Looking for a hideaway by a lake in the woods of Eastern Europe that’s just a couple of hours from a busy city? Interested in some (summertime) kayaking or hiking while keeping an eye out for bears? Consider the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve, whose logo sums up its most popular forest and lake inhabitants, bear, beaver and some kind of large wood grouse.
The 132,000-hectare reserve was established in 1925 and has been a nature preserve since then. Summertime is the best time to go, and when exploration opportunities are ample. You’ll get to experience the deep pristine forest and lake network that makes up much of Belarus’ park areas.
If your travels take you anywhere near Belarus, you can read all about it here. Note that you can arrange a variety of wildlife tours or just hire bikes and kayaks:
At a minimum you can get in some forest strolls – a good one is from the M3 Highway (https://goo.gl/maps/m2gpNsjDRrz6YiNDA) south along a track to the Domzheritsy Lake – its about 3.5km each way.
The visitor center is near the town of Domzheritsy and there are extensive trails heading out from there https://www.berezinsky.by/en/ekoprosveshchenie-i-turizm/turisticheskie-marshruty/
Logistics. There are two accommodation choices within the reserve, the Hotel Plavno and the Serguch: https://www.berezinsky.by/en/gostinitsy-i-domiki/ The Plavno is comfortable with a good restaurant. If you need a lift from the nearest bus station you can contact the hotel to arrange in advance for about 30 Euro each way. The closest bus station is Begoml, 27km west of the hotel, which has good connections to Minsk (https://wp.me/p7Jh3P-IS) and Vitebsk (https://wp.me/p7Jh3P-J6). The Serguch Hotel is however close to the Domzheritsy Visitor Center, so if you are without transportation that provides better access to the nature museum and the trails around it.