How to join / leave

Note: the real dates can slightly differ (hopefully not more than plus/minus 1-2 days) from scheduled ones.

General hint: To see all and cheap possibilities use search-engines, depending on your country, e.g. Germans can use Megaflieger or Opodo, Polish search-engines, Skyscanner, Aero or websites Lotmapa, Koniec Świata, Which budget. It’s advised, to use such search-engines only to get the information, NOT for booking. Cause you have to book your bicycle too and that causes problems using the search engines. Instead book directly at the website of the founded airline! At some airlines simply with a “click”, at others by phone. Typical price for a bike is about 25 Euro.

GEORGIA 07.24-25, 08.29-09.08

Tbilisi (July 24). You can book a flight with discount at Air Baltic from most countries in Europe. Lufthansa flies from Munich. Aeroflot) flghts to Tbilisi are also available via Moscow or Minsk (Belavia); they are not so cheap like AirBaltic via Riga, but not so expensive like via Prague, Paris, Vienna, Munich.

If you join for the second part of Georgia the most convenient is to take the bus from Tbilisi, though also it is possible to reach the group from Turkey. For example, the buses run from international bus station in Istanbul to Sadahlo on the Georgia-Armenia border (50 USD, 41 h) or from Trabzon to Batumi and Tbilisi every day.

ARMENIA 07.26-08.11

Yerevan (August 1/2/3). Check the discount flights at Air Baltic from many cities of Europe. Austrian Flights Flights from Vienna . Flights to Yerevan are also available via Moscow (Aeroflot) or Minsk (Belavia) they are not so cheap like Air Baltic via Riga, but not so expensive like via Prague, Paris, Vienna, Munich.

Connections between Tbilisi and Yerevan: by train (12 h, 2000-9000 AMD); by bus (7-8 h, 10 USD); minibus (5-6 h). Bus from Batumi (the city you can reach for example by ferry from Odessa, by bus from Istanbul) to Yerevan – 12 h, 20 USD.

To reach other parts of the route you have to look for the public bus service or well developed transport by ‘marshrutkas’.

IRAN 08.12-14

We will cycle there only 4 days. It would be more convenient to join the group in Armenia before crossing the border to Iran.

But if you want to visit in Iran, you can take a flight to Tabriz, and then reach the group by bus. You can also take a bus from Yerevan to Teheran (twice per week – 31 h, 50 USD) and get off after the border. Also there are busses from Istanbul and Trabzon (Turkey) to Teheran via Maku, where we cycle (August 14).

TURKEY 08.15-29

Doğubayazit (August 15-21). The most convenient way to reach the group at this intermediate point of the route, where we stay 5 days climbing Ararat. You can take local flights from Istanbul to Van, Erzurum, Samsun, Trabzon, and then a bus to Doğubayazit. There is also a direct connection from international bus station in Istanbul (~1500 km, 25 h, ticket ~80 lir).

Kars (August 25). Buses from Iğdir, Doğubayazit, Erzurum, Istanbul. Every day trains from Ankara and Istanbul. Flights from Ankara and Istanbul.