[Strelka]

Buy a health insurance that's good for 54 days, normally it costs around $15-20 from the big providers on average (AXA, for example) and you can use it for multiple trips.

If you need help with the visa/health insurance process, shoot me a PM

[Preshita]

I just came home from a 4 day stay.
In regards to the medical insurance, you don't need to worry about it. I brought a copy of my Danish insurance, but they wouldn't accept it because it wasn't in English or Russian, however, upon arrival, 5 meters to the left of the control post I paid 4 Euros for a 5 day local insurance without any hassle.

General impressions:

I went with a close friend of mine for the christening of his daughter in Brest near the border to Poland. (his gf is Belarusian).

I'll share my two cents about Brest in this post.

It's dirt cheap. First time we visited a cafe in downtown Minsk while waiting for the train to take us to Brest, we paid 10$ for 4 pints of beer and 2 main courses. These cheap bills continued throughout our stay no matter the situation.
Example: Family dinner at the finest local restaurant; 11 people, 5 starters, 11 mains, 7-8 desserts, 4 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of prosecco and coffee = 230$ - and the food was excellent!

His gf had set me up in a hotel at the rowing canal slightly outside the city centre of Brest, paid 41$ per night, had a huge 2 room suite with high speed wifi, daily cleaning, swimming pool, fitness centre, restaurant, the usual neccesities. Got a local MTS SIM card for 5$ - enough for a months use they said. A taxi ride sets you back 2-3 $ to get to the city centre in 5-7 minutes. Supermarkets are huge and has a great selection of everything. The one next to my place closed after midnight, maybe around 1 or 2.

I went out 2 nights in downtown Brest. It has a real cosy town feel to it, combine that with hot chickas all over the place (the girls are mindblowingly hot in Belarus) who rarely see foreigners, and you have yourself a really interesting situation on hand.

Mind you, while the girls are really warm, welcoming, flirtatious, sweet and friendly, the language barrier is a huge matter as I know absolutely no Russian at all. Once you do find someone to converse with (and you actually can), their mind is simply not set up for a ONS, and my feeling is that logistics are NOT decisive in this matter! They're just too conservative

On the first night I went out alone. A group of 4 girls opened me when hearing me speak in English on the phone at a downtown cafe (by four, I mean the one that did speak English opened me on behalf of the others)
They took me to a place called korova. Awesome, cheap vodka martinis and a ratio to die for. I bounced around practicing Russian combined with google translate, actually had a blast. I got massive attention from the hottest girls, but as things progressed I slowly learned that something felt different. Usually when I get intense stares followed by simple sentences and massive kino, it's a pure sign that I'm about to seal the deal, but every single situation ended up in a number# and a plan to go out for a coffee one of the following days.

Well the 5 day pass and the fact that I spend quite a lot of daytime with the family helped stop that, but nonetheless, my feeling about this place is good. I know for a fact that they will open up for longer stays for foreigners if everything goes according to their plan, and then, spending two weeks here, even without much or any Russian could lead to great success. But accept that without Russian language skills, you will have to be proactive. Tinder is almost non-existent, maybe they use something else for online dating there..

Oh, and I reckon it was a big advantage to have local people help me out and save me lots and lots of time learning logistics and how to go about practical stuff. A 4-5 day stay will be a great introduction to Belarus even if you're fresh outta wherever, but without Russian or locals to help you out, consider spending a bit more time on the sideline until the perfect time presents itself.

Me, I absolutely adored it, escpecially since there's more to life than girls. And I absolutely loved the girls.

[Strelka]

Can anyone comment on the current requirements when applying for a multiple entry visa (90 days or 1 year) and the need to rent a hotel via a travel agency in order to secure a letter of invitation - is this still the case, even for citizens from the US/EU? If anyone has rented an apartment on their own, can you recommend which exact travel agency or service you've used in order to get the letter of invitation?

