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How to get from Yerevan to Tbilisi: train, bus, taxi. How to get from Tbilisi to Yerevan and back Do minibuses go from Tbilisi to Yerevan?

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:

Price of 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 1,224 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.

The distance between the capitals of Armenia and Georgia is 300 km. It’s very close, so no one flies by plane from Yerevan to Tbilisi (travel from and to the airport and check-in for the flight will take more time than traveling by land). Although Yerevan-Tbilisi planes exist - Georgian Airways flies, the travel time is 30 minutes, such a ticket costs approximately 5,500 rubles ($89 or 43,000 drams). Does anyone really fly on them? For what?

Usually all tourists who want to get from Armenia to Georgia use one of three options:

  1. Night train Yerevan-Tbilisi
  2. Taxi
  3. Minibus

Personally, we used the route taxi option, and we will talk about our experience in detail in the last paragraph. But first, let’s look at other possible options for how to get to Tbilisi from Yerevan.

Note! If Russian citizens can enter Armenia with a Russian passport (only through airports), then to enter Georgia Russian citizens definitely need a passport! Therefore, if you arrived on a Russian passport and do not have a foreign passport with you, traveling to Georgia will not work.

You can get from Yerevan to Tbilisi by train. On even days it departs from the capital of Armenia to the capital of Georgia train No. 372. Departure from Yerevan - 21:30, arrival in Tbilisi - 07:50 the next day.

The distance between Yerevan and Tbilisi is 287 km. Yerevan-Tbilisi road on the map:

Ticket price for the Yerevan-Tbilisi train:

Train schedule:

To be honest, I don’t understand why we should spend so much time (the whole night!) on such a move - if we drive along the road it will only take 6 hours. In addition, the price of a train ticket is higher than a minibus ticket. But, perhaps, it is fundamentally important for someone to travel by train, and not along serpentine roads.

Train Yerevan-Batumi

In the summer season there is also a train from Yerevan to Batumi - that is, you can go directly from the capital of Armenia to the Georgian Black Sea coast. Many Armenian families spend weekends and vacations in Batumi: after all, small Armenia is landlocked, and often Batumi is the only coast that Armenians see in their lives (salaries in Armenia are very low, and it is impossible to afford a vacation in some Greece few can afford). And they go there, of course, on this train.

Train Yerevan-Batumi, Armenian Railways

The train from Yerevan to Batumi takes only 15 hours, the distance between the cities is 600 km:

Prices for train tickets Yerevan-Batumi:

By taxi

If you don’t want to sit in a cramped minibus or shake on a train all night, you can use the services of private cabs. Precisely private, because Official taxis (with checkered numbers and yellow numbers) are prohibited from crossing the border from Armenia to Georgia. The cost of a trip from Yerevan to Tbilisi by car with a driver will be quite high 30,000 drams ($65).

We heard about cases when tourists agreed on a Yerevan-Tbilisi transfer with an official taxi (with yellow numbers), taxi drivers agreed (not to mention the fact that they could not cross the border), and when they were prohibited from crossing the border with Georgia, they acted surprised eyes and swore that they did not know such a rule. They did not take the full agreed amount of money, but honestly, how much would a taxi from Yerevan to the border with Georgia cost - about 30 thousand drams. It is still profitable for them, but it is inconvenient for tourists - they have to waste a lot of time searching for a taxi from the border of Georgia and Armenia to Tbilisi.

Border checkpoint between Armenia and Georgia

You can find a private cab driver yourself (if you know where to look), or come to the Yerevan bus station and ask about the dispatcher’s service. There are drivers with cars (not taxis) at the bus station, they will call them and you will be provided with transport.

After we lived in the capital of Armenia for a week, explored and celebrated, on January 2 we decided to go to the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. We decided to go by minibus: for us, this option turned out to be the most profitable in terms of both money and travel time. To be precise, it’s not exactly minibuses, in the usual sense, that depart from Yerevan to Tbilisi, but a 7-seater minivan.

Our minivan, in which we survived the 6-hour road from Yerevan to Tbilisi

To get on a minibus (for convenience, this car will be called that), you need to come to the Kilikia bus station, which is located not far from the famous Ararat cognac factory.

