The Azerbaijani land border stays shut to tourists until January 2027

The land border with Azerbaijan has been closed to tourists since March 2020, and the decree keeping it closed now runs to 2 January 2027. Red Bridge and Lagodekhi continue to handle cargo, so trucks moving is not evidence that people can. There is a narrow exemption for people with family across the border, and it does not reach ordinary visitors. The practical answer for a guest who wants Tbilisi and Baku in one trip is to fly. This is the single most common itinerary that gets sold on an assumption and then has to be rebuilt in the week before departure.

Sarpi on the Turkish coast is open 24 hours and is walkable, which makes it the straightforward option for anyone combining Batumi with Trabzon or Rize. Vale, at Posof, is open 24 hours but for drivers. Kartsakhi is not on the 24-hour list, so it is one to check on the day rather than build a schedule around. On the Armenian side, Sadakhlo — Bagratashen on the Armenian maps — is open around the clock by both road and rail, carries the buses and the train, and passengers walk across. Guguti and Ninotsminda are also 24-hour crossings but drivers only, with no public transport, so they suit a private car and nothing else.

Dariali, Verkhny Lars on the Russian side, is open 24 hours but takes vehicles only — pedestrians cannot cross at all, which catches out travellers who assume they can walk through and pick up transport on the other side. Queues can run into hours. The constraint that matters most for winter planning is the Jvari Pass, which closes in snow, typically from November to April. That is the same stretch of road that carries skiers to Gudauri and visitors to Stepantsminda, so a closure is not only a border problem: it is a day lost for anyone with guests booked at the top of the mountain.

First, rental cars hired in Georgia may not be taken across the borders, so a self-drive Caucasus loop needs checking against the hire agreement before it is sold, not after the guest is at the barrier with a car they cannot bring through. Second, since 1 January 2026 tourists entering Georgia must hold health and accident insurance of at least 30,000 GEL. Both are easy to satisfy and easy to forget, and both are the kind of thing a guest expects their operator to have raised. Visa rules sit on top of this and belong to the neighbouring country rather than to Georgia: Armenia and Turkey are visa-free for many passports and need an e-visa for others, and Russia's e-visa list excludes the UK, the US, Canada and Australia, who need a consular visa.