Normally, I am not too keen on museums embedded into historic places. The museums tend to be mediocre at best. Now I understand the need for operators to use all the available space - and with palaces space is often available in abundance - and to offer some form of experience apart from empty halls. But still there are only so many sign boards you can put up detailing the local history. But when it's -15°C outside, I noticed that I am way more open to spending time in a museum.

I had crossed the tree lined pathway across the lake to Nesvizh. It's quite impressive as you get close. The fortifications and the castle fit nicely into the surrounding scenery, especially with everything snow covered.

The site itself is similar to Zamosc across the border in Poland. The key difference is that Nesvizh is a fortified palace while Zamosc is a fortified town. The gardens and the landscape around Nesvizh are nicer, though. Hard to beat snow covered frozen lakes.

Getting There

I took a driver in Minsk for a day combining the visit of Nesvizh with a trip to Mir Castle. Both sites are fairly close to each other. I paid 100 EUR for the day trip. Having visited in the height of winter at -15°C I tried to minimize the time spent outside. Consequentially, waiting outside at random bus stops was not an option. Read my Mir review for comments on how you can get here by public transport.

While You Are There

Visiting nearby Mir Castle is a must, primarily due to the proximity; Nesvizh is the nicer site. To me, though, the highlight of my Belarus weekend was Minsk with it's post World War 2 Communist urban planning.