Georgia Away - 6th September 2008

[Babysis]

Myself and Green Tribe are all booked up - Happy days.
The itinerary is below; hopefully it might help someone who is still to book. This is the best possible route we could find after many many hours of searching:

Thurs 4th Sept
Galway - Dublin (Aer Arann)
Dep: 17:15
Arr: 18:00

Fri 5th Sept
Dublin - Riga (Flylal)
Dep: 01:05
Arr: 08:35

Fri 5th Sept
Riga - Tbilisi (Air Baltic)
Dep: 22:40
Arr: 03:10

Mon 8th Sept
Tbilisi - Riga (Air Baltic)
Dep: 03:45
Arr: 06:20

Riga - Belgrade (Air Baltic)
Dep: 12:25
Arr: 16:15

Belgrade - Podgorica by overnight train Mon 5th Sept
Dep: 21:10
Arr: 15:05

Podgorica - Sofia by train Thursday 11th Sept
Dep: 09:06
Arr: 16:07

Thurs 11th Sept (Wizzair)
Sofia - Luton
Dep: 21:30
Arr: 22:50

Then a weekend in London with my folks and a cheap flight back to Galway.

Total Cost €670 (Id say this will go up soonish)

Also, people might want to check out Estonian Air as it has a Dublin to Tallinn direct flight that was very reasonable, although again, it might have gone up. Flylal and Air Baltic both fly out of Tallinn too.

[Sligo Hornet]

Myself and Green Tribe are all booked up - Happy days.
The itinerary is below; hopefully it might help someone who is still to book. This is the best possible route we could find after many many hours of searching:

Thurs 4th Sept
Galway - Dublin (Aer Arann)
Dep: 17:15
Arr: 18:00

Fri 5th Sept
Dublin - Riga (Flylal)
Dep: 01:05
Arr: 08:35

Fri 5th Sept
Riga - Tbilisi (Air Baltic)
Dep: 22:40
Arr: 03:10

Mon 8th Sept
Tbilisi - Riga (Air Baltic)
Dep: 03:45
Arr: 06:20

Riga - Belgrade (Air Baltic)
Dep: 12:25
Arr: 16:15

Belgrade - Podgorica by overnight train Mon 5th Sept
Dep: 21:10
Arr: 15:05

Podgorica - Sofia by train Thursday 11th Sept
Dep: 09:06
Arr: 16:07

Thurs 11th Sept (Wizzair)
Sofia - Luton
Dep: 21:30
Arr: 22:50

Then a weekend in London with my folks and a cheap flight back to Galway.

Total Cost €670 (Id say this will go up soonish)

Also, people might want to check out Estonian Air as it has a Dublin to Tallinn direct flight that was very reasonable, although again, it might have gone up. Flylal and Air Baltic both fly out of Tallinn too.

Well done......looks a very interesting/knackering journey....it seems ALL flights into to Tbilisi seem to be arriving Friday at around 3am!......at least there will be some welcoming faces.

Did you manage to get hotels in Tbilisi and Podgorica?

[Babysis]

Well done......looks a very interesting/knackering journey....it seems ALL flights into to Tbilisi seem to be arriving Friday at around 3am!......at least there will be some welcoming faces.

Did you manage to get hotels in Tbilisi and Podgorica?

Aren't all double headers knackering though Its not too bad, with an over night train and plane - just means sleep rather than drink.

We have nearly sorted a hotel in Tbilisi and are working on a hotel in Podgorica......fingers crossed.

