Yerevan-Tbilisi: train, bus, minibus, taxi. How to get there by car? How to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi

Spending a vacation in Armenia and Georgia is a great idea. Beautiful nature, interesting historical monuments, delicious cuisine and very nice people - all this will make your vacation unforgettable.
I was lucky, I visited Yerevan and Tbilisi. And now I’m not just happy, I’m just happy that I was able to ride this route.

From Yerevan to Tbilisi by plane

If you save time, the option of air travel is suitable for you, so you can get to Tbilisi in just half an hour.
You can get to Yerevan airport by taxi, bus 201, which departs from the stop near the Opera and Ballet Theater, or minibus 107 (from the Barekamutiun metro station) and 108 (from the train station).
Flights from Yerevan to Tbilisi are operated by Georgian Airways. One flight available daily.

Planes land at Tbilisi airport, from where you can get to the city by taxi, bus 37 or electric train.

Ticket prices

The flight will cost from 32,500 Armenian drams (4,680 Russian rubles).

Where to buy tickets

From Yerevan to Tbilisi by bus

Buses and minibuses depart daily from Yerevan Central Bus Station to Tbilisi. Here's the map.

Minibuses travel at intervals of an hour and a half. Basically they start when they are full.
As for buses, these are passing routes. For example, Yerevan - Krasnodar, Yerevan - Sochi and the like.

The bus ride will take six hours.

Ticket prices

A ticket will cost from 7,000 Armenian drams (1,000 Russian rubles).

Where to buy tickets

For a ticket, you should contact the station ticket office or directly to the transport driver.

From Yerevan to Tbilisi by train

There is a direct train from the capital of Armenia to Tbilisi every day.

Departure point - Central railway station.

From June to October, flight 201/202 operates, departing at 15:30 and arriving in the Georgian capital at 00:12.

Between October and June there is train 372/371, which departs from Yerevan at 21:30 and arrives in Tbilisi at 7:50.

Why is there such a difference in flight numbering? It’s just that in the summer (from June to October) the train goes all the way to Batumi, and from October to June the final destination is Tbilisi.

You can view the traffic schedule both on the SCR website (I will indicate it below) and on the web page of the Georgian railway.

Ticket prices

Traveling on train 201/202 costs less than on other flights - from 7,000 Armenian drams (1,000 Russian rubles).
On train 372/371 prices start from 10,570 (1,500 Russian rubles).
By the way, the type of seat (the upper one costs a little more than the lower one) and the carriage (a reserved seat will cost less than a compartment or SV) plays a big role.

Where to buy tickets

The travel document can be purchased at the Yerevan station ticket office.
You can also register on the SCR website, you just need to go through the registration procedure. You can buy tickets forty days before departure.

From Yerevan to Tbilisi by car

If public transport is not an option, then you will definitely enjoy traveling by car.
You can create a route in different ways.

• If you don’t plan to visit any interesting places along the way, but just want to quickly get to the Georgian capital, then you should go through Spitak and Alaverdi. It will be about 280 km, you can drive it in five hours.
• If you want to get a lot of emotions and take interesting photos against the backdrop of incredibly beautiful landscapes, then I recommend traveling through Sevan (where the legendary lake is located), Dilijan (a resort town with interesting historical buildings, cute streets, located in the mountains) and Alaverdi. Of course, you will spend about six hours on the trip, perhaps more, but it will be worth it.
• You can also go through Gyumri, but it takes a long time.

There are toll roads in Armenia. But only drivers of cars with foreign license plates pay (the cost of travel for 15 days is 10,000 Armenian drams (1,500 Russian rubles). In Georgia, the highways are free for everyone. The cost of fuel in both countries is almost the same, in Armenia - from 450 drams per 1 liter (65 Russian rubles), in Georgia - from 2.5 lari (63 Russian rubles).

Bottom line

By the way, if there are a lot of tourists traveling, for example, you are traveling in a group, then you can take a taxi. It will cost from 40,000 Armenian drams (5,800 Russian rubles). Major, of course, but if you don’t mind, you can use it. :)
I got to Tbilisi by train, because this option is not very expensive and quite comfortable.

Here are some ways to go back from Yerevan to Tbilisi– we’ll tell you in this post.

