Tbilisi to Yerevan: Train, Marshrutka, Shared Taxi and the Border

Yerevan is the trip most people add once Tbilisi has won them over: Armenia's capital sits about 270 km to the south, one border away. You can sleep through the journey on the overnight train, or do it by day in a 35 to 50 GEL marshrutka in 5 to 6 hours. Here's how each option works in 2026, where it leaves from, what happens at the border and which one I'd pick.

Tbilisi to Yerevan at a glance

Yerevan is the easiest foreign capital to reach from Tbilisi. The road runs south through Marneuli to the border at Sadakhlo, follows the Debed River into Armenia, then crosses the highlands to Yerevan, roughly 270 km in all. There are four real ways to do it: the night train, a marshrutka (a shared minivan), a shared taxi or a private driver.

Which way I'd go from Tbilisi to Yerevan

My pick is the night train whenever the date lines up. You board after dinner, you don't lose a daylight hour to the road, and you skip a night's hotel. When the calendar doesn't cooperate, I take the 09:00 marshrutka from Station Square. Here's the three-way choice as I'd make it:

• Sleeper train by night, if your date works. It runs every other night outside summer, so check the date before you plan anything else around it. The border checks happen with you on board.
• Marshrutka by day, for most budgets. 35 GEL from Station Square at 09:00, in Yerevan by mid-afternoon. It's cramped, but it's the cheapest way and the morning crossing is usually quick.
• Shared taxi, for speed. Faster than a van and dearer per seat, with fewer people to wait for at the border. Pick this if you'd pay more to arrive sooner.
• Private driver, for groups and sights. Worth it for 3 or 4 people, or if you want to stop on the way. The Debed canyon monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin are only 15 to 20 minutes from the Bagratashen border post.

The day you travel matters as much as the vehicle, because the road crossing slows to a crawl at the end of the week:

The night train from Tbilisi to Yerevan

The sleeper is the classic way between the two capitals, and in my view the best one. It leaves Tbilisi Central Station in the evening and pulls into Yerevan the next morning, a little over 10 hours later, with Mount Ararat on the horizon as you come into the city. In the low season the train has left Tbilisi at about 20:20 and reached Yerevan at about 06:55, but the times move between seasons, so check yours when you book.

From October to May it runs every other night: it leaves Tbilisi on odd-numbered dates and Yerevan on even-numbered dates. From June to September it runs every night. That means in October it's on the every-other-night timetable, so a trip on the 12th means waiting until the 13th or taking the road.

Classes on the Yerevan sleeper

The cars are the classic post-Soviet sleeper types, and your class decides how much you sleep.

A berth costs roughly two to three times the marshrutka fare, and for that you get a bed, a night's hotel saved and no border queue to stand in. I'd book kupe and ask for a lower berth, which comes with the table and the storage under the seat.

Buying train tickets

International tickets go on sale 40 days before departure. You buy them at the ticket counters inside Tbilisi Central Station or on the railway companies' websites, and you need your passport either way. The station counter is the reliable route. In summer I'd buy as soon as I knew my date, and outside summer a few days ahead is usually enough. The night train is one of the few trains in Georgia I'd plan a whole trip around.

On board the sleeper

The attendant hands out bedding once the train is moving, and there's no dining car, so bring dinner, breakfast and plenty of water from the shops around Station Square. There are two passport stops in the night, Georgian exit control and then Armenian entry, and the officers come through the cars to you. You stay in your berth for both.

Marshrutkas from Tbilisi to Yerevan

Most people go by marshrutka. They are shared Sprinters and smaller vans that leave from three places in Tbilisi, cost 35 to 50 GEL in cash and take 5 to 6 hours including the border. The fare depends on where you board, not on the van.

Station Square

My first choice. The van leaves from Station Square, the square by Tbilisi Central Station, at 09:00 for 35 GEL, and it's the most punctual of the three because it doesn't wait to fill up. It stops at Avlabari on the way out to collect more passengers.

Avlabari

Vans also leave from beside the Avlabari metro station on the left bank, scheduled at 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00, for 50 GEL. The times are a guide: the van leaves when it's full, and you can wait up to an hour for that. It's the handiest stop if you're staying in Avlabari or the Old Town, and the Tbilisi metro has a station right there.

Ortachala bus station

Ortachala, south of the center on the river, is the city's international bus station and the fallback when you've missed the morning vans. A taxi from the center costs about 5 GEL in an app like Bolt, and a Tbilisi taxi ordered that way avoids any haggling. Inside, look for the "Tbilisi to Yerevan 50 GEL" sign and go downstairs to the vans. They leave when full, which usually takes under 2 hours.

What the marshrutka ride is like

It's 5 to 6 hours on a bench seat with your knees close to the seat in front, so this is a ride you put up with rather than enjoy. Pay the driver in cash, in lari. Large suitcases cost extra, and the driver sets the price, so ask before your bag goes in the back. If you get carsick, grab a single seat or a window seat early: the road through the Debed canyon twists for a long stretch.

