My first impression of the Caucasus region was a good one, arriving in sunny Batumi, Georgia to a warm welcome from the immigration officers. One night later, I was on an overnight train, sharing a couple of bottles of cognac with three new Georgian friends. It was just a taste of what was to come as the people throughout Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan were some of the most welcoming I have met anywhere.
In addition to the people, these three Caucasus countries boast a wealth of ancient historical sites (some dating back to the 4th century!), beautiful mountain scenery and endless opportunities for adventure. I had nearly three months to explore all this region has to offer (and I still left feeling like I could see and do more), but if you only have time to visit one country, which should it be?
Here’s my take on how they stack up:
1. People
Perhaps it is the benefit of lasting first impressions, but Georgians won me over early – I don’t know if the Armenians or Azeris stood a chance. From the guys who befriended me on the Black Sea Ferry to my drinking buddies on the train to Tbilisi, every Georgian I met seemed to be fun loving and helpful. Additionally, I never felt like anyone was trying to rip me off. The Azeris would have been a close second, but the helpfulness of strangers in Baku was offset by a creepy guy who propositioned me at a bus rest stop and the overall uncomfortable feeling I got from men staring at me constantly – it was one of the few things I disliked about Turkey and it felt the same in Azerbaijan.
Armenia may be at both an advantage and disadvantage because I spent so much more time there (six weeks altogether), which meant I saw more of the good and of the not-so-good. The people overall were friendly and welcoming, but I also ran into my fair share of taxi drivers and others trying to overcharge me.
Winner: Georgia
2. Prices
Armenia definitely comes out on top here. I could eat a good lunch for about $3, take a taxi anywhere in the city for less than $4 and even my marshrutka ride from Yerevan to Tbilisi was cheaper than going the other direction. Georgia comes in second, with a plethora of hostels to choose from in most major cities, cheap food and reasonably priced taxis for most day trips. Azerbaijan comes in a distant third. Prices in Baku were nearly at western European levels (not to mention I almost accidentally bought a pint of Baskin-Robbins for $25!). The country has few hostels and finding a hotel room for under $100 was difficult. Even homestays and guiding services outside of the capital are pricey compared to neighboring Georgia and Armenia. Add in the fact that for Americans a visa to Azerbaijan will set you back at least $140 and this is the least attractive country to visit in the Caucasus if you’re on a tight budget.
Winner: Armenia
Big loser: Azerbaijan
3. Getting Around
This could reasonably be a three-way tie as each country has its own benefits and challenges.
In both Georgia and Armenia, the unfamiliar alphabets can make getting around a challenge – you can’t read the signs to tell where a given bus or marshrutka is headed. At least the Azeri language uses mostly a Latin alphabet. On the plus side, in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, digital signs at the bus stops include the Latin alphabet translations of bus route destinations, making things a little easier. Likewise, announcements on the Tbilisi Metro are made in both English and Georgian while those on the Baku Metro are only in Azeri. The Metro in Yerevan might have been the most difficult as signs were only in Armenian and Russian and announcements only in Armenian.
When it comes to intercity transport, Azerbaijan seems slightly more organized than the others. The prevalence of buses in the country means there are schedules on which you can somewhat rely instead of the typical marshrutka that just leaves when full – although buses traveling between smaller towns tend to be decrepit Soviet-era buses (see below!).
The new bus station in Baku has clearly labeled bays for both buses and marshrutkas – it was heaven compared to the mass chaos that I found at Didube Bus Station in Tbilisi, where the only way to find the marshrutka you need is to wander around and ask. Likewise, transportation out of Yerevan is made more confusing by the fact that the bus station or parking lot from which a given marshrutka departs often changes without warning.
Winner: Despite the Soviet-era buses in some parts of the country, Azerbaijan
4. Tourist Infrastructure
Georgia’s government has made it a priority to improve the country’s image as a tourist destination and you can feel the effects throughout the country. From the brand new border control stations to rebuilt roads up to mountain villages, the investment is clear. Whereas a few years ago a trip to the region of Svaneti would require an overnight train ride from Tbilisi followed by a six hour drive up perilous mountain roads, the construction of a new, paved road has cut the time down to three hours.
Tourist information was also readily available in nearly every city I visited in Georgia – I stopped into tourist information offices in Tbilisi, Batumi, Mestia, and Mtskheta. In each I encountered friendly, English-speaking staff and was able to obtain a plethora of maps (the office in Mtskheta actually gave me maps for the Kakheti and Svaneti regions as well).
