Crossing the Lithuania-Belarus Border at Medininkai–Kamenny Log

Crossing the Lithuania-Belarus Border at Medininkai–Kamenny Log was originally published in 2025.

In December 2024, a couple of good friends and I did a two-week trip around Belarus using the main Medininkai–Kamenny Log Border Crossing between Lithuania and Belarus, and can report that both entering and exiting Belarus here was pretty painless in our experience.

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Why We Chose to Enter Belarus from Lithuania?

After my friend, comrade Bekah collected all the intel on the best entry point to Belarus, she concluded that Lithuania appeared to present the least hassle based on forum reports and asking locals she got in contact with online who enter the country frequently. Entering and exiting from Poland and Latvia seemed to be a bit more of a headache.

What do You Need to Enter Belarus

Entry to Belarus is straightforward and the list of requirements can be found below. Some nationalities require a visa (some eligible for an e-visa starting March 2025) to enter at land borders, while the decision to allow 35 European countries who can enter Belarus visa-free was extended through December 31, 2025.

• Passport
• Proof of Medical Insurance
• Hotel Booking
• Proof of Exit
• Visa (for those who aren’t eligible for visa-free entry on the border)

Proof of Medical Insurance

Technically, you need medical insurance that covers hospitalization and treatment in Belarus, although we were never asked for proof of it on entry.

Bekah purchased her insurance from a post office kiosk in London before departing for Lithuania. Jolie and I purchased ours from Beleximgarant while we were still in Lithuania, which is one of the companies recommended by the Belarus MFA.

Our insurance policies were all less than $20 USD each. That said, we did not have to seek any medical care while in Belarus, so have no first-hand experience on how well they work.

Hotel Booking

Again, we were never asked for this but it is technically required. I would recommend booking your first couple of nights in Minsk (or wherever you’re visiting first) in advance in case they do ask. We had a five night booking in Minsk to start.

Most hotel booking platforms do not work in Belarus, however, Hotels.com and contacting accommodations directly are how we made advance bookings.

Proof of Exit

Just like the medical insurance and hotel booking, we were not asked for our proof of exit either. We each had return bus tickets to Vilnius as Jolie had a flight back to Alaska and Bekah and me to London.

How to Cross the Medininkai–Kamenny Log Border Crossing

Purchase a Bus Ticket from Vilnius

There are several bus companies that make the journey between Lithuania and Belarus. We took a Eurolines bus from Lithuania to Belarus and on return ended up on an Ecolines bus (after our Eurolines Bus failed to show up and then was rescheduled for the next day).

So, I would recommend going with Ecolines as they have been more reliable in my experience and another bonus is that it’s cheaper.

Depending on which cities you’ll be traveling between, there may be different bus companies running the route.

Getting the Bus from Vilnius to Belarus

First, you’ll need to go to the main Vilnius Bus Station located at Sodų g. 22. We had no problems navigating the Vilnius Bus Station. The layout is pretty simple and the platforms are well-signposted.

Our bus departed Vilnius Bus Station at 09:00 and we arrived at the Lithuanian Border Post at Medininkai by 09:35.

The Lithuanian Border

First, a border officer boarded the bus and asked to see passports. Once she finished we were asked to get off of the bus to go through exit immigration (though we did not need to bring our luggage off of the bus with us).

The Lithuanian exit immigration process took about 20 minutes for the entire group of bus passengers to complete. Once through, everyone boarded the bus again and we drove to the Belarusian side.

The Belarusian Border

Once over to the Kamenny Log Border Post on the Belarusian side, we departed the bus again, this time taking all of our luggage with us.

First, we had to go through immigration, which was simple. No questions asked, stamps placed in passports. The second step was to continue through customs.

Customs was a breeze, we just loaded bags onto the x-ray conveyor. I was the only one of the three of us who had to open my bag (they just wanted to verify that my camera and lenses were, in fact, just a camera and lenses.

In all, the whole process on the Belarusian side of the border took about 40 minutes. Once complete, the group boarded back onto the bus and continued the journey to Minsk.

We departed the Belarusian side of the border at about 12:00. Do note that Belarus is one hour ahead of Lithuania.

Arriving at Minsk Central Bus Station.

We arrived at Minsk Central Bus Station located at Vulica Babrujskaja 6 as scheduled at 14:20.

In total, the entire journey between Vilnius and Minsk took 4 hours 20 minutes.

Returning to Lithuania from Belarus Over Medininkai–Kamenny Log Border Crossing

Returning from Belarus to Lithuania, Bekah and I did have one snafu as our 12:40 Eurolines bus never arrived. We waited for a while as we could hear the announcements that it was delayed.

Eventually, upon asking in the terminal we heard that the bus was not coming and that we would need to take the same bus the following day. However, that would not have worked for us as we had a flight departing Vilnius in a few hours.

Finally, an Ecolines bus scheduled for 15:00 arrived with space onboard, so we paid cash (in Euros) for the tickets on the spot and were able to get back to Vilnius in time to make the flight.

Leaving Belarus

Exiting Belarus was a little bit of pain compared to entry, but overall not too bad.

Bekah went first through immigration and was asked for proof of hotel registrations. She did have a list with all the hotels and phone numbers that caused a little back and forth and eventually an exit stamp.

The accommodations you stay at do register you with local police but there is no receipt given, so I’m not sure why they asked for this but I would guess it was a thing of the past.

I went next, and my passport raised some eyebrows with the Afghan, Yemeni, Iraqi, Syrian, and Turkmenistan visas. Turkmenistan’s visa was met with disbelief when I said I was there for tourism (the funniest part is that Bekah has traveled with me to both Yemen and Turkmenistan and she wasn’t questioned about it).

Entering Lithuania

Once to the Lithuanian side, it was a quick scan of my passport and I was back in the EU.

Do note that we did have to bring all luggage off of the bus and inside with us on both sides of the border.

Returning to Lithuania from Belarus Over Šalčininkai-Benyakoni Border Crossing

Jolie had to leave a few days before us and took an Infotaks Bus from Grodna to Vilnius that returned over the Šalčininkai-Benyakoni Border Crossing.

She reported not much issue but was also asked about hotel registrations upon leaving Belarus and a bit of confusion on whether an Irish passport holder needed a visa to return to the EU but still got through both sides of the border without any other headache.

Have any questions about crossing the Lithuania-Belarus Border?

Ask in the comments section below.

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