ARRIVING IN BELARUS
The National Airport Minsk is the major international airport in Belarus. There are flights to other airports in other towns, though they are not that large-scale. The Minsk airport is located some 50 km (30 miles) from Minsk. The airport facilities include a bank and exchange office, a post office, a taxi service, a nursery, several restaurants, bars, duty-free shops (for departures only).Upon arrival to the National Airport Minsk and before passport control there will be a consular service desk (if you need a visa) and an insurance agent.
To get to the city from the airport you basically have three options – to take a bus (~€1), take a taxi (~€20) or rent a car. Buses depart every hour from 7 am to 10.30 pm. Buses arrive in Minsk to the Central Bus Terminal (which is next to the Central Rail Terminal). Taxis are available at the airport every time there are arrivals. A car rental office is at the arrivals terminal.
The national airline of Belarus is Belavia. Belavia has direct flights to major cities in Europe (Frankfurt, Vienna, Kiev, London, Moscow, Paris, Riga, Rome, Warsaw, etc.). There are also daily flights of Lufthansa to Frankfurt and Austrian Airlines to Vienna. Other airlines flying to Belarus include LOT (Polish Airlines), EL AL (Israeli Airlines), Lithuanian Airlines, Estonian Airlines and others.
RAIL
There are regular trains between Minsk and practically every major capital in Europe. Most Belarusian towns can be reached by railway.
The new Central Rail Terminal in Minsk offers all the services a traveler needs, most of them are available 24/7. Restaurants, bars, a game zone, a waiting room, a locker room, shops, a pharmacy are to name a few. Everything is signposted with easily recognizable pictograms.
Public transport network connects Central Terminal to all the parts of the city.
BUS
There are several bus stations in Minsk, though most of international arrivals come to the Central Bus Terminal. This terminal offers few facilities of its own, maybe because it is next to the Central Rail Terminal, which has all of those.
BY CAR
A payment for entering Belarus and for transit through its territory is required for all vehicles (except for non-transit passenger cars entering Belarus). The fee ranges from US$ 20 to $155. Besides you will be required to fill-in the details of your vehicle into the customs declaration and purchase a motor-car insurance (that's apart from a personal insurance). Insurance by few foreign companies are accepted. Insurance agents are present at every border crossing point and the charge ranges from € 5 for 15 days to € 53 for a year.
There is one toll highway (M-1 / E-30) in Belarus from Brest to Moscow, the fee ranges from US$ 1 for passenger cars to $15 for large trucks.
Medical Insurance
Medical insurance is required for all foreign citizens traveling to the Republic of Belarus.
To be eligible for emergency medical care in Belarus all foreign citizens should have the medical insurance agreement with a Belarusian insurance company or with an authorized foreign insurance company and possess the insurance certificate (policy) issued by the company.
The insurance certificate (policy) issued by a foreign insurance company should be valid on the territory of the Republic of Belarus during the stay and should cover the insurance cases established by the Law of the Republic of Belarus. The minimum limit of insurance responsibility is five thousand US dollars.
The representatives of Belarusian insurance companies will provide foreign citizens with necessary insurance agreements and certificates on any border crossing point of the Republic of Belarus.
Citizens of the Republic of Belarus and corporate bodies registered in Belarus inviting foreign citizens to visit Belarus are entitled to complete the medical insurance agreements for their invitees.
Medical insurance is not required for tourists with transit visas crossing Belarus, diplomats and official delegations, crewmembers of air and rail vehicles, citizens of the CIS states, holders of the Travel documents (“Titre de Voyage”) issued to stateless persons and refugees.
Insurance premium for foreign citizens ranges from US$1 for up to 2 days stay to $ 85 for a one year stay.
There are some things that cannot be imported or exported to/from Belarus by tourists and visitors. The list of such things is rather common with other European countries. You cannot import drugs (narcotics), weapons, explosives, etc. without special permits.
Other things can be imported. However, only a certain amount of goods can be imported without paying customs dues.
A person can import for free only 50 kg (110 lbs) of luggage with the estimated cost of its contents not exceeding 1000 euro (or 80 kg and €1200 for indivisible items). This may include up to 5 kg of foodstuffs (for the CIS residents – up to 30 kg during June-October).
A 30 per cent due is levied for extra luggage, but not less than €2 per 1 kg. For luggage exceeding 250 kg or €10000 the dues make up 60 per cent, but not less than €4 per 1 kg.
A 30 per cent due is levied for extra luggage, but not less than €2 per 1 kg. For luggage exceeding 250 kg or €10000 the dues make up 60 per cent, but not less than €4 per 1 kg.
Within these limits you can bring with you for free:
- 1 liter of liquors (for persons over 18)
- 1 liter of beer
- 200 cigarettes, or 200 grams of tobacco (for persons over 18)
- 5 jewelry items
- 3 items made from natural furs or leather
- 1 watch
- 4 tires
If you take with you more than that you would be asked to pay the dues in amount of 60 per cent but not less than €4 per kilo (the same regulation applies if you fail to declare such items). For every extra liter of liquors be prepared to pay €20 in dues.