There are three ways to get from Yerevna to Tbilisi:

Train schedule from Yerevan to Tbilisi in 2019

1. On even days at 21.30, train 372 departs from Yerevan to Tbilisi, arriving in the morning at 7.50. Price:
Reserved seat: 7680 – 8780 AMD (about 16 EUR)
Coupe: 12120 – 13260 AMD (about 24 EUR)
CB: 17040 AMD (about 31 EUR)
* commission 2000 AMD in case of purchasing a ticket via the Internet

2. In 2016, there was train 201, Batumi-Yerevan, passing through Tbilisi, departing at 22.16. But at the moment there is no information on it. You can check the availability of the train on the official website of the South Caucasus Railways http://www.ukzhd.am/ru.html
Trains are suitable for those who are willing to pay a little more and are also comfortable with traveling at night (some simply cannot sleep on trains).

from Yerevan to Tbilisi by bus

There are actually several of them, the auto companies Avazar Bus, Arm-Bus and Arm-Tour - all come from Russia. Here is the schedule (check before your trip):

1.30-8.00, Mon. and Fri.
03.00-11.00 Sat.
06.00-14.00 Mon., Wed., Sat.
8.00-15.00 Thursday, Sat. and all

Tickets can be purchased from the relevant bus companies and at the Kikilia bus station, which is located on Iskakova Street. The downside is the difference between departures at 8.00 and 1.30, you can’t leave during the day.

from Yerevan to Tbilisi by collective taxi

At a price comparable to a train and bus, such taxis will take you to the capital of Georgia in 5-6 hours - less than all other types of transport. It is worth catching them at the railway and bus stations, and - most importantly - they also depart during the day. The downside is that you have to wait for the taxi to pick up; we had to wait about an hour.

How we got there.

The option with a collective taxi suited us, since we wanted to visit and leave Georgia in one day, so we will talk about our experience. The car was a seven-seater, we crossed the border perfectly. How else can you get through it if the border guard immediately greets you: “Hello, dear!” Arriving in Tbilisi at about 19.30, we not only managed to have a great dinner at a Georgian eatery, but also were invited to the next table by warm and hospitable Georgians, who treated us to Georgian dishes and wine and sang songs with a guitar.

Finally, that same evening we had a great time with our coach Henrik, who hosted us in Tbilisi, an amazingly charming Swede who interned at the local Swedish consulate and had previously traveled to many countries.

So a taxi “rules” if you want to leave not in the evening or in the morning, but at the same time have time to do a lot of interesting things.

The next day we went to Stalin's homeland.

Detailed instructions on how to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi and vice versa by train, taxi, bus, plane. Ticket prices, travel schedules, travel routes by car, useful sites.

You can get from Yerevan to Tbilisi (and in the opposite direction) by plane (from 5,400 rubles), by train (from 860 rubles), by bus (1,690 rubles), by minibus (877 rubles) or by transfer and taxi (from 6,000 rubles).

Briefly about the route:

• Distance between Tbilisi and Yerevan: 280 kilometers.
• Travel time: from 30 minutes.
• Cost: from 7,000 Armenian drams (860 rubles).

Airplane

What is the fastest way to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi? Of course, by plane. This method is the most expensive, but also the most comfortable.

Flights between cities are operated by the Georgian airline Georgian Airways. Flights operate daily except Thursday.

Departure time depends on the day of the week (either around 7-8am or around 5-6pm). Travel time is 30 minutes.

The cost of a Yerevan-Tbilisi ticket is about 5,600 rubles for a one-way flight and about 10,700 rubles for a round-trip flight.

To find inexpensive tickets between Armenia and Georgia, use the search engines Skyscanner and Aviasales - they compare prices from all agencies and display them on one page.

The train is convenient because it travels through the night - that is, it departs in the evening and arrives in the morning. Wi-Fi is available on the train's premises. Along the way, the train stops in Gyumri, Vanadzor and other cities.

Train schedule Yerevan – Tbilisi from October:

Prices for train tickets Yerevan – Tbilisi:

• reserved seat: 7160 drams (860 rubles), children's ticket (5-10 years old) – 4970 drams (600 rubles);
• coupe: 11,300 drams (1,350 rubles), children’s – 7,640 drams (915 rubles)
• in NE: 20,210 drams (2,400 rubles), children's ticket – 12,840 drams (1,540 rubles).

You can buy a train ticket at the station ticket office 40 days before the train departs. Ticket offices at the railway station in Yerevan are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. In theory, you can buy a ticket on the website of the South Caucasus Railway, but it does not always work correctly and many will have difficulty purchasing tickets online.

In the summer (usually from June to September) this train is replaced by train No. 202 “Armenia”, which runs on the route “Yerevan - Batumi”. Departure from Yerevan – at 15:30, arrival in Tbilisi – 00:12. Travel time is about 10.5 hours.

