Tbilisi to Yerevan 2026: Train, Marshrutka, Driver or Flight

Distance

288 km

Marshrutka

40-60 GEL

Train from

113 GEL

Driver from

488 GEL

Tbilisi and Yerevan are close enough that doing both capitals in one trip is the obvious plan, and the road between them, down through Marneuli to the Sadakhlo crossing and then up the Debed gorge past the monasteries of Alaverdi, is worth seeing in daylight at least once. This page is the transport only: what leaves from where, what it costs, how long the border really takes and which option fits which traveller. Our Georgia vs Armenia page compares the two countries, and the border crossings guide covers Sadakhlo alongside the Turkish and Russian borders. Conversions use the National Bank of Georgia rates of 17 October 2026: 2.60 GEL to the dollar and 7.18 GEL per 1,000 Armenian dram.

Which option, in one table

Marshrutka: 40 to 60 GEL from Ortachala or Avlabari

Two yards in Tbilisi send minivans to Yerevan, and since the autumn one of them has a proper timetable you can book online. Ortachala, the old Central Bus Station on Dimitri Gulia Street in the south of the city, lists its Yerevan vans on tkt.ge: on 18 October 2026 the search for Tuesday 20 October showed twelve departures between 07:30 and 19:00, all seven-seat minivans, with two operators side by side. One sells a 5-hour run for 60 GEL (about $23) at 07:30, 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 19:00; the other sells a 6-hour run for 40 GEL (about $15) at 08:00, 10:00, 12:30, 15:00 and 18:00. About 80 seats a day were on sale for every date to mid-November, so you can hold a seat from your phone the night before, which the Avlabari vans do not offer. Treat both journey times as the sellers' figures and allow six hours with the border. Ortachala has no metro; take a Bolt from the old town, or buses 350 and 371.

The Avlabari vans leave from the car park beside Avlabari metro station on Line 1, which makes them the easier yard to reach. Since summer 2026 the check-in office is in the building facing the car park rather than in front of the church, so walk out of the station, turn left and look for the parked vans. Departures are at 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 and the fare is 50 GEL (about $19), paid at the office or to the driver. These vans sell no tickets online, so the figures are from traveller reports dated May and June 2026 and we could not re-read them in October; in July and August the morning vans fill, so go the day before and pay for a seat, or arrive 30 minutes early. A 09:00 van from Station Square was listed at 35 GEL in the same reports.

Both yards' vans take the Alaverdi route through the Debed gorge rather than the Dilijan road, which is why they take about six hours to the driver's five, and they end at Kilikia, Yerevan's central bus station, west of the centre. Coming back, the "Comfort" company on the left side of Kilikia had departures at 07:30, 08:30, 10:30, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 21:30 for 8,000 dram in the May 2026 report; the last one gets you to Tbilisi in the small hours, so take the 17:00.

The overnight train: 20:00 from Tbilisi, 06:35 into Yerevan

Train 371 is the civilised option. It leaves Tbilisi Central every second evening, does the Georgian passport control at Sadakhlo and the Armenian one at Ayrum while most passengers are horizontal, and pulls into Yerevan's Sasuntsi Davit station, which has its own metro stop, in time for breakfast. The winter timetable on the South Caucasus Railway's booking portal, ticket.railway.am, read on 18 October 2026, gives 20:00 from Tbilisi and 06:35 into Yerevan, 10 hours 35 minutes with five stops; the return, train 372, leaves Yerevan at 21:00 and reaches Tbilisi at 07:05. In October it runs on the odd dates (19, 21, 23 and so on) and the return on the even ones. Georgian Railway's international page still printed 20:20 and 06:55 when we read it in September, twenty minutes later than the portal that sells the ticket, so go by the time on your ticket. In summer (14 June to 1 October) the train starts in Batumi and leaves Tbilisi later, at 22:40, arriving 08:59, as our trains guide sets out.

Buy on ticket.railway.am, the Armenian railway's English booking site, or at the desk at Tbilisi Central (level 3, 08:00 to 20:00). Georgia's tkt.ge does not sell this train: Yerevan is not in its station list and its Tbilisi to Yerevan search showed no train on 18 October 2026, only the Ortachala vans. Do not buy the ticket through a tour marketplace either; GetYourGuide listed a reseller's sleeper ticket at $189 the same day, more than the dearest compartment on the railway's own site. Sales open 40 days ahead and close two hours before departure online, 15 minutes before at the station; every passenger's passport details go on the ticket, and the portal's fare rules say the price includes bedding and accident insurance. If you want a compartment to yourselves, the portal sells all four berths of a standard compartment, or both of a lux, under one passport. There is no dining car, so bring water and food; bedding comes in a sealed pack; big bags go under the lower bunks. Passport control takes 1.5 to 2 hours in total, the Georgian side the slower, and it is now common to be asked off the train with your passport at Sadakhlo, so keep shoes and documents within reach.

