Minsk or Kiev?

[derekfaejapan]

Planning my trip home in summer and hoping to do a stopover in either Minsk or Kiev on my way back to Japan. Did Moscow last year and absolutely loved it!

The schedule I've worked out so far would allow me 2 days in whatever place I decide on.

Thoughts from anyone who's been to both would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

@wanderer

[wanderer]

Naturally I will say Kyv is a must 

Minsk is nice, but not all that much to see and do (big park and lake slap bang in the middle of town and was enjoyable enough when I was there, but again, thats about it).

Kyiv in two days.............

I can put you in contact with a great guide Derek who will be able to show you around..... 

I really recomend the following sites to do,

War Museum......guide I can put you in contact with can get your permission to climb to the top (ie the head!) of the Motherland Statue (big silver Statue of Liberty style monument) and get one of the best views of Kyiv you will find anywhere (check out my Georgia album on Facebook @derekfaejapan).

Pechersk Lavra.... big religious site with a network of underground caves under it where you can see the mummified remains of monks from 1000 (yet the bodies are so well preserved you would think they have only been dead a couple of years).

Also when in this area go for something to eat in Tsarske Selo.... this is my favorite restaurant in Kyiv and any time I am in Kyiv will go here a number of times over the space of a few days.

Other really good point of interest to see is Pirogovo Open Air museum...... there is two of these type of Museums in Kyiv..... one is a Cossak Life Museum (but its rather dull) while Pirogovo is the much better one.

Effectively if you want to see the whole of Ukraine in one full afternoon this is the place to go as they have recreated the villages and towns (plus the landscape) of every region of Ukraine (one minute you are on the endless open plains of central and eastern Ukraine, then turn the corner and suddenly you are in the mountains and forests of the Carpathian Mountains).

Also Kyiv is getting a great reputation for street art these days.... check out landscape alley and all the new murals painted onto the side of the buildings (one recently won a international award).

For places to eat and drink.....

As said above, Tsarske Selo is a must......... when in town there is no shortage of good places to eat and drink.

Main focal point is Maidan Nezalezhnosti (independence square) and Krushiatic Street..... here you have Pivbar (great new underground bar on the main square), Slavutch Shato Bar (beer hall that seems to be open 24 hours!) and Copper Pub (wee jaikey underground bar that looks a bit of a dive from the outside, yet is a fantastic local bar.... also open 24 hours).

Another good place to eat near by is Tral-le-bus pub....Podeda Varenichnaya (this is a chain of cheap Soviet-style mild bars that do great simple food at rock bottom prices), O'Briens Irish Pub (ex-pat pub but good for showing sports on tv and does good food), Banka Pub (great new bar that I discovered on my last visit).... honest truth, last two or three years there has been a boom in the Kyiv nightlife scene with new great bars popping up on a hourly basis (the craft beer scene in Kyiv seems to have taken off in a big way in the last two years).

Hotels..... I usually stay in Hotel Cossatsky on Independence Square, but as the Ukrainian currency is rock bottom just now (though inflation is high, the pound to the Hrvna is even higher..... in 13 years of going I have never seen it as cheap as it is just now) you can get a suite in Hotel Ukraine for about £25 a night! Do not expect 5 star, but in its day this was 5 star Soviet luxury.

In terms of safety, Kyiv seems to have quietened down a lot over the ast year (yes you still get the occasional nut job protest from groups who feel they should be running the show.... but these are usual confined to the national parliament building.... all you have to worry about in town is some student dressed a Minion or the Squirrel from Ice Age asking you for $20 for a photograph with him (and he literally will chase you all the way up the street).

Feel free to PM me on Facebook Derek to discuss more.

 

 

[wanderer]

Other two places that come to mind for somewhere to go at night, with both next door to each other.

Spotykach.... a Ukrainian take on fine dining (does great burgers though).... look out for the guy standing outside who looks like Khrushchev, as he will give you a card to get 15% off your bill. Also near by is Buena Vista Latino Bar (brilliant late night bar!)

Also on St Andrews hill (this is where you go to buy all the "original"  (made in China) Soviet tat and souvenirs (this is also where Landscape Alley starts.... but its well hidden).... a few hipster style bars opened here.... half way down (and opposite the start of Landscape Ally) is Gnezdo Bar (basically someone has built a bar on the back of their house using things they have found in a skip) and at the bottom Druzi Cafe (hostel with a bar attached to it that does the best Pizza's in Kyiv).

If you head out to the national football stadium there is a tiny Dynamo Kyiv museum here, plus daily stadium tours.... good pubs near by are Lucky Pub and Ferdinand Pub. 

