• Former Residence of Lee Harvey Oswald, Vulitsa Kamunistychnaja 4 (the bottom left apartment). Lee arrived in the Soviet Union in December 1959 wanting to denounce his US citizenship and was sent to Minsk. He changed his name to Alek and married a native woman, Marina Prusakova, with whom he had a child. The young family left for the United States on June 1, 1962.

• St Mary Magdeline Church (Tsarkva Svyati Mary Magdaleny), Vulitsa Kisjaleva 42. Metro: Njamiha. It was built in 1847 in the Orthodox style - with a pointed octagonal bell tower over the entrance.

• Saint Peter & Saint Paul Church, Vulitsa Rakovskaja 4. Metro: Njamiha. Built in 1613 and restored in 1871, it is the oldest church in Minsk. It is worthwhile to go inside.

• Belarus National Museum of History & Culture, Vulitsa Karla Marxa 12. Admission 7,000BYR. Open Thursdays to Tuesdays from 11am to 7pm. There is plenty to see here, sadly there is only Belarusian explanation panels.

• Palats Mastatsva (Art Palace), Vulitsa Kazlova 3. Admission Free. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 7pm. Several exhibition spaces showing modern art, second hand books and antiques stalls.

• Mastatsky Salon, Praspekt Francyska Skaryny 12. Open Mondays to Saturdays from 10am to 8pm. An art gallery with local artists exhibitions and some overpriced souvenirs.

Do

• Minskoe More (Minsk Sea) is an artificial reservoir 5km north of the city centre. There's a free public beach, and pedal-boat and catamaran rental. Buses leave the central bus station regularly. To get there by car, head north along the P28 and lookout for signs after Ratomka village.

• Ice Skating Rink infront of the Palats Respubliki. In Winter there are crowds of people ice skating here. It is open from 8am until 10pm and a pair of skates should cost between 3,000-5,000BYR to rent.

Buy

Local goods are usually bad quality, but there are several things that are worth buying. Some wool and linen clothes - you can get very good stuff for little money. Linen in all forms is a special bargain. Typical is a woven patterned linen tablecloth, excellent quality, 150cm x 300cm (about 5 ft x 10 ft), for 34,280 Belarus rubles, approximately $16.25 US (10.30 euro, 8.25 GB pound) (as of May 2008). Womens underwear "Milavitsa", is widely known across former USSR. This good quality, and cheap as well. Various types of cosmetics - firstly brand-name, are called "O2". Vodka produced by Brest spirit factory, is probably the best in the world. This easily outperforms Stolichnaya, Absolut and Smirnoff. Generally, the Minsk Airport has a very reliable duty free shop with rich choice of fragrances, spirits and souvenirs. There is no sense to get international brands- usually it costs 20-50% more than European average.

• Podzemka, Praspekt Nezalezhnasti 43. An underground bookshop-cum-art gallery.
• Suveniraja Lavka, Vulitsa Maxima Bahdanovicha 9. A souvenir type shop with straw crafts, wooden boxes, embroidered linen & Belorussian alcohol.
• Tsentralnaja Kniharnya, Praspekt Nezalezhnasti 19. A bookshop with posters of Belorussian president Alexander Lukashenko.

Eat

Belorussian cuisine is similar to that of the rest of Eastern Europe but particularly Russian and Ukrainian. Generally it features heavy-fat potato dishes, mushrooms, soups and baked meat.

The quality of conventional European cuisine (Italian, French...) is not amazing. The average level of cafes and restaurants is low but there are several good places in the center of the city. The price of a meal at these places should cost between 20,000BYR and 40,000BYR.

• Pechki-Lavochki, Main Ave. Is a great Belarusian restaurant.

• Beze, Main ave. Viennese style café with a great bakery and light snacks.

• Gourman, close to Grand Opera Theater. Styled as an Italian trattoria. It serves Belarusian and European cuisine. Excellent quality and affordable prices.

• Freskee Cafe, Niezaležnaści Square. Café with a large choice of main dishes.

• Taj, Vulista Brilevskaja 2. Wonderful North Indian restaurant. Vegetarians will find heaven. There should be an English menu available also. Vegetarian dishes start from around BR6,000 and Mains from BR12,000. Open Noon-Midnight.

• Chomolungme, Vulitsa Gikalo 17. Huge menu with an array of cuisines: Nepalese, Tibetan, Sushi & Indian. Vegetarians and Vegans should also be able to find something here. Mains from BR8,000 to BR30,000.

• National Food, Trinity Suburb. Not the restaurant's real name but this place has "National Food" on the front in big English letters so should be easy to find. It has a large menu of traditional food available in English, including a couple of vegetarian options. Mains BR20,000 to BR30,000. The food really sticks to your ribs. They also sell honey-flavoured kvass.

Get around by using bus, tram, or subway or rent a car. First three are cheap and reliable. The subway is noted for being clean and safe. Additionally, each subway station is decorated uniquely. For instance, the station at Oktober Square is decorated in the theme of the Communist Revolution. The station at Victory square is decorated in a victory theme, and the Lenin Station includes a bust of Lenin and a host of Hammer/Sickle reliefs.

A panoramic English-language map of the centre of Minsk that shows every building individually is widely available from bookshops and kiosks for 5,000 roubles. It also has a conventional map showing more of Minsk and some tourist information. It's worth buying a copy as early on in your visit as you can because it makes getting around on foot interesting, easy and fun.

The Subway (Minsk Metro) is the most reliable Transport around Minsk. A train every 3 minutes and never late. You can buy tokens at a window inside the station. One ride costs 600BYR, if you don't know any Russian like me just give 6000BYR and stick 10 fingers up. Make sure you hold on, because it goes real fast.

Taxis are cheap as well. All Taxis have a base rate of 6000BYR and thats from 0-6km distance. That is the minimal pay. You will notice 6000BYR will already be on the meter.

You may also rent a car to travel around the country. Rates depend on period of hire and start from 20US/day. There are offices of Europcar, Avis, SIXT and other rental companies. You may browse a list of cars and rental companies here [1]

Regional Trains from the Central Station are also cheap. A trip from Minsk to Gomel (5 hours) with a cabin for 4 cost 20000($10US)and Usually never full.

Typical belarusian drink is "Kefir", which is a sort of sour milk, similar to yogurt.

Typical belarusian drink is "Kefir", which is a sort of sour milk, similar to yogurt.

Typical belarusian drink is "Kefir", which is a sort of sour milk, similar to yogurt.