train from france to erevan

[safar]

hello

is it possible to arrive in armeny from france with train ??

how i can do ??

best regards

[PeterM]

Hello Safar,

maybe if you take a train
France-Germany-Russia-Georgia-Armenia.

But I doubt that it is a good idea compared to taking an aircraft.
Even a bus France-Istanbul-Georgia-Armenia might be better than the train.

Peter

[sebhoff]

Yes - but probably not right now. There are three fairly straightforward ways of doing this that I can think of, but only one allows you to do every single bit by train:

1) France - Germany - Poland - Belarus - Moscow - Baku - Tbilisi - Yerevan.
2) France - Switzerland/Italy - various Balkan states - Turkey - Georgia - Yerevan.
3) France - Switzerland/Italy - various Balkan states - Turkey - Tatvan/Van- Tabriz/Tehran - Astara - Baku - Tbilisi - Yerevan

About 2): There is no passenger train connection between Turkey and Georgia yet. The Baku - Tbilisi - Kars line (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku–Tbilisi–Kars_railway) has been operational for freight trains for a while, but passenger travel has been postponed again and again (although the actual Stadler trains were delivered a while ago). So you'll have to take the bus from Eastern Turkey to reach the Georgian border and then start your train travel again from Batumi onwards.
About 3): You need to take the bus or a ferry from Tatvan to Van, and the Astara–Rasht–Qazvin railway in northern Iran has not yet been built/completed.
About 2) and 3): There used to be major construction work on lines around Istanbul, requiring passengers to get off the train before arriving in Istanbul. I haven't been following things for a while, so I don't know whether the Bulgaria - Istanbul - Ankara connection is now fully operational again...

About Peter's response: there is no train between Russia and Georgia. The Moscow-Yerevan link (via Sukhumi) stopped operating as a result of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. Oh, and at least in my view, train travel is virtually *always* a better idea that planes or buses...

Why am I writing "fairly straightforward"? Well, the list of possible detours is quite long. How about a slight rerouting via Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Tashkent, Nukus, Beyneu and Astrakhan?

Needless to say, Corona doesn't help. The Van - Tehran connection is, I think, still suspended and I don't know about a number of other border crossings/visa requirements (e.g. Russia - Azerbaijan or Iran - Azerbaijan).

But it's still fun planning this kind of trip!
Sebastian

[PeterM]

Thank you for the correct info on the non existing line Russia-Georgia !! Peter

[elliotmitchell01]

Hey all!

My wife and I are hoping to cross the Georgia/Azerbaijan land border in Jan/Feb. Any of you also doing this or have experience doing so?

Thanks!
Elliot

[duffajfka]

Elliot, I might do that as well in March. I will be happy to read your experience if you have any by then.