[derekfaejapan]

Ukraine 1-0 Belarus!

Cheers for all of this information, mate! I will have a google over the weekend. The offer of a guide too is fantastic and something I would definitely take you up on if I do end up going to Kyiv.

How do prices compare between the two...Food, beer, hotels etc?

One big factor on where I end up going will be time as I'm doing this on the way back home...Planned route will be Edinburgh > Amsterdam > Moscow > Train to either Kyiv/Minsk > Flight to Moscow > Tokyo...All in about 3 and half days. I've only checked out Minsk so far and the connections with everything seem pretty workable, will see what options there are for Kyiv over the weekend.

Cheers once again for all of this, much appreciated!

Edited April 8, 2016 by derekfaejapan
####ed up the spelling of weekend.

[wanderer]

No problem mate.

Slight hitch in your route.... I believe flights between Kyiv and Moscow are currently suspended, so if you type "Kyiv-Moscow" into Skyscanner, you will probably end up going via Minsk anyway with Belavia (Belarus national carrier).

Minsk is not particularly pleasing on the eye and rather boring as tourism has not really caught on in Belarus (though this might change as they have finally relaxed their visa rules...if you are attending a cultural event you do not need a visa for Belarus any more)... whereas 2 days is probably not enough for Kyiv.

[euan2020]

I'd rather go to Minsk - Been in Kiev twice and Minsk once

Kiev is also easier to get to - so can also go there anytime  - Minsk/Belarus felt more frontier and old soviet block so i found that vibe more interesting

Kiev is also pretty racist so put me off there - only time i have seen people being openly racist and throwing cigarette lighters at a black scotland fan in kilt  

 

[derekfaejapan]

On 4/8/2016 at 9:46 PM, wanderer said:

No problem mate.

Slight hitch in your route.... I believe flights between Kyiv and Moscow are currently suspended, so if you type "Kyiv-Moscow" into Skyscanner, you will probably end up going via Minsk anyway with Belavia (Belarus national carrier).

Minsk is not particularly pleasing on the eye and rather boring as tourism has not really caught on in Belarus (though this might change as they have finally relaxed their visa rules...if you are attending a cultural event you do not need a visa for Belarus any more)... whereas 2 days is probably not enough for Kyiv.

Yeah, the flight suspension has buggered things up as I would've came back here via Moscow...The best route back is now via Abu Dhabi and it takes ages. I'm still looking but I think that will blow Kiev for me, sadly.

On the plus side, if I do end up in Minsk there's a home game at Dinamo so would go along to that! Had a look at their website to see if I had to pre order tickets but their average attendances are below 1000 for Belarus Premier games  ...Changed days for the one time Soviet Supreme League winners.

 

Thanks again for all the tips, mate...Maybe next time

[derekfaejapan]

On 4/9/2016 at 4:33 AM, euan2020 said:

I'd rather go to Minsk - Been in Kiev twice and Minsk once

Kiev is also easier to get to - so can also go there anytime  - Minsk/Belarus felt more frontier and old soviet block so i found that vibe more interesting

Kiev is also pretty racist so put me off there - only time i have seen people being openly racist and throwing cigarette lighters at a black scotland fan in kilt  

 

Aye, I read that Minsk is the most Sovetic city on the planet and that definitely appeals to me a lot, as Wanderer said, they're just discovering tourism so that might already be vanishing.

[deecie]

Spend less time in Scotland and go visit both.

I've pencilled in doing just that en-route to Vilnius next year, the flights between them were cheap as shit.

[derekfaejapan]

6 minutes ago, deecie said:

Spend less time in Scotland and go visit both.

I've pencilled in doing just that en-route to Vilnius next year, the flights between them were cheap as shit.

That's also crossed my mind too.

[deecie]

7 minutes ago, derekfaejapan said:

That's also crossed my mind too.

You can also fly Glasgow to Vilnius for about £10 then onwards train in about 90 minutes.

[derekfaejapan]

4 hours ago, deecie said:

You can also fly Glasgow to Vilnius for about £10 then onwards train in about 90 minutes.

Yeah, I've checked these routes out...It's all about keeping to one airline (Aeroflot) to keep the cost low. The route I've got at the moment would mean arriving in Moscow then getting an overnight train to Minsk.

[euan2020]

I remember one of my friends traveled overland from Minsk to Warsaw, (2005) and they holed up on a belarus border town - 

they met some locals and it was only the second time they had met foreigners, and other time was some poles - they felt like local celebrities  

we nearly couldn't get out - entered on a group visa overland, and exited the 3 of us by plane with a photocopy of the group visa - they werent keen to let us out