While the Azeri government made a big effort to welcome tourists to Baku for the recent Eurovision 2012 finals, from all indications they have largely ignored the rest of the country – one woman I met told me of roads in Baku being repaired 3 or 4 times while roads connecting major cities in the northwestern part of the country remain unpaved. On the other hand, Community Based Tourism Azerbaijan has stepped in to fill some of the void, providing a great network of homestays and helpful information for tourists traveling outside of Baku.
Armenia arguably lags behind on the tourism front, with the Visitor Information Center in the capital of Yerevan closing due to lack of funding a few years ago. I know firsthand from my experience volunteering with the de facto national tourism board that they are trying to make improvements, such as developing a new tourism website and a new information center, but it may take a while. To Armenia’s advantage, most of the major sites are easy day trips from Yerevan and local tour company Hyurservice runs multiple tours every day costing as little as $15. I took two of their day trips and thought they provided great value.
Winner: Georgia
5. Sightseeing and Activities
Of course, the big question is – what does each country have to offer in terms of sightseeing and activities?
Georgia and Armenia are very similar, with many, if not most, of their major sites focusing on the ancient history of Christianity in those countries. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its religion back in the 4th century and Georgia followed just thirty years later. This means that a majority of major sites are monasteries and churches, some of which are more interesting than others. Georgia additionally boasts a couple of cave monasteries built into the sides of cliffs and Armenia recently opened the world’s longest cable car taking tourists 5.7 kilometers across the Vorotan Gorge to Tatev Monastery.
In addition to its religious sites, Georgia has a burgeoning wine industry and a long history of wine-making, as well as an up and coming resort city in Batumi on the Black Sea coast. Add in the mountain regions and hiking opportunities in Svaneti and there seems to be a little bit of something for everyone.
Azerbaijan doesn’t have nearly the religious sites that its neighbors do, although a few ruined churches are scattered throughout the country. Not far from Baku are petroglyphs, quirky mud volcanoes, a so-called fire temple and the James Bond Oil Field (featured in the opening scenes of The World is Not Enough). For me, the main draw was the mountains and hiking opportunities in the northern and northwestern parts of the country, although those closest to the Russian border have recently been limited.
Winner: Georgia
6. Visa Requirements
I’ll just speak to U.S. citizens here, but you can generally enter Georgia visa free for up to 360 days. Visas to Armenia may be obtained upon arrival at the airport and land borders and cost about $8 for a 21 day visa or $35 for 120 days.
On the other end of the spectrum, a visa to Azerbaijan currently runs $140, plus the likely cost of a letter of invitation from an approved travel agency in Azerbaijan (I spent $160 altogether). And instead of making it easier for people to visit, the Azeri government has been making it harder. Not cool.
Winner: Georgia, with Armenia a close second.
Big loser (again): Azerbaijan
And the winner is…
If you hadn’t already guessed, I would say right now that Georgia is the place to go – it is the easiest to visit, has the most developed tourist infrastructure, some of the friendliest people and the widest variety of sights and activities. At this point, it does not yet feel overrun with tourists, but get there fast as it likely won’t be long before the secret is out!
40 Responses to “Travel in the Caucasus: Comparing Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan”
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Go Georgia! lol
Unfortunately, I’ve only visited Baku and Erevan so briefly that had not had a real chance to learn about these. Loved the food though.
I don’t think the secret you’re talking about will be out anytime soon. I’ve been living in the U.S. for 18 years now and still have to explain to people where Georgia is and try to prove to them that in fact it is.
“country? you mean the state, right?” is what I usually get
so glad you enjoyed your visits in Georgia!
xx
maya
Great post, Katie! Georgia is still on my list for my RTW trip next year after making a few changes – glad I’ve kept it on there after reading this! Still, I better learn the Cyrillic alphabet before I go…
Tom,
In Georgia you’d be better off with English than with Cyrillic
LOL We all know how the Georgian-Russian rift has always been a huuuuge dent
Yes, you know exactly what I’m talking about
… or even better, the Georgian alphabet, which is completely different than the Latin and Cyrillic ones. It’s a great place to visit!
Great round-up! I’m always surprised at countries that keep making it harder and harder for tourists to visit. I know the US imposes high visa fees on a lot of countries, so they turn around and do the same to us. But I can’t help think they’re hurting themselves more than they’re hurting us. If I ever make it to that part of the world, I’ll definitely keep Georgia at the top of the list. Plus I can wear my Georgia (University of) sweatshirt and confuse people
Love this post! Great job Katie! I found your blog when I was researching for a place to study Russian in one of the former USSRers and have been reading since. Just want to let you know that your blog has been a great inspiration. Please keep writing
Take care!
