Minsk, the capital of Belarus will almost certainly surprise you and is, despite its thoroughly dreary-sounding name, a progressive and modern place quite at odds with its own reputation. Fashionable cafes, impressive restaurants, and crowded nightclubs vie for your attention, while sushi bars and art galleries have taken up residence in a city centre once totally remodeled to the tastes of Stalin. Despite the strong police presence and obedient citizenry, Minsk is a thoroughly pleasant place that's not hard to become fond of. Razed to the ground in WWII, Minsk has almost no buildings remaining from the pre-war years, and there are relatively few traditional sights in the city, save two excellent museums.

The magical old buildings of Nyasvizh make it a great place to get in touch with Belarus' past – one that elsewhere has all too often been destroyed as the military campaigns of WWII flattened the country. This quiet but green and attractive town 120km southwest of Minsk is one of the oldest in the country, dating from the 13th century.

The charming small town of Mir, 85km southwest of Minsk, is dominated by the impossibly romantic 16th-century castle that overlooks a small lake at one end of the town. It was once owned by the powerful Radziwill princes and has been under Unesco protection since 1994.

The prosperous and cosmopolitan border town of Brest looks far more to the neighbouring EU than to Minsk. It has plenty of charm and has performed a massive DIY job on itself over the past few years in preparation for its millennial celebrations in 2019. Very little remains of Brest Fortress – what's left is a Soviet WWII memorial to the devastating month-long battle that resulted when German troops launched a surprise attack in 1941.

60km north of Brest, Belavezhskaya Pushcha National Park is the oldest wildlife refuge in Europe and is the pride of Belarus. (Half the park's territory lies in Poland, where it's called Białowieża National Park). Some 1300 sq km of primeval forest survives here - all that remains of a canopy that eight centuries ago covered northern Europe. The area is most celebrated for its 300 or so European bison, the continent's largest land mammal. This free-range zoobr – slightly smaller than their American cousins – were driven to near extinction in 1919. It's entirely possible o see the national park without taking a guided tour, although if you don't speak Russian you may miss some interesting commentary on trips through the woods and in the museum. From Brest take one of the six daily marshrutky (buses) to Kamyanyuki and walk from the village to the clearly visible reserve buildings. Once there you can walk around the park yourself, or even better, hire a bike from the museum.