ontherails
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 12 years ago
Hi All!
I'm looking into backpacking around Belarus for a few weeks this summer. I know that a visa is necessary, but have found the information on the net (both embassy information and travel agencies) quite conflicting. Is there anybody that has been on a similar backpacking trip that could run me through how I need to go about obtaining a visa?
Thanks!
PS, Am a UK citizen
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
Hi.
The general website is here of the Belarus embassy is here. Recommended is the purchase via an agency.
www.belembassy.org/index_eng.html
Peter :)
nltrainer
Traveller
1333 comments
BRus is NOT a country for bekpekking. In fact hardly any tourist goes there. You MUST have a full itinerary-mostly booked and confirmed in expensive state run bad hotels and MUST start the process with an invitation-a scrap of paper also expensive to pay for (in fact do not blame them for that 100%-they simpy copy what the EU wnats to see for a Schengen visum from them). The best forum I know of to start reading the basic info is on lonelyplanet.com/thorntree-then search in east Europe-a guy named Burdenkoff or so often posts there-give him a few days to do so-and simply read as so many same-same Qs are there already. he knows some ways to cut cost.
As an alternative I would rec UKRayna-much more to see, much less hassle (no visum needed for EU/US)-much cheaper and has a not big but grwoing tourist infrastructure, incl hostels etc.. Problem is the football champs this summer- AVOID that at all cost. and cheap flights on WIZZair to enter-from UK and EUR. Many more and dirtcheap trains (a night in a sleeper cost about 12-15 eur for a trip of 5-700 kms).
Cost of visum depends on where you get it and how long willing to wait for it. many people stay a few days in Vilnius (easy bus or train-many/day, to Minsk)-the trick is to NOT do it yourself-but via an agent, who knows the ropes and has ''contacts'' (read: paid extra access) inside the embassy. You might also contemplate a TRANSIT visum=max 48 hrs, from VNS via Minsk to cross into UKr-and then note that B-rus is cleaner, poorer, and utter boring compared to UKr-Kyiv and onward.
ontherails
Traveller
1 comments
Thank you for your help, nltrainer - I am also interested by Ukraine, maybe it will be a better option for this summer!