Hello friends! At the weekend we went to the Braslav lakes in Belarus. Last night I returned from the dense forests and feel almost like a caveman after several days spent in the complete absence of civilization.
If you are thinking about where to relax in Belarus, then the lakes in the north of the country are a great place to relax. However, it must be said that holidays in Belarus on the lakes have some features, which will be discussed in this article.
We went to the north of Belarus to the Braslav lakes (finally got there, damn it). I was there with friends and their friends. In total about 25 or 30 people of different ages from Belarus and Russia. 4 days and 4 nights.
I slept in a tent, ate sausage sandwiches made in Belarus, drank Zhiguli beer and Primorskoe wine (17.5 turns, please note :)), watched the sunsets, held fishing rods in my hands and ate smoked fish, contemplating the stars. Listen, there are so many stars in the sky! And the Milky Way can be considered if you do it not within the Moscow Ring Road. I wanted to go to the Braslav Lakes for a very long time, but somehow my legs didn’t reach, and then my friends - Nastya and Pasha - called me with them. And it really was time to look at one of the main attractions of Belarus. In the photo, Nastya and Pasha, thanks to whom I got to Braslav: 
Braslav lakes
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Braslav Lakes is a group of lakes in the Vitebsk region in the north-west of Belarus, 250 km from Minsk, near the border with Latvia and Lithuania. About 60 lakes with a total area of 130 km² are part of the Braslav Lakes National Park, created 18 years ago, whose territory covers about 70 thousand hectares. 
Wild boars, elks, foxes, roe deer, lynxes, brown bears, badgers and other rare animals live in the Braslav Lakes National Park, many of which are listed in the Red Book of Belarus. About 200 species of birds live in the reserve. Bream, roach, eel, pike, pike perch are caught in the lakes. Please note that officially catching and selling eels in Belarus is prohibited. 
Braslav lakes are one of the main tourist attractions in Belarus. There are several recreation centers, farmsteads, cottages for rent, campsites, as well as paid custom-made and free parking lots for a tent camp. In recent years, holidays in Belarus on the Braslav Lakes have been popular among Russians who have been booking places since winter.
The tourist infrastructure in Belarus is poorly developed. Even on such a popular route, road signs are not everywhere, shops and cafes are far away. On the way to Braslav you pass incredibly cute villages without fences, picturesque fields and meadows. 
Mount "Mayak" is the main attraction of the Braslav Lakes in the national park, which overlooks most of the reservoirs: 
The road to the mountain "Lighthouse" 
The city of Braslav, next to which there are lakes, in itself is one hell of a cockroach. Nastya says that she rested there 15 years ago, nothing has changed since then. The streets are deserted, the market is already closed at 5 pm. Well, at least in Braslav there is a Euroopt supermarket where you can buy food until 23.00.
How to get to Braslav lakes
1. By car from Minsk.
This is the best way to get to the Braslav Lakes, because public transport runs only to the city of Braslav, minibuses and buses do not go through the territory of the lakes, you will have to take a taxi to the parking lot from Braslav. Many recreation centers meet their guests at railway stations and train stations by prior arrangement.
So, if you are driving your own car, then you need to follow the M3 and P3 highways from Minsk. From Vitebsk - highway P20. The distance from Minsk to Braslav is 235 km, but don’t flatter yourself and don’t think that you will overcome it in a couple of hours. The route is narrow, one lane in one direction and the other, in some places it passes through settlements, and in many sections a speed limit of 70 km / h is set, so the road from Minsk Ring Road to Braslav takes from 3 to 3 and a half hours. 
2. By bus:
There are regular flights from the central bus stations Minsk-Braslav, Polotsk-Braslav, Vitebsk-Braslav. 
3. By train.
There is no railway station in Braslav itself. Nearest stations: Polotsk, Sharkovshchina, Druya. If you travel from Moscow, then you can safely buy a ticket for the Moscow-Polotsk train, and from Polotsk take a taxi to Braslav or take a regular bus.
Lake Strusto and Yubileynaya camp
If you are interested in resting on the lakes of Belarus with tents, then on the Braslav lakes there are many parking lots and places for a tent camp. Some of them are freely available. You can just come and put up tents, but there are those that need to be booked in advance.
Our parking lot was called "Jubilee". It is located on Lake Strusto, the depth of which in some places reaches 23 m. It is possible to come and set up camp there only by prior agreement with the Department of Tourism of the National Park. 
About civilization and its complete absence, I, of course, turned down. "Yubileynaya" is one of the most civilized in Braslav. Hidden behind hills covered with pine forest. There are three pavilions with tables and benches, several places for a fire, a large closed area where you can put up tents, play volleyball, badminton, etc., your own descent to the lake, a toilet in the form of a wooden house.