Thanks for reading!
Very cool comparison. Georgia sounds pretty cool. Knowing human psych I will probably start randomly seeing airplane deals from Germany to Tbilisi soon.
Ali beat me to it, but I would love to see their reaction to her Georgia sweatshirt.
It is really hard to beat Georgia when it comes to the people! This is why it remains one of our favorite places in the world. But I notice you didn’t include food in this comparison. So who would win on the food front??
It is so hard for me to fairly compare food since I am gluten intolerant and can’t eat a lot of the best of what many countries have to offer. But I did absolutely love the shashlik in Georgia. Best shashlik I have had anywhere on my travels.
Of all overseas places to go to, the Caucasus is on my top list! From very good impressions with Georgian cities (even on Wiki articles), Georgia has been my priority especially BATUMI! Having read all these makes me want to go there more than ever. Thanks a lot for the very helpful info!
I believed this post just convinced some friends of mine to come visit me in Tbilisi next April. Thanks Katie!
Thinking of doing an overnight stay in Yerevan too…
That’s great! And yes, definitely recommend checking out Yerevan too! Let me know if you go and I can share some recommendations.
Excellent post. I’m really interested in this part of the world and would love to explore it. How are the roads in all three countries? Would they be easy to drive around?
Thanks Bethaney. It really varies by country and even within the countries. Georgia probably has the best roads overall and they just paved the road up to Mestia (up in the mountains), which cut the driving time from 6 hours down to about 3 or 4 hours. That said, Georgian drivers are crazy!!
I think the roads were generally okay in Armenia as well, from what I can remember. Azerbaijan had some of the worst – long stretches unpaved around Qax and Sheki in the northwestern part of the country and the road to the mountain village of Lahic was also unpaved and much sketchier than heading into the mountains in Georgia.
Thanks Katie. I’ll do a bit more research and see what I can find out about driving around the region. If they’re crazy drivers and roads aren’t great everywhere we want to go, maybe we’ll look into just trains and buses instead.
It’s pretty easy to get around on your own. The most common form of transport are marshrutkas – minivans that leave whenever they are full (although some leave on fixed schedules). There are buses, but they are MUCH slower – for example, Tbilisi to Yerevan by marshrutka is about 6 hours, while going by bus it’s closer to 9 hours. Even if you don’t speak the language, if you just show up at the bus station and ask around for your destination, people will happily show you.
Trains aren’t too common, although there’s an overnight train between Batumi and Tbilisi that is good and between Tbilisi and Zugdidi.
If you have an idea of which cities you might visit, let me know and I can tell you what I remember specifically.
Thanks for the great article on Georgia vs Armenia I have 11 days to explore both and planned 5 days in each and one travelling-should I spend longer in georgia maybe? Also, I understand the overnight train Tblisi to yerevan only goes on alternate nights….is there a better way to go?(I was thinking of saving a hotel night as well!) How does one get a shared taxi, which i have also read about, altho it might be too expensive.
Thanks again for a great website!
Angie ( Sydney Australia)
Hi Angie!
No, definitely don’t do the train between Tbilisi and Yerevan – it takes forever. Marshrutkas (mini-vans) run regularly from Tbilisi’s Ortachala bus station to the main station in Yerevan. It takes about 6 hours, depending on how long it takes at the border (I made the trip once in as little as 5 hours).
Ortachala is not the main bus station in Tbilisi and it’s slightly out of the center of town. There are buses that run there, but best to take a taxi. Be sure to tell the driver Ortachala Avtovakzal – Ortachala is also the name of the neighborhood so if you don’t specify the bus station, they get confused and just take you to the general area. The marshrutkas to Yerevan leave from outside of the lower level of the station (not on the side with all the big buses, the other side). Just tell someone “Yerevan” and they’ll show you. They start leaving around 8 a.m. and go about hourly (or whenever full) for most of the morning. I can’t remember the cost in Lari but it came out to around $16 – a little less coming back from Yerevan.
Hope that helps!
Thanks katie- I appreciate the fast response! Angie
So basically Azerbaijan sucks?
No, not at all! Sorry if it came off like that. I really enjoyed Azerbaijan, it was just more challenging than Georgia or Armenia and quite a bit more expensive. But definitely still worth a visit!
I have visited Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan 2 years ago and when it comes to people and culture, i pick 1. Armenia 2. Georgia and 10. Azerbaijan. I had some really bad experiences in Azerbaijan and i will never visit that country if my life depended on it…
Great and useful post!
I’m traveling with some friends to this part of the world next week. I’m in Turkey now, so i’ll go first to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan.
