Belarus
Check government travel advice first. Most currently advise against going
Population
9.1m people
Currency
Belarusian Ruble
Main Language
Belarusian and Russian
best time to visit
Not currently advised – most governments warn against all travel
Climate
Continental, cold snowy winters, mild summers
Visa
A 30-day visa free scheme exists via Minsk airport for many nationalities, but travel advisories currently override this
Country overview
A note before anything else: the UK Foreign Office and most Western equivalents currently advise against all travel to Belarus, citing the risk of arbitrary detention of foreign nationals, the country role in the war in Ukraine, and very limited consular support. This page covers the country for reference rather than as a recommendation.
Belarus is flat, heavily forested and the least visited country in Europe by some margin. Minsk was almost entirely destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt as a showcase Soviet city, with enormous boulevards and Stalinist facades that are impressive as a piece of planning, if bleak in February.
The natural side is the more remarkable part. Bialowieza Forest, shared with Poland, is the last substantial fragment of the primeval woodland that once covered the European plain, and it holds the largest population of European bison in the world. Elsewhere there are castles at Mir and Nesvizh, both UNESCO listed, and vast marshland at Pripyatsky that is a serious birdwatching destination.
Annual events and festivals
- Kolyady (Jan) — midwinter caroling with masks and goat costumes, older than Christianity in the region.
- Maslenitsa (Feb-Mar) — pancake week before Lent, with an effigy burned at the end.
- Orthodox Easter (Apr-May) — the main religious festival, with a Catholic minority marking the Western date.
- Radunitsa (Apr-May) — a public holiday for visiting and tending family graves.
- Victory Day (9 May) — a major state commemoration, marked heavily given Belarusian wartime losses.
- Independence Day (3 Jul) — marks the 1944 liberation of Minsk rather than the 1991 declaration.
- Kupalle (6-7 Jul) — midsummer, with bonfires, wreaths and the search for a fern flower.
- Slavianski Bazaar, Vitebsk (Jul) — a long-running international music festival.
- Dazhynki (Sep) — a harvest festival, hosted by a different town each year.
- Listapad Film Festival, Minsk (Nov) — the main national film event.