Minsk, Belarus
Dobry Dzien from Minsk, the capital of Belarus!
Belarus is not on the radar of most western tourists… especially these days. However, on my quest to visit every country in the world, not every country I go to will be as peaceful as Sweden.
Right now, due to sanctions, flights to Belarus are pretty limited. You can only really get there from Turkiye, Russia, and former Soviet States. Since my mother and I were in Azerbaijan and wanted to head to Central Asia, I thought Minsk would be the perfect layover city. My mother was not too keen about going, but in the end, she agreed to go for 12 hours.
Belarus has the most restrictive visa policy for westerners in Europe, as most nationalities can only enter Belarus without a visa when arriving in and departing from Minsk’s airport. In addition, Americans are no longer eligible for this visa-free access. Honestly, we didn’t know if this visa exemption still was operating since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but I’m happy to report it is!
Our 4:55am flight from Baku landed on time (around 8am) at Minsk’s airport. After showing our passports, health insurance, hotel booking, and outbound flight, we were stamped in!
We pre-arranged for a car to take us to our hotel– the Double Tree by Hilton. This hotel has a central location, which made it a perfect jumping off point for our day exploring the city. We booked a tour to take us around the city at 3pm and then drop us off at the airport.
The hotel is attached to a mall, which we explored for a bit. Almost all Western brands are still operating in Belarus, unlike Russia, where most have pulled out. The one exception we saw to this was H&M, which was shuttered. From there, my mother and I took it upon ourselves to walk around much of the city independently. We visited a monument honoring the Belarussians that died in Afghanistan, the Savitsky art gallery, and a few churches.
One thing my mom and I could not get over was the sheer size of some residential buildings. Yes, many former Soviet states have grandiose structures like this, but we’ve never seen it on such a scale like in Minsk.
At 3pm, our tour commenced with our lovely tour guide Snezhana. She took us to the old town hall, various administrative buildings, and a large Lenin Statue outside Belarus’ parliament.
Then, before heading to the airport for our 8:15pm flight to Kazakhstan, we visited the national library. This modern building has an observation deck that provides sweeping views of the city. This was a great way to end the day.
My lovely 12 hours in Minsk have certainly inspired me to visit Belarus soon. Everyone we interacted with was super friendly, if a bit intrigued by our presence. I know Belarus is well known for its castles, so I will have to make my way out to some of those soon.
Belarus is UN country 65/193 and TCC Region 82/330 for me.