July 24, 2025 • 567 words

Planning to Travel to Belarus

I had a trip to Russia for 2 weeks. Now let's try planning a trip to Belarus. In general I think it's not too different.

Before Arrival

  • Visa
People's Republic of China (30 days but no longer than 90 days within one calendar year) Source: https://mfa.gov.by/en/visa/freemove/general/
  • Plane Ticket: Shanghai to Urumqi to Minsk(booked on WeChat TongCheng), not transferring through Moscow(need another transit visa), arrival around 07.29 00:10, 3684 RMB
  • Book the First Day Hotel: Айти Тайм(booked on WeChat TongCheng), 162 RMB; I booked a hotel for the first night easily on the Chinese platform.
  • Return Ticket: Minsk to Urumqi to Shanghai(booked on WeChat TongCheng), 08.18, 3485 RMB
  • Insurance: Buy on BGS, payment can be made by any card, 89 RUB for 23 days(I bought one more day in the start and the end), statement sent to my email.
  • Cash: 7000 RMB (to be exchanged and deposited in Sber)

I would be bringing with me a lot of cash. (since there is still a chance my Unionpay doesn't work) What if they create an artificial problem to deny entry and try to force you to pay the bribe?

24-hour helpline of the personal security service if wrong acts were committed against you by border service officers +375 17 224 50 08

Estimated Budget

  • Arrive at Minsk (~3 days), Return to Minsk and leaving
  • Plane Ticket: Around 7000-8000 RMB total
  • Train Ticket: Around 500-1000 RMB total
  • Daily: Around 20 days, 300 RMB/day, 6000 RMB total
  • Insurance: 89 RUB, ~200 RMB

Total ~15000 RMB

What to do on Arrival?

  • Migration card (please keep it instead of throwing it away)
  • Go to the first Hotel through bus 300Э(schedule: 00:10 01:00 01:50...), Станция метро Уручье, then walk to the hotel.
  • Exchange money in (for example) Sberbank
  • Get a SIM card

Things to Bring with me

  1. Passport
  2. Digitals: Phone(2 phones), Laptop, Charger and Converter
  3. Money: Cash, Sberbank Card, Yoomoney Card
  4. Clothes; Toothbrush, Cotton swab, Nail clipper, Slippers, Umbrella, Bottle, and a separate plastic bag for these

Utilities

  • Hotel Booking:

Belarusian local websites load very slowly. Western platforms also may or may not work. Yandex Travel needs to pay in Russian Ruble and may inflate the price.

What to do?

  1. Use Yandex map to search for hotels
  2. There is a telephone number, or some hotels have official websites, where they put WhatsApp/Telegram. I searched for a hostel near the railway station in Minsk and I found "9 Этаж хостел", I contacted them on WhatsApp and I would be paying on arrival.

  • Money and Bank Card: I have a Sberbank card (2000 rubles left, valid for 10 years) and a Yoomoney card, both Mir. I will also bring 7000 RMB in cash to be exchanged and deposited into an account at a Sberbank in Minsk.

  • Sim Card: I already have an MTS SIM card. If it doesn't work, I'll just go to the MTS office in Minsk.

  • Train/Bus:

  • Yandex Travel

  • Poezdato.

  • Apps: Yandex Map, Sberbank, MTS, Rustore. I am going to bring my 2 phones. (Redmi Note 13 and Pixel 8 Pro) I changed my main phone (Pixel 8 Pro for this trip) language to Russian and the default search engine to Yandex.

  • Convertor: I got the universal convertor from HongKong.

Things to do Before Sleeping

  1. Wash clothes (either dry them or just get it out of the washing machine)
  2. Write and summarize the day
  3. Charge the phone/computer(do not sleep with them)
  4. Brush teeth, shower

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