Grodno in 2 days: a walking route for groups and teams from 31 Mostovaya
What to see in Grodno in 2 days on your own: a walking route by the hour, with children and between matches, where to park a coach and where a group can stay in the centre.
Grodno can be covered in two days on foot, without a coach: almost everything is within half a kilometre of 31 Mostovaya Street, and only Kalozha is a little further. Below is a route by the hour. At the end, a note on where a group or a team can stay, so you do not lose time on the road from a residential district.
Distances are counted from our door: Gosteam, 31 Mostovaya Street, in the historic centre.
In short
Day 1 — the centre. Convent, drama theatre, castles, the Staircase of Love and the embankment, the fire tower by noon, Sovetskaya Square, the pharmacy-museum, the Bernardine church. About three kilometres on foot, with stops.
Day 2 — Kalozha. About a kilometre and a half one way, in the morning. After that free time or a trip around the region.
If you have one day, take day 1. If you came for a match, see «With children and between matches».
Day 1. The centre without transport
9:30. The Nativity of the Theotokos Convent. About 200 metres from Gosteam, two or three minutes. It is a working convent, not a museum. The domes and the staircase to the gate are visible from the street. If you go in, dress modestly and speak quietly. More about the convent.
10:00. The drama theatre at 35 Mostovaya. About 300 metres, four or five minutes. A 1984 building, Soviet modernism, with the sculpture «Pegasus and the Muses» above the entrance. You do not have to go in: the square with fountains and the view of the Neman can be seen from the street. About the theatre.
10:30. The castles, the Staircase of Love and the fire tower: one small area. From the theatre walk to the castles. The entrances to the Old and New Castles, the viewing platform by the fire tower and the Staircase of Love are within roughly 100 metres of each other, so this is one big stop on the route. From Gosteam it is 300–500 metres.
The Staircase of Love runs between the castles, under the Castle Bridge, down to the Neman embankment. It was built in 1934–1935 together with the embankment, faced in granite in 2005, and has 122 steps. According to a city legend, a couple counts the steps on the way down: if the numbers match, the relationship will be long. At the bottom is the embankment, well worth going down to for a walk.
11:50. Be at the fire tower. Arrive on time for the fanfare. Every day at 11:58 a trumpeter plays on the tower, and it can be heard across the centre. In the season about two hundred people gather below. Come early.
How to use the time:
- If you reached the castles early, look into the castles and go down the stairs to the embankment, but by 11:50 climb back to the fire tower.
- If you want the fanfare first, go to the fire tower straight away and go down the stairs to the embankment after 12:00.
The fire tower platform above the red roofs. Photo: Mike1979 Russia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
12:30. Lunch. There are many cafés in the centre. For a large group it is better to agree with the place in advance. We have a café in the building and our own kitchen, so you can cook yourselves, and if needed there are partners who deliver lunches in containers.
14:00. Sovetskaya Square. The Farny Church is about 400 metres from Gosteam: a tower clock and a 21-metre carved altar. Next to it is the pharmacy-museum, also about 400 metres. It is the only pharmacy-museum in Belarus, the rooms are small, half an hour is enough. Check the opening hours before you go. About the pharmacy-museum.
The Cathedral of St Francis Xavier (Farny Church). Photo: Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.
16:00. The Bernardine church. About 350 metres from Gosteam, five minutes. The church rises above the Neman. About the church. After that a free evening and dinner.
Day 2. Kalozha
Walk to Kalozha in the morning. The twelfth-century Church of Saints Boris and Gleb stands on the edge of a cliff above the Neman and is considered the westernmost surviving Old Rus church. From Gosteam it is about 1.3 km, 17–18 minutes one way. Go along the Neman embankment or along Bolshaya Troitskaya through the park, and come back by a different road. About Kalozha.
After Kalozha there is free time: Sovetskaya, cafés, shopping. If you check out at midday, this route fits into the morning. If the day is free, you can go to the Augustów Canal or to neighbouring towns.
If you have just one day
Take day 1 without Kalozha. If you need to cut more: the convent, the drama theatre, the castles with the fire tower by 11:58 and Sovetskaya Square. That is three or four hours of easy walking.
With children and between matches
With children. The shortest and clearest stop on the route is the fanfare at the fire tower: half a minute, and it makes sense at any age. Then the Staircase of Love: you can count its 122 steps aloud. The pharmacy-museum has a restored old herbal laboratory: retorts, mortars, vessels.
Between matches. If you have two or three free hours: the convent, the drama theatre, the castles with the fire tower by 11:58 and back. The Ice Palace of Sports at 3A Kommunalnaya is about 1.9 km away: roughly 25 minutes on foot or a short ride.
Where a group or a team can stay
We work with groups and teams and welcome them in the centre, not on the outskirts.
- Places. Up to 50 beds, all rooms on one floor, so the group lives together. Rooms for 2, 3 and 4 guests and rooms for 4 and 6 beds, arranged as suits the group. A bed from 42 BYN per night.
- Documents. A contract with legal entities and bank transfer, so a budget trip can be approved.
- Terms. From 20 people we discuss a discount and a separate room for the leader or coach. We do not fix terms on the site, because groups differ.
- Food. Several cafés in the building, our own kitchen with a stove and a fridge, partners who deliver lunches.
- Transport. The closed car park has four places for cars and vans. A coach will not fit into the yard: the coach stop is about 250 metres away, by the synagogue. If you travel in a convoy, write in advance.
In your email give the dates, the number of people, whether there are children, whether the leader needs a separate room, and what transport you use. We will answer what is free and how best to arrange the stay.
Terms for teams, whole hotel rooms, pick dates or call +375 33 31 31 312.
Address: 31 Mostovaya Street, Grodno
Come stay with Gosteam
Send your dates — we will check availability and hold the booking.