[Green Tribe]

Myself and Green Tribe are all booked up - Happy days.
The itinerary is below; hopefully it might help someone who is still to book. This is the best possible route we could find after many many hours of searching:

Thurs 4th Sept
Galway - Dublin (Aer Arann)
Dep: 17:15
Arr: 18:00

Fri 5th Sept
Dublin - Riga (Flylal)
Dep: 01:05
Arr: 08:35

Fri 5th Sept
Riga - Tbilisi (Air Baltic)
Dep: 22:40
Arr: 03:10

Mon 8th Sept
Tbilisi - Riga (Air Baltic)
Dep: 03:45
Arr: 06:20

Riga - Belgrade (Air Baltic)8h sept
Dep: 12:25
Arr: 16:15

Belgrade - Podgorica JAT airlines 8th Sep
21:15/22:05

Podgorica - Sofia by train Thursday 11th Sept
Dep: 09:06
Arr: 16:07

Thurs 11th Sept (Wizzair)
Sofia - Luton
Dep: 21:30
Arr: 22:50

Then a weekend in London with my folks and a cheap flight back to Galway.

Total Cost €670 (Id say this will go up soonish)

Also, people might want to check out Estonian Air as it has a Dublin to Tallinn direct flight that was very reasonable, although again, it might have gone up. Flylal and Air Baltic both fly out of Tallinn too.

slight change BEL_POD

[AidoM]

slight change BEL_POD

Whts with part of the sig Is it Georgian

[pineapple stu]

Georgian script anyways. Check out www.google.ge!

[Green Tribe]

Whts with part of the sig? Is it Georgian

Easy
Click

[Mayo_Bhoy]

I pm'd poter on tripadvior looking for info on Tibilii (cant type letter between R and T) and got the following reply

Hello

I’ve been to 4 away trips watching Scotland in football matches, first Ljubljana then Vilnius then Kiev then Tbilisi

My favourite was Ljubljana and closely followed by Tbilisi, Tbilisi is an amazing place and I am definitely going to go back one day and hopefully soon

Myself and one of my mates went for a week and we had a brilliant time, the Georgia v Scotland game was played on a Wednesday and we went out on the Friday before because we wanted to see a bit of Georgia not just Tbilisi

We heard all these horror stories before we went over warning us not to wear our kilts because taxi drivers would try and kidnap you and people might try and rob you in the street, all I can say is that it’s the biggest load of rubbish I have ever heard!!

The Georgians are amazing people; they are a very proud nation, they couldn’t do enough to help us, everything from people in the street wanting to talk to you to people in shops/bars coming out to say hello, the taxi drivers themselves were sound and we never got over charged once by any of them

We went via Vienna and arrived at 4 o’clock on the Saturday morning, we wore our kilts travelling and even when we were going through customs at that time of the morning the security staff were all wanting to talk to us and asking why we were in Georgia for so long, the security staff even wanted to take photos of us with them at passport control!!!!

At first we were booked into a hotel called Hotel Kala this was located in the old part of Tbilisi http://hotelkala.caucasus.net/

The week we were due to fly out they got in touch with us saying they had to shift us to their sister hotel called Hotel Gorda because guests that they had were wanting to stay longer, the Gorda isn’t as nice as the Kala, it was more like a Hostel but it was still in a central location and the staff were friendly and really helpful http://www.hotels.ltd.ge/

We arranged for an airport transfer through the hotel which I would recommend you to do if the hotel you stay in can arrange that, when they met us at the airport the owner of the hotel and one of the receptionists were waiting for us with a sign with my name on it, myself and my mate were a bit worse for wear after travelling/drinking all day but we soon livened up when we saw them and we had a good laugh

When we were at the airport the receptionist then told us that there were no rooms in the Gorda hotel, I started thinking……. Here we go chaos already!

They had arranged for us to stay for 2 nights in a guest house in an area called Saburtalo, I would avoid staying up in Saburtalo because it is too far away from the centre and we got lost on the way home both nights, even the taxi drivers couldn’t find our guest house

By the time we left the airport it was going on 5am, the people then decided to give us a guided tour and history lesson round Tbilisi!!