[KingOfMoscow]

Quick update : I was in minsk 3 weeks ago and spent 4 days .

After 5 days free visa regime , i have spotted quite few changes in city , mostly stuff to help english speakers such as english metro annoucements and street names written in english . In the middle of April weather was still cold. I got lucky only one day with weather and it was amazing. Good looking and lovely girls were streaming all around. Still not many tourists but i have seen 3-4 in Gorky park . so slightly more tourists are visiting . Rents and prices for entertainment are same.

I banged only one girl . I met with her on badoo and chatted on whatsapp before . She saw me kissing another 3 girls in bar but she still came with me to my place. Also logistics were great as i was staying 5 mins far from club and asked her to have a cup of tea together.

In terms of night life, i visited

Doodah King: Definetely can recommend anyone who likes bit live music and rock music. Audience is local and ratio is good. Girls were pretty friendly and open (only 3-4 girls can speak english)
Angel : not bad . again more like a local one
Royal Madison , Black hosue and Dozari were mentioned on here before . Dozari was still shit. Others were good.
Rich Cat : Talent was high. Dance floor is small but fun place. Gold Digger level is par with Black House. Black Hosue, Rich Cat and Bogema are located in same area so would be easy to bounce one to another . Walking Distance


If anyone wants to enter Dozari, Black House , Rich Cat for free. Let me know. I know the name of the promoters and go in for free. That is all it takes.

I will be back in Minsk 2 weeks later. But as far as i heard that is the period in which university exams starts. End of May to Middle Of June exams are taking place in Minsk. So it could be harder to see normal girls in bars/cafes or in parks maybe.

[eck]

The 5 days visa is just if you enter the country from Minks airport? I'm going to live one year in Lublin, and Brest is quite near from there. Problem is, I think that a visa is needed to enter crossing the borders.

Any information than you could give me, I'd be really grateful

[Strelka]

^That's Correct

[Strelka]

(05-10-2017 10:26 AM)Strelka Wrote:  

Can anyone comment on the current requirements when applying for a multiple entry visa (90 days or 1 year) and the need to rent a hotel via a travel agency in order to secure a letter of invitation - is this still the case, even for citizens from the US/EU? If anyone has rented an apartment on their own, can you recommend which exact travel agency or service you've used in order to get the letter of invitation?

Anyone know?

[USARob]

Hello this is my first post. I am traveling to Minsk for three weeks in June, I will be by my self for most of the trip so if there any others there message me so we can meet up and enjoy the town. I have never been and don't speak Russian. I am a good looking guy 37 years old but look younger and I also am considered wealthy in the states. I was married and divorced a spoiled american girl last year and now considering plucking a 9 or a 10 out of EU to make a baby momma out of! I plan to document my findings here and over the next year while trying to make this happen, starting with my trip to Minsk. I also will be in Kiev first week in june to see how it is and then off to Minsk.

In Florida where I live I have no problem meeting 7-8s on a regular basis for ONS and my friends all think I'm a rock star locally, but I want something better not just a slutty american gold digger. So any advice on Kiev or Minsk would be great and also if there are other places in EU anyone can recommend me to visit please PM me. Of course I plan to bang a some hot sluts but the end game is to find a quality girl with morals and values.

I guess for now I need intel on best places in Minsk and and also Kiev to go for day game and also night game. And places to stay in the town close to the action. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer! Love this forum!

[Gopnik]

(05-12-2017 12:21 PM)USARob Wrote:  

Hello this is my first post. I am traveling to Minsk for three weeks in June, I will be by my self for most of the trip so if there any others there message me so we can meet up and enjoy the town. I have never been and don't speak Russian. I am a good looking guy 37 years old but look younger and I also am considered wealthy in the states. I was married and divorced a spoiled american girl last year and now considering plucking a 9 or a 10 out of EU to make a baby momma out of! I plan to document my findings here and over the next year while trying to make this happen, starting with my trip to Minsk. I also will be in Kiev first week in june to see how it is and then off to Minsk.

