Tuesday 19th of March 2024, 11:27 CET
Trabzon-Tblisi Connection
November 25, 2002
LonelyPlanet TT Eastern Europe/Caucasus

Written by James Clost, AndrewSmith, Itchy_Itchy
Posted by HW on March 18, 2024

Bus
Tblisi-Trabzon by bus (2001) takes about 15 -16 hours and leaves Trabzon in the evening (app. 18:30). Not expensive and nice scenery on the Georgian side.

Expect border delays of at least 1-4 hours.
The border delays are usually caused by Georgian/Turkish authorities doing a very thorough inspection of the bus and its contents. Much of the time you simply sit in the border area not knowing what"s going on..... until the driver finally signals that all is well and you can continue on.

Buses on the Turkey-Georgia routes are generally very old, crowded (with expat Georgians carrying many kilos of goods home), and not very comfortable. In fact, once on the Georgian side, the roads become very rough due to many potholes and lack of repair. The ride in georgia is very much unlike the domestic routes that Turkish buses play within that country.


Train-Bus via Batumi
Overnight train Tbilisi to Batumi: kupe is slow but comfortable enough, USD 8, no security problems.

From Batumi, get a minibus to the border, walk over the border then get the next minbus to leave to Hopa, finally bus to Trabzon. This breaks up the journey and minimises border hassles.

Note there are two places called Hopa, one in Georgia (huge bazaar, not the one you want), and one in Turkey proper. The buses from Batumi to the border are labelled to Sarpi, which looks like bshgn in georgian script.

Plane
Trabzon-Tblisi by bus (incl. visa and ticket) cost (2001) 96 USD. The plane only flies on Monday (18 months ago).
 
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Hopa (Turkey) Town
Sarpi (Georgia) Town
Tbilisi (Georgia) Capital
 
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