Minsk Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Minsk is the capital of Belarus. It is an oldworld European capital with as much to offer as Prague or Vienna but has fallen on hard times due to the neglect and pollution of the communist era.
80 percent of the city was ruined and razed in World War II. It is a city rebuilt in the 1950's to Stalin's tastes. Enormous, soviet-bloc style buildings make up most of the city. This is a city to visit if you are interested in the Soviet Union and would like to see it still alive, save for a few more advertisements and foreign cars. English is not really spoken, and tourisim is not a priority in Belarus or Minsk at all. Certainly an interesting stop after the non-stop tourism of Western and Central Europe.
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Get in
There is an almost daily train leaving from Berlin's Lichtenberg station. 69 euro second class, 3 people in a sleeping car, men and women seperate. first class is 109 euro, 2 person, not gender seperated. It leaves at 13:49 and arrives the next morning at 9:30 or so. This is the train en route to Moscow. There are also trains from Prague, Vilnius, Warsaw, and other Eastern cities. There are flights from Frankfurt but they are quite pricey, 500 dollars or so. Driving in, while possible, requires knowledge of the border system. This is not Western Europe. Crossing the border can take 2 hours. They will check your bags. Without knowledge of Russian or Polish, this can be very hard. There is a very long line of cars at every border crossing.
Get around
Get around by using bus, tram, or subway. All three are cheap and reliable. The subway is noted for being clean and safe. Additionally, each subway station is decorated uniquely. For instance, the station at Oktober Square is decorated in the theme of the Communist Revolution. The station at Victory square is decorated in a victory theme, and the Lenin Station includes a bust of Lenin and a host of Hammer/Sickle reliefs.
See
Do
Buy
Local goods are usually bad quality, but there are several things that are worth buying. Some wool and linen clothes - you can get very good stuff for little money. Womens underwear "Milavitsa", is widely known across former USSR. This good quality, and cheap as well. Various types of cosmetics - firstly brand-name, are called "O2". Vodka produced by Brest spirit factory, is probably the best in the world. This easily outperforms Stoly, Absolut and Smirnoff. Generally, the Minsk Airport has a very reliable duty free shop with rich choice of fragrances, spirits and souvenirs. There is no sense to get international brands- usually it costs 20-50% more than European average.
Eat
Actually, Byelorussians are good with their national cuisin, which is similar to other eastern-european ones. Generally it features heavy-fat potato dishes, mushrooms, soups and baked meat. The quality of conventional european food (italian, french etc.) not amazing, but acceptable. Despite that average level of cafes and restaurants is low, several great places exists at the center of the city. Some of them are: "Beze" - Vienna-style cafe with great bakery and light snacks, located on main avenue; "Gourman" - styled as italian trattoria, serves national and european dishes. Excellent quality and affordable prices, near Grand Opera Theater; "Pechki-Lavochki" - national cuisine, main ave; "Freskee cafe" - cafe with a reach choice of main dishes, at Nezalejnosti(Independent) square. Average dinner cost at those places - about 10-20 $ per a person. 10% tip is more than enough. Also there are some good restaurants outside the city, near tourist locations. The cafes and restaurants at the hotels usually have acceptable level of quality. On the other hand avoid local fast-food, Sushi (very expensive and far from original), beef and lamb grills (local cooks have very little experience with it and prefer pork), sea fruits (same reason).
Drink
Sleep
Get out
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