In Florida where I live I have no problem meeting 7-8s on a regular basis for ONS and my friends all think I'm a rock star locally, but I want something better not just a slutty american gold digger. So any advice on Kiev or Minsk would be great and also if there are other places in EU anyone can recommend me to visit please PM me. Of course I plan to bang a some hot sluts but the end game is to find a quality girl with morals and values.

I guess for now I need intel on best places in Minsk and and also Kiev to go for day game and also night game. And places to stay in the town close to the action. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer! Love this forum!

I can't comment on Kiev, but Minsk is certainly not slut central. If you are wary of gold diggers in the US, be sure to keep your guard up for them in the FSU, specially since you don't speak russian. You should still have a high value over there, so you might do well after all. Good luck !

[edlefou]

(05-12-2017 05:48 AM)Strelka Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 10:26 AM)Strelka Wrote:  

Can anyone comment on the current requirements when applying for a multiple entry visa (90 days or 1 year) and the need to rent a hotel via a travel agency in order to secure a letter of invitation - is this still the case, even for citizens from the US/EU? If anyone has rented an apartment on their own, can you recommend which exact travel agency or service you've used in order to get the letter of invitation?

Anyone know?

I'm interested in this as well.

@Traktor and other long-term Belarus guys: where did you get the invitation for your long-term visa?

For a long-term (type D) visa, the business invitation seems pretty complicated (lots of paperwork, contracts, letters of employment, etc), but the private invitation seems easier (invitation letter from Migration Department).

Having said that, I haven't found any place online that will issue invitation letters for long-term visas (everyone online is offering tourist invitations, which are only for short-term visas (type C), which are valid for a maximum 90 days and each stay can be no longer than 30 days).

In fact, for short-term (type C) visa, you don't need an invitation letter if you're EU, USA, Canada, plus a handful of other countries (but you have to include contact info for whoever's inviting you on the visa application).

[Strelka]

(05-13-2017 08:16 AM)edlefou Wrote:  

(05-12-2017 05:48 AM)Strelka Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 10:26 AM)Strelka Wrote:  

Can anyone comment on the current requirements when applying for a multiple entry visa (90 days or 1 year) and the need to rent a hotel via a travel agency in order to secure a letter of invitation - is this still the case, even for citizens from the US/EU? If anyone has rented an apartment on their own, can you recommend which exact travel agency or service you've used in order to get the letter of invitation?

Anyone know?

In fact, for short-term (type C) visa, you don't need an invitation letter if you're EU, USA, Canada, plus a handful of other countries (but you have to include contact info for whoever's inviting you on the visa application).

Is this a relatively new change?

So for a 30 day tourist visa, as a US citizen, it's possible to apply and receive a visa without the letter of invitation? Can the person renting you an apartment simply "invite" you and you fill out their info on the application form itself?

[edlefou]

(05-13-2017 08:32 AM)Strelka Wrote:  

Is this a relatively new change?

So for a 30 day tourist visa, as a US citizen, it's possible to apply and receive a visa without the letter of invitation? Can the person renting you an apartment simply "invite" you and you fill out their info on the application form itself?

I don't know if it's a new change, but I quoted the info from the embassy website below.

It looks like you just need to have the contact info for the person renting you the apartment.

Also, it wouldn't be a type C visa for TOURISM, it would be a type C visa for private purposes (for tourist visa you need a letter of support and proof you've ordered tourist services).

I haven't tried it. I'm just repeating what I saw on the official Belarus embassy website.


QUOTE:
To get a short-term visa for private purposes (visiting Belarusian relatives, friends, other private matters) with the period of validation 30 days maximum for 1-, 2- or multiple entries for a citizen of EU as well as national of several other countries, such as Australia, Andorra, Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Chili, Island, Israel, Norway, Swiss Confederation, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, USA, Uruguay, Republic of South Africa, Japan NO VISA SUPPORT DOCUMENTS SHALL BE REQUIRED. The name and the address of the inviting person/institution (organisation) in Belarus must be specified in the application.