Bus

An alternative option is to travel from Yerevan to Tbilisi by bus. Communication between the cities is provided by the companies “Ass Bass” and “Arius-Tour”.

In this case, direct communication is most often carried out by minibuses. If you want to get to Tbilisi or Yerevan by big bus, you need to buy tickets for routes like “Yerevan – Krasnodar” or “Yerevan – Rostov-on-Don”.

Departure in Yerevan – from the station on Arshakunyats Avenue, 34/13. In Tbilisi, the bus arrives either at the Ortachala bus station or at the Avlabari metro station.

Buses run from 08:30 to 19:00 at intervals of 2-2.5 hours. Travel time: 5.5-6 hours. Ticket price: 1140-1470 rubles (depending on departure time)

Buses from Tbilisi depart at 09:20 and arrive in Yerevan at 16:20. Tickets cost from 1224 rubles.

View exact bus schedule Yerevan – Tbilisi and you can buy a ticket in advance on the website, which collects offers from different bus companies. You must have a printed ticket and passport with you.

Photo: © Nelson Fernando Sotelo Castro / flickr.com

Minibus

By minibus you can get from Yerevan to Tbilisi and back cheaper, but with less comfort.

Minibuses depart from Yerevan central bus station daily from 07:00 to 14:00. At the same time, minibuses leave for Tbilisi only when the cabin is completely filled with passengers, so sometimes you have to wait a long time for departure.

Travel time is about 6 hours. The fare costs 7,000 drams (830 rubles).

Transfer and taxi Yerevan – Tbilisi

A comfortable way to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi by land is from one city to another. This can be done, for example, through a trusted Russian company.

The transfer is more expensive than other types of ground transport, but has a number of advantages:

• You will be picked up directly from your hotel and taken to your desired location in Tbilisi - no need to get to the airport or train station yourself.
• Travel time – about 4 hours (may be longer due to queues at the border)
• If you have a lot of luggage, it is more convenient to travel by car than by public transport.
• This is the only way to get from Tbilisi to Yerevan (or vice versa) if you need to leave late in the evening or at night.

Prices for transfer Yerevan – Tbilisi start from 6100 rubles per car for 4 people (you can also order transport for 7-19 passengers).

Thus, it is better to book a transfer if you are traveling to Georgia with a group or traveling with children - per person the cost will not be much higher than a bus or train.

If you wish, you can also use taxi services (they can be found near the train station or bus stations), but the price will be about the same, and the transfer will still be more reliable.

Photo: Yerevan taxi © MY2200 / flickr.com

Car rental

If you are traveling on your own, you can rent a car and drive it to Tbilisi or Yerevan on your own.

It is convenient to compare rental prices on the website - it finds offers from all companies and displays them on one page, allowing you to choose the appropriate option. In Georgia, you can rent a car through a service that receives good reviews from tourists (it does not yet work in Armenia).

The cost of renting a car in Armenia and Georgia starts from 1,140 rubles per day (the longer the rental period, the cheaper). Before booking, be sure to check that the rental conditions allow cross-border crossing - not all rental companies allow this.

Those who love to travel around the Caucasus often have to decide how to move from one region to another or even how to move between different countries. The most popular route is from Yerevan to Tbilisi and back. The distance between both cities is about three hundred kilometers. But Russian citizens do not need a visa to Georgia and Armenia. How to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi? Train, minibus, taxi, own car, traveling with a companion - all these options are available to tourists. Now we will look at which one is the most affordable, fastest and most comfortable. The article will also pay attention to how to get from the capital of Georgia to the sea.

Taxi, fellow travelers, plane

How to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi by taxi? Drivers are easy to find at the train station and are always happy to take on such a trip. But at the same time, you will have to wait until the taxi is completely full - they will not take you alone, unless you agree to pay for the entire car. The BlaBlaCar website offers a lot of options for inexpensive travel to the Georgian capital with Armenian travel companions. If you believe the reviews, it is completely safe. There are three between Armenia and Georgia: Sadakhlo, through which all minibuses and regular buses usually go, Guguti and Zhdanovi. There was once an opportunity to take the picturesque road along the Azerbaijani border, but now, due to the conflict situation between the two countries, it is closed. There is another option to fly by plane. Georgian Airlines flies between these two cities. True, flights operate only twice a week, once a day, and you also have to somehow get to the airports. The flight will take about an hour.

