I’m too lazy to come up with a beautiful introduction, so let’s just get right to the point. In this article, I have collected 25 life hacks for those who plan to travel independently in Belarus.
Everything will be here:
- Tips on finding accommodation and a selection of inexpensive hotels;
- Nuances related to withdrawing money from ATMs;
- And the top interesting places that are worth visiting in the first place.
I will also tell you where to look for colorful souvenirs, how to buy discounted tickets and which services are the most convenient to plan your route. In general, there will be a lot of information. So let’s get started. Life is too short to waste it on unnecessarily prolonged introductions.
Transport and movement around the country
Any trip to Belarus (or across Belarus) always starts with transport. To buy tickets and plan your route, it is convenient to use the following sites:
- RW.BY – the website of the Belarusian railway.
- Ticketbus.by is a platform for searching for bus tickets.
- Atlasbus.by is one of the largest operators of intercity minibuses.
These three sites are enough for you to get to almost any corner of Belarus. The only exceptions are very remote villages.
And if I do not know where to go?
If you are in Belarus for the first time, then you can start with the classics and visit Minsk, as well as neighboring castles in Mir and Nesvizh. They are located next to each other, so they fit perfectly into a single route.
Well, if your heart asks for more, then go to the west of the country, to the city Grodno.
Grodno
It ranks first in Belarus in terms of the number of preserved ancient monuments. And next to him is The Holy Palace, the castle in Lida, the former Gursky estate (now turned into a hotel) and one of the most picturesque “abandoned buildings” of our country – the Svyatopolk-Chetvertinsky Palace. As a source of inspiration, you can save this article for yourself – and slowly get in touch with the beautiful.
Lida Castle
An excellent route can be made in the Brest region. Here is Pinsk with its monasteries and churches, a huge castle in Kossovo and the Deepriz animal Park, where you can feed roe deer and deer directly from your hands. To read more about them, click here. Well, you probably know about Brest itself and the Belovezhskaya Pushcha located next to it without me.
Pinsk
As for other cities in Belarus, I have some materials about them too. You can find them in this collection. Just look through the photos and see what gets into your soul.
Where to look for accommodation while traveling in Belarus?
First of all, check these two sites:
- Yandex Travel;
- And Daily.
.
They have a good choice of housing and quite adequate prices. In addition, do not forget that you can save quite a lot from YAP using various promo codes. Just enter TPO-PROMO12 when booking – and the selected accommodation will immediately become 12% cheaper.
“Choo-choo-choo-choo” outside the window, restrooms and cheap hotels in Minsk
There is also a very unusual format of rental housing in Belarus – rest rooms at railway stations. They look like rooms in a pioneer camp, but they are cheap and located near the center. Find photos of rooms and current prices on the website of the Belarusian Railway.
A similar focus works in all big cities of Belarus. The only exception is Minsk. But there are secrets here too.
The thing is that in Minsk there are several “invisible hotels” at once , which simply do not exist on any major booking site. They rent out rooms through their own websites or social networks. And I collect them in this collection. You can look through it if you are looking for something pointedly inexpensive.
3 more rental sites
There are also popular websites in Belarus with private ads. This is realt.by , flatbook.by and re.kufar.by . There you can find an apartment or a room for a day. But you will have to negotiate with the owner directly – by phone. Many apartments have no reviews. That’s why I trust such ads less.
Mobile communication
There are three main mobile operators in Belarus – A1, MTS and Life. The cheapest tariffs are from the last of the listed companies. That’s why I use their services myself. In addition, if you apply for a SIM card here at this link – the first month of use will be free for you. When connecting, you will need to tell the specialist the following secret code: 0090 5509. As a bonus, you will get the “Infinite PRO” tariff (with unlimited calls and Internet). It is an ideal option for tourists.
Free WI-FI
I do not know if there is something similar in other cities of Belarus, but Minsk boasts a pretty good free Internet network. He works in large shopping malls, metro stations and in the historical center of the city. You can view a detailed map of the locations on the websitefreewifiminsk.by . At the moment there are more than 150 such connection points.
In order not to get lost in Minsk and other cities of Belarus, I usually use a free navigator Maps.me . I recommend you to download it too. This way you can quickly find the nearest store, the right street or the restaurant next door.
