From Brest to the main entrance to the reserve - nothing at all, about an hour's drive along various small roads.
But even on the way there, hares crossed our road twice.
The first time was on the outskirts of Brest.
But it was small and galloped very quickly.
And the second time this large animal (three times larger than our Leopard!) slowly jumped right in front of the nose of our car and stopped in the bushes a meter from the road and looked at us while we turned around at a small intersection...
We arrived in Pushcha.
Temperature +2 degrees. It’s freezing cold again, so I didn’t have a particularly strong desire to walk a lot and for a long time, to be honest...
But I still wanted to see the bison.
But in such bitter cold (and on Tuesday) the parking lot was very deserted.
We bought tickets and went inside.
The first thing you encounter in Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a restaurant. 
Actually, the entire area around the entrance consists of hotels, sanatoriums, restaurants, cafes.
Here's another one.
(The fence on the right is the fence of another sanatorium). 
And finally, the very last building in this row is a science center and a museum in it. 
By the time we got there, we were already frozen like tsutsiki, so there were no other options other than going to the museum.
Most of the museum consists of installations of the natural environment with the animals that live in the Pushcha.
Well, for example. 
It turns out that wild horses once lived on the territory of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
And now they are trying to restore them by reverse selection from those nearby horses that are more similar to wild ones. Well, keeping them in their natural environment.
This is what it should look like.
Well, at least that's the goal... 
And here they also show animals that have not been in the Pushcha for a long time. These are tours.
The Germans also tried to restore them when they occupied Pushcha.
The hunting scene shows the costumes of the time in which the last rounds were carried out. 
Most of the museum consists of similar installations.
This first hall was dedicated to those animals that once lived in Pushcha, but no longer live.
And four more halls show living animals in four different seasons.
Winter, obviously. 
Cool eared animal (I like the photo, actually). 
Summer and bison. 
Autumn lynx with a completely crazy look. 
Inhabitants of swamps and lakes (one is not very different from the other...) 
Exhibition "how on-board honey was collected." 
And this is an ancient board made of a thousand-year-old tree found in the Pushcha. 
This is the main part of the museum, but there is a little else too.
Here, for example, is a model of the imperial family's hunting lodge.
Well, and portraits of emperors who came to Belovezhskaya Pushcha to hunt. 
And I specifically asked for this to be photographed, now I’m studying the details at home... 
There were three maps, this one for 1276, then for the time of the divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the modern one.
Everything is clear with the divisions of Poland. From the modern one it is obvious that most of Belovezhskaya Pushcha is located on the territory of Poland.
But the 13th century map is very interesting to me...
Well, everyone, warmed up, looked at the museum, went to see the enclosures.
Next to the enclosures is a map of the Belarusian part of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
We are in the blue patch in the southern part. In one of the recreational areas, the reserve itself is to the north. 
In general, there are bus excursions deep into the reserve; excursions gather every hour. Somewhere there is also a museum of folk life and the hut of Santa Claus. The excursion takes you through the forest for an hour and a half, then they take you either to a museum or to a hut, there is also a program there, in general, for half a day, at least. We didn’t take it, we didn’t have time, but it was probably interesting. Those who plan to spend more time visiting Brest can travel around the Pushcha more.
And we went to see the simplest thing - enclosures with animals. They start opposite the museum and these enclosures run along the road for about a kilometer.
The enclosures contain animals that live in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
(Hee, we walk along the enclosures, see who is hiding there and where, we go like this... we look... I look into the next enclosure and... I didn’t even understand at first. It’s a painfully familiar picture. It’s just a local animal, yeah. .. What would Belovezhskaya Pushcha be like without ostriches...)
The lynx was also in a small cage, still wandering back and forth along the bars... 
Having seen how softly this large animal walks on the hard floor, we finally realized that some impudent animals (let’s not point fingers at Leopard) stomp and scrape on the parquet not because it has wool on its pads and the parquet is made of wood, but because someone is too lazy to carefully place each paw like a lynx, with a complex turn...
