Rome, Yerevan And Tbilisi In 10 Days – Was It All Worth It?
Rome, Yerevan and Tbilisi In 10 Days – Was It All Worth It?
Ever since visiting Georgia and Armenia the year before, saying I wanted to go back would be an understatement. I even remember sitting in the Friends Hostel in Georgia searching for another flight back when I was actually there last but it seemed every time I looked after that I could neither find anything convenient or cheap enough to get back out here.
It was one night out at the pub when I found my solution. If I routed through Rome first, I could pick up a £31 flight there and then a £51 flight on to Yerevan where I could go to Tblisi with a 19 euro transfer.
Rome was somewhere I’d visited the previous year and had been meaning to revisit anyway — I never got round to exploring the Roman Forum. So it seemed like the perfect plan. But was it?
Going Back To Rome — Not As Great As I Thought It Would Be
My last trip to Rome was pretty good overall. Missing my ferry to Tunisia aside, I’d found it a fascinating place — the Colosseum, the ancient buildings, all of it. So really I came back expecting more of the same.
Although, things got off to a bad start almost immediately. I tried my card on the train barrier, it didn’t work, and with the train right there and the barrier open, I made the daft decision to just get on and try to buy a ticket from the inspector (If I wasn’t able to avoid him entirely – which I did not).
Back in England, I’ve occasionally managed to sort this out by finding the inspector and asking upfront — but this particular inspector was having absolutely none of it.
Fifty euros for the fine, then twelve euros for the actual fare on top. That was nearly everything I had on me, and it hit hard given I’d been hoping for a budget-friendly ten days.
Getting Off the Train and Going for a Beer
I’ll be honest — I’d already started drinking the night before, after about two or three weeks off the booze. Looking back, it was probably a bad Idea really. I ended up having two pints of Stella Artois before my flight and two cans on the plane, and by the time I arrived I’d been drinking pretty much all day. Whether the train situation made it worse or I’d have carried on anyway, I’m not entirely sure.
Either way, I still thought I could make the finances stretch until I got to Armenia. Wishful thinking, as it turned out.
Getting Lost and Finding My Hostel
My hostel was 25 minutes from Rome Termini. Somehow, I turned this into six-hours spending almost an hour walking in circles before I finally found it. I was grateful there was no one with me — I’d have driven them absolutely mad I’m sure.
Then there was the hostel itself. It wasn’t the cheap bunk beds or the shared room that shocked me — it was the rat. I’d gone out into the back garden to have a beer and one ran straight across the sofa in front of me. The receptionist seemed oddly unbothered, saying they live on the roof and keep him company. To be fair, in a city like Rome you’re always going to get rats, but I won’t be staying there again. Between this place and the last one I stayed at in Rome — where anything that could be broken was broken — I’m clearly going to need to be a lot more careful with my choices.
The Next Day and the Irish Pub
This was supposed to be my big sightseeing day — the Roman Forum, maybe another look at the Colosseum. Instead, I walked past the Colosseum, found an Irish pub at half one in the afternoon, and didn’t leave until half one in the morning.
I got back to the hostel very late, very loud, and apparently very snore-y. The next morning I got a proper earful from my dormmates — and honestly, I couldn’t argue with a word of it. I was just relieved to be leaving.
Heading For The Airport — and Missing My Train
I couldn’t wait to get out of Italy. The €50 euro fine, the rat at the hostel, the confrontation with my room mates — I’d had more than enough of Italy, and all I wanted was to get to Yerevan.
However, I had a couple of beers that morning, which probably didn’t help my focus, and then made a last-minute dash for the train. I made it with a minute or two to spare, which felt like a triumph but if only it was.
Then I sat on the train and realised I had no idea how many stops I needed.
I eventually plucked up the courage to ask a fellow passenger how far we were, and discovered I’d missed my stop entirely. I was supposed to change at Rome Ostiense and head to the airport — instead I was at the end of the line in Civitavecchia, miles away.
Staying an Extra Night in Civitavecchia
My first instinct was to race back to the airport. It was about half one and the flight was at four. It didn’t seem doable, and when Uber quoted me €110 to get there that was it – I didnt even want to try. Maybe i could have made it but if I didnt it would be another load of money gone to waste.
So I found the nearest Cafe sat down and ordered a beer. I took a minute to get my head together and started searching for a new flight.
£90 on the credit card it cost me for a new flight the next afternoon. Painful, but at least I was still going.