A fixed-price driver, with the monasteries

For three or four people the driver is often cheaper per head than the train and turns the transfer into the best day of the trip. We book on GoTrip: the price is per car, fixed before you confirm, there is no deposit, and stops on the way are included, so an hour each at Haghpat and Sanahin, the two UNESCO-listed monasteries above the Debed gorge, costs nothing extra. The driver crosses the border with you and handles the queue. GoTrip gives the route as 288 km and about 5 hours 10 minutes of driving, plus whatever the border takes. The prices below are the cheapest cars listed on gotrip.ge on 18 October 2026; the Yerevan run has crept up 7 GEL since September, the border run has not moved.

For one or two people the same idea is sold by the seat on GetYourGuide, where transfer operators run shared vans and small-group "transfer tours" that end in Yerevan. We plan independently and have not taken these; compare pickup time, group size, how long you actually get at each monastery and the cancellation terms before you book. Note that the private option with two stops goes the Dilijan way, to Sevanavank on Lake Sevan and Haghartsin, not to Haghpat. These four were live on 18 October 2026, prices as shown in the search results and confirmed on each listing page.

Flying

Georgian Airways flies Tbilisi to Yerevan direct, and its own fare page on 18 October 2026 showed one-way samples for October from EUR 78.50 (19 October) and USD 88 (23 October) up to USD 130 (26 October), and for November from USD 107.50 to USD 116; every dated sample fell on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday. The flight itself is short, but Tbilisi's airport is 17 km east of the centre and Yerevan's Zvartnots is west of that city, so by the time you have done both airports the train has not lost much, and it has saved you a hotel night. Fly if you are connecting onward from Yerevan or genuinely have one day.

Driving yourself

Do not plan on it with a Georgian rental. Localrent's Georgia terms, which are typical, forbid taking the car out of the country, and a border guard will turn you round if the documents are not in order. In your own car the crossing is straightforward: Georgian exit control, a bridge, Armenian entry control. The road is paved throughout, via Marneuli to Sadakhlo (73 km, about 1 hour 25 minutes), then either the Debed gorge and Vanadzor or the Dilijan road to Yerevan; allow five to six hours with the border. Our car rental guide lists everything else Georgian rental contracts exclude.

The Sadakhlo border, step by step

1. 1

   Georgian exit control

   Everyone gets out of the van or car with their luggage and walks through the Georgian booths. A quick stamp for most passports.

2. 2

   Walk across

   A few hundred metres between the two posts, over the bridge to Bagratashen. Vans drive through empty and wait for their passengers on the Armenian side; drivers of private cars go through the vehicle lane.

3. 3

   Armenian entry control

   EU, UK, US, Canadian, Australian and many other passports enter visa-free for up to 180 days a year under the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs rules; others use an e-visa from evisa.mfa.am applied for at least three working days ahead. Travellers with Azerbaijani stamps report extra questions, so have your Yerevan address ready.

4. 4

   Get back in

   Allow 20 to 40 minutes on a weekday morning and one to two and a half hours on a summer weekend or a holiday, per traveller reports from 2026. The train does the same two controls standing still, which is why it spends an hour at each of Sadakhlo and Ayrum.

Coming back into Georgia, the usual entry rules apply again: most passports get a fresh year visa-free, and since 1 January 2026 the law requires foreigners to hold health insurance for the stay, which our insurance guide explains along with how often anyone is actually asked.

Mistakes to avoid

• Waiting at the church for the Avlabari van. The office moved to the building facing the car park in summer 2026. Turn left out of the metro.
• Booking the train on the wrong night. It runs every second night, the odd dates in October 2026. Check the calendar on ticket.railway.am rather than assuming your date.
• Buying the train ticket from a reseller. A marketplace listing wanted $189 for a bunk the railway's own portal sells from 15,680 dram, about 113 GEL. Book on ticket.railway.am or at the station.
• Taking a Tbilisi hire car to the border. You will be refused at the crossing and in breach of the rental contract.
• Arriving at Kilikia after dark with no dram and no plan. Change a little behind Avlabari metro before you leave, or use an ATM on arrival.
• Expecting the marshrutka to stop at Haghpat. It passes below it. Only a driver or a transfer tour stops.

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