I have read somewhere that if I get a georgian visa I can visit Azerbaijan for five days. Is that true? And most important, do you know if can I get this georgian visa at the turkish-georgian border? I’m from Spain, so I’m supposed to not need it, but if I could get it, it would be cheaper than get the visa for Azerbaijan!
As an EU resident, you should just get stamped right through into Georgia with no need for a visa. I haven’t heard anything about a visa to Georgia getting anyone access into Azerbaijan. That would really surprise me. They have made it harder recently to get visas, not easier. Mine was $140 and I had to get a letter of invitation from a travel agent.
Which do you think is a better time to visit these countries?
I would say late spring, summer or early fall is best.
I’ve got an extra week or so at the end of a European trip, and I was thinking a whistlestop trip to the Caucasus would be great as I’ve always been interested in them.
I was thinking of flying into Batumi for a couple of days, then o/n train to Tbilisi, then onto Yerevan for a couple of days. Would that be doable without having to spend a load of time traveling?
Depending on when you’re going, not sure Batumi is worth the stop. It’s more of a beachy resort town, so if you’re going in like April, I would just save your time for elsewhere. That said, you can take an overnight train from Batumi to Tbilisi, so that saves time on travel. Yerevan is about 6 hours from Tbilisi – best way to go is by marshrutka, the earliest of which leaves around 8 a.m. each way.
I would recommend just flying into Tbilisi, spending 2-3 days there, taking a marshrutka to Yerevan, spend 2 days there, then head back to Tbilisi and fly out. You could fly back out of Yerevan to save some time, but there’s not as many options.
Thanks heaps! I’ll probably come back and pick your brain some more!
Did you go to Nagorno Karabakh at all?
Nope – I went to Armenia first and if I’d gone to Nagorno-Karabakh, they wouldn’t have let me into Azerbaijan.
Exactly the post I was looking for. I’m planning on a trip to Turkey with a side trip to Georgia and Armenia, but was wondering if maybe my time would be better spent in one or the other. Have heard so many good things about Georgia I’m leaning to just focus on Turkey and Georgia on this trip. I’m sooooo excited!! 2 countries i”m most excited to visit and I’m going to see them both on the same trip. Yaaaaay!!
Hi Katie
Many thanks for this fantastic blog. I was searching for information about Georgia. I am planning to go there for few days. What would you advise me on what to do/do not in Georgia?
Many thanks again
Ray
It depends a lot on your interests. Definitely spend some time exploring Tbilisi’s Old Town. If you’re interested in historical sites, you might head to the area around Telavi and Sighnaghi to visit a lot of the old monasteries. That region has some good wineries too. Batumi is more of a wannabe resort town or you could head up to Mestia and Svaneti in the mountains for hiking/trekking. The cave monasteries at Davit Gareja near the Azerbaijan border are also pretty cool.
This is really great information. I was wondering if I could bother you for some more detailed information about costs in Georgia and Armenia- eg. how much were you paying per night for accommodation, how much did you budget for each day? Thank you in advance!
Hi Sally,
I was volunteering while in Armenia and stayed with a family so I can’t really comment on accommodations there. Everything else is very cheap – I’d get a decent lunch for about $3-4, dinner around $5-6. A beer or mixed drink was probably as low as $1 or $2.
Georgia was a little more expensive overall. I stayed at a mix of hostels and hotels there. Decent hotels were around $50/night and dorm beds in hostels were around $12-$15.
I wrote this post summarizing my overall expenses by country – that should give you a better overall idea.
Hello Katie,
very interesting blog
With some friends I’m thinking about heading off to Georgia next August; for 10 days approximately. Which parts of the country would you recommend? (isn’t it very hot at that time of the year?)
My friends have objected that there are security problems in Georgia… Is that true? (I’m trying to convince them of the opposite)
Best
Elisabeth
Hi Elisabeth,
I’m guessing it does get pretty hot in Georgia in August – I was there in the spring, so I’m not really sure. I felt very safe everywhere I went. I would say the only areas where there may be security issues are near the border with Russia, where you likely wouldn’t be going anyway.
I would definitely plan for a few days in Tbilisi – there’s a good deal to see in the city and it’s a good base for day trips to places like Mskheta, Uplistsikhe, Goris and Davit Gareja.
For the rest of the time, it depends on your interests. For the beach, head to Batumi. For mountains/hiking, go up to Mestia in the Svaneti region (would probably be cooler up there). For wine tasting and ancient monasteries, head to Telavi in the Kakheti region. If you haven’t already, check out my other posts on Georgia – they should give you more of an idea of what to expect.