Prices for holidays in Belarus on the Braslav lakes at the Yubileinaya parking lot for one day in 2015
For groups up to 15 people - 850,000 Belarusian rubles ( 3000 RUB / 59$ / 54€)
For groups over 15 people - 1,085,000 Belarusian rubles ( 3900 RUB / 75$ / 70€)
The water is crystal clear. As far as I shy away from various water bodies, I swam with pleasure in Lake Strusto, and also boldly drank coffee and ate porridge cooked on lake water. The deliciousness is indescribable. 
In general, holidays on the lakes in Belarus can be very interesting! These past few days have been very productive for me. I learned how to cook okroshka, ate squash stew cooked on a fire in a cauldron, understood why a portrait lens was needed, made sure that I needed to go to China and finish reading Castaneda. 
Pasha sang in the evenings. To goosebumps, to lumps in the throat and trembling all over the body. On the first night, to the sounds of a guitar, words about Indians and Kindzmarauli, drops of the Black Doctor and the glare of a burning fire playing on her cheeks, she cried out all her tears, which turned out to be few, because there was nothing to cry from. Well, if only from the fact that the day before the trip she poured boiling water on both legs and lay face down in an unconscious delirium with extensive red burns of the n-th degree, but this is not a reason for sadness. 
A person shows up in the little things. When someone, at the risk of being late for the airport, changes their plans after a short text sent at 11 p.m. and goes to pick up a pink rug that I forgot in a huge foreign city two years ago, it says something. And all because Mila was going on a hike, having no tent, no sleeping bag, no rug. Fortunately, I have a Hawle lantern, a caring family and people who are not indifferent to what my mortal body will rest on in a dark green forest. It's very touching and SO important. Perhaps this is the most important thing.
A couple of hours after returning to Minsk from wild conditions, I was already sitting in Vika's kitchen and eating mannik with blueberries, cooked by Kvadratik. The little square taught us how to say in English a gear, a brush made of badger hair and a bearing, after which he turned into a Circle, and I into a beautifully trimmed beauty from a shaggy monster with dirty heels. In the meantime, we'll be back on the road soon. It remains to get a blue bike in spruce branches from the backpack and fill it with light summer dresses, because in two days I will breathe in the smell of the sea.
Initially, the idea was to set up a tent camp on the Black Sea coast somewhere in the south of Ukraine, but I got my share of tent rest on the Braslav Lakes, so I already booked us a half of the house near Odessa with a terrace, Wi-Fi, a shower and a sea view . I will work from there. I really liked the lakes, but still I am not a hiking type. Living in a tent for a couple of nights is cool, but on the third day you want a soft bed, a warm shower and no insects. There are few photos in the article, almost all of them remained with Nastya, who is now somewhere on her way to Rome.
Clean lakes and good friends to you! Sincerely,
Related blog posts:
Braslav lakes in Belarus: reviews about the rest, photos, prices, how to get there.
Do you have any questions? Ask in the comments!
Grigory
Quote: - "Primorskoe wine (17.5 revolutions, please note :))"
Is this a joke or do you really think that there are some "turnovers" in liquor?
yep, I really do :)
But what then is there in alcoholic beverages, if not turnovers?
The label could say “Alcohol content 17.5% vol.”, That is, 17.5% alcohol from the total volume of the liquid.
The question of the saleswomen also makes me laugh: - Do you want light or strong beer -:)
Grigoriy, I don’t even remember what was written on the label. You see, even in your own blog you can’t relax and you always have to watch what you write so that there are no unnecessary questions :))
This is for the sake of enlightenment :-) And then suddenly someone in real life is so funny. My brother, for example, to the question of some saleswomen, “How many turns do you need?” each time he answers: “And what is wrapped around what in the beer can?” :-)
Right! Enlightenment comes first! :)
Starting today, I’m crossing out the word “turnovers” from my vocabulary, and I’ll make people laugh in some other way: D
I see that everything is in order with your humor :-) It's great. By the way, on the topic of the blog: yesterday the hoster gave me a domain to choose from, for one year, but with a zone restriction - only ru. Well, I hastily came up with a name in English on a tourist theme. Now I'm thinking about what to adapt it to. In this regard, a question for you, Mila, as a specialist in the topic of travel and tourism - is there a lot of competition in this area now? I'm not talking about the number of travel company websites, but travel and tourist blogs like yours - how many?
Gregory, humor makes life much easier :)
For your question. I understand that you mean blogs in Russian? If so, there are a lot of them and hundreds of new ones are created every day. BUT! Not all travelers understand and want to delve into the issues of promotion and how to blog so that it generates income, therefore, as practice shows, most people are disappointed and quit their blogs after six months or a year without achieving any results. Therefore, there is competition among bloggers, but it all depends on the approach. You can look at the forum http://travelbloggers.ru/, there are links to some blogs, most of which are “live” and have been maintained for a long time.