And actually Civitavecchia turned out to be a pleasant enough place to be stranded — it’s by the sea, quite relaxed, and somewhere I can actually imagine coming back to properly one day – maybe to catch that ferry to Tunisia. Something I will have to keep in mind but anyway from this point it felt like my nightmare, at last was over. There was no way I would be making the same mistakes again and I could finally get on with the rest of my trip.
Getting To Yerevan — With a Few Hiccups
Some hiccups were probably inevitable. I arrived at midnight, but had managed to book my stay at the Jan Hostel (where I’d stayed on my last trip) for the night before. Then the mobile data I’d bought at the airport refused to work, which left me stuck for thirty minutes trying to get the Yandex Go app running so I could book a taxi.
In the end I did what I’d told myself I wouldn’t do and just asked a taxi driver at the airport. I was worried about being ripped off but It was fine — under £10, and he got me there even though I couldn’t show him exactly where the hostel was due to having no internet.
But it wasn’t quite over. By the time I arrived it was nearly half midnight, it was freezing cold with snow on the ground, and nobody answered the door. The restaurant across the road wasn’t particularly interested in letting me use their WiFi either. Eventually, after ringing the bell again, I was let in. My host wasn’t exactly thrilled with the timing, but he was good enough to let me stay and sort the booking out. I was very grateful.
Yerevan — The Part I Kind of Hated
It was genuinely nice to be back in Yerevan. After two nights, I wanted to see more of the city — the zoo was high on my list — but I kept looking at the snow and I was just thinking the worst. In the end I booked my transport to Tbilisi for the next morning without much thought at all, and I kind of really wish I hadn’t – I’d still have had a good few days in Georgia if I stayed longer but I thought waiting to see what happens with the weather really was quite frustrating.
The Drive to Tbilisi
This was the part what really made me wish I had stayed longer in Armenia. The snow on the mountains looked absolutely incredible. If I’d booked a tour for this day instead of moving on to Georgia I bet it would have been something quite special.
I was far too hasty, and I knew it the moment we started driving.
That said, Georgia is my favourite of the two countries, so it was good to be heading back. And I had a great eBay sale on the journey — £80 for a Transformers figure I’d paid £2 for. After Italy, that felt like winning the lottery to be honest after my recent bad luck / costly mistakes
Tbilisi — Some Problems, But Getting There
There was a problem I knew I would have waiting in Tbilisi. I’d have no mobile data. Exactly why I need to get an eSim for future trips.
I thought I’d be alright because I was expecting to be dropped near McDonald’s where I could use the WiFi.
But I wasn’t sure where they dropped me off. I think actually it may have only been around the corner but I just kept walking and making life difficult for myself. No mobile data, no Google Maps, and nobody I spoke to was helping. A hotel I tried for WiFi wasn’t much friendlier but I found McDonald’s in the end, ordered a Bolt Taxi and finally I made it to the hostel.
£4 a night, cheap enough but no curtains on the beds, and a fairly swift stream of complaints about my snoring.
It was OK for WiFi and had Hot Water but I didn’t like the complaints and that I couldn’t make a cup of tea
The Next Day — Zoo and Another Irish Pub
My mission the next morning was simple: find a phone shop and get a Georgian SIM. I thought it would be easy enough but I kept putting it off and it was just silly really because I could have found one if I just paid a bit more attention.
It was quite funny really. I set off in what seemed like a reasonable direction and, completely by accident, I spotted the baboons from the zoo in the distance. Its actually pretty cool there is a high bridge you go over and from here you can see the zoo.
I was actually excited. I thought I would need Google Maps to find my way here but by chance there it was on the way.
My 3rd time here after coming here twice on my last stay in the city.
I paid the 4 GEL to get in and spent a lovely morning wandering around seeing Begi the Hippo, the monkeys, the vultures, and everyone else. The big wheel was running, but for some reason they didnt let me on which was a shame, but otherwise it was a really nice visit.
I had the best hot dog here too. They are so good in Georgia. Mostly the bread but I was really craving them after this for basically my whole stay.
So, I left the zoo and, the plan was: find a phone shop, and maybe somewhere else to eat but Instead, after walking past the Billy Burkes Irish bar I just couldnt help myself.
Leaving the Pub – 10 Pints Later
After leaving the pub. (On my first attempt). Getting back that evening was a total nightmare. All I had was a screenshot of Google Maps, and even though it looked easy enough to follow it really wasn’t. I had to stop myself walking down the motor way lol. Wasn’t making that mistake again. It is one of those things with me getting lost and walking down the road side. It is something I need to stop doing really for my own good.
