Every year, the picturesque region offers its guests relaxation on the Black Sea beaches, walks along natural attractions and acquaintance with historical and architectural objects. Most people planning to spend a vacation in the Caucasus do not see the need to buy ready-made tours, but prefer to book accommodation and organize a transfer without intermediaries.
For independent travelers, we have selected several options on how to get to Abkhazia from Russian cities.
How to get to Abkhazia by train, plane and car
Based on their own preferences, tourists can use the services of air carriers, Russian Railways or go by private car.
There is no airport serving international flights in Sukhum. Those considering options on how to get to Gagra from St. Petersburg and Moscow (as well as to other Abkhaz resorts) should take into account that the flight is carried out only to Adler (located 6 km from the border zone).
To avoid unnecessary movements, a trip by train arriving directly at the Sukhum station will allow. Buses run from the capital to the main resorts; taxi available.
For those wishing to freely move around the picturesque surroundings, we recommend traveling to Abkhazia by car. The road to the checkpoint (Psou village) will be about 1,650 km from Moscow and 2,370 km from the northern capital.
It will be difficult to cover the distance by bus from the central and north-western regions due to transfers in Volgograd, Adler and Stavropol; As a result, travel by bus to Abkhazia from Moscow will take more than 30 hours, from St. Petersburg - more than 38.
For your information
Entry to the Abkhaz territory is possible with a foreign or Russian passport (for children - a birth certificate with a note of citizenship) and does not require additional documents. Before planning an independent trip, we definitely advise you to pay off all debts, they are checked here first.
When is the best time to go - we recommend choosing the season from mid-May to early October. The average air temperature in the summer is +28 degrees.
What money to take - rubles, cards are not accepted everywhere, take small bills.
What language - Abkhazian prevails, but the population speaks Russian fluently.
Where to book accommodation - best through Booking.com, it has the most extensive database of hotels and private options from hosts. In the season, we definitely use booking, in other months free from tourists, you can rent accommodation upon arrival, according to advertisements.
To choose a convenient and economical travel option, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of traveling by different types of transport.
How to get to Abkhazia by plane
The flight allows you to minimize travel time. It is more profitable to buy tickets two to three months before the holiday.
Moscow-Adler
Air carriers deliver passengers from the Moscow airport to Adler at least 2 hours 15 minutes. The maximum flight time is 2 hours 45 minutes.
Depending on the season, the cost of the flight varies in the range of 1,800-6,900. The highest rates for airline services (6,000 and more) are in June and July. In April-May and August, prices drop by a couple of thousand. In low season (October-December and February-March) you can fly for 2,000-2,500.
St Petersburg-Adler
The duration of a direct flight starts from 3 hours 10 minutes.
The difference between the prices for flights from St. Petersburg and the Russian capital is 1,500-2,500 rubles. not in favor of the city on the Neva. To fly from St. Petersburg to Sochi in the summer you will have to pay about 10 thousand. The cheapest services of companies will be in October, November and December - 3,500-5,000. For those who are looking for a cheaper way to fly to Abkhazia from St. Petersburg, we advise you to monitor the periodically appearing offers of low-cost airlines with discounts of up to 30% (with transfers).
How to get from Sochi airport in Adler to Abkhazia
The transfer from the airfield to the border zone takes an average of 10 minutes. A minibus ride will cost 230-250 rubles, a taxi driver (Uber service) will take 350-550. Of the inexpensive options for how to get from Sochi to Abkhazia on your own, there is a regular bus number 173 (the fee will be about 30 rubles, but the travel time will increase by half an hour). Next, you should cross the checkpoint on foot and drive by land to the desired resort.
More convenient and, accordingly, expensive is a direct transfer provided by carriers (Garuda Express, Transfer Plus, etc.). The service includes a meeting at the airport, assistance with luggage and delivery to the place of residence.
Approximate prices for a direct transfer from Sochi to Abkhazia when ordering a 4-seater foreign car:
- 2 600-2 800 to Tsandripsh, Gagra, Pitsunda;
- 3 400-3 900 to Gudauta, Sukhum and New Athos;
- 5000 to Kyndyga and Ochamchira.
