Azerbaijan and Georgia are two neighboring states in the South Caucasus sharing a lot in common in terms of culture and history. With both neighbors boasting a lot of tourist attractions, travel between the two is among the most popular touristic routes in the region. Azerbaijan and Georgia are linked by a highway, a railway connection and daily flights between the capital cities of Baku and Tbilisi.
Let’s look through in detail
By bus:
This is the most budget-friendly way to travel. From Baku’s central bus terminal, daily several buses leave for Tbilisi. Buses leave in the evening and arrive in Tbilisi in the morning hours. The ride takes about 10 hours on average (including and depending on the time to cross the border). The ticket costs 15 manats. Online tickets are also available. Though you will have to come earlier to the central bus terminal (preferably 30-40 minutes before departure so that you can find the relevant ticket office) to obtain the bus ticket receipt from the ticket office. Without it, you won’t be able to get on the bus.
If you hate night time journeys (like I do), you can go by bus to the Azerbaijani-Georgian border crossing point “Qırmızı körpü” [Girmizi korpu]. Daily from morning to evening several buses depart from the Central Bus Terminal for “Qırmızı körpü”. The ticket costs 8 manats (can be obtained online in an above-mentioned way). After a journey of 7 hours, you will reach the destination. The border can be crossed in about 10 minutes on average. Once you cross the Georgian checkpoint and you are in Georgia, you will see minibusses (“marshrutkas”) leaving for Tbilisi every half an hour. The ride costs 4 laris. The buses arrive in Tbilisi in less than an hour. The final destination is the metro station “Station Square” (Sadguri Moidani”). You can ask the driver to stop at any place on his route in Tbilisi.
By train:
This is among the most popular ways of traveling to Georgia. Trains depart from Baku’s central train terminal daily in the evening hours and in the morning arrive in Tbilisi. Ticket prices vary depending on the carriage class (3rd class sleeper cars with no compartments, 2nd class couchettes for 4 people, and 1st class compartments for 2 people). Most people prefer 2nd class couchettes (known as “coupe”). For this class, a ticket costs 34 manats.
By plane:
If you are ready to spend more on your comfort, then, you can head to Baku’s international airport to fly over to Tbilisi. Flights are operated by Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) and its low-coster subsidiary Buta airways. If lucky, you can book your flight from Buta airways for as low as 70 manats.
If you are an adventurous traveler and want to visit more places worth visiting on your way, then, you can try the northern route to Georgia as well. This route starts in Baku and then goes through Sheki, one of the top touristic towns in Azerbaijan. Then, heading northward, you will go through the districts with lush green mountains until you reach the border crossing with Georgia. Here you will cross from Azerbaijan’s Balaken district to Georgia’s Lagodekhi district. Lagodekhi boasts a rich nature with beautiful forests and mountains. From Lagodekhi, you can go to Sighnaghi, a picturesque little town with renovated buildings, a beautiful panorama of Caucasian mountains in front. To the border crossing with Georgia, you can go by train from the central train terminal or by bus. From one town to another in both Azerbaijan and Georgia, the most budget-friendly means to go is to travel in marshrutkas or shared taxis.