They took us up to Narikhala Fortress and Metekhi church and through the streets of the old town and up Rustavelli Avenue, it was superb and a really nice thing of them to do

When we were leaving Tbilisi they told us that the hotel Kala was getting done up and the name was going to change so I don’t know if the email address’s/contact details will be the same

I would recommend staying at the Kala and the Gorda

To get a better feel of Georgia and if you have the time I would recommend trying a day trip somewhere

We went to the Davit Gareja monasteries and a place called Mtskheta which is the ancient capital of Georgia, both were great days out

For great pubs/clubs/restaurants and general information this website is very good http://www.info-tbilisi.com/

If yous are going through the week and yous are into the night clubs the only annoying thing is that theres not many open through the week, but there are plenty bars open through the week though

The food in Georgia was good, its kind of an Asian meets Europe mixture

If you like red wine you will like the Georgian red wine

My favourite Georgian beer was Natakhtari, Kazbegi was nice as well but stay away from once called Argo!!!

There are a few Irish Bars in Tbilisi, we only made it to one though, it was called the Hangar Bar, its owned by an American girl called Rebecca, very nice woman indeed, she put on free beer for the Scotland fans after the game against Georgia

As you know yourself Scotland’s game against the Georgians was a disaster, the Georgian’s were extremely happy and it was mental after the game, people were driving down the streets in their cars beeping the horns, waving flags and hanging out of the windows and sun roofs!

After the game it was very well policed, all the Scotland fans were put onto buses which dropped you off on Rustavelli Avenue

I would thoroughly recommend Tbilisi and I wouldn’t have any worries at all about going

If the Scots were made to feel welcome in Tbilisi you can rest assured the Irish will be as well!!!!

I hope you book up and have an excellent craic in Tbilisi!!

Good luck for the match and campaign and hopefully we’ll see you in South Africa!!!

Cheers

Lucas

p.s.

If you want any more info just give us a shout

p.p.s.

It’s very heard but try and learn a bit of the Georgian language and the Georgians will love you for it, we learned a good bit and they really appreciate you trying to speak their language

[stiofain]

Would anyone have an idea or be able to make an educated guess as to what time this game is likely to kick off? I'll be flying out in the early am of Sunday morning and i'm just wondering if it'll be worth my while having a room in the hotel on the saturday night. I'm not overly bothered about saving a few quid but if the game kicks off at 8pm or so and i have to leave for the airport around 1am, theres probably not much point.

[Newryrep]

Would anyone have an idea what time this game is likely to kick off? I'll be flying out in the early am of Sunday morning and i'm just wondering if it'll be worth my while having a room in the hotel on the saturday night. I'm not overly bothered about saving a few quid but if the game kicks off at 8pm or so and i have to leave for the airport around 1am, theres probably not much point.

Wouldnt bother myself, me and Mrs Newryrep are flying Mon am, not bothering with a hotel on sunday night. (mind you I havent told her yet about no hotel room )

What happens when we get 3 points in Trapattoni's 1st competative game you are going to be legging it to the airport

[RodgenotPodge]

Hi Folks

I’ve joined in because I’ve seen the chats about the Georgia and Montenegro trips. I’ve spent a bit of time in both countries over the last few years so I’m happy to share some tips etc. It’s a daunting task to get to both games and some of the routes I’ve sign suggested are a challenge to put it mildly!

Two very different places but each with something to offer. I’m sure there are some veterans of the last Georgia trip around but I reckon Montenegro will be a first for many. Tbilisi is a far bigger and more interesting city but does carry some dangers. There is a whiff of the Wild East, with crazy drivers and some heavy-looking dudes dressed in black. You should be OK in a group but there’s a lot of poor and desperate people around and a lone Irish drunk could be at risk. The Georgians also like to make a lot of noise about supporting their team but like most other things they are all bluff and bluster. Still probably not a good idea to sit amongst local supporters if you plan to rev it up.

Montenegro is an unknown footballing quantity and I think local interest will be high for the novelty value alone. They were never too enthusiastic when it was Serbia & Montenegro but having their own team to cheer will be different. Podgorica isn’t very interesting as a city but the people are great (women are stunning) and it has a much more Mediterranean feel.