If you need public transport, take a look at the website Yandex Maps (it will help you make the best route). And there are a number of different services for fans of bicycles and electric scooters in Belarus. These are: Kolobike, Eleven, Jet, BusyFly and some others. If you like this format, you can download their applications before the trip.
Currency exchange and ATM withdrawals
Gomel
Almost all banks in Belarus will easily change three currencies – dollars, euros and Russian rubles. The exchange rate of hryvnia is very unprofitable. And Polish zlotys can only be exchanged in some branches.
Follow the courses conveniently on the website myfin.by . You can also see the addresses of the nearest exchangers there.
As for withdrawing money from cards, everything is a little more complicated here. You can withdraw only Belarusian rubles from foreign cards and no more than 500 BYN per week (at ATMs of one bank). If you need a larger amount, you will have to go from one branch to another. You have withdrawn 500 BYN from one bank – then go to another. Etc.
You can withdraw money without commission from a foreign card at ATMs of Belarusbank, Belagroprombank, Belinvestbank, Technobank, VTB, BelVEB Bank and RRB Bank. Sberbank usually does not charge a commission either, but sometimes its ATMs just contemptuously spit out foreign cards. Also remember that the bank that issued your card can take its commission. For example, you cannot withdraw small amounts from the Russian Tinkoff bank (less than 3000 RUB in equivalent).
Card payments in Belarusian institutions are also carried out without problems. They accept all types of foreign cards – VISA, mastercard, Mir, and in some places even Chinese Union Pay. But contactless payment services often fail. At least MIR PAY and Tinkoff Pay definitely work every other time.
Discounted entertainment
OK. Let’s imagine that you have money on your hands. Now let’s figure out how to spend them profitably. First of all, take a look at the websiteslivki.by . This is a popular discount aggregator in our country. Here you can order sushi for the evening, catch cheap tickets to the water park, find out about the start of the sale at your favorite clothing store or get to the opening of a new exhibition with a 50% discount. In general, the thing is quite useful.
Free guided tours, and where do they live?
Vitebsk
I know of at least one similar project. It’s called izi.travel . And provides a whole collection of free audio guides to the cities of Belarus. Most of the excursions are dedicated to Minsk, but there are also Grodno, Vitebsk, Polotsk, Brest and other popular tourist centers. You can view all the details on the websitehttps://izi.travel/ru/gidy-v-belarus .
In addition, I highly recommend that you listen to the historical podcasts of the project34magnet (available on soundcloud). There are free audio guides around Minsk, stories about the history of Belarusian cuisine, lectures on art and even audio performances about the noble families of our country.
Well, if you prefer to walk with live guides, then take a look at this site. There are tours of Minsk…
Bus tours to Nesvizh and the World…
Trips to Khatyn (which is quite difficult to get to on your own)…
And even centralized excursions to the BelAZ car factory, where one wheel is taller than a man.
Where to find the most colorful souvenirs?
There can be a lot of answers to this question. Therefore, I will now list only those companies and brands that I personally particularly like. Here they are:
- Vokladki is a cool store of original accessories. There are backpacks with views of the Mir Castle, cosmetic bags with references to Marc Chagall, shoppers with panoramas of Svisloch and even wallet covers with Mogilev Town Hall;
- Hmarachos is another store with products by Belarusian designers. In the arsenal there are postcards, mugs, pillows, calendars and a lot of clothes with cool prints and Belarusian flavor.
If finances allow, you can also pay attention to the products of the watch brands Luch and Hvilina. There are collections dedicated to Mikhail Oginsky, Marc Chagall, as well as products with folk patterns and even types of Minsk Khrushchev.
At the very end, I also want to say a few words about stationery stores “Ofiston“. Before the New Year, they released an interesting collection “Belarus. Family. Art” with works by three Belarusian authors. Paintings by Minsk artists appeared on notebooks, covers, shoppers, mugs and backpacks. In my opinion, something like this will be a great souvenir from a trip to Belarus.
Where to eat tasty and inexpensive?
At first, I wanted to post here a list of chain establishments that are represented in all regions of the country, but then I decided that this was advice from the “So-so” category. Therefore, especially for this article, I made a selection with interesting establishments in different cities of Belarus. You can find it here. I hope it will be useful to you. Well, that’s all for today. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments. I will try to answer everyone.
