O nce arriving at Minsk National Airport, there are several options available in order to the city centre — but keep in mind that the airport is approximately 25 miles due east of Minsk; and the ride can be up to 50 kilometers in length. The ride is not a short jaunt no matter which method is used.
Getting From Minsk National Airport Into the City Centre
As with many other cities around the world, there are several options available to transfer from the airport which serves the greater Minsk metropolitan area to the city centre.
Taxi Cab
You can take a taxi cab from Minsk National Airport into the city centre of Minsk. Expect the ride to take up to 45 minutes. Considering the aforementioned distance, the cost of between $16.00 and $21.00 is really not a bad deal for a taxi cab. According to this information posted at the official Internet web site of the airport itself, ensure that you order a taxi cab at the two designated service points in order to guarantee a “safe and qualitative ride”: outside of the doors at gates 3 and 4 and at gates 5 and 6.
You need to present your boarding pass to order a taxi cab. Heed the following warning to be careful not to use taxi cabs operated by illegal taxi drivers offering their services in arrival halls and at their doors: “Airport administration bears no responsibility for taxis ordered outside aforementioned service points. Please use the services of Minsk National Airport official taxi operators.”
You can pay for your ride with one of four currencies so that you do not have to change currency at the airport: United States dollars; euro; Russian rubles; or Belarusian rubles. There is no extra charge for the use of a car seat if you are traveling with a small child.
Ride Sharing
Uber operates in Minsk in two varieties with the following fares:
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uberX Cost: 19-28 Belarusian rubles, which is approximately $10.35 – $15.25
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uberSELECT Cost: 29-42 Belarusian rubles, which is approximately $15.80 – $22.88
Rental Car
You can rent a car from such companies as Avis, Budget, Europcar and SIXT. For example, you can rent an economy class car for as low as $27.00 per day — including taxes but excluding any discount codes — with Avis when you rent it for a week; but you will need an international driving permit. You must also have a transponder to use the toll roads in Belarus in the BelToll program…
…and then, there is also the cost of fuel. A liter of gasoline costs approximately 65 cents — cheap by European standards — but still an added expense.
Depending on the credit card you carry, you might also need to consider purchasing insurance for the rental car.
Bus
Both buses and minibuses serve the airport; and the bus stop is located outside of the doors at gates 5 and 6. The cost of riding the bus is less than $2.50, which is a real bargain considering that a vehicle waits at the designated area for passengers; and the vehicles were not crowded in either direction. There are only a few short stops; and the ride takes approximately an hour — not much longer than a taxi cab or Uber.
There are three route numbers designating the buses between the airport and Tsentralnyi, which is the central bus station in Minsk: route 300Э is served by large buses; while routes 1400-TK and 1430-TK are served by minibuses.
I took the minibus from the airport on route 1400-TK. I changed just enough currency at the airport to pay for the ride — who cares about the exchange rate over $2.50; and there was no commission or fee — and simply handed the money to the driver, who gave me change. Luggage can be stored in an overhead compartment; and the minibus was not full, so a bag could be placed on a seat as well.
As I placed my bag in the open overhead compartment, I did not initially understand what one of the two women who were seated in that row was trying to tell me; but she clarified that sitting next to them was fine and that I did not need to go back a row or two to sit.
The women are based in Lithuania and were also passengers aboard the airplane of the same flight from Vilnius.
“Where are you from?” she asked.
“The United States,” I responded.
She was quite interested in the amount of travel I have experienced in the past — as well as during my current trip. She was pleasantly surprised when I said to her that Vilnius was one of the highlights of my trip.
After a very nice conversation with her — the other woman barely said anything — the ride was quiet on the way to central Minsk, save for the music playing at a medium volume from the radio of the driver of the minibus.
Summary
The bus was an efficient option in both directions which was by far the least expensive of all of the other choices of modes of transportation; and I would not hesitate to use it again if I return to Minsk by airplane…
…but if you prefer choosing one of the other options, you will still get at least a decent deal, as costs are generally lower in Belarus than in some other countries in Europe.
All photographs ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