Getting to Tbilisi – via Istanbul with Turkish is usually the cheapest but it’s a pretty crap connection. My preferred route is through Heathrow with British Mediterranean (part of British Airways) but it is usually more expensive and also the service has been interrupted a few times by rows with the Georgian government. Austrian Airlines fly in too from Vienna but is very dear. Check out Georgian Airways who operate from Frankfurt, Paris and a couple of other places. Its not luxury but the planes are OK (I know the English guy in charge of maintenance.) Most flights into Tbilisi arrive in the middle of the night.

Getting to Podgorica – Dubrovnik is a good option but it’s a 3 hour drive to Podgorica so not really a day trip. Malev through Budapest to Podgorica is my favourite and Budapest could be a good transit point if coming from Tbilisi. Also JAT through London and Belgrade. Montenegrin Airlines operate from Frankfurt, Vienna, Zurich, Paris and Rome. You can’t book on-line but a travel agent should be able to do it. Have a look if anyone flies into Tivat in September. Its mostly a charter airport just past Budva on the coast. Handier than Dubrovnik.

The guys planning to go via Riga and make the last leg by train from Belgrade might want to reconsider. Lots of flights Belgrade-Podgorica and the train is slow and grim.

Accommodation: - Tbilisi has some big hotels (Sheraton, Marriott etc.) but they are dear. Us regulars tend to use guest houses (often just private homes) and they are far better value. A good place is the Beau Monde (has a website). The stadium is pretty central and no more than a few Euro taxi from anywhere.

In Podgorica its mostly smaller hotels like the Kerber (my favourite), Eminent, Europa etc. which are pretty good value. The “best” one is the Hotel Podgorica but its pricy (I suspect the team will stay there). The Crn Gora (Montegrin for Montenegro) is an old style commie era place – interesting but shabby and bleak. The new Best Western seems to be good and is favoured by many. Podgorica is tiny so everything is walking distance. The Stadium is right in town.

Tbilisi has many restaurants and the food is great – try the places along the river. Excellent wine and beer – I prefer Argo but try them all! Someone mentioned the Hangar – which is the only “Sports Bar”. Rebecca is of Irish extraction and a sports nut. When Ireland played there last time, she arranged a private room for the team upstairs next day to watch the Ireland/England rugby match. Fun restaurant just across the street called Sans Soucis. There’s a street with several “Irish” style bars known as Perovskaya Street (it has another official name). Lively bars and good live music most nights. The Nali and Dubliner are two of the best. Good food too.

Podgorica has few proper restaurants but lots of fast food, pizza etc. Good wine and beer here too. Its all around a few streets in the centre – which is pedestrianised after 5pm so it’s a good atmosphere. Some good clubs too (did I mention the women are stunning?)

However maybe the best plan is to stay down at the coast and make the one-hour journey to Podgorica just for the game. Budva is a hotspot – nice beach, lovely old town and lots of hotels that will be glad to get your business in September. You should get a taxi up and back for about 50 (the price might go up that week!). By the way, Montenegro uses the Euro and has loads of ATMs etc. (So does Tbilisi)

I think that’s enough – if anyone has any questions I’ll do my best!

[Newryrep]

RodgenotPodge re Tbilisi

The scots advised to avoid ice and tap water, are there plenty of supermarkets for bottled water for hangovers/survival. I tend to stock up on arrival to save any hassle .

[Green Tribe]

cheers for all the extra info. have been on travel forums myself and chatting to locals in both countries. will be posting up some info also. We were planning to train it overnight Belgrade to Podge but we ended up getting a flight after all. We are in the Hotel Kerber in Podge, seems lovely and nice staff. Have arranged to meet some Montenegrins when we arrive, they are looking forward to it.