Travel to Abkhazia by train
One of the popular options for how to get to Abkhazia from St. Petersburg, Samara, the capital, Krasnodar and Belgorod are trains going to Sukhum. On the way, they make stops in Voronezh, Stary Oskol, Yelets, Lipetsk, Syzran and other settlements.
Advice
If there is no place of residence among the railway stations during the journey, we recommend that you consider a trip through Adler, where you can get by rail from most Russian cities (this is one of the options for how to get to Abkhazia from Yekaterinburg and Ufa).
How to get to Abkhazia by train from Moscow and St. Petersburg:
- The departure point for the Moscow-Sukhum trains are the Kursk and Kazan railway stations. Travel time: 1 day 15 hours-2 days; intermediate railway stations are in Gagra, Tsandripsh, Novy Afon and Gudauta.
Prices for seats in a reserved seat carriage start from 4,200-4,500, in a compartment - from 7,800-8,000.
Train schedule
Timetable Moscow - Sukhum
- Passenger trains run from St. Petersburg to the Abkhaz capital only during the high season (May-September). Travel time is increased to two days 10 hours, and the payment to 6,000 for a reserved seat and 11,000 for a compartment.
Timetable Saint Petersburg - Sukhum
How to get to Abkhazia from the Sochi region
There are several ways to visit the Caucasian resorts from Sochi: by train, bus or catamaran.
By rail
To get from Sochi to Abkhazia directly, we recommend using a train from Belgorod, St. Petersburg or from the Russian capital. All of them make stops in the main Abkhaz resorts, which avoids an additional transfer from the border with the Russian Federation.
By road
One of the options for how to get from Sochi to Abkhazia is public transport. Plying buses (for example, No. 125P) take passengers directly to the border. Further, tourists cross it on their own and change to a minibus or taxi to come to the resort town. Drivers of these types of transport await customers in a parking lot located 100 meters from the checkpoint.
In most cases, the route of carriers runs along the E-60 highway along the coast and passes cities in the following sequence:
- Gechripsh;
- Tsandripsh;
- White rocks;
- Scallop;
- Gagra;
- Gudauta;
- Primorskoe;
- New Athos;
- Sukhum;
- Kyndyg;
- Ochamchira.
On a note
- When choosing transport, you need to pay attention to the point of arrival. For example, planning, how to get from Sochi to Gagra, you can consider flights to Novy Afon or Sukhum; the flight, the final stop of which is Scallop, will not work.
- Transport to Molochny, Pitsunda, Golden Bay, Alakhadza, Ldzai and Mussera runs separately.
- Lovers of comfortable movement can order an individual transfer.
On water
One of the options for how to get from Sochi to Abkhazia is a summer catamaran that delivers passengers to the city of Gagra in 1.5 hours. Departure takes place every day at 10 am. A sea voyage will cost 500 rubles for an adult and 250 for a child.
Useful materials:
- How to get to Lake Ritsa
- Vacation prices
- The nuances of a trip by car
How to get from Adler to the Republic of Abkhazia
Those who are looking for options on how to get to Abkhazia from Adler can purchase train or bus tickets, as well as go on a sea adventure on a catamaran.
A train
You can get to Sukhum, Novy Afon, Gagra and Tsandripsh by direct flight from Moscow, Belgorod or St. Petersburg. There is no separate Adler-Abkhazia train.
Train
For those who choose how to get from Adler to Gagra, we recommend considering the local train: from Sochi to Abkhazia, transport runs in summer twice a day in both directions. Ticket price: 250 rubles; stay on the road - two hours together with the passage of customs.
According to the schedule, the train from Sochi to Abkhazia leaves at 8-50 and 13-40, returns at 11-10 and 17-20.
Bus
The delivery of passengers by bus from Adler to Abkhazia is carried out by flights 57, 173, 125П and 117. After passing the border, tourists can use a taxi, minibus or individual transfer.