How to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi by train

The train departs to the capital of Georgia on even numbers. It departs from the main Yerevan railway station. number 372. He has been traveling for a little over ten hours. The fact is that at some stations - especially on the border between two states - it costs more than an hour. These are Ayrum and Sadakhlo. The line goes in a circle - through Armavir, Gyumri, Spitak, Vanadzor. That's why the train takes so long on the way. You can buy a ticket for this train both at the ticket office and on the website of the South Caucasus Railway. But they only sell them one way. When purchasing tickets online, you are required to enter your passport details. This train is a night train, so it is quite convenient for them to travel on the Yerevan - Tbilisi route. The train schedule is suitable for tourists. The train leaves at half past nine in the evening and arrives in Tbilisi at about seven in the morning.

Bus

How to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi by minibus? They go often, from nine in the morning to two in the afternoon. Dispatched upon completion. The final stop of minibuses in Yerevan is the Central Bus Station (Admiral Isakov Avenue). They go pretty fast. In seven hours you are already in Tbilisi. And the cost is not very high. But minibuses travel during the daytime, which may not be very comfortable in the heat. Tickets are purchased from the driver immediately before departure. Regular buses come from Russia, they only pass through Yerevan and Tbilisi. They go to Odessa, Rostov. Buses usually leave around six in the evening. But, as a rule, there are no tickets for them.

Return trip

What is the easiest way to get from Tbilisi to Yerevan? Of course, by train or minibus. Just keep in mind that the train goes to the capital of Armenia on odd dates. You can go back by minibus. They depart from Ortachala bus station every hour. Their schedule is the same as from Yerevan - from morning to lunch. There are minibuses from the railway station in Tbilisi. There are five flights a day from there, but until five in the evening. Taxis to Tbilisi stop at Ortachala station. Departure is the same - when the entire car is full. So you will have to either look for travel companions or pay more.

Cost of travel by different modes of transport

How to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi and spend as little money as possible? Let's now look at the different price options. The cost of a train ticket depends on the comfort of the seat. For example, a trip in a reserved seat carriage will cost you at least 10 thousand drams (1,200 rubles), in a compartment car - 16,000 (1,930 rubles), and in a sleeping car - 20,000 (2,400 rubles). Children can travel with a 45 percent discount. A taxi (the whole car) will cost you 40-60 thousand drams (4800-7240 rubles), depending on how you agree. Therefore, it is better to cooperate with other travelers to make it cheaper. A minibus is the cheapest way to travel. The ticket price for it is 7 thousand drams (850 rubles). The plane will cost 60 lari (1,430 rubles).

How can we then get to the sea?

Many people are interested in how to get from Tbilisi to Batumi quickly and comfortably. This can be done by plane. The flight takes only 45 minutes, and the airport is located five kilometers from the center of the Georgian capital. Tourists also recommend the train. If you are coming from Yerevan not just to see the capital of Georgia, but for a seaside holiday, then know that in the summer there is a special train directly to Batumi. He leaves at half past four in the afternoon and arrives at sea at seven in the morning. But if you prefer to get to Batumi from Tbilisi, then it is more comfortable and cheaper to take a bus from Ortachala station. Flights are operated by Metro Georgia. The buses are comfortable, with Wi-Fi, monitors on every seat. They travel to Batumi for six and a half hours. There are a total of five buses a day. Tickets for these can be purchased online. Cost - 25 lari (about 600 rubles).

You can also get to the sea by minibus. They depart from the Didube metro station. Minibuses travel to Batumi about the same time, and the cost is the same, but the level of comfort is much lower. There are also high-speed trains running from Tbilisi railway station to Adjara. They depart three times a day and travel to Batumi in just over five hours. The ticket price depends on the class of carriage. It can cost from 19 to 26 lari (450-620 rubles).

Best route

Do you prefer your own car and are thinking about how to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi? The route can be laid in two ways. The first of them is direct and fast, and the second has stops, but is picturesque and promises adventure. If you go through Spitak and Alaverdi, then in about five hours you will find yourself in Tbilisi. Yes, and you will win in terms of mileage. Or you can also go through the resort of Dilijan. If your goal is not to get to Tbilisi as quickly as possible, then you will be happy to stop there, take photos, and visit local attractions. Experienced travelers advise first to take the M4 highway towards Sevan, drive along the lake and climb to the Semenovsky Pass. There you will have to dive into a small tunnel, and you will find yourself in an area deservedly nicknamed “little Switzerland”. There are beautiful forests and villages here, and along the route there are ancient Russian villages of Molokans-Old Believers. After Vanadzor, narrow gorges, cliffs, mountain rivers and ancient monasteries (Sanain, Haghpat and others) await you. Therefore, traveling in your own car is probably the most picturesque way to move from one capital to another. In addition, it gives a feeling of freedom.

