Terespol-Brest Border Crossing (PL-BY)

[sketchymarco]

I haven't seen much info about this one around here, so I thought I'd make a new thread. Might be relevant now due to the Belarusian visa-free policy.

I crossed this border yesterday by bus. Note that it is not allowed to cross on foot or on a bike. Terespol is easily reachable by train from Warsaw, there's a few direct trains every day. I bought a ticket on the spot and they only had 1st class tickets left, so booking it online beforehand is advisable.

My original plan was to walk all the way to the gate and hitchhike across the border to save time & avoid queues but that actually doesn't really help. There are many buses crossing from Poland to Belarus and you can jump on directly at the border gate & pay the fare if they have seats left. Also buses have priority over cars at this border. BUT, drivers might be hesitant to take you if you have a western passport, because 1st you will delay everything due to additional questioning on the Belarusian side and 2nd they could send you back if they don't like you. Quick reminder that being "visa-free" doesn't grant you an entry to any country, it's always up to the border guards.

There is a Terespol-Brest running a few times a day iirc. I took one that left at 6 pm from here 52.074409842084265, 23.604164451721022. The fare is €10 which can be paid in zloty or bel. rubles as well. The driver was not happy about a foreigner boarding the bus (all passengers were Belarusian) and told me that I might have to do the crossing with some other driver who takes Ukrainians across the border. That didn't happen anyway since I looked confident enough and had made friends with some passengers who reassured the driver. Also the drivers didn't know about the visa-free thing for EU citizens. That makes me think they don't see an EU citizen trying to cross on an everyday basis. Forget about anyone speaking English.

Polish side was straightforward, usual passport scan, pic taken & off you go, BUT that took 3 hours and it can take much more than that, so bring food & drinks and prepare to share some vodka with the other passengers. The fun begins on the Belarusian side.
The driver told me to go first. Border guard asked me where I was going, where I was staying and my phone number. She also made a phone call in between. Then, skimming through my passport stamps, she saw the Ukrainian stamp. Ouch! She stamped me in anyway, but told me to wait in the hall for further questioning. Everyone else passed border control and wished me good luck.
The special privilege of further questioning was reserved to me & 2 friendly Polish babushkas on some other bus. 2 young border guards (both must have been 21 years old at most) took us to an upstairs room and called us in one by one. The babushkas were done in about 3 minutes each, and then it was my turn. Nothing special really happened since I had nothing to hide & I'm not a spy, but I was questioned for about 20 minutes on what I did in the Ukraine, whom I talked to and about what, what they told me about the war, if I had any contacts, why I speak Russian yadda yadda. In fact I had some contacts still saved in my cellphone with a Ukrainian number but after clearing up a few things, the border guards came to the conclusion that they were harmless. Both my cellphones were manually scanned and I got a few questions about some political channels on Telegram that I follow. Also looked through my pictures & chats but I guess they didn't find anything interesting. If there is one thing I'll never forget, that's the expression of a border guard when I told him I was going to visit Vitebsk, lmao. From that point onwards I think they just though I was a bit of a nutter and let me go shortly afterwards.

The bus was still waiting for me in the parking lot, two Belarusian passengers I was chatting to on the Polish side smiled from ear-to-ear when they saw me come out successfully and gave me a high-five. I promptly apologized to the driver for delaying everything but he was cool. Then a bunch of people on the bus got curious and asked me about the questioning and said welcome to Belarus! The bus takes you all the way to the train station in Brest. You can exchange money 24/7 inside (rate is not that good for EU->rubles though) and there's a decent hostel right behind the platforms which I'm writing this thread from. It's called City Hostel iirc.

Also I was never asked for insurance, which apparently is mandatory. My past as a tourist in the Ukraine was way more interesting to border control, I guess.