Roe deer. We later saw one of these, running across the road. But not here.
Part of this virgin thicket has been preserved in countries such as Poland and Belarus. Belovezhskaya Pushcha is now the name of this huge forest. True, geographers scientifically call this ecoregion the “Sarmatian mixed forest.” In this article we will look at opportunities to get acquainted with Belovezhskaya Pushcha in its Belarusian part. Is this a reserve where no one is allowed except foresters (and top officials of states, if we remember 1991)? Or is it still possible for mere mortals to visit Pusha? How to get there? Where to live? How is the food there? And when is the best time to visit Belovezhskaya Pushcha? We studied all this by analyzing reviews from tourists. And if you are planning an unforgettable vacation in the lap of virgin nature, you will certainly be interested in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
Story
The first mention of the virgin thicket, which occupies a vast territory, we find in the Ipatiev Chronicle, which dates back to 983. Even then, forests in large quantities in Central and Eastern Europe were cut down. Therefore, secular rulers began to reserve areas of the thickets for their hunting. We can say that Belovezhskaya Pushcha is one of the first nature reserves in history. There is a decree of 1409, according to which the Polish king Jagiello forbade his subjects to go into this virgin forest. Only he and his brother Witold had the right to hunt there. European bison, which were exterminated everywhere, remained as a species only in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. When this part of Poland ceded to the Soviet Union (in 1939), a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the BSSR assigned the forest its protected status. And in 1992, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park was included in the UNESCO list as a World Heritage of Humanity. This reserve is a real miracle of nature, which has survived to this day and, we hope, for our descendants.
Where is Belovezhskaya Pushcha located?
As we have already mentioned, the relict primeval forest occupies the territory of Poland and Belarus. In this latter state, Belovezhskaya Pushcha is located in the Brest and Grodno regions. What is the best way to get to the recreational area of the reserve? Reviews advise starting your trip from Brest. An express bus runs from this city twice a day (at half past nine and half past three). But you can also get there by other regular transport. With your car, you need to move, according to the road signs, along the route Brest - Kamenets and further, to the village of Kamenyuki, where, in fact, the entrance to the reserve is located. From Minsk you can also book a tour to Belovezhskaya Pushcha. But, since the capital of Belarus is separated from the park by three hundred and forty kilometers, the price of such an excursion increases significantly due to the cost of gasoline.
What is available to an ordinary tourist
The Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park is divided into several zones. One of them is truly reserved, in the strict sense of the word. No one is allowed there so as not to disturb the peace of forest inhabitants and to preserve the virgin ecosystem intact. But there is also a recreational area in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Entrance to it is paid. In the village of Kamenyuki there is an entrance with a ticket office. They are accepted only so you need to stock up on local currency in big cities in advance. Several types of tickets can be purchased at the box office. Entrance to the reserve will cost ten thousand Belarusian rubles (35 Russian). The ticket includes a map with walking routes. To avoid problems with Polish border guards (after all, the state cordon is close), it is better not to leave the marked paths. You can rent a bicycle (one hundred Russian rubles per hour). You must pay separately for admission to the Museum of Nature, animal enclosures and the Residence of Father Frost. A sightseeing bus tour to Belovezhskaya Pushcha (through the park) will cost two hundred and ten Russian rubles.
When to visit the reserve
The climate in southern Belarus is not much different from ours. But, despite the fact that the nature of Belovezhskaya Pushcha is always beautiful, it is better to visit the reserve during the season when the daylight hours are long. In winter, reviews recommend heading to the Residence of Father Frost. This excursion will be great fun for children. The cost of entry to the Residence is approximately three hundred Russian rubles for an adult. The ticket includes a set of performances and a gift for the child from Santa Claus. The climatic zone where Belovezhskaya Pushcha is located does not offer warm days. Reviews say the optimal time to visit the reserve is the summer months, May and September. By the way, the Residence of Grandfather Frost, which opened in 2003, is open not only in winter. At any time, the fairy-tale character and his assistants will be able to meet your child.
