Google Maps – Walking – Pedestrian crossings – Metro – Buses – Taxis – Trains, Trams & Trolley Buses – Snow
Travelling around Minsk is far easier and safer than you might expect, the main hindrances being if you can speak no Russian or Belarusian/read no Cyrillic and if you’re impatient and hate waiting for red pedestrian lights to turn green.
Google Maps
I downloaded an offline section of the Minsk map so I could always have access to a map and use GPS if necessary. The map was great and, with limited Wi-Fi, so was having it downloaded already. The only thing to bear in mind is that Belarusian and Russian spellings can be slightly different so a search for the English name doesn’t always work out. Also bear in mind that while on the map a café, for example, has an English name, it’s unlikely to be written in English above the café once you arrive at where you hope it is. This, along with wintery weather and novice, Bambi-like steps on snow and ice, increases the risk of delay arriving at your caffeine/food/beer destination, which can result in scenes of frustration and grumpiness.
Walking
There are some very busy roads but Minsk is definitely a city for pedestrians as there are pavements, crossings (under and over for busier roads) and plenty of other people walking. In winter, the snow is cleared very quickly from pavements and paths, even in parks. The biggest winter issue is ice, about which little can be done to help. Somehow, locals are adept at walking on the ice. This means that as a visitor from a country where a light snow fall, let alone ice, wreaks havoc, you will stand out when navigating across ice.
Pedestrian crossings
To my delight, vehicles stop for pedestrians at zebra crossings. Where there are traffic lights, the wait for light change is a bit longer than you might be used to but there is a countdown so you can make crunch decisions about how fast to attempt to traverse the ice to get there in time for the green light. Believe me, it can be worth the extra slip-risk/unhealthy post-run wheeze by a sudden spurt to cross a road before the red man and a long countdown to the next green commences.
Metro
The barrier machine on entry takes your token. You don’t need anything to exit, it’s a separate gate line.
If you go to the interchange station, Kupalovskaya (and various other spellings), you will emerge from the gate line at either the red or blue line platforms. It’s not immediately obvious in terms of signage but logic correctly leads you to follow crowds walking either up or down steps and along a tunnel.
The stations are interesting and there are some great details but bear in mind you are not supposed to take photographs.
Buses
65 kopeks (<25p) for a paper ticket bought on the bus. Once purchased from the driver, you MUST insert it into the validation machine that is probably in the middle of the bus, which is a thoroughly satisfying stamping process and worth the cost of the ticket alone. It is a tiny bit cheaper to buy tickets before boarding from newsstands or certain shops.
Taxis
Easiest to find outside major hotels. Either agree a price or ensure the meter is running. We twice agreed 10 rubles (c£3.70) for a journey of about ten minutes but I am fairly sure a meter would have been a bit cheaper.
I don’t know if a receipt or card payment would be possible in a taxi but we used official taxis and I’d hazard a guess that yes to receipt, no to card payment.
Trains, Trams and Trolley Buses
I have nothing helpful to tell you about these services other than that they exist, they all run in the snow and ice and tickets are most cheaply bought at kiosks and news stands, apparently.
Snow
This is a special section for fellow Brits who know that more than a mere dusting of snow results in road, rail and air chaos and almost blanket cancellations. You will not believe this … everything carries on as normal in Belarus in the snow! Can you imagine that, inches of snow and the trains still run, vehicles with their obligatory winter tyres carry on AND roads AND pavements are gritted. There are no work or school snow days (except at -20, or was it -25, and below) and you will get home despite ten inches of snow and a blizzard. Can you imagine?!