Tourism

Braslav District is located in the northwestern part of Belarus, near the border with the Baltic states of Latvia and Lithuania. Therefore, it has always been the symbol of friendship between nations. It has assimilated cultures and traditions of various nationalities – Belarusians, Russians, Poles, Tatars, and Jewish people. Since the pre-Christian times it remains an integral part of the land of Polotsk, the cradle of the Belarusian statehood.

Braslav District is by right hailed as the Belarusian Switzerland. Blue-eyed lakes, odoriferous pine forests, strings of high hills, blooming meadows, picturesque villages on lake shores adorned by broaches of ancient churches, hospitable tourist centers and national parks, clean air filled with aroma of herbs - all this can be found in Braslav District.

The region is unique. It is a land of virgin primeval nature with the richest flora and fauna. About 10% of the land is covered by lakes.

Underground sulfur water and therapeutic mud were found near the urban settlement of Vidzy on the territory of the district.

The hallmark of Braslav District is its landscape, nature, clean air and wonderful people, as well as an opportunity to travel across the border regions of the three states. Outdoor tourism all the year round, grand cultural events – all this takes place against the backdrop of fascinating landscapes. This is a true visual and esthetic pleasure.

The priority in the local development is given to tourism. 

To preserve this nook of nature that combines unique landscape features of Belarusian Lake Land, its ethnographic, historical and cultural monuments, the Braslav Lakes National Park was established. The park is about 70,000 hectares large. It is home to a number of endangered species like badgers, lynxes, flying squirrels, and also a popular habitat for elks, boars and roes.

The flora of Braslav District is presented by over 800 species of higher plants, 20 of which are inscribed on the Red Book List of Endangered Species. The forest occupies 31,000 hectares. 

The glacier left behind a large number of stones in the district, among which are boulders of a considerable size. On the western shore of the Lake Strusto, not far from the village of Strusto, there is a boulder weighing over 40 tonnes which is considered the biggest one in Braslav District.

Lakes are the main asset of Braslav District. All in all, there are about 300 of them in the region.

Most of Braslav lakes have a complex configuration, highly rugged coastlines generating many deep embayments, bays, peninsulas. Sometimes it is not easy to understand such complex patterns.  The deepest lakes are:

Volos Yuzhny - maximum depth of 40.4m;
Volos Severny – 29.2m; Uklya – 25m;
Strusto-23 m.

The largest lake in the region is Drivyaty (Bolshoye). It is the 5th largest lake in Belarus. Its area is 36.1 square kilometers. Snudy is 20 square kilometers (8th largest in Belarus).

Braslav District is a land of islands. Throughout the district there are more than 100 large and small islands. Chaichin island on the Lake Strusto (total area of 1.6 square kilometers) is the second largest in Belarus. The island is known for the country’s only internal lake and Karelian birch trees. Two islands on the Lake Ikazn and the Lake Drisvyaty had castles in the middle ages. There was a monastery on the island of Nespish in the 16th -19th centuries.

Lakes of Braslav District mark the southern border of habitat of relic invertebrates that serve as indicators of clean water. In our lakes there are 28 species of fish. The most valuable are eel, pike perch, tench, bream, and common carp. The district is home to 35% of all birds nesting in Belarus, 45 species have been inscribed on the Red Book List of Endangered Species of the country.

A customs post of the Polotsk customs house was opened in the district in 1991. Length of border with Latvia and Lithuania is 176 km, Four out of nine village councils border on the Baltic States.

The district boasts a myriad of historical and cultural sites, which creates favorable prerequisites for the development of inbound tourism. There are 25 archeological sites and 35 specimens of tangible culture heritage in the region. In Braslav District scientists discovered a number of Neolithic settlements, towns of the Iron Age and the Principality of Polotsk, burial mounds and remains of the castles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The list which is rather long includes the Castle Mountain in Braslav, unique insular castles in the villages of Ikazn and Drisvyaty, the town of Maskovichi, mound groups in the villages of Uklya and Opsa. Such pieces of building art as the Holy Dormitory Church (1897) and the Roman-Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God (1897) in Braslav as well as the downtown buildings of 1924-1926 and the Saint Pantaleon Convent (the early 20th century) of the Polotsk Eparchy of the Belarusian Orthodox Church assume special architectural significance.

There are also architectural sites of the 17th – early 20th century in the district. Among them are religious buildings, farmsteads, houses and household premises. The district has its own monuments of garden art. One of them is the Belmont Park founded in the 18th century.

In Braslav District there are two hotels, one owned by the Braslav Kommunalnik state company (67 rooms) and the other affiliated with the cultural department (14 rooms); Braslav Lakes recreation center consisting of two main buildings for 180 places, 28 multistage premises and 16 summer houses; municipal recreation centers: one owned by Belenergoremnaladka in the village of Khvosty, and the Chaika sports and recreation camp in the village of Dubki.

In Braslav there is a cinema, a community center, two restaurants, two bars, three cafes, a post office, stores, a market and public services.

A bus service connects Braslav with Minsk, Vitebsk, Daugavpils, Polotsk and Novopolotsk. The railway station is situated in the agro-town of Druya.