[Cambodian Creamsicle]

Has anyone flew to Moscow via Minsk? I wondering if I need a transit visa for Minsk. Seeing a lot of mixed stuff online. Some say there is a transit area that you can go to in the airport but in another first hand account I read, this guy flying from Moscow to Europe via Minsk was given a fine and they threatened to ban him from Belarus for 5 years.

Last summer I attempted to fly from Minsk to Varna, Bulgaria via Moscow but the airline wouldn't even let me board the plane because I didn't have a transit visa for Russia. I guess because if you're in Belarus flying to Russia it's treated as a domestic flight, in others words you're already in Russia by being in Belarus in a sense.

I'm aware of the new 5 day tourist visa for Belarus but I don't think that has any impact on the transit situation.

Any first hand experience would be appreciated.

[edlefou]

(05-24-2017 02:56 AM)Cambodian Creamsicle Wrote:  

Has anyone flew to Moscow via Minsk? I wondering if I need a transit visa for Minsk. Seeing a lot of mixed stuff online. Some say there is a transit area that you can go to in the airport but in another first hand account I read, this guy flying from Moscow to Europe via Minsk was given a fine and they threatened to ban him from Belarus for 5 years.

Last summer I attempted to fly from Minsk to Varna, Bulgaria via Moscow but the airline wouldn't even let me board the plane because I didn't have a transit visa for Russia. I guess because if you're in Belarus flying to Russia it's treated as a domestic flight, in others words you're already in Russia by being in Belarus in a sense.

I'm aware of the new 5 day tourist visa for Belarus but I don't think that has any impact on the transit situation.

Any first hand experience would be appreciated.

I'm going to the Belarus embassy tomorrow to pick up my visa, so I can ask them for you.

My understanding is that you won't need a Belarus visa to transit to Russia.

[Strelka]

I sorted out the short-term visa info for the most - if anyone needs help, drop me a PM

[edlefou]

(05-24-2017 04:23 AM)edlefou Wrote:  

(05-24-2017 02:56 AM)Cambodian Creamsicle Wrote:  

Has anyone flew to Moscow via Minsk? I wondering if I need a transit visa for Minsk. Seeing a lot of mixed stuff online. Some say there is a transit area that you can go to in the airport but in another first hand account I read, this guy flying from Moscow to Europe via Minsk was given a fine and they threatened to ban him from Belarus for 5 years.

Last summer I attempted to fly from Minsk to Varna, Bulgaria via Moscow but the airline wouldn't even let me board the plane because I didn't have a transit visa for Russia. I guess because if you're in Belarus flying to Russia it's treated as a domestic flight, in others words you're already in Russia by being in Belarus in a sense.

I'm aware of the new 5 day tourist visa for Belarus but I don't think that has any impact on the transit situation.

Any first hand experience would be appreciated.

I'm going to the Belarus embassy tomorrow to pick up my visa, so I can ask them for you.

My understanding is that you won't need a Belarus visa to transit to Russia.

The woman at the Belarus embassy told me a transit visa is needed when going through Belarus to get to Russia.

[Cambodian Creamsicle]

Ya those Soviet cocksuckers. Cost me 120 Euro today. Plus you have to buy medical insurance, plus passport photo, and to top it off you're supposed to have a double entry visa to Russia because with a return flight to Kiev you pass through Minsk twice, so you need a double entry transit visa. They almost weren't going to give me the double entry visa but they told me to print off my return ticket and they'd give it to me. All to sit in the Minsk airport for 1 hour.

Moral of the story: avoid transiting through Minsk at all costs when flying to Russia.

Oh, and this was after the Belarus airline telling me I didn't need a transit visa at all.