Happy adventurizing y'all

[Roadtophnompenh]

I have no idea what i remeber is still up to date, but before the war, you could as a westerner not cross the border between Belarus and Russia. As there is no real border at all anymore. But short after the "line on the road" you will get stoppped by Russians if driving a western car, and sended back to Poland, to drive back up to LT and LV to cross the border there, whats probably the worst border in europe in waiting time at the moment. Its old info, but I would be surprised it changed !! Ofcourse if in a Belarussian bus you could sneak into Russia, but you would be illegal entering Russia and you will be the perfect capture to exchange for some russians kept in the west at the moment . . .

[Paahto]

Thanks for the information regarding your travel into Belarus. I am currently in Lithuania in my van and will be in Vilnius on 30th August. I have until 5th September to get to Warsaw to collect my girlfriend at the airport - she's flying home to Ireland for a medical appointment - and I'm considering going through Belarus for the fun of exploring a new country. I would put up with long wait queues and even an eventual rejection if I thought my trip could be safe through Belarussian territory. I have nothing to hide so I don't mind if they want to check my devices or ask any background questions. Would you say the chances are slim of me having any serious trouble? (Of course, I don't expect anybody to give me hard & fast answers or take responsibility for anything!)

[Roadtophnompenh]

I think its no problem to get into Bellarus if you have the right paperwork, the problem is they have a customs-union with russia (schengen-style i would say) and there is nobody to stamp you out and into Russia if going on the main road from Minsk to Smolensk (or other roads). And even if you have a russian visa, you did enter illegally as you have no stamp at all. Probably you can go from BY back to LT before trying to get into RUS and have trouble. Then you will be stamped out of BY officialy, enter LT, cross to LV and enter legally into RUS. It sounds all crazy and not rational, but thats RUS isnt it !! Before Covid, and i would say it only is getting worse now with the war . . .

[bwv812]

You're giving out bad advice.

[sketchymarco]

@Paahto, yeah that sounds doable to me if you're prepared for long waiting times. For "not getting into serious trouble" just use common sense & you're good. If you don't have a Ukrainian stamp in your passport that should be enough to spare you at least half the hassle I had.

[Minnesinger]

I haven't seen much info about this one around here, so I thought I'd make a new thread. Might be relevant now due to the Belarusian visa-free policy.

I crossed this border yesterday by bus. Note that it is not allowed to cross on foot or on a bike. Terespol is easily reachable by train from Warsaw, there's a few direct trains every day. I bought a ticket on the spot and they only had 1st class tickets left, so booking it online beforehand is advisable.

My original plan was to walk all the way to the gate and hitchhike across the border to save time & avoid queues but that actually doesn't really help. There are many buses crossing from Poland to Belarus and you can jump on directly at the border gate & pay the fare if they have seats left. Also buses have priority over cars at this border. BUT, drivers might be hesitant to take you if you have a western passport, because 1st you will delay everything due to additional questioning on the Belarusian side and 2nd they could send you back if they don't like you. Quick reminder that being "visa-free" doesn't grant you an entry to any country, it's always up to the border guards.

There is a Terespol-Brest running a few times a day iirc. I took one that left at 6 pm from here 52.074409842084265, 23.604164451721022. The fare is €10 which can be paid in zloty or bel. rubles as well. The driver was not happy about a foreigner boarding the bus (all passengers were Belarusian) and told me that I might have to do the crossing with some other driver who takes Ukrainians across the border. That didn't happen anyway since I looked confident enough and had made friends with some passengers who reassured the driver. Also the drivers didn't know about the visa-free thing for EU citizens. That makes me think they don't see an EU citizen trying to cross on an everyday basis. Forget about anyone speaking English.

