Daytrip Warsaw to Belarus?

Stinicker

Hi, I will be in Warsaw next month for a week and am thinking of taking a train from Warsaw across to the city of Brest in south western Belarus which is a 3hr train trip for a daytrip or else maybe to stay there 1 night.

It seems like a burecratic nightmare as I will have to get a Belorussian Visa and I think an invitation to visit the country.

Anyone ever crossed the frontier by Rail?

ardmacha

I went 5 years ago from Vilnius to Minsk. I had got the visa at a Vilnius travel agent and the train was straightforward.

Probably worth staying a night. Poland is pretty much like any part of Europe nowadays, Belarus still has echoes of the Soviet past.

kerry4sam

Just on Belarus:

Their will be 2 of us over that way by end January and are between minds about entering Belarus. Even just reading the Belarusian Embassy website sends shivers down my spine about the Safety & Security - just a completely different way of life to what we'd both be accustomed to. Between reading news-reports about bomb-explosions; to completing a form registering our contact details is somewhat discouraging to say the least

~ Would you recommend the visit? We will be staying in Lithuania for a few days and travelling around from there so day-trips into Belarus was something we'd considered.

~ If we did decide to enter on a Type B Transit Visa, was it straight-forward to receive the Visa from a Travel Agent in Vilnius or would we be better going into the Embassy or Consular Office in Vilnius? Can you remember where you sourced your own? (you can pm me if you like).

~ What advice would you like to share from your own experiences visiting?

We have a few other holiers planned for throughout January but entering Belarus is taking up my thoughts

Thanks in advance,
kerry4sam

Rasmus

I'd get the visa here to save time and hassle. Not sure if you still need an invitation on top of that, but the consulate can easily answer that for you. If you do then just book a room and the reservation is your invitation. The train is more like 4 hrs so an overnight stay would be worth it in any case. Don't miss the fortress, obviously.

kerry4sam

Rasmus wrote: »

I'd get the visa here to save time and hassle. Not sure if you still need an invitation on top of that, but the consulate can easily answer that for you. If you do then just book a room and the reservation is your invitation. The train is more like 4 hrs so an overnight stay would be worth it in any case. Don't miss the fortress, obviously.

We can't book the visa from here. We're on holiers this coming week; two-weeks after that(from 21st) and the week after that again(from 28th) so will need our passports with us and can't risk having delays in getting our passports back. So would like to receive the entry-visa for Belarus in Vilnius.

Couldn't get through on the phone to Embassy in Lithuania in time today after work (only reached Belarus Embassy in UK before office closed) so have to wait until end next-week to phone

Thanks for reply though.

Rasmus

kerry4sam wrote: »

We can't book the visa from here. We're on holiers this coming week; two-weeks after that(from 21st) and the week after that again(from 28th) so will need our passports with us and can't risk having delays in getting our passports back. So would like to receive the entry-visa for Belarus in Vilnius.

Couldn't get through on the phone to Embassy in Lithuania in time today after work (only reached Belarus Embassy in UK before office closed) so have to wait until end next-week to phone

Thanks for reply though.

Oh, I was replying to the OP : ). I guess the thread appeared even though I can see now that he posted back in November.

But anyway, since you are only in LT a few days I actually wouldn't bother going to BY for a day trip, especially in winter. There is so much to see around Vilnius and the rest of the country that it would be a shame to leave that out! (My reccomendation!)

kerry4sam

Rasmus wrote: »

Oh, I was replying to the OP : ). I guess the thread appeared even though I can see now that he posted back in November.

No bother, Yeah this thread was most recent (only few months) with this related-query

Stinicker

I never went to Belarus after all and opted to stay in Warsaw instead. I made a post over on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum about it at the time and alot of the consensus was that it was too much bureaucracy and a waste of time and money for just a daytrip so after doing some figures I opted against.

The general advice seemed to be to get the Visa from the UK embassy as I could not find out if they spoke English at the Bellorussian embassy in Warsaw.

Lonely Planet's forum is down a the moment though

Zebra3

Belarus is very safe and a great place to visit.

Visa costs 90euro and an invitation costs 30euro.

Visas can only be obtained on arrival at the airport in Minsk and not at land borders.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Belarus#Get_in

ardmacha

We can't book the visa from here. We're on holiers this coming week; two-weeks after that(from 21st) and the week after that again(from 28th) so will need our passports with us and can't risk having delays in getting our passports back. So would like to receive the entry-visa for Belarus in Vilnius.

I travelled from Vilnius to Minsk about 5 years ago. I got the visa at a travel agent in Vilnius, who sorted the invitation etc. I can't quite recall the name of this travel agent, I think they were in the vicinity of the railway station. With the visa in hand the journey was no problem. The journey is about 200Km, closer than some parts of LT to Vilnius.

Travelling in Winter could be interesting, it is when you appreciate life in those parts. But you'd to bring some warm gear, it could be -20C which is not like what we have been having in Ireland in the last week.