Getting around
There are no flights between Brest and Minsk.
Avis (017-234 7990; belideal@avis.solo.by; vulitsa Staravilenskaja 15, Minsk) rents cars and even drivers for between US$60 and US$120 per day from Hotel Belarus in Minsk; English is spoken.
Hitching is practiced by young locals quite a bit. But it’s never entirely safe anywhere in the world, and Lonely Planet doesn’t recommend it.
The Brest–Minsk highway (Brestskoye shosse; E30/M1) is an excellent two-laner, but have a supply of new US$1 bills for the frequent tollbooths (they only charge cars with foreign licence plates).
With spare parts rare, road conditions rugged and getting lost inevitable, driving or riding in Belarus is undeniably problematic, but is always an adventure and the best way to really see the country. Know that signs are almost always in Cyrillic.
Drivers from the USA or EU can use their own country’s driving licence for six months. Cars drive in the right-hand lane, children 12 and under must sit in a back seat, and your blood-alcohol should be no higher than 0%. Fuel is usually not hard to find, but try to keep your tank full, and it would even be wise to keep some spare fuel as well.
You will be instructed by signs to slow down when approaching GAI (road police) stations, and not doing so is a sure-fire way to get a substantial fine. You may see GAI signs in Russian or in Belarusian.
