Hayreniq Tour -Tickets and online bookings

Дорога не простая, горный серпантин, но водитель опытный, вел уверенно.

Excellent journey, comfortable ride and the timing was perfect. 100% recommend!

Overall a smooth experience! I was surprised to see an online booking option for the minivan from Tbilisi to Yerevan. It was the first I’d seen and naturally I was curious to if and how it would work on the day. The pick up location was clear enough. It goes without saying but navigating the language barrier can be a challenge as a Brit who speaks no Russian. On arrival, I flashed my phone with the booking confirmation to a couple of people - 1 of which had a print out of a few other names who booked online, and we were directed to take a seat on one of 3 buses. The driver then gets onboard and collects money from passengers paying on the day. He looked at me (I think) asking for cash for a ticket, so I handed my phone over and he got off the bus with it. He returned shortly and handed it back - all clear and we were on the way. I don’t recall specifically departing on time but again - as long as you plan for the usual local approach to public transport and arrive early, everything is fine. A couple of stops on the Tbilisi to Yerevan route either side of border control and fortunately we had a couple of Armenian locals near us who were very friendly and happy to translate when the driver would shout ‘10 minutes’ or ‘20 minutes’. The Yerevan side was at a food court near Lake Sevan. The minivan itself was very modern and clean with good AC. A Mercedes Sprinter with c. 15 passengers. The driving was as expected for the Caucasus region so as long as you adopt that mindset it never felt unusually unsafe. The bookaway approach felt like an experience that both drivers and passengers will get more used to over time: there was a disconnect between the agents at Tbilisi who had a list with our names on and the drivers who don’t have that list. All in, we got to Yerevan and it was a smooth enough experience to do again if I needed to!

Perfecto

Left pretty much on time and arrived pretty early. Clean and comfortable transportation.

A bit late at start due to traffic, but arrived more or less on time. Amazing scenery near the border.