I found a waterfall here that was cool. Getting lost isnt always a bad thing and I built a very amateur snowman too on wanderings, but by that point it was getting dark and my phone battery was nearly dead.
Thankfully the Irish bar was still open after this and they let me charge up my phone enough to call a Bolt taxi. I should have done this hours ago. It was beyond stupid that I didn’t earlier and worse still on the way back, out the taxi window I spotted a phone shop directly across the road from the bar and if this wasn’t bad enough this was where Google maps was telling me to go to to get back to my hostel. By crossing the road I could have actually found my way.
Coming Back Drunk and Almost Getting Thrown Out of My Hostel
I was pretty out of it by this point. Back at the hostel, I bought a couple of bottles of beer to drink with a big bag of doritos. It didn’t even occur to me that this might be a problem — I only noticed the “No Alcohol” sign after a member of staff came over to me swearing his head off and letting me know in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t allowed, and that they could ask people to leave for being too drunk. I wasn’t in a position to argue. I went outside, finished the beer, and came back in quietly.
I ended up sleeping on the lounge sofa that night to spare my dormmates another night of industrial snoring. At some point the next morning I fell asleep there again while on my laptop — and got told off for snoring by one of the cleaners which was quote funny. Even the sofas weren’t safe.
Mobile Data and Mtatsminda Park
I found a phone shop pretty quickly the following morning. I stopped into McDonald’s after this to do some blogging, and if I remember right I
then decided to head up to Mtatsminda Park on the cable car.
It was covered in snow and bitterly cold up there, but what a place. The views over the city from every angle are just incredible. And this time, for the first time, I got to ride the rollercoaster. On my previous two visits something had always got in the way, but I noticed a group of Indian tourists getting on and just followed them. A bit scary, but deeply satisfying to tick off the list.
I also had trout with pomegranate sauce at one of the restaurants up here — a dish I’d had on my last visit, though I couldn’t track down the exact same place this time so had it somewhere else. Also, I had a very expensive pomegranate juice at 20 GEL (about £7). I love pomegranate juice in Georgia and Armenia, but I’ll be watching out for that particular scam next time.
The Begi Hippo Statue
This was actually before Mtatsminda, looking at my photos. I spent a nice morning wandering through a lovely park searching for the statue built in honour of Begi the Hippo from the zoo. It took me a while to find, tucked away near a big duck pond, but it was completely worth it — total bliss.
I stopped at a café on the way back and had another very tasty hot dogs with a pot of green tea. Not something I’d normally go for at home, but they were made with really good bread rolls and I couldn’t get enough of them.
The Friends Hostel — A Much Better Choice
On my last full day in Georgia I decided to cut my losses on the £4 room and move somewhere better. I booked a private room at the Friends Hostel in Tbilisi — £17 for the night, and it was the best decision I made on the whole trip.
It was great to be back there. There were students around drinking freely, which made me realise just how much I’d been resenting the other place. There were actual cups. A kettle that didn’t need to be heated on the stove. Small things, but you appreciate them.
Really, the only shame was that I hadn’t booked it for my whole stay.
My Last Morning — The Botanical Garden
My flight on the day wasn’t until 17:30 (Georgian time) so I had a full morning left. I’d been wanting to visit Turtle Lake, which you can reach by climbing the stairs or taking the cable car up to the Mother of Georgia statue. I didn’t quite find it this time, but what I did find on the other side of the statue was the Botanical Garden — and it was absolutely incredible.
Five GEL to get in, and then you follow this trail down into something genuinely beautiful. A bamboo garden, a river, a waterfall. I was a bit gutted knowing I couldn’t explore it properly with one eye on the time, but it’s absolutely somewhere I’ll be back to see in full.
I finished the trip with one last bowl of pork Ojakhuri and a green tea at a little underground bar/restaurant I must have walked past several times without noticing. A cool place. Another one to come back to.
Flying Home
A good flight home, and one of the perks of Georgia being four hours ahead is you land back in the UK at a reasonable hour. My sister picked me up, I collected a pile of Vinted deliveries I’d been buying on the road, and I even got to see my little niece before she went to bed. Not a bad way to end things.
The trip had a rough start, no question. But it finished well. Ten days in Rome, Yerevan, and Tbilisi — long enough, though a couple more days would have been nice. I never made it to the Roman Forum, never got to Yerevan Zoo, never reached the Chronicles of Georgia. So I suppose I’ll just have to come back and do it all again — this time with slightly more organisation, and maybe slightly fewer Irish pubs and no alcohol lol
Keen traveler and digital nomad looking to share my stories from my international trips.