Vitebsk

Introduction

Vitebsk (also written Vitsyebsk) sits in north-eastern Belarus, where it serves as the administrative centre of both Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though the city itself is administered separately from the district. It is one of the country's larger cities, and travellers reach it by air through Vitebsk Vostochny Airport or Vitebsk Air Base.

Before you go

Vitebsk is one of Belarus's important centres of arts and culture, set among striking countryside, and it has a long history as a cultural and commercial hub under the various occupiers that have shaped it over the centuries. Bear in mind that Belarusians are typically quite friendly to foreigners — sometimes too much so. Some less scrupulous individuals get tourists drunk and then rob them, and Western men should be aware that attentive women encountered in dancing clubs and bars are highly likely to be con artists, with a common ploy being that after you take her to a private location, her large "boyfriend" emerges to accept your "apology" for toying with his girl — an apology that comes in the form of cash.

Registration is the single most important safety precaution for your trip. Being caught with a registration older than three days can result in complicated situations; hotel agents will register you automatically when you check in, but registration for staying in a private residence can be complicated and requires a long wait at a local office that can be hard to find. Police in Belarus are well-known for being closed-minded, and given the largely homogenous fashion sense of people in Belarus, wild aberrations in clothes or hairstyle may single you out for suspicion of possession of narcotics. Keep your registration with you at all times.

Getting there

Vitebsk has a small regional airport nearby, but it is not served by airlines of much use to the typical visitor and connects only to larger airports in Belarus and Russia. The most practical approach is to fly to Minsk and continue by train, a journey of about four and a half hours. Alternatively, you can fly to Moscow or Saint Petersburg and take a roughly nine-hour train from there. Note that while Belarus and Russia formally have no monitored border, train crews normally check your passport before boarding to confirm you hold the required visa. Gomel airport in southern Belarus, which accepts flights from further afield, may be a useful connection, but verify this before planning your trip.

Vitebsk sits on the main rail route between Minsk and Saint Petersburg, and Moscow is also easily reached by train; the city's railway station serves as a regional hub. By road, major highways connect Vitebsk to the wider region. Regular buses run between Vitebsk and Minsk or Moscow, as well as to numerous smaller regional towns, and services to Lithuania and Latvia are also available. Route buses, or marshrutkas, from Minsk are fast and convenient and can often drop you near the hotel or house you name in Vitebsk. Allow around eleven hours by coach to Riga, roughly nine hours to Moscow and about twelve to Saint Petersburg, and expect border controls to make leaving the country by coach time-consuming.

Getting around

Vitebsk is compact, and the main tourist sights sit within walking distance of one another, so you can cover the historic core on foot without transport at all. The city is described as calm and safe, including for evening walks in the centre. If you do walk, use designated crossings and obey signals — jaywalking and crossing against the light can incur fines — and note that drinking alcohol in public places such as parks, squares and streets is prohibited.

• Trams, trolleybuses and buses run in and around the city; a single ride is inexpensive, and monthly passes are available for longer stays.
• Buy tickets at kiosks marked "Tabakerka" or "Belsoyuzpechat" near stops, or from the conductor on board with cash — keep some cash on hand, as cards are less common for small transport purchases.
• Private buses and route taxis (marshrutkas) charge more than the municipal network but are more likely to be available and tend to run punctually.
• Taxis are easy to find at the train station, in the centre and near the major universities; agree the price in advance if you hail one on the street, or use a mobile app, which avoids negotiating and helps if your Russian is limited.
• English is uncommon outside large hotels, so a translation app is useful when asking directions or buying tickets.

Where to stay

Hotels in Vitebsk tend to be seriously overpriced, though decent accommodation can still be found. If you're a foreigner staying in Belarus, be aware that hotel prices are different for foreigners than for CIS citizens, so check what rate applies to you before you book.

• Eridan – a four-star option.
• Luchyosa – also overpriced, with a quality of service similar to Eridan's.
• Vitebsk – by the Dvina river; despite its Soviet entourage, it provides guests with all the necessary amenities.
• Vetraz – near Luchyosa on the banks of the Dvina; the best way to experience Soviet-style hospitality.

Beyond these, a number of smaller private hotels are spread across the city. The Vitebsk Yellow Pages is the best way to find more opportunities for accommodating yourself in this lovely city.

Food & drink

Vitebsk does not offer much in the way of fine dining or variety, but a handful of established places cover the main bases. Usad'ba is the restaurant best regarded for atmosphere and food quality, close to the city concert hall, and it provides part of its menu in English. Traktir is another well-known dining venue, though the quality of its food is arguable. Zolotoy Drakon (The Golden Dragon) is a good Chinese restaurant a few short blocks away, also with an English menu. Cafe Teatralnoye, underneath the Yakub Kolas Theatre, has a fairly extensive menu and a reasonably attractive dining area, and closer to midnight it hosts show-girls performances. Melody, on Lenina street a short stroll from the Ratusha towards the Philharmonia, is a stylish, cosy cafe with live music every weekday. Numerous smaller cafes are scattered around, and kiosks sell fast food such as hot dogs, "home-style" pizza slices and tchebureks, a student favourite of meat in fried crust. For pizza, a long-standing place of middling quality but wide variety of toppings sits near the pedagogical and technological universities on Moskovski Prospekt, while the newer Arena in the centre is spotlessly clean, popular with locals and serves decent pizzas, including a vegetarian option. Late-night dining is normally available only in dancing clubs.

