Showing 1-23 of 23 results
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Air Grip
By day it's a hangout for wealthy foreigners enjoying the excellent Italian espresso and gelato (the specialities here), by evening it's one of the city's premier meeting points for a younger, rowdier crowd. This place has the right attitude: to try to reduce the billows of smoke from their customers, they sometimes offer free coffee for those who actually don't smoke!
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Babylon
The city's main gay-friendly locale, and probably the least pretentious and most fun-spirited club in town. Here people of all persuasions gather just to have a down-to-earth good time. It's on the 3rd floor of a commercial building - just walk in the open door and follow the music.
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Banana
The Turkish-style so-called VIP lounge on the 1st floor is the city's best place to relax with a cocktail and smoke a flavoured waterpipe ( sheesha ). The pillowed couches and dimly-lit interiors make it one of the city's cosiest corners.
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Belarusian State Philharmonia
Also has an excellent reputation - it features folk ensembles as well as a symphony orchestra, and performs everything from classical to jazz.
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Blindazh
Boasting the city's best sound system, this club is strong on techno and house and has a stylish, neon-bathed interior. Attracts a young crowd with energy to burn. Take a taxi there (2km).
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Bronx
Without a doubt, the Bronx is the hippest nightclub in town. Special guest bands and DJs from abroad show up at the sleek, ultramodern warehouse-style space, where there are billiards, dance floors and fashion shows.
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Central Ticket Office
Just like they were during the Soviet Union, the performing arts here are of very good quality, and tickets are priced to make them accessible to the proletariat. Opera performances are held at on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Ballet performances are at on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. To buy advance tickets or to find out what's on, head to the Central Ticket Office .
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Dinamo Minsk soccer club
Belarus' top soccer club (often appearing in European competitions), plays at the 55,000-capacity Dinamo Stadium.
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Drozhzhi United
It's a strange name ( drozhzhi means 'yeast') and a strange location, but once inside, this Irish-style pub is all familiar.
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Graffiti
The place to go if you want to hear the latest Belarusian musicians or to see some live theatre is Graffiti. The underground club is small (get there early if you want in) and not conveniently located (best take a taxi), but the bands and the troupes are often on Lukashenko's shit-list, and this is the only venue in town where they get away with performing (at least most of the time). Bar snacks and beer are tasty and super cheap.
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Ice Sports Palace
The Ice Sports Palace hosts stellar ice-hockey matches
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Janka Kupala National Academic Theatre
The Janka Kupala National Academic Theatre stages plays, mainly in Belarusian.
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Karchma Stavravilenskaja
In the Old Town along the riverfront, this café has a breezy summer terrace and a low-key interior. Its food is good, if overpriced, but it's the beer and coffee that most head here for.
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London
The hippest cafés are the itsy-bitsy Stary Mensk and its teeny-weeny cousin, London . They both serve coffees and fresh teas, and whip up a mean hot chocolate. London has an upstairs area, but you'll have to order an alcoholic beverage to sit there.
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National Academic Opera & Ballet Theatre
The ballet here has a highly respected reputation; some think it better than Moscow's Bolshoi. Performances start at . There are several different operas performed each month.
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Rakovsky Brovar
This jolly two-storey brewery is the most popular of its kind in Minsk. It's known for its good cheer and not its food, which is not bad but a little pricey. The huge menu of Belarusian and other European cuisine will at least help keep you from getting too drunk. There are often roving accordionists.
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Raubichi Sports Complex
About 20km northeast of Minsk is the large Raubichi Sports Complex. It's at its busiest during winter, with cross-country skiing and ski trampolines for practising aerial skiing; local and world championships are held here, too. During summer, there's swimming, tennis courts and small-boat rentals.
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Stary Mensk
The hippest cafés are the itsy-bitsy Stary Mensk and its teeny-weeny cousin, London. They both serve coffees and fresh teas, and whip up a mean hot chocolate. In summer, Stary Mensk puts on batlejka (traditional Belarusian puppet shows) - very nationalistic, and all right across from the KGB headquarters.
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Theatre Ticket Office
To buy advance tickets or to find out what's playing in Minsk, head to the theatre ticket office; tickets for pretty much every performance in all theatres, with some exceptions, can be bought here. There are other ticket sales points scattered along pr Francyska Skaryny and in the underground passageways. Same-day tickets are usually available only from the theatres.
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West World
Because of its circular shape, locals call this place shaiba (hockey puck). It's quite a scene, with erotic dancing, flashy nouveau riche, Eurotrash wannabes and prostitutes aplenty, as well as visiting Turks, Azeris and Georgians. Sometimes 'face control' is exercised, so shy away from wearing jeans and trainers, just in case.
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West World Club
Because of its circular shape, locals dub this place shaiba (hockey puck). Visiting it once is part of the quintessential Minsk experience. Here, the city's dubiously nouveau riche and prostitutes aplenty mingle with innocent (or not-so-innocent) foreigners. The doormen alone must be seen to be believed.
Showing 1-23 of 23 results
