Travel to CIS countries

Travel to Minsk 

Minsk is the capital and biggest city of Belarus. It is situated on the Svislach and Niamiha rivers. From 1919-1991 it was the capital of the Former Byelorussian SSR. It is also the capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The city was 80% destroyed during World War II and as such was rebuilt in the 1950s to the liking of Stalin. Large Soviet-Bloc style buildings make up a large portion of the city. For this reason Minsk is a wonderful place to visit for those interested in the Soviet Union and are interested in seeing it almost alive.

English is not really spoken, and tourism is not a priority in Minsk. It would be wise to learn some key phrases in Belorussian and Russian.

   Get In

 By train

Note: The width of the train tracks is different in Poland and in Belarus, so if you choose to arrive by train please be prepared for long wheel changing.

 From Berlin

There is an almost daily train leaving from Lichtenberg station. It leaves at 13:49 and arrives the next morning at 9:30 or so. Note: This is the train en route to Russia.
Second Class, €69, 3 people per sleeping car - men and women separate.
First Class, €109, 2 people per car - not gender separated.

From Warsaw

The trip is about 10 hours. There is one train a day that departs from Central Station at 20:35 which arrives in Minsk around 8:00.

There are also trains from Prague, Vilnius and other European cities.

 By bus

There are several bus routes from Vilnius central bus station to "Avtovokzal Vostochniy" bus station in Minsk. The Minsk bus station is not very close to downtown, however you can have a taxi ride with 10000 roubles (less than €4). The bus also drops passengers off outside the railway station (look out for two Stalinist towers) in the centre of Minsk before proceeding to the Vostochniy (Eastern) station. The bus service takes up to 5 hours and costs 36 lats (be prepared to spend more than 1.5 hours at the border). Due to the bad quality of the train service, bus ride should be preferred.

By plane

There are flights from Frankfurt but they are quite pricey, 500$ or so.

 By car

Driving in, while possible, requires knowledge of the border system. This is a border of European Union, so control is very strict. Crossing it can take 2 hours. They will check your bags. Without knowledge of Russian, Belarusian or Polish, this can be very hard. There is a very long line of cars at every border crossing.