Travel to CIS countries

Travel to Georgia

Georgia (Georgian: საქართველო, transliterated as Sakartvelo)  is a country in the Caucasus. It lies at the eastern end of the Black Sea, with Turkey and Armenia to the south, Azerbaijan to the east, and Russia to the north, over the Caucasus Mountains.

Cities

• Tbilisi — the beautiful and interesting capital, Georgia's largest and most cosmopolitan city
• Akhaltsikhe — the small capital of Samtskhe-Javakheti is near two fabulously beautful tourist destinations: Vardzia and the Sapara Monastery
• Batumi — the palm tree lined capital city of Ajara on the Black Sea, near some good swimming
• Borjomi — a picturesque small city with famous mineral water, a national park, and a summer palace of the Russian Romanov dynasty
• Gori — Stalin's hometown, located next to yet another cave city
• Kutaisi — Georgia's second city and the historic capital of ancient Colchis, home to two UNESCO World Heritage sites
• Mtskheta — the historic former capital of Georgia, the center of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and another UNESCO World Heritage site is an easy day trip from Tbilisi
• Sukhumi — the capital of Abkhazia is a beautiful beach resort up against the mountains, but has suffered from the war and economic embargo
• Telavi — the capital of Kakheti is a good jumping off point for nearby wineries, castles, and monasteries

  Get in

  Passports, Visas, and other documents

  For citizens of Ukraine, US, Canada, EU, Japan and Israel visa will not be required upon entry. A valid passport is sufficient.

  Citizens of some other countries can apply for an "urgent entry visa" upon arrival at Tbilisi airport (35 USD cash).

  See the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website for more information. http://www.mfa.gov.ge/?sec_id=66&lang_id=ENG

  By plane

  There are flights to Tbilisi from a number of European, North American and Asian cities, including London (bmi http://www.flybmi.com), Paris (Georgian Airlines), Vienna (Austrian Airlines), Kiev (Georgian Airlines), Koln/Bonn (GermaniaExpress http://www.gexx.de), Munich (Lufthansa), Athens (Georgian Airlines), Riga (airBaltic, http://www.airbaltic.com), Istanbul (Turkish Air). Flights from Prague by Czech Airlines were canceled; however you can still fly from/to Prague via Georgian Airlines. Just recently, KLM also canceled their flights to Tbilisi but just as in Prague case you can fly with Georgian Airlines from/to Amsterdam. Belavia (Belarusian National Airlines) is now offering direct flights from Minsk to Tbilisi at great rates (www.belavia.by). Please note that Georgian Airlines (AirZena) has many flights from many different cities. http://www.airzena.com/. See also http://www.airbaltic.com for cheap flights to many European destinations.

  May 26, 2007 saw the reopening of the airport in Batumi. Turkish Airlines http://www.thy.com flights run every day between Batumi and Istanbul. Other destinations serviced by the Batumi airport include Kharkov and Kiev. The Batumi airport is located about 10km south of the city center and is accessible by marshrutka and taxi.

  Georgian Airways resumed flights to Moscow. The flights will be operated daily (at 18:30). (Besides Moscow regular flights will be launched to Saint Petersburg and Sochi).

   By bus

  There are direct bus services from Istanbul, Turkey, which stop at various places on the route and terminate in Tbilisi. There are also several non-stop bus services between Tbilisi and Baku, Azerbaijan.

  [edit] By minibus

  There are many minibuses (marshrutka) that operate international routes to and from cities and even large towns in Georgia. Minibuses run between Georgia and Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, and Iraq. In Tbilisi these routes usually originate and terminate at bus stations and the Didube market. Outside Tbilisi, minibus routes may stop at either bus stations or central locations (town squares).

  By train

  There are train services from Baku, Azerbaijan which stop at various places on the route and terminate in Tbilisi. Note that the "BP train" has been canceled. Construction of railroad linking Georgian town of Akhalkalaki to Turkish city of Kars is underway and will be finished somewhere in 2009. This will allow for direct link from Tbilisi to Istanbul and further to Europe.

   By boat

  There are boat services to Batumi and Poti from Istanbul and Odessa. At the time of writing the Turkish Black Sea port of Trabzon was closed to passenger services. Be also aware that Georgian port of Sukhumi is closed for any cargo or passenger boats apart from those with humanitarian purposes. All vessels going to Sukhumi must undergo border check with Georgian coast guard in nearby port of Poti.