How to Get Around Armenia: The Complete Transport Guide
Armenia is so much more than just Yerevan. Don’t get me wrong, Yerevan is an essential part of any Armenian trip and a city that we really love! But, to really experience the country, you need to get away from the capital. Go down south, explore the mountains, hike the canyons, find all the UNESCO monasteries, take the scenic routes. And how is the best way to do this?
Armenia has the Soviet classic marshrutka, but it also has a limited train network, Yerevan metro, its own local taxi app, and a shared taxi system. After spending six weeks travelling the country using these five methods, we’ve put together all the info and our learnings on how to get around Armenia in this transport guide.
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How Easy is it to Travel Around Armenia?
The public transport is somewhat limited compared to other countries. We travelled around Armenia from north to south for nine weeks, and yes, it’s not always straight forward, but it gets you where you want to go. You’ll maybe have to head back to Yerevan to come back on yourself again. You’ll maybe get dropped at a food court on a main road and have to flag down another marshrutka. You’ll maybe not even be able to find correct timetable info and have to freestyle (which is exactly what we had to do many a time.)
Having said that though, we actually had some really lovely encounters with locals on the marshrutkas and at roadside food courts when about marshrutka timetables. Road conditions that we experienced were good, there wasn’t much traffic on the roads outside of Yerevan, and in general, people drive relatively sensibly. Though, I can’t say the same for marshrutkas in neighbouring Georgia!
Marshrutka
What is a Marshrutka?
The marshrutka is common throughout the ex-Soviet republics. It is essentially a minivan that runs from A to B, and you can get on or off at any point along this route. There are no specific bus stops other than the start and finish. E.g. If your accommodation is on the road that the marshrutka takes, you can ask the driver to stop right outside for you.
A marshrutka journey is generally not comfortable; you have little leg room, and people will be squeezed on regardless of whether there is space or not. And they drive pretty quickly.
But this is how to get around Armenia; it’s the authentic local way. You’ll meet people, and you’ll see phenomenal landscapes on your journey.
Marshrutka Tickets
For most journeys, you will pay on the marshrutka directly to the driver. They might come round before it leaves and take money, or you might just pay when you get off, but you do not usually get a paper ticket/receipt of your payment. For some longer journeys, you may have a ticket desk at the bus station where you pay in cash, and get given a paper ticket.
For reference, the longest journey we took in a marshrutka lasted 6 hours, and it cost us 3000 AMD, which equals around £5.80.
Marshrutka Timetables
The one and only holy grail resource for this information is this website. It will show you bus numbers, times, pick up and drop off locations, and estimated ticket prices. (And it will also give you an idea if there is a train route too). Use this only as a guide because marshrutkas are notorious for not being on time. You cannot book tickets online through this site.
August 2025 Update: not all the info on this site is correct, but it will give you a guide. We got stranded at a bus station the other day because an entire route just no longer exists even though all blog pages we found online suggested that it does.
Luggage Storage
Ok, now this one is difficult. There is almost no luggage storage on a marshrutka. Armenian marshrutka journeys were the most difficult out of everywhere we have been in terms of luggage. We had a journey where there physically was no space, so I had to put my 70 litre backpack where my feet should gone, and sit with my knees around my ears.
There was another journey where we both sat for two hours with our backpacks on our laps! My advice would be to get to the bus station early and get your bags packed up before anyone else gets on. You won’t have to pay for your luggage, unless it takes up a seat on the marshrutka.
Trains
The train network in Armenia is very small and only really connects Yerevan and some of the northern towns/cities, and Tbilisi in Georgia.
Trains tickets tend to be more expensive than on a marshrutka. You have to buy tickets at the station before getting on the train.
There is plenty of luggage space on the train, and the train overall is a more comfortable experience than the marshrutka.
The Yerevan to Gyumri express train that runs on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, is perfect if you want to see Gyumri as a day trip. Tickets cost 2500 AMD (March 2023) for the two and a half hour journey.
And the overnight Tbilisi to Yerevan train is also another train journey that I would recommend; it’s an experience in itself travelling through the Caucasus in an old Soviet train.
