Minsk Travel Forum

My wife and I will be going to Minsk in March (12,13,14) and are looking for a non-professional, local person, to be our guide for a day or so. We are easy going people and want to get oriented to the city, perhaps ride the metro, go to lunch or dinner (I buy). I would be glad to pay someone a very fair price to be our guide. Of course you would need to speak a little English! Any takers...)
thx
ray

do you still looking for guide?

Hello, if you still looking for a guide, you can contact me via e-mail oxygene@pisem.net or ICQ 335906918

We are planning a trip to Minsk in June this year and look for info on this beautiful country. How was your trip? Would you mind sharing your impressions?

Cheers

Our trip was great. We took the train from Vilnius to Minsk. Our only problem was when they checked our visa at the border. They only spoke Russian and we only spoke English. It turned out they wanted medical insurance. They would not "nyet" accept my American insurance and said I needed to get it before I returned. (They found a lady who spoke very poor English) She said to buy it at the train station in Minsk and we thought she said the post office there. Anyway, no one there spoke English so the next day we had a gude and asked the concerge at the Hotel Minsk about it. Our guide took us to a travel place and after 20 min. paper work and $4 we had our Belarus ins.
The main street goes from the Belarus University in a NE direction. The only way I could figure out the subway was with a compass. It was easy and there are only 2 lines. It costs 600 Belarusian Rubles to ride the subway. (about 22 cents). There are no coins and everything is inexpensive except the deluxe hotels.
One of the main sites is the Victory Monument for the great war (WW2) with an eternal flame. It is 2 stops N. from the Hotel Minsk or the Belarus Univ. or the Independence square. (The square itself is beautiful with a nice red brick church.) Over half the city of Minsk died in the war before they were liberated in 1945 by the Russian army, so it was terrible times for them. By the way, the apartment where Lee Harvey Oswald stayed is near the Victory monument. We went by that. It is not marked.
Also go in the WWII museum which is on the main street, near the McDonald's. There are some nice churches to the West and a great mall near the Hotel Minsk. There is also paintings and souveners near the museum.
Walk the main street and enjoy the post WWII soviet architecture.
Any questions, contact me!

Our trip was great. We took the train from Vilnius to Minsk. Our only problem was when they checked our visa at the border. They only spoke Russian and we only spoke English. It turned out they wanted medical insurance. They would not "nyet" accept my American insurance and said I needed to get it before I returned. (They found a lady who spoke very poor English) She said to buy it at the train station in Minsk and we thought she said the post office there. Anyway, no one there spoke English so the next day we had a gude and asked the concerge at the Hotel Minsk about it. Our guide took us to a travel place and after 20 min. paper work and $4 we had our Belarus ins.
The main street goes from the Belarus University in a NE direction. The only way I could figure out the subway was with a compass. It was easy and there are only 2 lines. It costs 600 Belarusian Rubles to ride the subway. (about 22 cents). There are no coins and everything is inexpensive except the deluxe hotels.
One of the main sites is the Victory Monument for the great war (WW2) with an eternal flame. It is 2 stops N. from the Hotel Minsk or the Belarus Univ. or the Independence square. (The square itself is beautiful with a nice red brick church.) Over half the city of Minsk died in the war before they were liberated in 1945 by the Russian army, so it was terrible times for them. By the way, the apartment where Lee Harvey Oswald stayed is near the Victory monument. We went by that. It is not marked.
Also go in the WWII museum which is on the main street, near the McDonald's. There are some nice churches to the West and a great mall near the Hotel Minsk. There is also paintings and souveners near the museum.
Walk the main street and enjoy the post WWII soviet architecture.
Any questions, contact me!

Very informative, THANKS!