Georgia 2014 

overland georgia


Route 2014

  • Days: 8 days
  • Period: end of April
  • Weather:  In the morning mostly sunny but in the afternoon it was raining almost every day. In Tbilisi nights were Ok, but in the higher places nights were still cold. 

 


General information:

  • Currency: Georgian Lari GEL

  • Internet: Available in many places. A lot of bars and restaurant have wi-fi

  • ATM's: available everywhere

  • Creditcards: accepted in many places (also gas stations)

  • Safety: Georgia is a very safe country. There is also a lot of police control

 


Prices (per month and year)

  • Value Money: €1 = 2,45 GEL 

  • Fuel: diesel is about 2,05 GEL  (about € 0,83 ) per liter

  • Camping: Hardly any campings available. We free camped every night.

  • Bread: 1 bread costs about 1 GEL  

 


Visa

  • no visa needed for EU citizens 

 


Border crossing

  • Entry: Near Akhaltsikhe coming from Turkey. Entry easy, fast and without costs

  • Exit: at Sadakho (to Armenia). Easy and without costs.

 


Roads

  • We have driven mostly the main roads and they were in general in good condition although sometimes there were parts with wholes and bumpy repaired tarmac

 


Fees for Toll roads, briges, tunnels and ferries

  • No toll roads

 


Highlights or not

  • Vardzia, cave city: Nice place to visit and at the bottom of the city near the river you can camp for free. Costs 2014 = 3 GEL per person 

  • Tbilisi: We really liked the old town. Spend there a few nights. Old town is easy to explore on foot. For a great view on the city take a ride in the Ferris Wheel at 
  • Mt Mtatsminda: For a great view on the city take a ride in the Ferris Wheel. Costs 2014 = 2 GEL per person and 2 GEL extra per group for a pass which you can upload with the costs for your ride. When the tram does not go, you can take a taxi up the mountain. Costs 2014 = 10 GEL and the bus back (1 GEL per person)
  • Georgian Military Highway: Beautiful road to drive. We like it a lot
  • Ananuri: Church on the Georgian Military Highway. Nice place to visit and no entry fee
  • Kazbegi: nice village up in the mountains. Here you can do many outdoor activities.
  • Stalin museum in Gori: Interesting museum. The entry fee is included an English speaking guide and that is a good thing because all info is in Georgian or Russian. It is fascinating to see how almost the entire museum talks about the positive side of this man and in the basement only two rooms talk about the bad things.

Tips

  • You can safely park your car on the parking near the Public Service Hall. This is free and if you are close enough to the building you can also catch free wi-fi. Camping at night here is possible but officially not allowed. We slept there for 2 nights and then the police came to inform us that we had to leave. There should be a real campsite near Vake.

 

GPS-waypoints from 2014

Grid: Lat/Lon hddd°mm.mmm"

when the term bushcamp is used it was free of charge
GE-AM - N41°13.663 E44°49.891
Border with Armenia (Sadakho)

GE-CAMP01 - N41°22.761 E43°17.165
Bushcamp on the foot of the cave city hill next to the river. Toilets nearby

GE-CAMP02 - N41°41.999 E44°48.324
Bushcamp at parking publik Hall in Tblisi (officially not allowed)

GE-CAMP03 - N42°39.477 E44°38.459
Bushcamp on square in Kazbegi

GE-JUNCT - N42°01.990 E44°44.763
Junction to a lake where you can have a good bushcamp

GE-LAKE - N42°02.519 E44°40.996
Lake on the way to Tbilisi. Good spot for a bushcamp