Yerevan Metro
Yerevan metro is a convenient, inexpensive, and quick way to move around the city. It runs from 07:30 to 23:00 (which means it is the perfect way to get into the city after you arrive on the overnight train from Tbilisi). You won’t have to wait any more than 15 minutes for a train. The trains are clean and the journey is smooth – not like the juddery, rickety, deafening London underground back home!
August 2025 Update: Tickets can now be paid for by card at the machines in the metro or by cash at the desks, and then scan the QR code on your ticket at the barriers.
Savvy Traveller Pro Tips 🇦🇲
After exploring Armenia for nine weeks, these are our favourite booking tools that we couldn’t travel without!
GG Taxi
GG Taxi is a local Armenian taxi app like Uber or Bolt. It’s a great app, it’s user friendly, and I love the fact that it’s local! We were only able to set it up once we were in the country and had an Armenian SIM card. You can attach your card details to it, but equally, you can just pay cash.
The other thing to note is that most Armenians will have this app, so if you get caught short without internet, or you’ve just arrived into the country and need to get from the airport/train station to your accommodation; ask a local. They can call you a GG and then you just pay the driver in cash.
This is how to get around Armenia for shorter distances or for routes that just don’t have public transport.
Shared Taxis
Shared taxis are larger cars that maybe hold five passengers. They tend to drive shorter distances, and leave when they have a full car. We found some shared taxi spots marked on Maps.me, otherwise it’s a case of asking locals where to pick up a shared taxi.
Private Drivers
Marshrutkas will be able to take you to most towns/cities around the country, but there are still a lot of places that aren’t accessible by public transport. In this case, you would have to get a tour, or our favourite
way is to hire a driver with GoTrip. You can input your route info on to the GoTrip website and see available drivers, prices, their cars, and ratings. It just makes the journey easier and faster, especially if you want to stop along the way (there are no waiting fees), and you don’t want to be squeezed into a marshrutka!
Hire a Car
So, we have not hired a car ourselves, but after having visited Armenia for a third time and fighting with the public transport again in August 2025, we both said that we should have hired a car. We experienced a lot of difficulty this time round, either with there being zero luggage space, entire transport routes being cancelled, infrequent marshrutkas, and limited seating meaning that we either wouldn’t be allowed on or have to sit on a stool in the aisle.
Our experience would have been SO much better with our own car. Yerevan itself would be an awful place to drive (JUST DON’T DO IT!), but outside of Yerevan, roads are quiet, relatively well-maintained and you have the ability to reach places that public transport won’t get you to.
Local Rent is a company that has rental car options throughout Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Eastern Europe. We haven’t used them ourselves, but we have friends who have and the reviews on Trust Pilot are really high! There’s even an optional add-on that you can purchase to cross the border into Georgia.
So what’s the best way to get around Armenia?
Honestly, it depends on many factors. Let’s break it down:
Just heading to Yerevan? Use the metro and GG Taxi around the city.
Fancy a Gyumri day trip at the weekend from Yerevan? Take the express train, or hire a GoTrip driver if your trip is not at the weekend.
Want to see Vagharshapat on a day trip from Yerevan? Take the thirty minute marshrutka from Kilikia bus station.
Fancy going on other day trips from Yerevan? Some are doable by public transport, but in all honesty, it’s a lot of faffing. Unless you are a really experienced adventurer who is confident in your ability to stick your thumb out at the side of the road if it all goes wrong, just hire yourself a driver on GoTrip and make the journey in to a full day of exploring nearby sights.
Want to see more of Armenia and you have luggage? Just hire yourself a car at Local Rent.
You’re a hard-core adventure traveller and expert problem solver with unlimited time but a tight budget? Go for the marshrutka!
In a Nutshell
Plan more of your trip with these:
- Travel Tips for Armenia: 11 Actually Useful Things to Know
- The Tbilisi to Yerevan Train: Everything You Need to Know
- 24 Fascinating Things to Do in Yerevan: the Complete Guide
- Easy Day Trip from Yerevan: Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin)
- Garni and Geghard: the Best Day Trip from Yerevan
- 5 Things to Do in Gyumri
- How to Get to Tatev Monastery, Armenia
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