Say “no!” to $100 bills: prices in Belarus

Is your piggy bank so empty that it doesn’t even grumble? Is salary will find itself out only in a month, and you want to have an interesting time right now? We open for you a terrible secret: Belarus, in comparison with most European countries, is very cheap for rest and even country life. Even Minsk, as the most important city in the country, does not bite at its prices and pleases many tourists.

Today VETLIVA conducts for you a tour of the average check of various institutions on the example of the capital and gives advice on how to save even in such amazing conditions!

Note! Remember that all prices are relevant at the time of publication of the article (March 2019).

Survival basics: cost of living in Minsk

So let’s imagine you are an average tourist from Berlin. Your ticket to Minsk costs about $100–150, for another $15 you drove from the airport to the hotel. First let’s get acquainted with the bottoms of the basics: accomodation, food and transport. Minsk will not scare you here: for little money, you get quality service and pleasant emotions!

Accommodation. Much depends on the location of the apartment on the map of the city and its content: cheaper options will be located in areas such as Sukharevo, Shabany and other remote sleeping areas. Sometimes in such apartments they will not get a conditional washing machine or, for example, a bed. On average, for a studio apartment NOT in the city center you will pay $120–150 monthly. As for hotels and hostels, everything is like with cognac: it depends on the number of stars. Simple hostels in a “la dorm” style will cost you $5–6 per night, and hotels like President Hotel or Minsk Hotel will charge you about $93 per night.

Advice from VETLIVA: do not forget that accomodation for short periods are much cheaper, especially if you book them with us!

Food. Belarus is not the most expensive country to live in, the average daily check at the store will be about $5: bread, milk, eggs, two jars of yogurt, 300 grams of sausage will be in the consumer basket. You will spend for about $40 on essential products and some household chemicals weekly. A pack of cigarettes will cost you $1.5, and a liter of beer costs about $2. You can also eat in hotels or order lunch at the apartment (a full meal will cost about $7–10). And of course, in Minsk, there is a lot of food delivery: pizza, sushi, local cuisine, desserts, even hypermarket foods that you choose on the store's website.

Transport. The public transport network in Belarus is quite well developed: in Minsk, citizens are transported by buses, trolley buses, trams, subways, and minibuses. A coupon for one trip in a bus or a subway token will cost you 30 cents, you can take a taxi for $5 to almost any point of the city with a light traffic load. A liter of AI-98 gasoline costs about 80 cents.

If you want to ride outside the city, you can buy tickets to different localities at the ticket office of the Central Railway Station and Central Bus Station or online: for example, you can get to Brest to see the famous Brest Fortress in 4 hours and pay about $6 for a ticket. On average, this is the total price of travel from the capital to the regional centers of the country.

Well, if you have international car license and you like to choose the time and duration of the trip yourself, rent a car: about $30–35 per day — and a car is yours.

Entertainment for every taste: Belarus tourism cost

And now let's move on to something more interesting: local bars, cinemas and unusual excursions!

Theater, cinema, etc. Minsk hosts all the world premieres and leaders of box office fees, a movie ticket for a 3D session will cost you about $4. You can sit for $7 with a clever view of the play and discuss the role of Chekhov in world culture. These are average prices, everything depends on a theater and a play.

A more active vacation, like an aqua park, skating rink or quest room, will cost you an average of $10–15 per visit, but, as elsewhere, you can always find good discounts here.

Cafe, bars, restaurants. The average bill in the cafes and bars of the middle class is about $10: for this money, for example, you will get a big pizza, coffee and dessert. In Minsk, there are also a large number of restaurants at the Michelin level, as well as a variety of Belarusian taverns and pubs, where you can enjoy local cuisine.

Fans of fast food and street food can please themselves with classic burgers and french potatoes in numerous McDonald’s, KFC, Texas Chicken and other international brands.

VETLIVA reminds: do you want to try unusual dishes of the Belarusian cuisine? Read our guide for gastrotourism in Belarus!

Excursions and tours. Everything is quite simple here: we have already collected for you a variety of options at the most pleasant prices. The tours include accommodation, meals, and sightseeing services, and even memorable souvenirs: and all this from $50 for 2 days!

In Minsk itself, you can visit any museum individually, and they differ in prices: the classic National Art Museum will charge you about $3 per entrance, the modern and fashionable selfie museum asks $7.

Tips from VETLIVA: do not forget that everywhere and always you can find cool discounts! Some museums arrange free days, and we always find fresh offers for you: check them out here.

Cost of living in Belarus: cheap and not angry!

We hope you made sure that everything is fine with prices in Belarus? Of course, all this varies from place to place, but average prices always remain that way. And if you want to save even more, come to Belarus for the II European Games 2019 in Minsk: a new guest card creates all the conditions for almost free tourism in Minsk!

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