Where to live
Tours to Belarus, the package of which includes a visit to Belovezhskaya Pushcha, involve accommodation at the Kamenyuki Hotel, in the village of the same name. This hotel is located nine hundred meters from the entrance to the reserve. But recently a new building of the Kamenyuki Hotel was built - right next to the Museum of Nature. Prices in the village are significantly lower than in the reserve. Also in the village you can rent a house or stay in a farmstead with a boarding house. If you have your own car, it will be cheaper to stay in Kamenets. Accommodation prices there, reviews say, are even lower. In the protected area you can also rent small cottages for five to nine people. But this is too expensive. In three buildings of the Kamenyuki Hotel there are rooms of the “superior” and “luxury” categories. In order to have lunch on the territory of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, it is not at all necessary to leave the reserve. A wonderful restaurant awaits hungry visitors, serving dishes of Belarusian cuisine.
Museum of Nature
Reviews strongly recommend visiting it first. The museum gives an idea of the species of animals and plants that inhabit the Republic of Belarus. Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a kind of natural relic. It is noteworthy that the stuffed animals for the exhibition were made from animals and birds that died by natural causes. Only wild boars are shot here, since the increased population threatens to damage the entire ecosystem. Therefore, the museum’s exhibition was compiled over seventy years. Reviews assure that the stuffed animals are not at all a sad or scary sight. They fit very well into the “landscape” created by real masters. Therefore, you can see a real den of wolves, a roe deer with a fawn and other representatives of the fauna of Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Entrance to the Museum of Nature costs twenty-five thousand Belarusian rubles (90 Russian). A child's ticket is half the price.
Aviary with animals
If you take a walking or cycling tour around the reserve, you have a chance to meet a representative of the fauna inhabiting Belarus. Belovezhskaya Pushcha, however, is too huge for the paths of people and animals to cross. And if you want to look at the inhabitants of the reserve, it is better to buy a ticket to the enclosure at the ticket office immediately at the entrance. Naturally, all attention is drawn to the real owners of the Pushcha - the bison. These mighty bison were once found throughout Europe. But due to merciless hunting they became completely extinct. A small population remains only in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. And since the virgin forest became a reserve, their population has increased significantly. In addition to bison, in the enclosure you can see - and even feed - wild boars, bears, foxes, wolves, and deer. A ticket to the enclosure costs twenty thousand Belarusian rubles for an adult and ten thousand for a child. Reviews advise visiting the animals in the morning or evening, since at lunchtime the animals sleep after feeding.
Residence of Father Frost
New Year's tours to Belarus must include a visit to Belovezhskaya Pushcha in their program. After all, not only children, but also adults have an exceptional opportunity to make up to one hundred wishes. And they will certainly come true over the next year. The Belarusian Santa Claus looks a little different than his Russian counterpart. He has a white zhupan embroidered with silver braid and a matching cap. The sister of our Baba Yaga, Korgota, also lives in the Residence of Father Frost. On New Year's Day, his granddaughter Snegurochka also comes to stay with her grandfather. But with the first days of spring she goes to Lapland. As tourists' reviews say, children really like the show. They run around the tree, solve Korgota's riddles, and at the end receive gifts - some get candy, and some get coloring books, chocolates and similar gifts.
Belovezhskaya Pushcha: plants
But, of course, the main thing in the reserve is not the entertainment of children and tourists, but the preservation of the ecosystem. The virgin forest conceals under its crowns many plants that have long been included in the Red Book not only of Belarus, but also of the world. You can get acquainted with these species at the Natural Museum. By the way, it is the most visited in the Brest region. The museum welcomed its first tourists in 1963. The entire first floor of the building is dedicated to animals living in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Plants, birds, butterflies, and mushrooms make up the exposition of the upper tier. Reviews advise first visiting the Museum of Nature, and then, with the necessary knowledge, go into the forest. Belovezhskaya Pushcha is covered with snow in winter, so the best time for such educational excursions is summer.