Bus ticket prices start from 30-40 rubles. to nearby Tsandripsh, 75 to Gagra, 130 to Pitsunda and Gudauta, 155 to Novy Afon and 210 to Sukhum. Taxi prices start from 550 rubles. and depending on the number of kilometers, it reaches 1,500 or more.
On a note
When using the services of fixed-route taxis, you should stock up on small bills, because drivers may not have change. Checks and tickets are extremely rare.
By catamaran
How to get from Adler to Gagra is described in the section "How to get to Abkhazia from the Sochi region" (sub-item "by water").
How to get to Abkhazia by private car on your own
Those who prefer to move freely on vacation will be interested to know how to get to Abkhazia by car from Moscow and St. Petersburg (drivers from other cities use the same highway).
Tourist routes to the Caucasus from the two capitals go along the Don highway M-4 (from St. Petersburg, they first go to the capital along the E-105 (M11). Having reached the Black Sea coast, drivers should turn onto the A-147 road, which goes to the city of Dzhugba, and move in this direction to the republic.
Advice
Due to traffic jams in the Dzhugba area, travelers turn off the M-4 after the village of Berezanskaya towards Vyselok and drive past Ust-Labinsk, Belorechensk, Khadyzhensk and Tuapse.
Warning! We do not say that this is so, but the reviews of tourists say the following.
- We advise you to park your car in the private sector according to the rules, the local population has a contradictory attitude towards disrespect, children break windows and puncture tires. Paid parking is best. When walking to attractions, park in crowded places.
- Be sure to follow the traffic rules, inspectors make money primarily on tourists.
- In the markets, they like to put on weight, keep an eye on it.
How to get from the suburbs of Krasnodar to Abkhazia
Travelers from Krasnodar have access to motorways and railways.
A train
One of the most convenient types of transport is the direct train Krasnodar-Abkhazia (Sukhum). Travel time is 12.5 hours (boarding takes place at 22:17, so the main part of the road is crossed at night). The cost of a reserved seat is about 1,550, a coupe - almost 2,600.
On the way, the train stops at Adler, Tuapse, Khost, etc.
A less convenient way is to take the train tracks to the Adlerovsky railway station, and then by any transport to the border.
The train does not run from Krasnodar to Abkhazia.
Airplane
Flight from Krasnodar is possible only to Adler; it lasts about an hour. How to get further to Sukhum is described in the section "How to get from Adler to the Republic of Abkhazia" above.
Bus
The direct scheduled bus Krasnodar-Abkhazia departs at 19:00. The ticket price for an hour-long trip is just over a thousand.
Car
On average, drivers cover the distance from Krasnodar to Sukhum (450 km) in 7.5 hours. However, summer traffic jams on the M-4 highway and passing customs control at the border significantly increase the travel time.
How to get to Abkhazia cheaply
We will consider the comparison of the cost of the road on the example of traveling from Moscow (residents of the southern regions may be more profitable with other transport than those departing from the central and north-western regions).
A trip by car will require about 10 thousand:
- gasoline costs will be approximately 7,200 (for the calculation we take a distance of 1,630 km, fuel consumption 9l / 100 km, the price of AI-92 gasoline is 44 rubles);
- the cost of living in a good hotel is 2,200 (one night for 28-30 hours);
Travelers by car can take fellow travelers, sharing transportation costs with them, this is done by the bla bla car service.
Traveling by air from the capital (plus a taxi to the border from the airport) will cost an average of 6,700 in the summer.
The cheapest option will be the train (it will cost 4,600). However, if there are more than two passengers, it is more profitable to go on vacation by car.
Do not forget about food and entertainment, we advise you to allocate from 1,500 rubles per person per day for this. We definitely advise you to take a gastronomic tour of the national cuisine, you can go to any restaurant from the Tripadvisor rating, but do not trust the reviews, they are almost all purchased.
Thus, there are several ways to travel to the republic. Everyone can choose the best option for themselves, based on personal preferences regarding comfort, as well as financial capabilities.
