Hot answers tagged georgia-country
11
No problems at all. The two countries are friends especially due to the pipeline bringing oil from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia. Nationals of either country can visit the other without visas.
Border crossings
There are two active border crossings and I believe one inactive one.
The main one is on the Black Sea coast and is very busy and has been ...
11
Not at all. I lived in Georgia from November 2011 to May 2012 and there were lots of people visiting from nearby Muslim and Arab countries.
In fact Georgia seemed one of the easiest countries to travel to for various Muslim and Arab countries going by conversations I had with people I met while working there in a backpacker hostel. I think in terms of ...
10
The situation is very complicated. Georgia says that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are Georgian territories, and you can go there from Georgia by this border crossing:
to South Ossetia from Gori - my friends from Germany made a trip this year.
If you get into these territories not by these points, you would get problems (fee from $1200 or jail up to 5 ...
10
There is single point to cross border between Georgia and Russia: Verchniy Lars. It is open for the cars since March 1, 2010. Note that you have to get the Georgian and Russian visas to cross the border.
You can't cross the Georgian border from South Ossetia or Abkhazia territories! It is criminal in the Georgia, and you can get problems there.
Update:
...
10
If you know Russian, use it. Despite the political situation, Georgians are smart and open minded. They may not like the Russian government but they love Russian people and they love the Russian language.
I'm pretty convinced after seven months in Georgia that people learn Russian there for just the same reason foreigners everywhere learn English: it's cool ...
9
As a general rule when travelling, I've always been surprised by how helpful pharmacists are.
They often speak quite a bit of English
In many countries they have the authority to provide certain prescription drugs otherwise available only from doctors
They often are surprisingly good at telling you what the local equivalent is for an American medication, ...
8
A Dutch friend of mine just took this ferry in the Georgia→Ukraine direction so I asked him for some details:
Company name: UkrFerry
Ship name: Greifswald
Quoted boarding time in Batumi: 10pm
Actual departure time from Batumi: ~ 8am
Quoted duration of trip: 60 hours
Actual duration of trip: ~ 55 hours
Price: USD $170 for a bed in a 2-bed cabin
There were ...
8
Which route did the old Tbilisi-Rostov train route take and is it closed only for political reasons?
This train is cancelled because of political crisis between Russia and Georgia (as I think, because the route was on rebel territories, and this was definitely done according to the orders from Russian president).
For now air and automobile connections are started to being reestablished, but not the train.
All you can do - use the train to the Baku (Sorry, ...
7
Typically there is very little amount of snow in Tbilisi which usually melts in a day or two in most parts of the city but it can also pile up and go icy (in 2008 we had snow for about three weeks). Wind and rain is more common.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'special winter clothes' but a sweater and a coat should be enough most of the time. You will also ...
7
The situation is very complicated. Georgia says that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are Georgian territories, and you can go there from Georgia by this border crossing:
to Abkhazia from Zugdidi - my friends from Germany made such trip this year. But they say that they got some local help for the border-crossing, because Abkhazia trying to close the border to ...
7
It turns out I didn't put 2 and 2 together because the answer is not spelled out obviously enough for somebody in a mild panic to spot.
You can call the US "Global Card Assistance Service" from anywhere in the world using Skype even though it's a toll-free number:
+1 800 847 2911
If there's no Visa Card office in the country you are in it doesn't ...
6
You can also get a visa in Transnistria, which might be an interesting place to visit for you as you seem to be keen on countries with legal definition problems. The Wikipedia article seems not to be totally up-to-date with that information as it says there are only 2 embassies abroad (Russia and Venezuela). Although I must admit that I didn t see it myself ...
6
From http://www.ferrylines.com/en/ferries/ferries-in-the-black-sea/
it would seem to be NO, but it does indicate you could travel to Bulgaria.
Aussies don't need a visa for Bulgaria, so you could then take a train up to Bucharest from within Bulgaria. Bucharest to Istanbul is 16 hours, so from Bulgaria wouldn't be a long trip.
6
You can do such trip by "UkrFerry" company:
From Kerch to Poti every Tuesday, at next day you are at Poti. Operations service phone: +38 (0482) 34-76-63.
According to official forum, schedule is set at the start of each month, so you should call there before you came in Kerch. Also there is a line Batumi - Ilyichevsk, which is more popular line (ferry ...
6
Very good info. Some points to add: I recently crossed at both Sarpi and Türkgözü customs. Sarpi customs are open 24 hours, Vale-Türkgözü just from 9 am to 8 pm. The road from Ardahan still takes some time as you need to cross a high mountain pass, so don't start too late. On both sides of Türkgözü crossing there are good asphalt roads. We didn't manage to ...