Perhaps only the lazy do not know that Belarus and Poland share a unique natural reserve on your territory - Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
How to spend a walking weekend in Belovezhskaya Pushcha - read in our guide to action (and relaxation, of course, too). We traveled as independent tourists from Minsk to Belovezhskaya Pushcha (specifically, to the village of Kamenyuki, Kamenets district), spent the night in the estate "Belovezhskoye Estate", we rode bicycles along the routes in the Pushcha and share useful information.
How to get to Belovezhskaya Pushcha?
So, the first step is to plan the route. If you are driving a personal car, then enter Kamenyuki into your navigator, exit onto the Brest highway, and from Brest along the P83 highway move in the direction of Kamenets. You can stop by Brest, visit the Brest Hero Fortress, or just take a walk along Sovetskaya Street. Be sure to go to the market (located behind the bus station) and buy fresh meat and fish products - you can use them to prepare an excellent dinner and barbecue in the evening.
If you are traveling on your own, then book a train to Brest and be sure to buy tickets in advance for a bus or minibus from Brest to Belovezhskaya Pushcha! This destination is very popular, so places run out very quickly. On the way back from Kamenyuki, it is better to immediately take the bus and drive 1 km to the Pushcha in order to be guaranteed to leave from there :) We attach the schedule of buses and minibuses from Kamenyuki to Brest (current as of the date of writing):
Where to stay overnight in Belovezhskaya Pushcha?
Step two - carefully choose accommodation, because there are many options for spending the night in the Pushcha. There are both state hotels directly in the Pushcha, and private agricultural estates in the Pushcha and its surroundings. In any case, choose the option that suits you best in terms of distance, comfort and price.
- We stopped at agroestate "Belovezhskoe estate" in Kamenyuki and were pleased because, firstly, the estate is located near the Pushcha, secondly, the estate has all the necessary conditions for comfortable accommodation (up to 20 people), and thirdly, the surroundings, furnishings and design of the rooms are surprisingly pleasant.
In reality everything turned out to be even better than in the photographs, so you can safely choose this option for holidays in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, and we recommend it to both couples and families with children! By the way, it was in this estate that the owner Leonid restored the unique “Belovezhskaya vat”, which was carefully heated for guests.
How much does it cost to enter the Pushcha, which route to choose and what to see?
Step three - visiting the forest and choosing a vehicle and route for a walk.
- Official website of Belovezhskaya Pushcha- npbp.by, where you can read the history of the park, learn more about the inhabitants and ecosystem.
So, you are there, in front of the entrance to Belovezhskaya Pushcha. You can get acquainted with the price list in advance on the Pushcha website. Everything, of course, will depend on what you choose - a walking tour, a cycling route, a nature museum, visiting open-air cages, etc.
Some prices for services in Belovezhskaya Pushcha:
- Entrance ticket to the Nature Museum: 3.00 rub. adult and 2.00 rub. children's
- Excursion to the estate of Father Frost: 8.50 rub. adult and 7.00 rub. children's
- Visit to the enclosures: 2.50 rub. adult and 1.5 rub. children's
- Bicycle rental for 4 hours: 15.00 rub.
- Entrance ticket if you are with your own bike: 7.00 rub. (this includes visits to enclosures).
There are cycling routes to choose from - from simple and short to complex and long. But it is worth noting that the quality of the road and road surface in Belovezhskaya Pushcha is very pleasing. Riding a bike here is comfortable and easy.
We recommend without hesitation choose one of 7 cycling routes and feel free to go and get acquainted with unique objects - swamps, ancient oaks, black alder oak forests, giant oaks, etc.
