Belarus, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide Paperback – April 12, 2011

The Bradt guides are generally quite dense with important information, and this one is no exception. In general, it is difficult to locate guides about Belarus, and this one is quite helpful in that it also includes little snippets of stories about what life is like for those living in Belarus. It paints a realistic picture about the challenges and joys one might encounter while traveling there. The main complaint I have with the Bradt guides is that I wish they would include more visuals alongside the text as well as use a font that is a bit more readable than they one they have selected (too tiny!!). Overall, it's a great guide.

On my trip to Belarus in Aug 2014 half the people had this guide, most likely because it seems to be the only English guidebook for the country that is available. It was slightly out of date, with some of the conditions in-country no longer applicable, but the book was really quite useful overall for general tourism.

I really like the style of the author, it really brings Belarus closer to the Reader. Only thing I do miss from this guide are pictures.

an eyeopener in terms of the restrictions of Belarus--permission to enter, visa, etc. I am going there and this book has been very valuable. I learned to not answer the phone after I get in the room or answer the soft knock at the door by the lady of the night! There are many spectacular sights in Belarus

Good, and balanced. Much better than the Lonely Planet (Russia/Belarus)

Excellent book, well written, beautiful photographs, lots of personal experiences of the author dealing with his frequent travels in Belarus, a country he obviously loves.

I always buy a Bradt guide when I travel, if there is one available for the country. This is because they are much more insightful than the likes of Lonely Planet and will often be scribed from 1st hand local knowledge. Unfortunately, Dr Roberts has really let Bradt's image down on this one.I've lived in Belarus for the past 2 years and used the 1st edition guide to travel around as well as a source for what to see and do whilst in Minsk. I have now given up on this guide and have oft indulged in a long conversation with other ex-pats here about how Belarus is really lacking an informative guidebook (LP's Russia & Belarus is even worse than this offering).To start with Minsk, Dr Roberts recommends the bars and restaurants that any visitor would see walking down Nezavistimosti Avenue or in any of the squares. The real gems that are well known amongst anybody that has spent more than a few days in Minsk are notable by their absence. This is a real disappointment and the sad fact is that anybody with this guide is more likely to end up in TGI Friday's for dinner (perhaps the worst TGI Franchise you'll ever come across) rather than in one of Minsk's many excellent and individual bars, cafes or restaurants. Whilst he may have gotten the main tourists sites right, he has missed the multitude of quirky and zany aspects of this city that makes it wholly unique in Europe.Unfortunately it doesn't get much better as you leave Minsk. Dr Robert's almost totally ignores the impressive city of Mozyr, he glosses over the veritable treat that is the Braslau Lakes and barely gives Grodna, Mogilev and Vitebsk their due. A restaurant that he recommends in Grodna was a standard, awful and unfriendly offering that exists everywhere in the country and locals avoid like the plague. In Vitebsk he avoids points of interest such as Belarus' largest Disco and points the reader towards chain pizza joints. Most shocking perhaps (in the first edition, I've not yet seen the 2nd) was the fact that Dr Roberts failed to note anywhere that the City of Polotsk is claimed to be the geographical centre of europe by the Belarusian government. Whilst more learned geographers would tell you this is just outside of Vilnius in Lithuania, the fact that Polotsk has a memorial to "The Centre of Europe" is a salient fact of the town and I am stunned that Dr Roberts missed. It is a joke amongst anybody who has read this book that Dr Roberts urges people to spent "at least a full day each" at Mir and Njasvizh, both of which anybody would struggle to amuse themselves for more than 3 hours in.Taken as a whole, I can only assume that Dr Robert's time in Belarus has been spent in a small area and that his tour of the country was whistlestop at best. A very disappointing and underwhelming travel guide is the result. However, still the best on the market. Maybe a real gap exists for the likes of Rough Guide or DK if the market exists. Who knows...

However I cannot believe the errors that the author made along the book. One of the photos in the guide was described as a statue of Marx and when we actually found this statue it was not Marx at all!!! Watch out for other mistakes in this guide..... or choose another guide.

The book is obviously out of date now but it was useful for a general insight. The author makes clear that clear ( or words to that effect). The history of Belarus and it's cities etc is of course correct. The country is moving on at a pace so more hotels have emerged, restaurants changed, name changes etc. This is my first Bradt guide and I was expecting a lot more in the language section. Overall I found the book interesting but not as useful as I thought.

Very useful although I bought the 2nd edition just before the third edition was published. There was good advice on getting by in this country where little English is either spoken or written

just what I needed thanks

Manchmal merkt man bei anderen Reiseführern, dass sie sich aus primären Quellen bedienen. Fremdmaterial übersetzen oder einbauen, die schwarzen Schafe schreiben auch mal ab...Nigel Roberts hatte diese Gelegenheiten nicht. Er musste tatsächlich alles on the ground selber recherchieren und das hat er sauber hinbekommen. 98% der Informationen sind korrekt und brauchbar. Man kann bei Reiseführern soviel falsch machen, aber der hier passt: die Stadtpläne haben Maßstäbe, alle im Text erwähnten Dinge sind im Plan drin, es gibt ein gutes Geschichts- und Politikkapitel usw.Dass der weissrussische Rubel inzwischen woanders steht, kann man ihm nicht vorwerfen.Ich bin im Moment vor Ort und teste diesen Führer.Anregung: Busfahrpläne der großen Städte wären evtl. noch sinnvoll.