Sandytayu
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 6 years ago
Getting to Kars from Istanbul is really simple, but the trouble begins in Kars. I have been browsing the net on and off for a while now, however there seems to be no established connection between Kars and... basically anywhere! The best I could find was forum posts from years ago and those routes seems really complicated as well, featuring minibus or bus routes not listed online or taxis and hiking, which all seem like they would not work out. Thus, I’m stuck.
I plan to do this Istanbul-Tbilisi journey beginning at 23rd of January. Thanks in advance if anyone can help me out. I am okay with getting off at Erzurum etc. by the way, since asking people to find a way from Kars to anywhere seems to cruel.
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hello Sandytayu and welcome to rail.cc
Have a look here and read the details (scroll down): [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/istanbul-to-tbilisi[/u]
To book a bus in advance, there are connections available from Ankara to Tbilisi using Metro Turizm [ux]https://rail.shop/metroturizm[/ux] and other companies such as Doğu Karadeniz. For Metro Turizm I just checked, it only shows connections for 2017 - maybe it need one or two days until the ones for 2018 are available. Maybe only a temporarily "problem"?!
This summer some users here on rail.cc travelled from Kars to Georgia. They used a local bus from Kars (Turkey) to Batumi (Georgia). And it seemed to be no problem. It\'s as usual: just ask at your hotel or go to the bus station. There you will find plenty of options to cross the border by bus or minibus. Usually these schedules are not promoted in the Internet.
It would be interesting to hear your experiences after you travelled the route. As it will be helpful for others... thank you!
Pete :)