Note that you can bring with you your clothes, laptop, camera, player or other portable devices for your own personal use without restrictions on their cost or weight for free as long as these items are not new (used) and you are not a resident of Belarus. This is stipulated in the Decree of the President of Belarus No.259 dated May 27, 2004, article 10.6 and Annex 2.
One odd thing:
when leaving Belarus with a laptop, CDs, DVDs, diskettes or audio-/video-tapes technically you should present them for inspection up to one week before you travel (in case you have there something threatening the national security of Belarus). This regulation, fortunately, is not strictly enforced.
when leaving Belarus with a laptop, CDs, DVDs, diskettes or audio-/video-tapes technically you should present them for inspection up to one week before you travel (in case you have there something threatening the national security of Belarus). This regulation, fortunately, is not strictly enforced.
Money
Currently there are notes ranging from 1 to 50,000 rubles. No coins are used in Belarus for circulation. Only a small amount of commemorative coins is produced.
For the use in metro there are special plastic cards and tokens. Smart cards (plastic cards with microchips) are used for public payphones.
There are not many vending machines in Belarus and if there is one – it would accept paper notes (as do coffee machines at many commercial centers) or tokens will be sold somewhere at a nearby newspaper stand or other small retailer.
There are numerous currency exchange offices in Belarusian cities to change foreign currency to Belarusian rubles and back. Normally there should be no problems with exchanging US dollars, euros and Russian rubles.
Plastic cards
Credit and debit cards were not used in Belarus before the last decade of the previous century. And even today the use of plastic cards is rather limited.
Nevertheless, major hotels, restaurants, stores and service outlets accept credit/debit cards issued by Visa and MasterCard. Some other brands can also be accepted but not everywhere
NOTE:
Discovery and American Express cards are not accepted at all
NOTE: Some cases were reported when an issuing bank (US) has frozen a credit card account after some payments were made in Belarus "as a precaution measure". The restrictions were lifted only after a cardholder called back to his bank and confirmed that he actually is making payments in Belarus. Thus, a good idea would be to call your bank in advance and to ask them not to freeze your account when you use your card in Belarus.
ATMs
There is a growing network of ATMs in Belarus. At present there are almost two hundreds of them in different cities of Belarus. The majority of them are in Minsk (over 50).
Travellers' Cheques
Travellers' Cheques of American Express and Thomas Cook are accepted by most exchange bureaus and banks, but not by retailers.
Sending money to Belarus
If you need to send money to Belarus (to friends, relatives, or ask someone to send you some extra money) the fastest and easiest option (though not the cheapest) is Western Union. One can even send money over the Internet using a credit card and a recipient will be able to get the money from one of the numerous bank branches in Belarus.
The other, sometimes less expensive but more lengthy and complex way is to send an international money order or a check. However not all kinds of checks are accepted (e.g. personal checks) and fee for cashing varies from bank to bank (normally 1-5 per cent but not less than US$10).
Please note, that all the money that the residents in Belarus receive from abroad are considered their income and will be reported by the banks to appropriate local tax offices. The recipients of your funds will have to pay taxes on the money they receive.
Postal services
Postal services in Belarus are rather reliable. There is a network of post offices, covering entire territory of Belarus. Local mailings are inexpensive and for postcards, letters and small packages (under 0.5 kg) are less than US$ 0.10. International mailings are also cheap.
There is also a network of mailboxes around the country that are both for domestic and international mail.
If you send packages to Belarus via regular (national) mail service and the cost of the package does not exceed €100 and its contents is not intended for commercial purposes, no dues are collected. A 30 per cent import duty is levied on the packages with the contents exceeding €100 and from all packages sent by expedited courier services.
Internet Access
While in Belarus, you have several options to get Internet connection.
Dial-up from your computer
If you bring your computer (say, laptop) with you, it is possible to set up a dial-up connection to the Internet. You do not necessarily need a contract to use a dial-up service in Belarus. You have two options.
"Internet Card"
Many providers sell so-called "Internet cards" that have account IDs and passwords valid only for some specified period. The underside of the cards has the information on how to set-up your computer (only in Russian) to connect to the Internet.
Beltelecom "Subscription-Free" access
Belarusian state telecom company provides the service where users can connect to the Internet simply by dialing from the computer a special line and using any ID or password. Usage costs are then billed to the phone line owner. To connect dial from your computer number '8w600100' ('w' is for 'wait for dial tone' and is understood by a computer) with any username and password.
Visit cybercafe
There is a network of cybercafes in Belarus that provide its visitors with access to the Internet. There are both state-run (Beltelecom) and private cybercafes that offer access to the Net as well as some related services such as printing, CD-copying, scanning, etc.
Transport
There are several ways of moving between towns in Belarus.
Certainly, if you arrived in Belarus in your own car this problem is solved for you. All you need then is a road map that you can buy at a bookstore.
For those visitors that did not bring their vehicle with them there is an option to rent one. There are offices of Avis and Europcar in Belarus as well as some other local renting companies.
As regards public transportation there are the following options: bus, train and air.
There are very few local flights in Belarus and they are not very frequent. That means that you can only get to some oblast centers once or twice a week.
More useful are bus and train.
Tickets and timetables are available at respective train and bus terminals.
