Tourism
Belarus made it to the top ten countries to visit in Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2019 list. The publishing house welcomed the 30-day visa waiver and praised Belarus' art and café scene. Describing Minsk, the travel guide pointed to “its impeccably restored Old Town centered around the graceful town hall”, where travelers can visit fashionable cocktail bars and join summer street parties.
Numbeo.com, a resource that gathers statistics about various countries and cities, updated its crime index in April 2020. Belarus was placed 14th in this ranking. Belarus’ safety index was 75.01 out of 100. For comparison, Qatar that tops the ranking has a safety index of 88.14.
The Belarusian capital was named among the three cleanest cities in the world by The Street digital financial media company. Singapore and Tokyo went first and second.
Minsk topped the list of The Best European Cities To Visit in 2019 compiled by the British newspaper The Independent.
Two Belarusian restaurants got the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for extraordinary wine programs. The award was instituted by the New York-based Wine Spectator Magazine.
Belovezhskaya Pushcha made it into the list of 25 best trips to take in 2020 by National Geographic. National Geographic advises to visit Belovezhskaya Pushcha in September-October.
The Belarusian Father Frost was named the most popular Father Frost in the CIS and Georgia by the Russian analytics agency TurStat. The Father Frost’s estate welcomes about 150,000 visitors every year.