Posof (TR) - Vale (GEO): border crossing reports

[adi]

Hi Ellen, yes the Sarpi border crossing from Turkey to Georgia (on the main coastal highway near Batumi) is open to tourists on foot, bicycle, auto, and transport. You will need a negative PCR to cross. The officials may also ask you to fill out the online entry form. We were directed to simply scan a QR code on the window of the booth which directed us to the form. This thread is primarily discussing the Vale Posof border crossing from Turkey to Akhaltsikhe. Have Fun!

Coming in on 19 March via Sarpi, no more PCR plus vaccination certificate, just one of them. Notably the Georgian Immigration CoViD FAQ are out of date in several points and describe last years regulations.

Russians at Sarpi were given a rather stricter seeing to, than Georgian immigration usually does. Apparently apartment rents in known tourist destinations Borjomi, Batumi or Tiflis have risen sharply (rental property is scarce in Georgia, most people own).

With regards to this morning's post (the Turkish news item that made me try) about Vale I could not figure out what is going on at the third crossing, the remoter Aktaş.

[miles]

Hi,
as of today (2022/06/27) the Posof/Vale border post has opened for "everybody" so that you are now free to travel between Turkey and Georgia via
Sarp/Sarpi, Çıldır Aktaş and Posof (Türkgözü)/Vale.

Have a nice trip
Michael

[Goetz]

I can definitely confirm Michaels post.
Traveling from Turkey into Georgia on 17. July 2022 I crossed the Posof/Vale border post with my German registered motorbike successfully. There has been literally no private traffic and things went smooth and quick. Right now there is a massive construction going on, so they are most probably expecting more and more private traffic.
According to a travel guide I've met in Kars/Turkey there is also another border crossing possible at Cildir/Akhalkalaki (Aktas Lake).

[DeaminAdventure]

Hello travelers, thank for your posting experiences, it helped us a lot! We are a couple from Serbia that just came back from traveling through Turkey to the Georga and Armenia. This is an update from November 2022, yes, border Posof/Vale is open for all travelers, and still under construction.

Here are our route, expenses and experience:
-Kars to Ardahan: mini bus from Eski Otogari (location: 40.610295, 43.096717 ). Tell driver you are going to Posof so he will leave you at private travel station. Price was around 30 TL for one person, and travel was ok, marshutka style.
-Arhadan to Akhaltsikhe and Tbilisi: From private travel station (location: 41.114859, 42.700788), the owner of a agency drove us by car first to Akhaltsikhe (for 500 TL/person) and then to Tbilisi central bus station for additional 40 GEL per person. He is not doing regular tours all to the Tbilisi (you can found marshutka to Tbilisi easily), but he drives for Akhaltsikhe more frequently and he was really dissent, good driver. The scenery is amazing, don't miss it.

I just want to emphasize that we contacted VIP agency, that was mentioned by some travelers, but they asked for a 100 dolars from Kars to border and that much after a border to the Tbilisi. So, no. Overall, we spent around 40 euros/dolars for our route.

If you need some more info, write, ask, we will gladly help.
All the best,
Ana and Daniel

[Bhavly]

Hello!

So I did this border crossing on the 21st of Nov 2022 but from Georgia (Borjomi) to Turkey (Kars).

From Tbilisi there are multiple ways to reach Borjomi and Akhaltsikhe. Whether it be Marshkrutas or private transfer with gotrip.ge

I took a gotrip transfer from Tbilisi to Borjomi.
From Borjomi there was an option for a 7.30am Marshkruta (more during day) to Akhaltsikhe and then a Taxi (around 40Gel all up) from there to Vale border, or I paid 80Gel for a private transfer from Borjomi to Vale border.
Georgian Border side there are a couple of service stations. So if coming from Turkey, I'm sure you can go here to order a taxi if none around. You can also buy an eSim for Georgia before arriving in Georgia (I went with beeline.ge) which means you may be able to check for taxis on the BOLT app (low reliability for this location).

Once you cross the border on foot (getting quizzical looks from the truck drivers) and arrive on the Turkish side. There is a restaurant just up the road and to the right. Here you can exchange money (but also there are ATMs in Posof), get a taxi to Posof and also buy a sim card and such.
From Posof I've been told there is an 8am bus to Kars. It was far easier to board a bus to Ardahan and then get a minibus to Kars from Ardahan.
The taxi driver definitely ripped me off from the border to Posof bus station....but in exchange he did take me to the ATM and made sure I was going to make it to the bus on time. It cost 200TL from border to Posof.
Then Posof to Ardahan bus was at 10.30 and cost 100TL
I had pre-booked the last bus from Ardahan to Kars online for 1.30PM and it was $5AUD.

At Ardahan bus stop there is a restaurant. Also the bus to Kars will most likely be a smaller minibus style.

This dropped off in the middle of Kars not far from some of the main hotels.

Good luck!

[pfitschen]

We did this border crossing today from Kars to Akhaltsikhe.
Everything worked really well with beautiful views along the way: we took an 8am minibus from Eski Otogar in the Kars city center to Ardahan, asking the driver to drop us off at the minibus station for continuing towards Posof. It cost 100 TRY per person (3€ at time of writing).
From Ardahan, we continued at 10:30 by minibus to Posof for 150 TRY/person, and the driver drove us further to the border after dropping off all other passengers. We negotiated 300 TRY total for that part. Border was super easy to cross on foot (still some minor construction and confusion about where to get passports stamped), and a private taxi waiting right after the border on the Georgian side offered to drive us to Akhaltsikhe for 50 lari (~20 euros, has potential for negotiating it down further we think). We arrived in Akhaltsikhe around 3pm Georgian time (2pm Turkish time), so 6 hours and roughly 45€ overall for 2 people.
There are ample food options at Ardahan minibus station to kill the 1.5-2hr wait.

[serialchiller]

We got through from Georgia to Turkey on Kazakh number plates (with a Kazakh hotel stay registratation as a "residence document", as the Turkish law needs the driver to have either a passport or residence in the country of the vehicle's plates).

Fantastic border. Probably the most (only) friendly Turkish border guards.

10/7, would do again, but not anymore on foreign number plates.