ChiefNWA

Has anyone taken the overnight train from Tbilisi to Yerevan? Just looking for thoughts on it. Sounds like you can easily book a ticket day of departure.

Palal

The drive is about 5-6 hours - shared taxis depart from Avlabari and the Central Bus Station. The train is overnight. I would advise against taking it if it's ridiculously hot outside. Border control is an hour outside of Tbilisi so you should be able to get 6-7 hours of sleep.

ChiefNWA

Thanks! I'm in the Caucasus for only 6 days. Planning two days in Baku, two in Tbilisi, one Kazbegi and one Yerevan so I'm trying to maximize my time, hence why the train seemed like a decent idea. I'm going in mid Sept, so temps appear to go down to the 60s at night, but not sure how that will translate to onboard.

There's an early morning TBS-EVN flight I could take, but seems a bit pricey for only 30 minutes gate to gate. What time do the shared taxis operate?

Palal

The flight will net you a 3-4 hr door-to-door travel time.
Shared taxis operate starting very early in the morning (say 5:30-6AM) to mid-afternoon. They leave as they fill up. You can always buy out all the seats if you want to get going quickly. I remember paying somewhere in the range of $8-12 for a seat between Tbilisi and Yerevan a couple of years ago in a regular Mercedes.

I'm sure you're aware that you should be travelling to Yerevan after you've been to Baku and not vice-versa. Otherwise expect some questioning at the Azeri border.

ChiefNWA

Thanks!

Yes, I arrive in Baku first. Rearranged my time so that I'm in Baku for 1.5 days (seems to be enough to see the main sights), 3 in Georgia (two in Kazbegi area) and 1.5 in Yerevan/surroundings.

Palal

1.5 days in Baku should be more than fine. The airport is a good 30-60 min drive from the center, depending on time of day (peak hour traffic is horrible).

Tbilisi is worth more than 2 days IMHO, just because the atmosphere is so nice you want to stay longer to appreciate it more. And have all the hachapuri in the world. And enjoy other types of Georgian food. And do a few daytrips around the city. As you can probably tell it's my favorite of the three.

There's not much to see in Yerevan itself (half a day will do it justice).
France Sq. and the Cascade
Freedom Sq Park
Republic Sq
Victory Park
Armenian Genocide Complex
A few interesting museums

However in the surrounding areas there are plenty of interesting monasteries (e.g. Garni and Geghard are a 30 min drive to the east, Saint Hripsime Church and Zvartnots monastery (in the town with the same name close to the airport) to the west (also not far from a functioning nuclear power plant that is built in a seismically active area

Sevan lake is not too far away and you'll pass it if you take a shared taxi.

Do try the Armenian cognac - I'd buy a few 20-year bottles to take back

ChiefNWA

Thanks for the recommendations! I'd love to spend more than two days in Tbilisi but the timing just doesn't work out this go around. I love going into the countryside (especially with mountains like Kazbegi), so I would've enjoyed a few more days for that too. The fare I found only worked out of EVN and not TBS, so I needed at least one day in EVN in order to make the return legs.

As for getting to EVN... I might splurge and just go with this tour company/driver I found. They want $130 to leave Tbilisi at 7AM and drop in Yerevan around 8PM, hitting a bunch of sights (plus lunch) on the way. It sounds like I'll get to see quite a bit doing that and it only ends up being marginally more than a flight would've been. I know the shared taxis are cheaper but with such limited time I feel like I might get my money's worth out of the driver. Additionally, someone might join me which would cut that $135 in half.

Palal

That doesn't sound unreasonable. You can probably negotiate this down a bit (in all three countries, pretty much everything is negotiable).

FYI the earlier you start from TBS, the less time you'll spend crossing the border.

ChiefNWA

Leaving early is certainly the preference. The driver/tour guide provided a list of places we'd stop at on the way down.
- Akhtala Monestary
- Debed Canyon (two sights)
- Haghbat Monastery
- Armenian BBQ lunch
- Sanahin
- Bakery in Aparan

I think I'm going to ask to add Sevan Lake in as well, assuming we leave early enough. Any recommendations on something to replace the bakery stop? I'd rather see some more landscape stuff than the bakery TBH.

Romanianflyer

I've taken both the train and minibus before on more than one occasion, and each has their pros and cons.

Minibuses are cramped and the least comfortable by a mile, but they are faster as the train takes an odd loop. Minibuses go through the Debed Canyon and thus the ride is also more scenic. Yet in the train, you travel overnight and thus save time if only limited time in daylight hours to visit. Private first class compartments, universally known in the Caucasus under the Russian word "svalny vagon", are comfy and very affordable.

In your particular case having limited time, the private tour indeed sounds like a good option as the monasteries in Armenia around Debed Canyon are indeed lovely to see. This way you get a better picture of what Armenia has to offer than with only a day in Yerevan.

Enjoy, and indeed bring back some of the world class brandy from Ararat or any other Armenian distiller!

muji

You're probably referring to the Georgian Airlines flight. Beware: They are known to cancel their flights, morning of flight - without notice, if they do not have what they consider to be enough passengers booked.

ChiefNWA

Exactly what I was afraid of. I have similar concerns with the Buta Air flight I'm booked on from GYD to TBS, but from what I can see, they don't seem to have a big issue with operating/on time.

ChiefNWA

Yep, more than likely going to go with the private tour. I'm staying in some pretty cheap accommodations throughout the week (averaging about $30/night), so the money I save there vs my normal spend will offset the cost.

ChiefNWA

Well, slight change of plans. Changed my return flights from Yerevan to Tbilisi instead. It was only a little extra in fare, the change fee was only $30 and frankly, I'd rather have that last half day in Tbilisi. Additionally, I was getting conflicting information regarding the transit visa through SVO (on the way to AMS). Timatic and Aeroflot stated I was eligible for TWOV coming from Armenia but the embassy (and consulate) both said that rukle changed recently and now includes all EACU states (including Armenia). Figured it wasn't worth the hassle or risk and just made sense to switch to TBS.

With that said, I still think I'll spend one of the days doing a day tour to northern Armenia to see the various monasteries, I just need to negotiate that with the driver.

KLouis

When they stop at bakeries and stores, it's because the drivers get a percentage of your purchases or, occasionally, because the bakeries or stores belong to one of their friends/family members. I'm almost certain that your driver will find a "good" excuse to stop there even if you don't like the idea.

PS "Same" for the restaurant, it's not usually picked randomly, neither due to its quality...