6
Take the train to Makhinjauri (also transcribed Makhindjauri) - that's the closest passenger station to Batumi. (Though you can just as well ask for a ticket to Batumi.)
There's currently one night train every day, which departs Tbilisi at 22.45 and arrives at 7.25 (the one from Batumi to Tbilisi leaves at 22:25). So the travel time is 8h 40min. The train ...
6
Yes, in general, Georgians have some issues with Russians. But, at the same time, Russians are still (or perhaps, again) regularly visiting the country as tourists, so it ain't that bad.
And if it's obvious you're not Russian (for example due to your limited Russian), you won't easily be taken for one.
Russian is most certainly more widely spoken than ...
5
Everything I've been told about Russian visas (and I'm in Russia now) is that you can ONLY apply for a visa from your country of citizenship, OR your country of residency, if the two are different. Which was handy for me as a New Zealander living in the UK.
From http://www.visatorussia.com/russianvisa.nsf/FaqNew.html :
"If you apply for a visa not in your ...
5
I have an updated answer to this question as of today the 12th of April 2012. A Polish traveller at my hostel in Tbilisi tells me that foreigners from various countries are now being allowed to cross the Georgia/Russia border in both directions at Verchniy Lars.
Apparently a Russian law or rule or regulation was recently repealed and there had not been a ...
5
According to this information (this is up to date site), Australia is in list of countries, citizen of which can stay in Georgia from 90 to 360 days.
This information also is on official site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (as @hippietrail said already):
List of the countries whose citizens do not need a visa
to enter and stay on the ...
5
I turns out the Australian website is out of date or just plain wrong. It turns out that the Georgian government website says just the opposite:
List of the countries whose citizens do not need a visa
to enter and stay on the territory of Georgia for 360 days
...
Singapore
Australia
Monaco
...
5
Both of ships Gagravar have mentioned are from UkrFerry company. And yes, they are currently ships accross the Black Sea:
Poti September 12, 2011 Ilyichevsk September 15, 2011 "Geroi Sevastopolya"
Poti September 12, 2011 Varna September 21, 2011 "Geroi Sevastopolya"
Ilyichevsk September 19, 2011 Varna September 21, 2011 "Geroi ...
5
I think you just need to dig a bit deaper into the NavBul website!
From their Ferry page:
Two identical ferryboat vessels operated by NAVIBULGAR ("Geroite na Sevastopol" and "Geroite na Odesa") each with total carrying capacity of 108 waggons/900 cars/100 motor trucks up to 16m length operate the regular lines:
Varna - Ilichevsk - Varna
Varna ...
5
As I've said in this answer, you can use Baku as connection point, and use train to travel. There is no such problems on the border between Azerbaijan and Russia, and you wouldn't spend much time on this trip.
Another option is to get into the Abkhazia from Georgia (if you can), and use the train to the Moscow. But in this case you'll get problems with ...
5
Norbis Travel in Thessaloniki is one option (Lonely Planet suggests there are others)
Telephone: 2310287721
The bus does not depart from a regular Thessaloniki bus station but from Makedonikis Aminis 7.
It goes only once per week on Mondays at 7:30 am.
The price is € 120.
The trip takes 36 hours from Thessaloniki.
(I will keep the bounty open since I ...
5
I crossed the border from Turkey to Georgia about midnight last night.
There were no obvious exchange booths like at many borders but I didn't go into the duty free store.
I'm now in Tbilisi and most exchange places I've seen (of which there are many) only display rates for USD, EUR, and RUB.
UPDATE
I've now been in Georgia almost seven months and can ...
5
While trying to visit the office of Borjomi Travel above, I found yet another travel agency practically next door with a bus departing on a different day:
NOUGZARI TOURS
Thessaloniki address: Fillippou 37
Thessaloniki hone number : 2310 239 080
Athens address: Ynonos 302 / Omonoie Square
Email: info@nougzaritours.gr
One way price : € 80, Return price : ...
5
The service "home country direct" connects you to an operator in the home country:
In Georgia:
British Telecom 8 0200,
MCI 8 024 995,
AT&T 8 0288,
Sprint 8 0100,
Whether any Australian telcos are partnered I don't know; but at least those numbers should get you an English-speaking operator.
5
Get a Lonely Planet. Or a few digital chapters from their online store. Probably the best place to start. Wikitravel is a good resource, but lacking on more obscure destinations.
Unless you have boatloads of time and assuming you're traveling overland, skip Egypt. There's no easy way to get there from the northern mediterranean, unless you fly.
Buses in ...
5
I have Aviomarine in my carry-on package with was deeply checked by security officers and it was no problem (the electronic parts - batteries etc. raised their attention).
I can also add from my experience that this drug is a must-have when you have locomotion sickness, because flight is much much worse that bus.
But on the other side:
...
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