Of course, photographs will not convey the atmosphere, cleanliness of the air, smells and colors of the Pushcha, but it’s worth going there at least once. And walk not only along tourist trails, but also off-the-beaten-path routes...
How to buy tickets, do I need to book them?
When you arrive in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, go to the ticket office, which is located in the parking lot to the right of the main entrance to Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
At the box office you can purchase entrance tickets to visit:
- Museum of Nature (ticket price: 3 rubles for children (from 6 to 14 years old), 4 rubles for adults).
- Enclosures with wild animals (ticket price: 2 rubles for children (from 6 to 14 years old), 3 rubles for adults).
- Sightseeing tour with visit (ticket price: 6 rubles for children (from 1 year to 18 years), 10 rubles for adults).
- Estate of Father Frost (bus tour, ticket price: 9 rubles for children (from 1 to 14 years old), 10 rubles for adults).
The Museum of Nature and enclosures with wild animals are located three hundred meters from the ticket office, open from 9.00 to 18.00. It is recommended to visit the enclosures before 16.00 (during daylight hours).
For a sightseeing bus tour with a visit to the Museum of Folk Life and Ancient Technologies, buses depart daily according to the following schedule: 11.00 and 14.00 for a group of more than 10 people.
Buses run daily to the Estate of Father Frost at the following times: 11.00, 13.30 and 16.00. From December 10, on weekends and holidays, buses to Santa Claus will depart every hour.
For those wishing to stay in Belovezhskaya Pushcha for several days, we offer accommodation in our hotels:
We are always glad to see you in Belovezhskaya Pushcha!
How to visit Belovezhskaya Pushcha during the New Year holidays?
(for legal entities)
What can you visit, what is the duration of the excursion and the cost of tickets?
GPU NP "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" offers the following excursions:
- Museum of Nature Duration – 30 min. (Ticket cost: 3 rubles for children (from 6 to 14 years old), 4 rubles for adults, 20 rubles for a tour of the museum for a group of 10 to 50 people).
- Enclosures with wild animals Duration – 1 hour. Ticket price: 2 rubles. children (from 6 to 14 years), 3 rub. adult.
- Sightseeing tour with a visit to the Museum of Folk Life and Ancient Technologies Duration - 2-2.5 hours. Ticket price: 6 rubles. children (from 1 year to 18 years), 10 rub. adult. Having a microphone on your bus is a must!!!
- Estate of Father Frost Duration – 2 hours. Ticket price: 9 rubles. children (from 1 year to 14 years), 10 rub. adult.
How to book an excursion, is prepayment required?
First you need to agree on the date and time of arrival by email [email protected] or by phone +375 1631 56 398
(for faster processing of your applications, it is better to contact by email).
After agreeing on the date and time, you must send your application by email [email protected] or send by fax +375 1631 56 398 (for faster processing of your applications it is best to contact by email). Download the application for excursion services.
The application can be submitted either in cash or by bank transfer. Payment in cash is made on the day of the visit. When paying by bank transfer, you must make 100% prepayment before visiting the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park.
What is the visiting procedure, what should the group leader do upon arrival in Belovezhskaya Pushcha?
Upon arrival in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the group leader must go to the ticket office (window for servicing tourist groups).
- If your organization paid for excursions by bank transfer, the accompanying person must present to the cashier a copy of the payment order and a power of attorney for excursion services, after which the cashier issues a receipt and gives it to the group leader. With the receipt received, the group will visit tourist sites.
- When paying in cash The group leader must have the entire amount in advance, with which he must go to the cashier and purchase the required number of tickets.
After receiving the receipt or tickets, the group leader needs to approach the dispatcher, introduce himself and give the name of the organization he represents. The dispatcher will tell the accompanying person how to visit the excursion sites. The dispatcher has the right to change the order of visiting excursion objects (i.e. the order of visiting excursion objects may not be the same as you indicated in the application).
Where to feed a group, how to book lunch, what is the average cost of lunch?