Polish side was straightforward, usual passport scan, pic taken & off you go, BUT that took 3 hours and it can take much more than that, so bring food & drinks and prepare to share some vodka with the other passengers. The fun begins on the Belarusian side.
The driver told me to go first. Border guard asked me where I was going, where I was staying and my phone number. She also made a phone call in between. Then, skimming through my passport stamps, she saw the Ukrainian stamp. Ouch! She stamped me in anyway, but told me to wait in the hall for further questioning. Everyone else passed border control and wished me good luck.
The special privilege of further questioning was reserved to me & 2 friendly Polish babushkas on some other bus. 2 young border guards (both must have been 21 years old at most) took us to an upstairs room and called us in one by one. The babushkas were done in about 3 minutes each, and then it was my turn. Nothing special really happened since I had nothing to hide & I'm not a spy, but I was questioned for about 20 minutes on what I did in the Ukraine, whom I talked to and about what, what they told me about the war, if I had any contacts, why I speak Russian yadda yadda. In fact I had some contacts still saved in my cellphone with a Ukrainian number but after clearing up a few things, the border guards came to the conclusion that they were harmless. Both my cellphones were manually scanned and I got a few questions about some political channels on Telegram that I follow. Also looked through my pictures & chats but I guess they didn't find anything interesting. If there is one thing I'll never forget, that's the expression of a border guard when I told him I was going to visit Vitebsk, lmao. From that point onwards I think they just though I was a bit of a nutter and let me go shortly afterwards.

The bus was still waiting for me in the parking lot, two Belarusian passengers I was chatting to on the Polish side smiled from ear-to-ear when they saw me come out successfully and gave me a high-five. I promptly apologized to the driver for delaying everything but he was cool. Then a bunch of people on the bus got curious and asked me about the questioning and said welcome to Belarus! The bus takes you all the way to the train station in Brest. You can exchange money 24/7 inside (rate is not that good for EU->rubles though) and there's a decent hostel right behind the platforms which I'm writing this thread from. It's called City Hostel iirc.

Also I was never asked for insurance, which apparently is mandatory. My past as a tourist in the Ukraine was way more interesting to border control, I guess.

Happy adventurizing y'all

Thanks for the detailed report! I've decided on doing this in late November now. I have a Russian stamp in my passport from May I'm hoping will work in my favor making crossing a little faster than yours.

[Juanpausx]

I´ve tried crossing the border to Belarus yesterday. I went by train from Warsaw to Terespol, there was a Bus to Brest waiting in front of railway station waiting when the train arrived. If necessary there is an ATM to grab some Cash for the journey to Belarus.

Polish side went smooth (German passport), at Belarusian border they first stamped my Passport and then sent me back for some interrogation. They told, that every foreigner arriving to Belarus needs to do it.

They asked me to unlock my phone and asked me several questions, where I learned russian, why I learned russian and so on. I was often in Ukraine during war and saw several pictures bringing medical aid and so on to Ukraine and also checked several Chats on my Telegram. They asked me what my Ukranian friends think about the war and if they have any friends at Army.

The interrogation was in russian, however the Border Guard hat a phone to use Google Translator to translate words i don´t know. During all the process I was filmed, it was like in 80´s movies of UDSSR. Later I was sent out for half an hour while they checked more of my phone. When I got my phone back, there were several QR-Codes like my IMEI - Number on the monitor, I think that most probably they can control what you´re writing from your phone.

When they asked me to come back, told me that I should listen to them and if I don´t understand something I should ask I was quite worried that they gonna arrest me, since I actively supported Ukranians, but they just told me that i´m not allowed to Enter Belarus for half a year, they won´t tell me the reason, but I can try it in half year again, if the peace situation changes. I got my passport however back when being on a Bus back to Poland and have a big stamp about a denied entry to Belarus.

Long story short: Don´t underestimate the interrogation. Better cancel all the social media from the phone and pictures or better take a new one, since they most probably might be able to restore old photos. But you don´t need to worry. When they don´t even arrest a person like me, who actively supported Ukraine they won´t harm you.

The staff at the border was very friendly at all, except the one interrogating me and I that is his Job to be not friendly.

[sketchymarco]

^ hah so if you want to go the extra mile and get arrested, try again in 6 months /s

[tlb]

Glad you managed to make it. How terrible do you think the border crossing is for a non-Russian speaker, notable in terms of time and of chances of rejection ? (no Ukrainian stamps in the passport though, and hesitant whether to cross the PL-BY or LT-BY border as will depend on flights)