Yes, I meant Russian-language blogs. Thank you for such a thorough and understandable answer, and for the link too, I'll take a look now. I myself don’t travel yet, only in my youth I wandered around Russia and the CIS a little, but recently there has been interest in this topic - it’s interesting to visit other countries, and I’ll probably make a website on the topic of tourism, since I’ve come up with such a domain for myself. It is in the .ru zone, but the name is English, since in this zone more and more meaningful and not too long names in Russian have long been snapped up. I also plan to write in Russian, and take information from English-language sources (translate), until I myself have traveled around the world.
I wish you good luck with this wonderful blog and in general with everything! I will look here, your articles are interesting.
“Up to groups of up to 15 people” (of course, you meant “for groups”)
Cool pictures, especially the sky) And the video is also positive: "bumps, needles ..." heh
By the way, welcome to Ukraine! :) I'm sure everything will be cool in Odessa!))) Otherwise you're not tanned at all - it's time to go to the sea)
ps Cool portrait in a blue jacket)
Lesh, well, it's time for me to pay you money for finding and correcting typos! Thanks a lot! :)))
Not tanned, because this summer the weather was not favorable. Constant rain and +20. In Odessa, everything will definitely be cool!)))
p.s. Thanks for the compliment on the portrait. Not bad, because it was shot on a portrait lens. She herself is now thinking about buying a portrait lens, because the pictures on it are cool.
Oh, don't be shy.
We all know that you are a beautiful girl! ;-)
But the portrait is also good))
ps The dog is also cool))) somewhere I have already seen it ... oh yes, in some other article on your blog, probably))
Vlad
Braslav cool! So it didn't get there...
But I need company.
Ekaterina
Yes, in your country (in any) you can find many beautiful places. The main thing is attitude.
In Ukraine, the place where everyone should go on vacation is Shatsky Lakes. Also a great place, clean water, fresh air ...
Catherine, I totally agree with you! In any country you can find something interesting, but for some reason it often turns out to travel to other countries more often than to the sights of your native land. I have repeatedly heard good reviews about Shatsky Lakes. Will have to go somehow.
Ekaterina
Come by for sure! I'm going next week for a few days - we have a holiday (Independence Day) :)
Exactly, exactly, Independence Day is coming soon! I hope it will be celebrated in Odessa, I have not seen fireworks for a long time. This year, all Independence Days pass me by :)
You have a great rest on the Shatsky lakes!
Mila, take more sunscreen, we have already melted from the heat in Odessa))
Dear hello! I ran to see how you are spending the second half of the summer. I see life in full swing!)) I generally like a varied vacation, I don’t understand people who travel only in the highest category and have no idea what a wild vacation by the lake, food on a fire and all other delights are. Three days is the very thing!))) I’m also unlikely to stand it anymore, or rather, the degree of mood will decrease ... Beautiful places you have, I looked and thought that the last time my friends and I were going to the lake in May, then only to the sea, and this already another vacation, it will be necessary to renew the gaps, especially since the summer is almost over ...
Tanya, hi! I am also for a variety of recreation and travel. Of course, I can and want to live in a five-star hotel longer than in a tent in the forest, but such an experience is also very interesting, especially if the company is pleasant. At sea, of course, the rest is completely different. I am now walking around Odessa, looking at the Black Sea (even if you can’t swim here, so what) and I can’t believe that I will soon return home, where there will be no sea again.
Do you and your friends usually go to lakes in the Crimea, or maybe you visit Shatsky?
Pavel Pankov
Oh, you write so well. the nostalgia kicked in. "Zhiguli" already finished off? ours are lying around in the trunk)))
Pavel Pankov
ahh, the vidos is generally outstanding!
Damir
Hello Mila. What a question: “Is it worth it to rest in Belarus”?! Of course it's worth it! Belarus is a part of our beautiful planet Earth. Earth is heaven in the universe!
On May 1, the Ice Hockey World Championship begins. Where our team does not play, I support Belarus. I hope the guys don't let me down
Damir
Hello Mila! How are you? Today the Belarusian national team starts at the Championship! Do you win?! Slovenia is not a strong team, but today Austria beat Switzerland!
Damir
Hello Mila! The Belarusian national team had a great start, but then lost to the Slovaks (In overtime). The teams are about the same level, I think. The Americans surprised me. They have only veterans and students in their squad, but despite this they defeated the Russian team yesterday. My opinion: you can’t rely on NHL players, in my opinion they are no better than KHL players ...
Fiction! Belarus defeated the USA (5-2)! Honey, where's the champagne?!
