Georgia: Getting there & around

Because of Georgia's chronic energy crisis, blackouts continue to darken Tbilisi with some regularity, particularly in the winter. Be prepared for airport delays if a prolonged outage occurs. Though blackouts have, in the past, disabled the airport's guidance beacon, no serious accidents have occurred here. Two local carriers - Georgian Airlines and Air Georgia - have hubs at Tbilisi, from which they serve various regional destinations. Larger airlines serving the airport include British Airways, Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines; Aeroflot provides service to Tbilisi from destinations throughout the former Soviet Bloc via Moscow.

The highway that connects Georgia and Russia along the Abkhazian coast via the Caucasian Range tunnel is closed. Other road entry points include the route via the Georgian Military Highway, which runs through the Dariali gorge and through to Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the south. Travellers report that bribes are often expected at border crossings - bring patience and a sense of humour.

Three large ports (Batumi, Poti, Sukhumi) are located on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. Ferries run from both ports to, Sochi in Russia, Ilyichevsk in Ukraine. Hitching lifts on the cargo boats to Odessa, Trabzon and Istanbul is very difficult.

There are domestic flights available between Tbilisi's Central Airport and Kutaisi, Butami and Senaki. If you're near the mountains, you might find helicopters used, but they're as expensive as you would imagine.

Aside from Tbilisi, roads are generally in poor condition and lack shoulder markings and centre lines. Driving at night can be especially dangerous, and there have been reports of tourists being robbed and car jacked, though it's certainly not the norm; even so, stop only for police or the military. Hire cars with a driver are available for around US$40.00 plus petrol.

The Transcaucasian Railway main line connects two railway branches, from Baku (Azerbaijan) and from Yerevan (Armenia). The main line stretches towards Russia through Georgia, along the Black Sea coastline. Currently the line is blocked due to the conflict in Abkhazia, so rail travel in the north and west is very difficult. Travel elsewhere, Tbilisi to Batumi for example, is possible, though train services are infrequent to some destinations. Buses regularly run from Tbilisi to regional centres in Georgia as well as to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey.

Public transport is reasonably priced and quite regular in the capital, with an underground train system, bus, cable-car and trams all plying the streets of Tbilisi. Locals have recently been issuing warnings about theft on the underground. Taxis are mainly privately owned cars but registered taxis are also available from designated areas.