Kilikia bus station on the map:

Kilikia bus station from outside:

Quite Soviet

Bus station inside:

There is emptiness inside the bus station

At the Kilikia bus station there are several travel agencies that organize trips from Yerevan to Ukraine, Moscow, Pyatigorsk, Vladikavkaz, Minvody, Krasnodar, Armavir, Samara (hello, homeland!), Saratov, Rostov and other cities (note: on the leftmost sign are indicated buses even to Syzran! I didn’t think they knew about it outside the Samara region):

At the bus station you need to find a window with a dispatcher and say that you want to go to Tbilisi. It will show you the bus schedule:

Minibus schedule Yerevan-Tbilisi

All you have to do is choose the right time. We did not find any large buses traveling from Yerevan to Tbilisi.

The cost of travel in a minivan for 7 passengers on the Yerevan-Tbilisi route is: 7000 dram ($14.5) per person.

How is the route from Yerevan to Tbilisi

During the 6-hour journey, the minibus makes one stop for the toilet and a snack. We left Yerevan, where there was not a drop of snow, drove into the mountains, and found ourselves in a real winter fairy tale:

Stop on the way from Yerevan to Tbilisi

A shop-café where you could drink coffee, have a snack and stretch your legs

Inside the store-cafe: right next to the cash register there is a real tandoor oven in which flatbreads are baked for sale. Ordinary Armenian life.

This is the first time I’ve seen such a machine where you have to take out not only soft toys, but also phone covers. Can they even get hooked on this piece of iron?

The Yerevan-Tbilisi road is quite difficult, as it runs along a mountain serpentine road. We usually don’t get motion sickness (unless Vanya is with us, and we went on a trip to Armenia and Georgia together), but for those who have a problem with the vestibular system, it’s probably really better to go by train. What the Yerevan-Tbilisi road looks like on the map:

About 4 hours after leaving, we arrived at the border of Armenia and Georgia - at the Bagratashen-Sadakhlo customs checkpoint .

The minivan dropped off all the passengers, and they also had to pick up their suitcases. We walked inside the first building - the Armenian border checkpoint, and received a stamp about leaving Armenia. Then, again on foot and with suitcases, we reached the second building - the Georgian side, received entry stamps in our passports and went to look for our minibus.

The border point between Armenia and Georgia is Bagratashen-Sadakhlo. Georgian side.

Passing both borders took approximately 20 minutes. We crossed the borders longer than the rest of our fellow travelers in our minivan, since all the others were citizens of Armenia or Georgia, and for them there are simplified entry rules at the border.

After the border, we had another 2 hours of travel ahead, which flew by very quickly. Well, that's all, hello Tbilisi!

The Tbilisi-Yerevan route is quite popular among tourists exploring the Caucasus region. The distance between the two capitals is small and can easily be covered in one day. Traveling from Tbilisi to Yerevan will find several options for how to get there: by train, by bus or minibus, by taxi or your own car. There is the option of traveling by plane, but this way you will not be able to enjoy the roadside beauties of these countries.

Helpful information

The distance between Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, is approximately 300 km.

To visit both countries, citizens of the Russian Federation only need a valid passport; no visas are required.

But despite the simplified entry rules, when crossing the border between Armenia and Georgia you will have to go through border control. Judging by the reviews of travelers, it does not take very long, about half an hour. There are only three transitions:

  • The main one through which all buses and cars go is Bagratashen-Sadakhlo
  • Tashir-Guguti
  • Bavra-Zhdanovi is located far from the capitals, it connects the Armenian Gyumri and the Georgian Ninotsminda.

It is also worth noting that countries have different national currencies. As of May 2017, the exchange rate: 100 Armenian drams equals 13 rubles, and 1 Georgian lari costs 25.6 rubles.

Train

Train No. 372 runs between Yerevan and Tbilisi. It departs in the afternoon on even days of the calendar, and back on odd days. Travel time is 10 hours 20 minutes, but since the train is night, this time will fly by. The train does not take the shortest route, but makes a detour of several kilometers, calling at Gyumri, Vanadzor and other cities, as well as making hour-long stops at border points - this results in a rather long travel time. In the summer, a train departs from the Yerevan station to Batumi, also passing through Tbilisi.

The cheapest tickets for reserved seat seats will cost approximately 8,000 drams, compartments - 12,000 drams, and the price of a ticket to SV starts from 17,000 drams. You can view the schedule, check availability of train tickets and reserve your seat on the website of the South Caucasus Railway, which is a subsidiary of Russian Railways. To buy a ticket, you must register on the website and enter your passport information when placing your order. Or you can purchase it at your local train station. As tourists who bought tickets write in reviews, this type of transport is not particularly popular in the Caucasus region, so there are almost always empty seats on train No. 372 and local trains.