Belarusian food is of the "meat and potatoes" variety. The best-known dish is draniki, fried potato pancakes frequently filled with meat and best served with sour cream; kotlety, or pork cutlets, are also a regional favourite. Mushrooms from the local forests add a rich flavour to many dishes, and fresh fish from the region's lakes makes for delicious entrees. Soups are absolutely not to be missed. Salads will typically throw the out-of-towner off: leafy greens are extremely few and far between, and instead you'll find combinations of rice, mayonnaise, mushrooms, chopped boiled eggs and other flavourings, closest in texture and flavour to American potato or chicken salads. The nearest thing to a purely vegan salad is chopped cucumber and tomatoes in oil. Vitebsk's proximity to Russia has had an impact on the variety of dishes served. For drinking and dancing, the most popular spots are Cafe Teatralnoye, Club Aurora and the club on the main floor of the Hotel Vitebsk, while smaller cafes such as Cafe Gulliver behind the Yakub Kolas Theatre, Cafe Aladdin and Cafe Jamaica are good for a quick drink; Melody is the ideal destination for serenity and good quality of service and food. Vodka is normally enjoyed with food, but if you're not hungry it is customary to at least buy a soft drink as a chaser, since drinking it straight without anything to chase is associated more with drunkards. Apart from certain brandies, ordinary foreign liquor such as Jack Daniels whiskey or Jose Cuervo tequila carries incredibly high prices, but beer is easy to come by and cheap; better options include the own brands of Nikolayevskoe and Dvinskij Brovar, while the Russian brand Baltika and Minsk's Olivariya are easily found.

What to see and do

Vitebsk is known as Belarus's cultural capital, and much of what you'll want to see centres on the painter Marc Chagall, who was born here. His preserved home near the railway station operates as a museum, and a separate art centre holds a small collection of his drawings and lithographs alongside works by European avant-garde artists. The city's own modernist and avant-garde artists exhibit frequently at the Chagall museum. For a broader picture, the Vitebsk Museum of Art displays paintings by masters of the Vitebsk School of Painting and works by Y. Pen, who taught Chagall. Beyond art, the 18th-century Town Hall with its clock tower is a fine piece of architecture, St. Barbara's is a Romanesque Revival Catholic church, and St. Alexander Nevsky, across the river from the Yakub Kolas Theatre, is a beautiful old wooden-style Orthodox church. There is also a Church of the Dormition, a tram museum with a large collection of documents, models and photographs (arrange your visit with the administration in advance), and, a bus ride away at Zdravnevo, the former residence of painter Ilya Repin, with a museum and park.

For an evening out, the National Academic Dramatic Theatre named for Yakub Kolas has won success abroad and is one of the last professional companies performing exclusively in Belarusian. Don't let the language put you off: much of the work is visually striking and avant-garde enough to enjoy without understanding a word. In November the city hosts an International Festival of Modern Choreography drawing dance companies from around the world, and Vitebsk is also home to Slaviansky Bazaar, a huge festival of music from across the Slavic-speaking world, with exhibitions, traditional crafts and guest theatre productions at the Yakub Kolas Theatre.

When to go

Vitebsk has a humid continental climate, with warm summers and winters that are relatively cold but milder than Moscow's thanks to maritime air from the Baltic. Summer brings the year's mildest conditions and is the most comfortable time for exploring the city on foot; it is also the heaviest visitor season, so plan around the crowds if you want quieter streets.

Winter is shaped by snow and cold, so pack accordingly if you visit then. The same Baltic maritime air that softens the season relative to Moscow does not make it mild, and you should expect daily life to revolve around the cold.

Three days in Vitebsk

Day one: Start in Vitebsk itself, the city that gives the Vitebsk Region its name, and get your bearings on foot before relying on the trams to cover longer stretches. Buy a local SIM and a city map at Belsoyuzpechat, and pick up essentials at Tabakerka. Note the registration rules for foreigners and keep your documents with you, since the police can ask to see them. If you arrive by air, Vitebsk Vostochny Airport serves the city, while Vitebsk Air Base is a separate military facility.

• Spend the first hours walking central Vitebsk and noting tram routes for later.
• Sort practicalities early: SIM, map, registration, documents.

Day two: Use the city as a base for the wider Vitebsk District and Vitebsk Region, and plan your onward travel. Regular services connect Vitebsk with Minsk, Gomel and Moscow, and you can alternatively reach Saint Petersburg or Russia's Western cities by rail. Allow time for the slower route if you are heading on to Lithuania, Latvia or Riga. Private taxis are easy to arrange, and drivers may speak Russian or English.

• Check onward connections to Minsk, Gomel, Moscow, Saint Petersburg or Riga.
• Keep some slack in the day for the longer cross-border route.

Day three: Slow down and take in the everyday side of Vitebsk among Belarusians, using trams to move between neighbourhoods rather than covering everything on foot. Being in Belarus means Russian is the language you will hear most, though English is understood in many visitor-facing places. Keep an eye on the time if you have a flight or train to catch, and note that some services run less often than you might expect.

• Ride the trams between districts and linger in the centre.
• Confirm your departure point before setting out.