Popular Airport | Kutaisi Intl. Airport |
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Popular Airlines | |
Approximate Flight Duration | 2 hour 20 min |
Approximate Travel Distance | 1891 Km |
Tirana, the capital of Albania, makes you feel the magic of Ottoman architecture with its mosques and baths dating back to the 1600s. The surface area of Tirana, which is close to Istanbul’s, is a very calm city in terms of population. You need to use Tirana International Airport to visit this city.
It cannot be said that Tirana offer good service in terms of public transport. Until 2013, there were in-city train services that served the city along the shoreline. This line is not used now. The bus is the only means of public transport available for use in urban transport. Train services are now only an option for intercity transportation. A tourist information office is located in the Rruga Ded Gjo Luli district, north of Skanderbeg Square, which forms part of Tirana city center. We recommend you to visit this office to facilitate your access to the city. English speaking office staff can explain you how you can get to where you want to go through the maps.
Passengers who do not want to use public transport can choose to take a taxi or rent a car from the city for a more comfortable ride. The city center is quite small. So, if you have time, you can also visit the city center on foot. It is useful to remind that the frequent construction work done in the center may prevent your walk. It is also possible to rent bicycles in certain areas of the city. Although it is difficult to say that Tirana is a bicycle city, cycling is a pleasant option for short distances.
There are not many alternatives to get to Tirana International Airport from Tirana by public transport. First of all you have to come to Skanderbeg Square from where you are, then you have to transfer. Therefore, we recommend that passengers who wish to travel more comfortably should consider taxi or car rental options.
The Rinas Express, which takes you from the central square to the airport, is the only option for getting to the airport by public transport. Rinas Express is departing from the north of the Skanderbeg Square, near the other bus stops. The departure time of the buses, which operate between 6 am and 6 pm, may be earlier than the scheduled time. For this reason, we advise you to be there at least a few minutes before the departure time.
If the place you are in is located in a more remote part of the city, you have to get on one of the buses to Skanderbeg Square to get to the city center. After you arrive at the airport, you reach the terminal after passing taxi stops and car parking areas.
The train services are not providing access to the city anymore. However, it is possible to use trains, although with limited opportunities, for long distance travel. With these lines it is possible to travel to Durres, Shkodra, Elbasan Vlore and Librazhd.
MerrTaxi and SpeedTaxi are taxi stops used for intra city transportation. We recommend that you use one of these two stops. While it is possible to use a pirate taxis, many of these taxis do not use taximeters, so it is possible that you pay more for them.
You can rent a car from Rent A Car offices located in the city. However, if you are planning to stay in the city before going to the airport, it can be very difficult to find a parking place. Besides, the pavements of the roads in the city are not well. For this reason, driving can be a stress factor.
With the free Wi-Fi connection you can take advantage of at Tirana International Airport, you can use the internet from your devices, and you can spend your time untiringly until your flight. There is also a special area for the passengers who smoke in the Segafredo Bar section of the airport. In the check-in hall there are sweet shops, newspaper dealers, bookstores and jewelers. You can spend time in the Airport Bar and Piazza Restaurant in the arriving passenger area and in Segafredo Bar and Coli's Bar in the departing passenger area. Apart from that, there is also a Business Lounge at the airport.
There is the Rioni river at the entrance of Kutaisi, which is the second largest and most developed city of Georgia, and this river literally divides the city into two. Kutaisi is located in the Imerati Region in the western part of Georgia and its distance to the country’s capital, Tbilisi, is approximately 221 kilometers. The city’s population is around 201.000. Kutaisi’s urban transportation is mostly composed of buses, trolleys, taxis and mini-buses called marshrutka.
There is also a big train station in the city. But from this train station, daily express trains from Kutaisi to Georgia’s other major cities depart. As the area of the city is small, majority of the visitors walk or use taxis for transportation.
Kutaisi railway terminal is directly connected to Georgia’s capital city, Tbilisi. All of the trains leaving from this terminal are operated by Georgian Railways. You can travel to Tbilisi from Kutaisi in around 5.5 hours by taking the train #18, which departs from Kutaisi I station. There are also daily express trains.
The train starts its trip at 08.50 every morning and arrives at Tbilisi in 6 hours. This train also stops in Mtskheta, the former capital of Georgia. There are also regular bus trips from Didube bus station in Didube, where the metro station in Tbilisi is located at, to Kutaisi. Price for this bus trip is only 10 Lari.
In addition to the marshrutkas and buses, you may also consider using car rental services or taxis for transportation to city centre from the Kutaisi Airport.
After arriving at the Kutaisi Airport, take the exit from the arrival terminal and proceed to the bus stops. As well as the buses, marshrutkas also depart to Kutiasi city centre or suburbans from the bus stops at the area in front of the terminal building. Marshrutka drivers may not accept paying with dollar or euro, so do not forget to stop by the exchange office in the airport just in case.
Marshrutkas leaving from Kutaisi Airport go directly to the Kutaisi bus station just behind McDonalds. Marshrutkas, which run in every 20 minutes, provide transportation services to the town of Samtredia from Kutaisi Airport for a fee of 2 Lari. There are also vehicles named ‘direct marshrutkas’, which have a fare of 5 Lari. These direct marshrutkas will take you to your destination as well.
There are direct marshrutkas running between Kutaisi Airport and Tbilisi, and fare is currently 20 Lari. Likewise, there are also marshrutkas going directly to Batumi, another major city of Georgia, for a fare of 18 Lari.
Bus service timetable are usually updated according to the flights' arrival times. You don’t need to worry if you forget to get Georgian currency, as it is possible to buy bus tickets with euro or dollar as well.
Taxi is the most economical vehicle you can use for traveling to the city centre from Kutaisi Airport. Traveling to the city centre from the airport by taxi costs around 25 Lari, but you can drop the price to 20 Lari by bargaining with the taxi driver.
The only thing that you need to do to go city centre from Kutaisi Airport by your rented car is to take the highway, which passes right by the airport, and follow the direction signs to the city. You can reach the city centre in around 20 minutes by your vehicle.
As well as you can find several rent a car services at the exit of Kutaisi Airport terminal, you can also make benefit of discounts by making an online reservation. People visiting Kutaisi often prefer renting a car as they usually include visiting other Georgian cities such as Tbilisi and Batumi in their travel plans.