In order to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi, we decided to use the most convenient, in my opinion, way - the Yerevan-Tbilisi train. Why is it the most convenient? Let me explain, firstly, we saved on accommodation, and secondly, we reached our destination comfortably.

Where is. The railway station is located on David of Sasun Square.

Fare: A ticket for one adult in a reserved seat costs 8,600 drams, a child’s ticket costs a little more than half the cost of a full ticket, I can’t say for sure, the ticket has not been preserved. Bedding is included in the ticket price. Everything on the tickets is duplicated in Russian, which is very convenient.

Schedule and departure time: The Yerevan-Tbilisi train runs only on even days, departs in the evening at 21:30, and arrives at 07:50, travel time is 10 hours.

I would like to note that the railway station in Yerevan is very beautiful on the outside and deserted on the inside. There is a hall with a domed ceiling, there is even an echo :)

And on the station square there is a monument to the hero of the folk epic David of Sassoun. This hero personifies the defender of the Armenian people. It was created in 1959, the height of the monument is 12 meters. It looks very impressive.

The train is the same as our trains, although the bed linen leaves much to be desired. It’s clean, don’t think anything of it, but it’s so washed out that you can see everything through it, in short, it’s high time to send it to rags. The second point is that the conductors kept the toilet at the beginning of the car closed the whole way, for themselves; they had to use only one, at the end of the car. And the third point, one of the conductors allowed himself to smoke on the train.

As for crossing the Armenian-Georgian border by train, there are no problems here. First, the train stopped at the Armenian border, Armenian border guards went through all the carriages, collected our passports, affixed stamps, and processed our departure from Armenia right on the train (the border guard was with a special laptop). Then the train stopped at the Georgian border, where the Georgian border guards collected all the passports and took them somewhere, then the Georgian customs officers came and asked to show things and open the bags. People who were completely suspicious, in their opinion, were thoroughly searched and all their belongings were taken out of their bags. After the inspection, the border guards returned and returned the passports with stamps. In principle, nothing extraordinary, the only inconvenience is that crossing the border with all the checks and so on occurs between 2-4 am.

Arriving in Tbilisi from the platform, you find yourself in the station building, which consists of several floors and inside looks like some kind of shopping center, and from the outside there is nothing particularly memorable. And all because inside on the ground floor there are stores of famous and unknown brands. On the other floors there are also some offices or something similar. When you go out into the city, you immediately come across a cloud of taxi drivers, the general impression is of bustle and noise. In general, in our understanding there is no station as such.

It’s ridiculous that such a huge building didn’t even have space for storage lockers; they are located on the platform not far from the main building. True, it’s hard to call it storage lockers. Some kind of barn-type tiny room divided into 2 parts. The donated items are stored in one room, and in the other there is an uncle who takes them for safekeeping. In the same room he eats, watches TV, in short, lives. The general impression is that it is necessary to at least make repairs, wash everything, clean it and hire a more presentable-looking employee.

If we compare the Yerevan and Tbilisi railway stations, we liked the Yerevan station more.

Services we use on our independent travels:

Search and purchase of air tickets
Aviasales is number 1 for us among all search engines, we use only it because it is convenient and reliable, without any pitfalls.
One Two Trip! - an amazingly convenient search engine in which you can find and purchase not only air tickets, but also railway tickets. In addition, it is also easy to book a hotel or hotel there. By clicking on our link you will receive an additional 500 rubles discount on the purchase of an air ticket!

Search and book accommodation

1. - a world-famous search engine where you can find and book accommodation from guesthouses to luxury villas. Have used it many times and highly recommend it.
2. Hotellook is a service for searching and booking accommodation from the creators of Aviasales.
3. Airbnb - booking and renting apartments, rooms, houses from local residents. Tested on ourselves, everything is honest, we recommend. When booking using our link, you will receive a bonus of RUB 2,100, which you can use to pay for your accommodation. To do this, you will need to create your AirBnB account.

Car rental
- an excellent alternative to traveling on intercity buses and trains across Russia. Prices are most often lower than public transport, and comfort is significantly higher.

Service aggregator for car rentals from local rental companies. You choose a car as if at a local rental, but through the service, booking with a bank card, from which only 15% of the cost is charged. The guarantor is MyRentacar. You can choose not only the car class, but also a specific car, down to the body color and radio type. But most importantly, the prices on this service are the same as if you went to your local rental company yourself!