Belarus: Getting there & around

Most international flights arrive at the Minsk-2 International Airport, 40km (25mi) east of Minsk. It has connections to Beirut, Frankfurt, Istanbul,Larnaka, London, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Riga, Rome, St Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Vienna and Warsaw. The smaller Minsk-1 Airport, 3 km (2mi) south of the city, serves Kiev, Moscow and St Petersburg. The country's other international airport is at Brest, where you can get flights to Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Warsaw and Odessa.

The most popular international bus routes are between Minsk and Vilnius (Lithuania) and Minsk and Bialystok (Poland). Trains come into Belarus from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Ukraine via 10 border crossings, and there are also about 10 border crossings open to private vehicles.

In theory there are domestic flights between Minsk, Brest, Homel, Hrodna, Mahileu, Mazyr and Vitsebsk, but in reality very few domestic flights actually get off the ground, owing to fuel restrictions. Trains between major cities are frequent and relatively cheap. Buses are also in plentiful supply but can be dirty and overcrowded, and it's often an ordeal getting a ticket. Renting a car can be cheaper than hiring taxis but driving in Belarus is problematic: fuel and spare parts are hard to come by, roads are in poor condition, and traffic police checks will be frequent and irritating. If you want to drive, do it on the right side of the road. If you want to drive, do it on the right side of the road.