Yerevan Transportation

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Take a minibus (Marshrutka) from Kilikya Avtokayan (bus terminal, get there from Mesrop Mashtots Poghota, near Opera with minibus 15, 100 Dram), it was about 6 hours in both directions, 5000 Dram (slighly better bus) to Stepanakert, 4500 the way back. Several leave in the morning when full. Goris and Tatev Monastery would be on the way, but appearently no direct minibuses to Goris.

The transport between Armenia and Georgia or rather Yerevan and Tbilisi, that makes the most sense is a minibus. Locally it is known as "marshrutka" and runs from the bus station in Yerevan. It costs 6500AMD and starts at 9:00am. The whole trip lasts around 5 1/2 hours which includes the generous breaks and border crossing. Speaking of breaks it is worth mentioning that most passengers are well prepared for the trip and have their bags stuffed with food which comes handy as spontaneous picnics happen at picturesque sites along river banks etc. In my case the fact that I have apparently missed the point of marshrutka travel and did not have food of my own was to trigger the form of hospitality that the Caucasians seemingly are famous for. Despite my rather potent refusals to any offers coming my way this was not convincing enough and I had to succumb to a sandwich of the local type with this salty-dry feta-like cheese wrapped up in pita style bread. Well, it went down despite my swallowed protestations and a tint of sincere gratitude blurred my eyes as I meaningfully thanked my improvised hosts. Long live the charitable soul of the Caucasus!

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After landing and making my way to the arrival hall, I first had to change some money into Armenian Drams to pay for the Armenian visa. It cost AMD 3000 for a 21 day single entry visa. The form can be completed at the nearby desks, airport staff are there to help you. You then have to queue to get your visa and then queue at the nearby passport control. The whole procedure didn't take long, it was early morning though and not many arrivals.

On departing, check in and security was quite busy, it didn't take that long though to get to the departure lounges. Apart from a duty free shop and a small cafe, there wasn't much there. However, departures was clean & tidy and there were plenty of seats.

Under the steps of the Cascade are a series of escalators that take you up and down the monument. As you ride them you pass works of art that are on display.

To use them enter the door on the left hand side at the base of Cascade. They save you a steep climb of about 500 steps. A great help as the temperature was in the 30's when I visited. You are able to get off and look around at various levels on the Cascade

Taxis are cheap in Yerevan and the most convenient way to get around the city but before getting on make sure that the driver understands English ( which is least likely ) and agree on the fare !

Armenians are not harmful though they may talk loud so don`t hesitate to barge.

For flying to Yerevan and generally Armenia , you don`t have that much choices. Not all big Airlines fly to Armenia , unfortunately Armavia which is the biggest Armenian airline does not fly to many cities through out the world either ! Anyway, if Armavia comes to your city , it`s the cheapest way to get to Armenia but not the best !

Aircrafts are old and it kind of gives you bad feeling of insecurity, so if you are going to Armenia from big countries in Europe better check with airlines of your own country before Armavia though the fare is not even comparable.

Local taxis are a inexpensive and efficient way to get around Yerevan. At the time of writing, flagfall was 400 AMD for the first kilometer. Most Yerevan taxis are equipped with electronic taxi meters and are able to give you a receipt upon request.

A very reliable taxi service is Alex Taxi. Their contact information is below:

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The roads in Aremnia/Yerevan are actually in good for the most part but like in your home town accidents happen from time to time as this unlucky army truck driver found out. I don't know if anyone was hurt but be alert if you are driving. The one thing I did notice is that they will pass traffic here but not in the suicidal way they do in parts of Africa