Armenia has borders with Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran, but is only accessible overland through Georgia and Iran. There are three border openings between Georgia and Armenia.

Bagratashen – Sadakhlo: Main road between Tbilisi and Yerevan. There is lots of transport between these 2 cities. Easy-breezy-beautiful.

Gogavan – Guguti: Border is open for international travelers. Very easy. Nice road through beech forest for the final few kilometres in Georgia.

Bavra – Ninotsminda: Border is open for international travelers. Should be hassle-free.

After spending a few hours in Tbilisi, I decided to head to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, where I had a friend awaiting my visit. There are several options to get from Tbilisi to Yerevan, be it the train, bus or shared minivan. I had originally wanted to take the overnight sleeper train to cross the border as it was the most fuss-free and I could save on one night accommodation. However, the train only runs on alternate days and so happens it was not running on that day I was supposed to leave Tbilisi.

More details about the train can be found here:

Tbilisi ► Yerevan

From late September to mid-June, the Tbilisi-Yerevan train (train 371) runs every second day, departing Tbilisi at 20:20 and arriving Yerevan at 06:55 next day.  The train reaches the Armenian border around 23:00.  If you need a visa, visas can be bought for US$6, no change is given so have the exact money, can be paid in Armenian or Georgian currency.  Check times locally.

From mid-June to late September, train 202 runs daily and starts in Batumi leaving at 15:35 and Tbilisi at 22:16 arriving Yerevan at 07:25.

It has 1st class spalny vagon 2-berth sleepers, 2nd class kupé 4-berth sleepers, 3rd class platskartny open plan sleepers.  The fare is around 75 laris (about £27 or $45) in 1st class sleeper, 56 laris (£18 or $31) in a 2nd class sleeper, 35 laris in a 3rd class sleeper.

You can buy tickets from the helpful English-speaking lady at counter 14 (more recently reported to be window 2) at Tbilisi’s main station.  You can check times at the Georgian railways website  www.railway.ge/?web=0&lang=eng, click ‘Passenger operations’ then ‘Traffic schedule’ then ‘International trains’.

Yerevan ► Tbilisi

From late September to mid-June, train number 372 leaves Yerevan at 21:30 every second day, arriving Tbilisi at 07:50 next morning.  Check times locally.

From mid-June to late September, train 201 runs daily, leaving Yerevan at 15:30 and arriving Tbilisi at 00:12 (just past midnight) and Makhindjauri (Batumi) at 07:10.

Check times locally, as times may vary – a display board at Yerevan station shows times, prices and berth availability each day for the next month.  The train has 1st class spalny vagon 2-berth sleepers, 2nd class kupé 4-berth sleepers, 3rd class platskartny open plan sleepers.  The fare is 16,880 Armenian drams (about £29 or $45) in 1st class sleeper, 12,250 Armenian drams (£21 or $32) in a 2nd class sleeper, 8,060 drams in a 3rd class sleeper. Staff at the station don’t speak English, though there may be someone able to translate or try writing down what you want.  However, apart from this buying a ticket is quick and efficient . The ticket office is on the left hand side near the platforms.

Taking the van

Since the train option was out, I decided to go with the minivan. They had one departure at 1pm which leaves outside The Central train station, so I did not have to travel to some outskirt bus station to catch the transport. I paid 35 GEL (~S$18) for the ride and got my ticket. Since I had about two hours to spare, me and my Georgian went for lunch first.

The van left punctually at 1pm and headed towards the Bagratashen – Sadakhlo border. I was the only foreigner in the vehicle. The rest were either Georgians or Armenians. We left the bustling city of Tbilisi and headed towards Rustavi, where the landscape changed to more mountainous areas. It took about 2 hours and soon we reached the border, where I was stamped out of Georgia easily. The sun was still shining brightly when we crossed the Georgian border by van and drove towards the Armenian side.

At the Armenian side, they took my e-visa letter and passport to a room to examine, and came out to give instructions to the customs official to stamp my passport. So I made it to my 78th country which is Armenia 🇦🇲! Bagratashen is a town in the Tavush Province of Armenia, on the border of Georgia, bordering the village of Sadakhlo. The town was renamed in honor of Bagrat Vardanian, Hero of Socialist Labor.

It was getting dark and the sun was setting. Across the Armenian side, I could see snowcapped mountains. The inside of the minivan was cold because the driver wound down the window to smoke. We stopped at a petrol station for a toilet break. After another 3 hours on winding mountain roads, we finally reached the capital Yerevan. There was more traffic and the van made it to the main train station where I was dropped off. At the train station, I saw the train #372 which was going to leave Yerevan and head to Tbilisi in an hour’s time. My Armenian friend met me at the railway station and brought me to his house.