WeeJohnny Posted August 25, 2023 Share Posted August 25, 2023 I'm travelling with my best pal but considering extending the trip without him by a couple of days to do either Baku or Yereman. Have any on here got any experiance of if these places are worth going to ? Importantly can you get a pub / bevvy there ? I need to travel back from tbilisi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich NATA Posted August 25, 2023 Share Posted August 25, 2023 (edited) Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. Not sure which, but I'm sure two of them don't like each other and there may be a problem crossing from one to the other and vice-versa. I can't remember which two it is, so check it out. I was in Yerevan for the Scotland match last year. Lovely place with a few photo opportunities such as Mother Armenia, The Cascades and the main City Square. Top tip... instead of walking up The Cascades, catch a taxi to Mother Armenia then walk through the park to reach The Cascades and go down it P.S. I believe there is a Swarovski exhibition inside it. Armenian Genocide memorial is worth a visit. If you're a Groundhopper, there are at least 2 stadiums worth a visit including the vast Soviet-era one. LOTS of restaurants in Yerevan. Not overrun with pubs, but enough for a few days including Beatles Pub, which is not very Beatle-ish, but it is VERY popular. Have you considered other places in Georgia? Batumi is said to be "The Las Vegas of the Black Sea". Then there is Kutaisi and Gori (birthplace of Joseph Stalin) and a must-do day trip from Tbilisi. Edited August 25, 2023 by Rich NATA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeJohnny Posted August 26, 2023 Author Share Posted August 26, 2023 23 hours ago, Rich NATA said: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. Not sure which, but I'm sure two of them don't like each other and there may be a problem crossing from one to the other and vice-versa. I can't remember which two it is, so check it out. I was in Yerevan for the Scotland match last year. Lovely place with a few photo opportunities such as Mother Armenia, The Cascades and the main City Square. Top tip... instead of walking up The Cascades, catch a taxi to Mother Armenia then walk through the park to reach The Cascades and go down it P.S. I believe there is a Swarovski exhibition inside it. Armenian Genocide memorial is worth a visit. If you're a Groundhopper, there are at least 2 stadiums worth a visit including the vast Soviet-era one. LOTS of restaurants in Yerevan. Not overrun with pubs, but enough for a few days including Beatles Pub, which is not very Beatle-ish, but it is VERY popular. Have you considered other places in Georgia? Batumi is said to be "The Las Vegas of the Black Sea". Then there is Kutaisi and Gori (birthplace of Joseph Stalin) and a must-do day trip from Tbilisi. Your post was brilliant. Thanks. Now thinking of not "bagging" another country and doing more of Georgia. Went there for the last game which was awful but never got out of Tbilisi. Really appreciate the post and if you have any tips re internal travel etc in Georgia would be most welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich NATA Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 11 hours ago, WeeJohnny said: Your post was brilliant. Thanks. Now thinking of not "bagging" another country and doing more of Georgia. Went there for the last game which was awful but never got out of Tbilisi. Really appreciate the post and if you have any tips re internal travel etc in Georgia would be most welcome. I was in Georgia last time too. Outside of Tbilisi, I've only been to Gori (more specifically, to the Joseph Stalin Museum there). I've not booked anything for Georgia away this year. I'm in two minds over whether to go. I thought Tbilisi was lovely last time, but it didn't excite. For that reason, I am considering adding time in Batumi / Kutaisi / Gori to spice things up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLOSTA Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 Have been to Armenia twice - once for work and once for Scotland game. I like it. One of the trips we did for work was to a monastery carved into the mountain, then onto a Greek temple they had rebuilt and then a vineyard. Nice to get out of the city but I think Yerevan is cool. One thing I noticed last time, a lot of Russians and Iranians there as it is quite liberal. Was in Baku earlier this year for work. Once you get over the smell of oil, it is an interesting place. An old Fort and stuff to visit and we certainly had drinks with meals and in hotel bar. You have to be cautious about the tensions and the ongoing blockade of what the Armenians call Nagorno Karabakh and the Azeris call The Karabakh. It is complicated and neither going to compromise. Flew from Baku to Tbilisi for work... Also my second time there. When went for Scotland game before only saw bars. This time we did a trip out to an ancient city, a rural restaurant and the national museum... see other thread for links. On the whole I like all three places and would have liked more time in each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeJohnny Posted September 1, 2023 Author Share Posted September 1, 2023 Thanks Glosta ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4Footsoldier Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 Going to Baku for 1 night on the way back from Georgia. Can't wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanderer Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 Did Yerevan-Tbilisi for the last game, and the journey between the two cities was not all that bad, and did go through some stunning countryside views. Border was also a breeze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich NATA Posted September 2, 2023 Share Posted September 2, 2023 (edited) Wee Johnny, On which date are you thinking of heading out? I'm thinking of heading out the FRI/SAT before and travelling Batumi-Kutaisi-Gori-Tbilisi. Edited September 2, 2023 by Rich NATA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumnio Posted September 2, 2023 Share Posted September 2, 2023 Yerevan is a nicer place to visit and spend a few days IMO. Baku is more modern, and much more impressive with modern French/Italian architecture, set on the sea and very picturesque, but lacking culture or a soul. A bit wanky that, but it felt very sterile and planned. If you haven't seem much of Georgia, just stay there, Batumi is nice, Kutaisi is a bit blah, Gori is interesting and only a few hours drive from Tbilisi, you can get a train, but the wee mini buses were quicker, even quicker was just to use Bolt and hire a taxi to Gore, it was still pretty cheap. Stepantsminda is an impressive village with great scenery and a few nice bars and restaurants, very nice to visit as a tourist. Yerevan is a small walkable city, can do a brandy distillery tour, genocide museum, big statue and park, a nice place to spend a few days. Baku has a couple of nice museums, and an impressive waterfront, but overall Tbilisi and Yerevan are better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeJohnny Posted September 3, 2023 Author Share Posted September 3, 2023 Cheers Kumnio. Veering on staying in Georgia du to your post and other posts on here which are much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeJohnny Posted September 3, 2023 Author Share Posted September 3, 2023 HI Rich NATA, Travel plans now up in the air due to LOT cancelling on us. Will post again if we get anything decided (pal getting a bit of cold feet re the hassle factor and I cannae make up my mind!). Cheers ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeJohnny Posted September 9, 2023 Author Share Posted September 9, 2023 Thanks all for advice on here. I'm now booking flight to Yerevan the weekend before (Austria with a hop in Vienna) and then there is a night train that looks a bit of an adventure from Yerevan to Tblisi. It only runs every second night so suspect I'll get it on the Tuesday night. After match day I'm thinking of doing a day or overnight in Mtskheta that is very old and looks cool and has the advantage of just being about 30km from Tbilisi. If anyone is likely to be in places on my route and fancies a beer just let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeJohnny Posted September 20, 2023 Author Share Posted September 20, 2023 On 9/9/2023 at 4:07 PM, WeeJohnny said: Thanks all for advice on here. I'm now booking flight to Yerevan the weekend before (Austria with a hop in Vienna) and then there is a night train that looks a bit of an adventure from Yerevan to Tblisi. It only runs every second night so suspect I'll get it on the Tuesday night. After match day I'm thinking of doing a day or overnight in Mtskheta that is very old and looks cool and has the advantage of just being about 30km from Tbilisi. If anyone is likely to be in places on my route and fancies a beer just let me know. Errmmmmm............think I'm gonna have to rethink this one !!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padre Andrew Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 Think Armenia and Azerbaijan might be out of the picture for this trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
From_Dundee_to_Ancoats Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 Also may not make a huge difference but Wales are playing Armenia away on the Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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