Moving to Belarus. Questions about travel and dating.

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Yanix88]

Travel via Vilnius is doable, although it's now much harder than it used to be. There are regular bus service between Minsk and Vilnius (for example Ecolines or Minsktrans) but the demand is high, so you will need to book a ticket a week or two in advance. Also the queues at the border can be unpredictable, you could easily get stuck for hours. If we are talking not only about the weekend trips other popular option is to use connecting flight via Istanbul, Dubai or Tbilisi. Depending on where you want to travel it may be a better option than Vilnius.

[u/Yanix88 → u/[deleted]]

Currently you can only cross the border inside some vehicle (car or bus), crossing in foot in not allowed anymore. But it is now a widespread practice to try and negotiate withe the bus driver of the first bus in queue so he lets you in if there are seats availible. But to be honest if you don't know russian language I would not count on being able to pull this off. So far on Lithuania border big delays were not a common occurance if you are taking a scheduled bus service (it has its separate queue), usually 2-3 hours to cross both checkpoints.

[u/drfreshie]

I have never been a 24-year-old woman, and yet I've never had to use any dating apps in Belarus. :) I suggest concerts, quiz games, walking tours and other activities.

[u/CrumpetsGalore]

you need to stop looking at Google flights - which only shows the (usually) expensive non Sanctioned airlines flying to Belarus.

Google flights, Skyscanner, Kiwi etc won't show flights by Belavia (Belarus national airline) or the Russian airlines that operate as they're all sanctioned. AviaSales is your friend here!

[u/CrumpetsGalore → u/[deleted]]

oh - sorry. I thought I'd found the magic solution for you!

Where are you flying from in the US (unless that outs you)?

[u/CrumpetsGalore → u/[deleted]]

Oh yes - there are cheap flights and trains between the two capitals. You'll still need a visa for Russia though

PS Spent just a month in Belarus last summer - sadly before you could go overland visa free and so I had to fly into Minsk to go visa free!

PPS The cheapest flight route into Minsk I got was a cheap flight to beautiful Yerevan (Armenia), under €40. And then a modestly priced direct flight with Belavia to Minsk. I'm pretty sure WizzAir fly to Yerevan from Rome (I went from Austria) - so it might be worth checking out that route (or maybe not!)

[u/Sp0tlighter]

Vilnius plane, bus to Minsk, is all around the best option. Ecolines for the bus.

Out of curiosity, what industry is this spectacular job in that's better in Belarus than USA? Were you offered to be the next president?

[u/trakmanka98]

You’ll be surprised how “western influenced” Minsk has become. It has done a major change only the last 10-15 years.

Agreed, it’s not Barcelona, Paris, Ibiza. But it’s by far not so grey and square as many of the stereotypes say it is.

For the dating, you’ll find most bars and restaurants near the river, at Zybitskaya street.

[u/drfreshie → u/trakmanka98]

True, but I wouldn't even call it "western influenced", we're naturally and historically a European country.

[u/trakmanka98 → u/drfreshie]

You right, sorry - I just didn’t find any better words to describe what I meant.

[u/lazy-crazy-s]

i would suggest flying to turkey then to belarus, you need to buy 2 tickets, online web services will not show turkey connection. bus to/from vilnus is unpredictable, you may stuck in minsk or vilnus

[u/Sensitive-Seesaw-789]

The bus from Vilnius to Minsk is the best option with EcoLines. I have done this on 3 separate occasions (this year) and my wait times were 4 hours, 6 hours and 7 hours.

This is longer when you're leaving Minsk to go back to Vilnius, but I guess this isn't something you'd be doing anytime soon.

[u/trakmanka98 → u/Sensitive-Seesaw-789]

What are you doing at the border for 4-7 hours? Sitting in the bus?

[u/Sensitive-Seesaw-789 → u/trakmanka98]

Pretty much yeah, you can exit the bus and go to Duty Free, use toilets, etc

[u/trakmanka98 → u/Sensitive-Seesaw-789]

Considering the airline restrictions, the bus is still the best bet I guess. Especially since not all credit cards can be used to purchase tickets at Belavia.

The 4 hours trip is excluding the border time, I suppose?

[u/Sensitive-Seesaw-789 → u/trakmanka98]

My timings were both on the road and at the border.

Time on the road never really changes as it's a straight journey and there's never much traffic. Border can be smooth but can also be horrific (I've waited 30 hours before from Poland)

[u/trakmanka98 → u/Sensitive-Seesaw-789]

So total travel time INCLUDING border control 4-7 hours, okey. That’s actually quite OK.

30 hours… hmm hope you got free food and meal, or at least compensation for delayed journey. 😉😄

[u/Sensitive-Seesaw-789 → u/trakmanka98]

Yes INCLUDING, from Vilnius it's not too bad (I've done the journey 3 times)

Travelling from Warsaw is a horror show!!! I got nothing back 😭🤣

[u/curiousmichelle2022]

Be careful. Here are many guys with STDs.