[Cattle Rustler]

(05-13-2017 08:50 AM)edlefou Wrote:  

(05-13-2017 08:32 AM)Strelka Wrote:  

Is this a relatively new change?

So for a 30 day tourist visa, as a US citizen, it's possible to apply and receive a visa without the letter of invitation? Can the person renting you an apartment simply "invite" you and you fill out their info on the application form itself?

I don't know if it's a new change, but I quoted the info from the embassy website below.

It looks like you just need to have the contact info for the person renting you the apartment.

Also, it wouldn't be a type C visa for TOURISM, it would be a type C visa for private purposes (for tourist visa you need a letter of support and proof you've ordered tourist services).

I haven't tried it. I'm just repeating what I saw on the official Belarus embassy website.


QUOTE:
To get a short-term visa for private purposes (visiting Belarusian relatives, friends, other private matters) with the period of validation 30 days maximum for 1-, 2- or multiple entries for a citizen of EU as well as national of several other countries, such as Australia, Andorra, Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Chili, Island, Israel, Norway, Swiss Confederation, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, USA, Uruguay, Republic of South Africa, Japan NO VISA SUPPORT DOCUMENTS SHALL BE REQUIRED. The name and the address of the inviting person/institution (organisation) in Belarus must be specified in the application.

I'm sure all the people living in islands will be happy to hear this. Also, I can take my cans of chili without any issue. I really like chili dogs.

[Cambodian Creamsicle]

Update on Minsk airport transit when flying to Russia:

No transit visa required when flying to Russia because there's a transit area you can go to, however on the way back a transit visa is required because you exit the airport into Belarus then have to come back in through departures. Really odd setup they got going on. Avoid Minsk if possible. Think I went through some type of border control 10 times on a simple return flight from Kyiv to Moscow.

[brat]

(06-09-2017 03:36 AM)Cambodian Creamsicle Wrote:  

Update on Minsk airport transit when flying to Russia:

No transit visa required when flying to Russia because there's a transit area you can go to, however on the way back a transit visa is required because you exit the airport into Belarus then have to come back in through departures. Really odd setup they got going on. Avoid Minsk if possible. Think I went through some type of border control 10 times on a simple return flight from Kyiv to Moscow.

Yes but what another options do we have from Kiev via Istambul?Riga?All of them are very expensive.

[edlefou]

(06-09-2017 09:43 AM)brat Wrote:  

Yes but what another options do we have from Kiev via Istambul?Riga?All of them are very expensive.

I took the train from Kiev to Moscow once. It's around 1300 UAH and takes 13 hours.

You leave in the evening and arrive in the morning, so you sleep for most of the way.

[Chaos]

^Is that train even running anymore?

[Malo]

You can also take the ecolines bus, costs 25 Euro and takes 17 hours. The bus is comfortable, free coffee/tea/choc from a machine (take all you want) and has a toilet. However it's difficult to catch sleep unless you bring some cushion with you.

[Strelka]

Just noticed as well - normally PolskiBus opens a ton of routes in the summer from Poland. Minsk just popped up on their website. You can go via Warsaw in roughly 10 hours (plus delay, of course, at the border) for about 30 EUR.

[edlefou]

(06-10-2017 12:34 AM)Chaos Wrote:  

^Is that train even running anymore?

Just checked and there's a daily Kiev-Moscow train leaving at 8:33pm and arriving 9:48am. Sleeper car (platzcart) is 1848 UAH including pillow and blankets. It doesn't go through Belarus, so you don't need a transit visa.

My memory fucked up on the 1300 price. I don't think Kiev-Moscow was ever that cheap for me (however, Kiev-Minsk is 1175 UAH).

I'm a fan of EE train travel, although I mostly fly. $70 USD is a good deal for Kiev-Moscow (and you save cash on a night's accommodation because you sleep on the train).

On the train you can hang with the locals and lie down horizontally on a bunk to get some sleep. You can get up and walk around when you want.

I never take the bus (too cramped for me and I can never sleep).