One of the advantages of traveling this way is the relative ease of crossing the border. Border guards themselves enter the carriage and carry out all the necessary procedures on the spot; and this action takes 1-2 hours. Armenians pass through faster than Georgians, who like to inspect the train.

Traveling by car

If you travel from Tbilisi to Yerevan by your own car, then you can choose two routes for your journey. One of them runs along the M4 highway past the picturesque Lake Sevan. Taking a different route, you will have to turn into the city of Spitak. Both routes connect in the city of Vanadzor, and then the path goes through the Bagratashen-Sadakhlo border checkpoint. It takes on average 5 hours to get from one capital to another, if you don’t make intermediate stops.

The navigator can give you directions from Yerevan to Tbilisi through Azerbaijan, but you shouldn’t trust it - against the backdrop of worsening relations, the border between these countries is closed.

You can rent a car, and this service is more developed in Georgia than in Armenia. A day's rent will start from 1,200 rubles per day. It is necessary to check whether it will be allowed to cross the border with this car, or request the preparation of the appropriate document from the rental company.

In Armenia, you need to spend a little to travel by car. At the entrance, border guards will have to pay 14,000 drams for the import of a vehicle, plus issue an Armenian compulsory motor liability insurance (about 4,000 drams for a mandatory minimum of 10 days). When leaving, they demand 2000 drams for “closing”. In Georgia, there are no such taxes for transport.

The quality of the road surface on the Georgian side is slightly better than on the Armenian side. But the most important advantage of this path is the beautiful views. Some people may find the landscape in Georgia a bit boring, because it consists mainly of bare steppe. But after crossing the border, the view outside the car windows changes. The road runs past the mines near the city of Alaverdi, past the UNESCO World Heritage monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin, past numerous green gorges.

If after Vanadzor you turn onto the route described above to Lake Sivan, what the Armenians themselves lovingly call their “Switzerland” begins: the serpentine road meanders between low mountains, covered with dense green forest, opening up marvelous views. You will also pass through the Semenovsky Pass, dug by Russian soldiers in the 19th century. Along the way, you can even stop for a while at the Dilijan resort.

But don’t think that the option through Spitak will be less exciting. On this path you will pass through the stunningly beautiful Lori Gorge above the Debed River, as well as through the Spitak Pass.

To Yerevan from Tbilisi by taxi

If you don’t have your license and want to travel this route by car, you can order a taxi or car transfer.

The transfer must be booked in advance; experienced tourists recommend the Kiwitaxi website. An undoubted plus is that you will be picked up from your designated place, you will not need to look for a stop in the city or drive across the entire city to the pick-up point. This option is also more convenient if you have a large amount of luggage or if you need to leave at a time that is unusual for other transport, for example, in the middle of the night. The cost of a transfer starts from 6,500 rubles; if you are traveling with a group of 4 people, this price will be well worth it.

There are always many taxi drivers near bus and train stations, ready to take such a short route. They can be easily identified by the taxi sign on the car. You will spend the same amount of money as on the transfer. Among the taxi drivers you can also find excellent guides who will show you the sights along the way and can take you to various interesting places.

In the Caucasus region there is such a curious phenomenon as a public taxi. The driver takes four passengers into the cabin, reducing the fee for each accordingly. It turns out to be a small minibus, only more comfortable. For a group of travelers this would be the best option.

Bus and minibuses

There is no direct bus from Yerevan to Tbilisi. Bus routes from Yerevan to some Russian cities such as Rostov-on-Don or Krasnodar, as well as to Odessa, pass through Tbilisi. You can find the departure schedule on the Internet.

Minibuses are usually based at railway stations as well as airports, but the main starting points are the Tbilisi Ortachala bus station and the Kilikia bus station in Yerevan. There is no exact schedule as such; they depart as the cabin fills up, approximately every hour or two. The fare is on average 30 lari or 7000 drams, travel time is the same as 6 hours by car.

If you choose this travel option, be prepared for a long trip in not very comfortable conditions:

  • The waiting time for fellow travelers may be lengthy. You can find stories of tourists who boarded a minibus at 9 am, but it only started moving after noon;
  • Often such cars are not equipped with air conditioning, and not everyone can withstand a journey of several hours under the scorching sun;
  • The allotted space for luggage may be small, so bags can take up space in the aisle, under your feet, etc., reducing the already cramped space.

Despite all the shortcomings, minibuses remain the cheapest and fastest way to travel on the road between beautiful Yerevan and Tbilisi.