew to Minsk and hired a car to drive to Brest, a straightforward drive down the E30.
Getting around Brest
Brest Fortress in 2 miles west of the city centre, with the railway museum in between. The remaining attractions are all within walking distance of each other. We stopped at the Fortress en route. Then drove into town, via the railway museum. We visited the remaining attractions on foot. If you choose instead to walk to the Fortress, it’s a pleasant stroll along the River Mukhavets.
Where to stay in Brest
We stayed at the Vesta Hotel; a pleasant boutique style hotel just off Gogol Street.
Brest in 1 Day Itinerary
| Drive to Brest Accommodation – Vesta Hotel | |
| Day 1 | Brest Fortress The Defence of Brest Fortress Museum The Museum of War, Territory and Peace Railway Engineering Museum Gogol Street Sovestskaya Street Lamplighter Dinner at Caffe Italia River Mukhavets |
Drive to Brest
The drive from Minsk to Brest is basically 215 miles along one long, straight, flat road through mile after mile of flat fields with occasional flat woodlands. One point of interest, however is a large Bison Sculpture on a hill overlooking the road. We stop en route, parking on the hard shoulder and clambering the bank of the motorway to take a photo of this enormous steel bison. All totally legal, I’m sure!
Accommodation – Vesta Hotel
Our hotel in Brest is the Vesta Hotel. The room is enormous; it has a separate living room and two bathrooms.
Brest Day 1
We stop on the outskirts of Brest, right up against the Polish border to visit one of Belarus’ top tourist attractions, Brest Fortress.
Brest Fortress
It is at Brest Fortress that, in 1941, Soviet troops held out against advancing German troops for a month. The site is now a memorial, which you enter through a huge Communist star. On this large site you will find several museums, sculptures and a church.
Courage
I love a bit of Soviet sculpture and it doesn’t get much bigger and better than here. Pride of place is an enormous carved soldier’s head entitled Courage, which honours the soldiers who courageously attempted to defend Brest from Nazi invasion.
Thirst
But my favourite is a sculpture, entitled Thirst, of a soldier dispatched from the besieged fortress to collect water from the moat.
The Defence of Brest Fortress Museum
There are two museums charting the history the war; first, The Defence of Brest Fortress Museum, which tells the story of the fortress itself and its role in World War II.
The museum is open daily except Monday from 9 am until 5 pm. Entry costs 10BYN (around £2.50).
The Museum of War, Territory and Peace
Next, The Museum of War, Territory and Peace, which has more general content. It is quite interesting, but there is a lack of English signage and an excess of scary lady attendants. The only English is a summary of the room’s contents on a sign in each doorway. In order to read it, you must stand in the doorway, thus blocking entry/exit to the room and suffering the wrath of the scary ladies.
The museum is open daily except Tuesday from 10 am until 6 pm (7 pm in summer). Entry costs 10BYN (around £2.50).
Railway Engineering Museum
Close to Brest Fortress, you will find the Railway Engineering Museum. This large open air museum contains around 50, mainly Soviet era, trains. There is also a small indoor section with railway memorabilia.
The museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11 am until 7 pm. Entry costs BYN2.50 (around £0.60).
Gogol Street
In the afternoon, we walk along Gogol Street. Nikolai Gogol was a writer and the street in lined with sculptures, which are lampposts based on the characters in his books. There is also a statue of the man himself.
Sovestskaya Street
The pedestrian Sovetskaya Street is lined with shops, restaurants and ornate street lights. There’s plenty to see including flower beds, sculptures and numerous street entertainers.
Lamplighter
As evening approaches, we encounter the lamplighter lighting the street’s gas lamps. It’s quite an attraction; a large group follows him from lamp to lamp and even waiting outside the bar when he stops for a quick beer. On the way back, we spot him again, relighting the lamps which have gone out whilst he was in the pub!
Dinner at Caffe Italia
We head for a restaurant recommended on Trip Advisor. We accidentally stop one door too soon and end up in Caffe Italia; a pizzeria with no English menu. We opt for the Belarusian pizza, with no idea what this entails. It turns out to be a pizza base, topped with tomato, cheese and ham topped with another pizza base. Quite a carb fest!
River Mukhavets
After a veritable bread overdose, washed down with beer, of course, we take a walk along the banks of the River Mukhavets to enjoy the sunset.
- Trip Taken: October 2019
- Updated: January 2025
I hope you found the above information useful. For guides to more destinations in the 50+ countries we have visited, check out my full list of Independent Travel Itineraries here.
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