Bring food and water. The van stops at the border and usually once more in northern Armenia, but the stops are short and you can't count on a proper meal. Marshrutkas all over the country run this way, cash only, leaving when full, with the driver setting the rules, and once you've done this trip, getting around Georgia by van holds no surprises.

Shared taxis and private drivers

Shared taxis wait for passengers at Ortachala bus station alongside the vans. You pay per seat, more than the marshrutka, and the car leaves when it's full. It's faster than the van because a car with a handful of passengers clears the border sooner than a full Sprinter, and the driver doesn't stop as often. Agree the price per seat and the drop-off point in Yerevan before you get in, and pay in cash.

A private driver picks you up at your hotel and drops you at your door in Yerevan, at whatever pace you like. The fare is per car, so it makes the most sense for 3 or 4 people splitting it, and it's the only option that lets you stop at the Debed canyon monasteries on the way. Hotels and guesthouses in Tbilisi can usually arrange one; agree the price, the stops and the drop-off in writing first.

Driving yourself is possible, but check with the company before you book a rental car in Georgia, since not every Georgian rental is allowed across the border, and the paperwork has to be in order before you reach Sadakhlo.

Can you fly from Tbilisi to Yerevan?

Not in any way I'd plan around. There's no regular direct flight worth building a trip on, and once you add the airport ride, check-in and security at both ends, the overland options are faster door to door anyway. Take the train or a van.

The Sadakhlo to Bagratashen border crossing

The road crossing is Sadakhlo on the Georgian side and Bagratashen on the Armenian side, either side of a bridge over the Debed River. It's open 24 hours a day.

On a marshrutka or shared taxi, everyone gets off at the Georgian post with their passport and goes through exit control on foot. Then you walk across the bridge, get your Armenian entry stamp, and meet the van on the other side once it has cleared customs. Armenian officers sometimes ask where you're staying, so have your accommodation details on your phone.

Most Western passports enter Armenia visa-free, including EU, US, UK and Australian passports, for up to 180 days a year. Check the rule for your own passport before you go.

Money and phone data in Armenia

Armenia uses the dram (AMD), and lari are not accepted there, just as dram are rarely taken back in Georgia. Pay for the trip itself in lari, then switch currencies once you cross. There are exchange desks at the border, including one in a roadside supermarket on the Armenian side that takes cash only, and the rates there are slightly worse than in Yerevan.

Your phone needs sorting too. Georgian SIM cards don't work in Armenia, so either buy an Armenian SIM in Yerevan or set up an eSIM before you leave Tbilisi. Download offline maps and your taxi app while you still have data, because the van drops you without Wi-Fi.

Arriving in Yerevan

Where you land depends on how you came: marshrutkas and shared taxis end at Kilikia bus station, the train at Yerevan railway station. Both are a short ride from Republic Square, the center of town.

Kilikia bus station

Kilikia sits on Admiral Isakov Avenue, down the road from the Ararat brandy factory. There's no ATM on the bus-station side, so use the tunnel under the road to reach one on the other side.

Taxis in Yerevan are cheap. Meter fares start at a flat 600 AMD for the first 4 km and then 100 AMD per km, and a ride from Kilikia to the center costs around 1,000 AMD. Use an app: Yandex and Taxi GG both work in Yerevan, while Uber doesn't.

Yerevan railway station

The train arrives at Yerevan's grand Soviet-era station, with its tall spire over the square. The Sasuntsi Davit metro station is right outside, and the metro gets you to Republic Square in two stops. Taxis are the other option, but walk past the drivers waiting at the doors.

Yerevan to Tbilisi: the return trip

Going back is the same trip in reverse. Sprinters leave from the left side of Kilikia bus station, run by a company called Comfort, for 8,000 AMD. The listed departures are 07:30, 08:30, 10:30, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00, and like the vans in Tbilisi they leave when full. The night train leaves Yerevan on even-numbered dates outside summer and every night from June to September.

Two things change on the way back. You re-enter Georgia at Sadakhlo, and travel insurance has been compulsory for visitors to Georgia since January 2026, so have your travel insurance for Georgia on your phone with your passport. And in summer you don't have to come back to Tbilisi at all: a seasonal sleeper runs from Yerevan through Tbilisi to the Black Sea from June to September, which turns the return into the first leg of a trip from Tbilisi to Batumi.

Most longer routes through the region loop back through Tbilisi anyway. If Yerevan is one stop on a Caucasus itinerary with Baku as the third capital, the night train to Baku leaves from the same Tbilisi station as the Yerevan sleeper.

Tips for the Tbilisi to Yerevan trip

• Travel Monday to Thursday. The border is quickest on weekday mornings, and that alone can save you 2 hours.
• Carry lari in cash. Vans, shared taxis and luggage fees are all paid in cash, in lari, to the driver.
• Keep your passport in a pocket. You'll need it twice at the border, on the van or on the train.
• Pack food and water. Neither the train nor the vans have proper food on board.
• Load your hotel address before you leave. The Armenian side sometimes asks, and you'll want it for the taxi at the other end anyway.
• Change a little money at the border, the rest in Yerevan. Border rates are slightly worse.
• Check the train date first. Outside summer it only leaves Tbilisi on odd-numbered dates.