Stiofain - I would say your hotel would let you check out late in Tbilisi, they are very good that way. I know our hotel is letting us check in when we arrive (03:00) and letting us check out late (about 01:30) The hotel might let you leave your bags until you need to go. If your stuck you can leave your bag at our hotel, we're right off rustaveli avenue, we don't leave til early hours monday morning. Have you booked hotel for the friday night? I will get on the scots forum again and ask when the game was. Will give us an idea. Will try and ask some of the Tbilisi ones too.

[Green Tribe]

RodgenotPodge re Tbilisi

The scots advised to avoid ice and tap water, are there plenty of supermarkets for bottled water for hangovers/survival. I tend to stock up on arrival to save any hassle .

Have you been on tartan forum too
Brill info from the scots they've been great. This is the thread they set up for me

http://taboard.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=71678&st=0

yeah we were told our hotel doesn't have bottled water and one of the scots drank the tap water after a long hot flight and had "bowel problems" for about 2 weeks.......
No ice or tap water!

[RodgenotPodge]

Both cities have shops everwhere with bottled water - and everything else. I can't imagine a hotel that didn't have any but if you get in at 3 am you may not have much choice.

Just one comment about the Scottish experience - remember they lost and it was easy for the Georgians to be generous in victory. It might not be quite so friendly if they lose.... Don't get me wrong, I've got good Georgian mates and they are fine but a football crowd can be a law unto itself.

One other tip; no matter how good your ticket, get to the ground early - in this part of the world the stewarding is almost non-existent and there is a well established practice of letting kids - and their mates - in for free. If you get there 20 minutes before kickoff, you might find the cops turning people back saying its full and they won't care if you have a ticket!

[RodgenotPodge]

Just a guess, but as Georgia is 3 hours ahea of us, it will be fairly early - in order to get the TV audience in Ireland.

[Greenforever]

Just one comment about the Scottish experience - remember they lost and it was easy for the Georgians to be generous in victory. It might not be quite so friendly if they lose.... Don't get me wrong, I've got good Georgian mates and they are fine but a football crowd can be a law unto itself.

One other tip; no matter how good your ticket, get to the ground early - in this part of the world the stewarding is almost non-existent and there is a well established practice of letting kids - and their mates - in for free. If you get there 20 minutes before kickoff, you might find the cops turning people back saying its full and they won't care if you have a ticket!

Remember we won here last time and no problems with locals, great trip

In Moscow a lad in front of us was not let in because he had torn off the stub of his ticket at the stiles, they made him get another one - had to pay a "fine" to hang up our flags another great trip shame about the result and for the lads attacked outside our hotel on the morning of the game but they were neo natzi thugs from St Petersburg that caused the triouble that morning

[NeilMcD]

Just a guess, but as Georgia is 3 hours ahea of us, it will be fairly early - in order to get the TV audience in Ireland.

Surely is it not the other way around. If the Kick off is 8pm in Georgia that is 5pm in Ireland. I reckon it will be along those lines.

[AidoM]

Would anyone have an idea or be able to make an educated guess as to what time this game is likely to kick off? I'll be flying out in the early am of Sunday morning and i'm just wondering if it'll be worth my while having a room in the hotel on the saturday night. I'm not overly bothered about saving a few quid but if the game kicks off at 8pm or so and i have to leave for the airport around 1am, theres probably not much point.

I contacted the call centre before I booked hotel to ask about booking a room for the Saturday night (we're flying out @ 4 am on the Sunday morning). They said that most hotels would keep luggage for you in the hotel that evening until departing for the airport but they advised to discuss it with the hotel when we arrived. It appears that most flights arrive in the early hours of the morning and one piece of advice the call centre gave me was to book a room for the night of arrival or otherwise a room might not be available until the following afternoon

[Newryrep]

Have you been on tartan forum too
No ice or tap water!

yeah, found it before the fixtures came out, hoping to pick up a few tips to get the cheap flights/etc before the masses.

Seen GT registered enquiring about Riga/Tbilisi, figured it was yourself, they mention their SSC video presentation was of great use, wonder is there any chance of seeing it ?